As the nation deals with a growing number of notable cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault, a piece of CC’s own history has gained interest.

Papers and articles have been written and discussed in the past, questioning the actions of William F. Slocum, CC president from 1888-1917, but additional work by CC Archivist and Curator of Special Collections Jessy Randall recently uncovered documents containing comments from women alleging Slocum sexually assaulted and harassed them.

Randall’s findings and other papers were featured recently in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Catalyst. As a result, some have since called for student residence Slocum Hall to be renamed.

CC’s Board of Trustees has sole authority for naming buildings and bestowing college honors, and the authority to remove such honors. At the board’s November meeting, a trustee committee was formed to recommend a process for the consideration of the removal of honorary designations such as named buildings and honorary degrees. The committee will propose a process to the full board for approval and once approved, the CC community will be informed. Once a process is in place, the board can then carefully consider the Slocum naming concerns.

Slocum Hall was completed in 1954 and named after Slocum, 37 years after he resigned under pressure.

View the Chronicle article and The Catalyst story.