Renaming Calhoun College in Yale University

In 2015, Yale President Peter Salovey raised the issue of the namesake of Calhoun College during his address to incoming freshmen. The building had been named after a supporter of slavery, prompting university-wide debate about the value of changing the name of the residential building. While initially against a name change, Salovey was met with backlash over this decision, resulting in his establishment of a commission to investigate the value of name changes at Yale. Eventually, the building was renamed in 2017 in honour of Grace Murray Hopper. This case study explores this process and whether or not this type of commission could potentially serve as an example for other institutional contexts.