More than 50 FSU law faculty and administrators have signed a letter (see full text below) sent to legislative leaders stating the BK Roberts name on the building is “shameful” and calling for the legislature to complete the process of removing the name.
Noting that Roberts was vehemently and unmistakably on the wrong side of the battle to end segregation, the group said it was “deeply painful and offensive that most of our faculty offices and classrooms are in a building that carries his name.” Law School Dean Erin O’Connor, who signed the letter, also noted in a weekly law school update that the FSU Faculty Senate also approved a similar statement unanimously last week.
The letter was sent to current Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva and incoming Speaker Chris Sprowls, and also released to the media. The campaign to rename the building has had some success in the senate the last two years, but the house has never taken up a bill to address the measure. The letter was printed June 14 in the Tallahassee Democrat, the newspaper for Florida’s capital city, home to both BK Roberts Hall and the capitol building where the legislature meets.
Since the legislature in 1973 designated the building be known as BK Roberts Hall, only the legislature has the power to remove the name. The next legislative session is set to begin in March 2021. Lets hope at least some of the spirit and momentum of the recent protests calling for racial justice and leading to the removal of Confederate names and monuments carries over to next spring.
Here is the full text of the letter:
FSU law school faculty: 'Reflect our shared values' and rename building | Opinion
(Reprinted from the 6/14/20 edition of the Tallahassee Democrat)
As members of the faculty and administration at the Florida State University College of Law, we write to call on the Florida House of Representatives to complete the legislative work that will allow us to rename the law school building.
As you are aware, the Florida Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill in 2019 that would have allowed B.K. Roberts’ name to be removed from the law school building, but the House did not take up the legislation. In 2020, a Senate committee again approved a measure to allow the renaming of the law school, but Florida lawmakers did not complete the process. It is time to act decisively.
It is shameful that our main building continues to bear the name of B.K. Roberts. Roberts persistently resisted the racial integration of Florida’s public law schools, and it is deeply painful and offensive that most of our faculty offices and classrooms are in a building that carries his name.
As a Florida Supreme Court justice, Roberts openly defied the U.S. Supreme Court in his quest to maintain segregation. The battle for racial integration was waged during a gruesome time in our country’s history. Roberts was vehemently and unmistakably on the wrong side of that battle. The time has long since come to stop celebrating segregationists.
The building was not named for Roberts because he favored segregation. The naming of the building was meant to honor his role in chairing a committee that helped to found the College of Law.
But the fact that Roberts helped to achieve a valuable goal does not, by itself, warrant memorializing him in stone. Many important accomplishments are not acknowledged or honored in such public and enduring ways. Indeed, throughout our country’s history, the significant accomplishments of people of color have been overlooked.
The law school community was never part of naming the building for Roberts, and a strong contingent opposed it when the decision was announced. The law naming the building slid through the Legislature on the back of unrelated legislation without discussion or debate.
The dean of the College of Law at the time declined to support naming the building for Roberts, and a large group of students protested with picket signs on the day of the naming ceremony. We are asking now to be allowed to correct a longstanding error that was imposed upon us and that members of our community have protested from the start.
It is our hope that when the law school’s main building can be renamed, its name will reflect our shared values of justice, equality, respect, compassion and advocacy. As faculty and administrators, it is our moral responsibility to advocate for our students and our community. In these difficult times, we hope that this is just the first of many steps we take to do better by them.
Fred Abbott
Paolo Annino
Rob Atkinson
Shawn Bayern
Nancy Benavides
Richard Benham
Tamara Blenkhorn
Christopher Busch
Courtney Cahill
Donna Christie
Margaret Clark
Elizabeth Farrell Clifford
Kathryn Crandall
Avlana Eisenberg
Elissa Philip Gentry
Debra Henley
Shi-Ling Hsu
Steve Johnson
Jeffrey Kahn
Jennifer Kessinger
Jay Kesten
Kat Klepfer
Lawrence Krieger
David Landau
Carla Laroche
Jennifer LaVia
Tahirih Lee
Jake Linford
Amy Lipford
Wayne Logan
Patricia Matthews
Catherine Miller
Katrina Miller
Michael Morley
Dean Erin O’Hara O’Connor
Hillary Powell
Adria Quintela
Maribel Roig
Erin Ryan
Lauren Scholz
Darby Kerrigan Scott
Mark Seidenfeld
Justin Sevier
Mark Spottswood
Nat Stern
Sarah Swan
Charlee Taylor
Fernando Tesón
Glenda Thornton
Manuel Utset
Kelli Alces Williams
Mary Ziegler
Note: This letter was sent to Florida House Speaker José Oliva and Speaker-Designate Chris Sprowls and also submitted to the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida.