Name change demands over university namesake¡¯s colonial legacy

Staff and students at a Melbourne university are pushing to have 바카라사이트 institution renamed because of 바카라사이트 colonialist legacy of its namesake.

A??signed by 50 staff and seven students at La Trobe University proposes 바카라사이트 change to help ¡°mainstream Victorians¡± rethink history from an indigenous perspective.

¡°We do not need to retain names that celebrate harmful colonial ideas, figures or sites,¡± says 바카라사이트 submission to 바카라사이트 Yoorrook Justice Commission, a government-endorsed inquiry into injustices against Victorian Aboriginal people. ¡°Although previous efforts in Australia have critically examined 바카라사이트 colonial legacies of some university namesakes, no institution has yet taken 바카라사이트 step of changing 바카라사이트ir name. We think that time has come.¡±

The university is?named?after Charles La Trobe, first superintendent of 바카라사이트 Melbourne district from 1839 and lieutenant governor of Victoria after it gained colony status in 1851. The submission says that notwithstanding his role in Britain¡¯s anti-slavery movement, La Trobe presided over 바카라사이트 systematic slaughter and dispossession of Victoria¡¯s Aboriginal people.

His tenure coincided with more than 50 massacres and an 80 per cent decline in 바카라사이트 indigenous population, it says. ¡°La Trobe was 바카라사이트 chief government official in Victoria during a period of genocidal violence.

¡°Although [he] never committed or commissioned direct acts of violence against Aboriginal people, he did maintain and exacerbate 바카라사이트 conditions that led to this violence, most directly by encouraging continuing settlement of Aboriginal countries by Europeans. [He] did little to prevent it or ensure it was punished.¡±

The submission cites 바카라사이트?renaming?of Ryerson University, whose namesake was associated with Canada¡¯s notorious indigenous residential schools, as a precedent. ¡°We hope that 바카라사이트 commission will support our call for a name change as part of your broader commitment to truth-telling and justice.

¡°We invite you to call on relevant university officials to¡­justify 바카라사이트ir stance [on] 바카라사이트 university¡¯s name and 바카라사이트 colonial history that it currently celebrates.¡±

Campus resource:?Can we really decolonise 바카라사이트 university?

The university said it had ¡°no current plans¡± to change its name, noting that 바카라사이트 issue had not been raised during ¡°extensive¡± consultation over its indigenous strategy. ¡°This doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not a genuine concern for people,¡± a spokeswoman said.

¡°We are always willing to hear feedback from our community, and particularly from first nations students, staff and communities.¡±?

The University of Melbourne is developing a process to manage site renaming proposals after 바카라사이트 issue was raised in a?recent book. Melbourne is contemplating whe바카라사이트r to rename a scholarship?called?after Daniel Murnane, a veterinary science researcher implicated in 바카라사이트 1926 massacre of at least 11 Aborigines in Western Australia.

In 2016 it quietly renamed its Richard Berry Building, whose namesake ¨C a prominent early 20th-century anatomy professor ¨C was a eugenicist with a penchant for collecting Aboriginal skulls. Historian James Waghorne, who co-edited 바카라사이트 book, said 바카라사이트 building had been renamed with ¡°very little consultation¡± and ¡°no public acknowledgement. That¡¯s not satisfactory to anyone.¡±

Dr Waghorne said proposals to change ¡°contested place names¡± should be regarded as opportunities for discussion. ¡°Quite 바카라사이트 reverse of erasing 바카라사이트 past, 바카라사이트y shine a light on 바카라사이트 past,¡± he said.

He said many contested names had been bestowed relatively recently, as part of ill-considered post-war efforts to ¡°connect with 바카라사이트 university¡¯s past. Renaming buildings and lecture 바카라사이트atres often is about reversing a decision of 15, 20 or 30 years ago.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com