College Avenue res. hall could see name change

MSA is hoping to tie up unfinished 2006 legislation on name changes.

By Luke Udstuen

Published April 30, 2010

Correction appended

College Avenue residence hall is one step closer to receiving a new name.

The Missouri Students Association passed legislation Wednesday night that formally requests that the UM system Board of Curators consider renaming the structure Gus T. Ridgel-Clarence Wines hall.

In 2006, then-MSA Speaker Jonathan Mays wrote the legislation that renamed the General Classroom Building to Arvarh E. Strickland Hall. It also included a provision to rename College Avenue residence hall.

The former name change passed and the latter did not. At that time, the legislation pertaining to College Avenue looked different.

"They wanted to rename College Avenue after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," MSA Chief of Staff Xavier Billingsley said. "The part about Strickland got passed, but the piece about MLK didn't."

Billingsley said students did not see relevance in the original College Avenue name change.

"The reason it didn't get passed was because they said MLK didn't have any direct contact with the university," Billingsley said.

Billingsley said he picked up the legislation around March of this year, wanting to make sure the entire bill was completed entirely.

MSA Multicultural Issues Committee representative Danielle Owens worked with Billingsley.

"Over the course of a month, we talked to different organizations from Four Front, tossed around names," Owens said. "We were originally going to choose a minority female."

The committee wanted to name the structure after a woman and was going to use Elizabeth Vargas, but there is a floor in College Avenue already dedicated to her, Owens said.

"The main thing was that there wasn't anybody that we felt stood out as greatly as Gus T. Ridgel or Clarence Wines," Billingsley said.

Ridgel was one of the first African-Americans to come to the university, enrolling in 1950. Wines served MU for 25 years as a senior academic adviser for the College of Business and later as coordinator of diversity from 1996 to 2007.

This legislation was supposed to be presented at the student government joint session for all governments to review. There was a miscommunication on the timing of the joint session and the session was canceled, Owens said.

Billingsley said the legislation moved through MSA because of time constraints.

He said the passed legislation reflected the views of multiple student governments, such as the Graduate Professional Council, the Legion of Black Collegians and the Residence Halls Association.

"With legislation like this, you have to make sure it's highly researched and it's highly educated on whose signing the bill," Billingsley said. "That's why it took so long."

Senator JJ Bowles said he would have liked to see this particular bill discussed at a joint session.

"It was a double-edged sword," Bowles said. "I wanted it to pass. If it didn't pass last night it wouldn't have succeeded because I don't think it will go to joint session."

RHA President Rachael Feuerborn signed the bill pledging RHA's support to the legislation.

"I discussed it with College Avenue (representatives), and they were in support of it," Feuerborn said. "Therefore, I decided to support it."

RHA representative Allison Repking, who does not live in College Avenue, said she had never heard of the name change.

"I would have liked to have heard more about their reasoning," Repking said. "It's much more centric to their residents, so I can kind of see why I might not have heard about it."

Repking said she supported the name change, saying it is important to remember our history.

Billingsley said the name change would help provide continuity.

"I think the most important thing that senators lost track of last night was that it was a resolution, not a bill," Owens said. "It's really in the hands of the Board of Curators whether it's chosen or not."

Owens said MSA welcomes any student suggestion or opinion. Students may write to their MSA senator or attend an MSA meeting.