Confronting racism Southern Virginia University inherited Durham Hall and the rest of the Southern Seminary campus in Buena Vista, Virginia, when its board of directors purchased the school in 1996 and turned it into an independent, private university catering to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The academic building was named for Robert Lee Durham when it was completed in 1940 while he was the president of the Southern Seminary. SVU administrators said they were unaware of Durham’s racist views and actions when they released a statement condemning racism on June 2 in the wake of George Floyd’s death. That changed the following day when an SVU alum responded to the statement on the school’s Facebook page. “While we are at it, would y’all be open to renaming Durham Hall since it was named for a virulent racist who even wrote a novel about how race mixing would destroy America...,” wrote Colin Smith, who now is a student at the American University School of International Service. “After investigation, it became clear this was true,” the university said in a statement released on June 11. Read the rest of my story and learn what the school did next. | 
