RALEIGH, N.C. — Meredith College is renaming Joyner Hall on campus after acknowledging the building is named for “an advocate for white supremacy and unequal funding for schools based on race.”
James Yadkin Joyner served as a trustee at the women’s liberal arts college in Raleigh for 55 years. The “racist ideas” he stood for are “antithetical to Meredith College’s mission, vision, and values,” Yvette Brown, chair of the Meredith College Board of Trustees, and President Jo Allen said in an announcement Wednesday.
Meredith’s removal of Joyner’s name follows similar actions taken by North Carolina colleges and universities that are reckoning with their complicated histories. Several campuses have removed statues, song lyrics and campus building names tied to racism, white supremacy and The Confederacy.
