Duke removes Confederate veteran's name from building

A building on Duke University's campus will no longer be named after a benefactor who espoused white supremacist ideas.

The university said its Board of Trustees on Saturday voted to approve removing Julian Carr's name from a building where the history department is located.

Carr was a Confederate veteran and tobacco magnate who gave land where part of Duke was built, helping facilitate the university's move to Durham. He once bragged during a 1913 speech about whipping a black woman.

The school's history professors filed a formal request to remove Carr's name earlier this year. A special committee and President Vincent E. Price both recommended removing Carr's name.

Duke said the trustees had chosen to restore the building to its original name, the Classroom Building.