Yale renaming recalls India`s dark past |
Taking its name from a US-born British merchant who made a fortune in Madras (Chennai) and was involved in slave trade from India, the storied Yale University is drawing attention to its origins this week after agreeing to rename one of its colleges named after a former US vice-president who was also a slave advocate.Yale University President Peter Salovey announced that scrapping the name of Calhoun College and renaming it in honor of Grace Murray Hopper, a 1934 graduate and United States Navy rear admiral who made pivotal advances in computer science. Salovey wrote in an email to the campus community that the decision to change a college`s name is not to be taken lightly. But John Calhoun`s legacy as a white supremacist and a national leader who passionately supported slavery as a `positive good` fundamentally conflicts with Yale`s mission and values.The announcement was not only greeted with cheers among the liberal campus community, but brought renewed attention to the name of the university itself and how it came to be founded. This is to recall that Elihu Yale was a Boston-born Briton who who was sent by the East India Company to India to prospect for and extend its trading rights in the subcontinent in the 1680s, long before the U.S was even founded.
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