Virginia Peninsula Community College’s Facilities Naming Task Force is conducting the first of two recommended surveys regarding name changes to Griffin and Wythe halls.
In February 2021, when the College decided to change its name, it also decided to rename two of the five buildings on the Hampton campus named for Thomas Nelson contemporaries. The three other buildings - Moore, Diggs and Harrison - are scheduled to be replaced by a new building in the coming years so renaming them would be moot.
Members of the task force have discussed numerous factors to consider in renaming the buildings, including by functionality, in recognition of community partnerships and/or the localities served by the College, by language consistent with the College’s mission, vision and core values, or by aspirational terms such as “success” or “opportunity.” They recommend not renaming the facilities for individuals unless that recommendation is made consistent with the College’s approved naming policy and procedures. They also discussed whether the two facilities, which are no longer separate buildings as they were when originally named in 1975, but conjoined buildings, should bear a single name or two separate names.
The first survey the task force has created asks the College community the importance of naming facilities by the those factors.
A second survey was recommended for stakeholders to vote on specific names, when a list is developed. The task force is scheduled to meet again Feb. 15 to review results of the first survey and determine content for the second one.
To take the survey, go to https://tncc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6x80awgPoGgv0ou.
Co-chairs of the Facilities Naming Task Force are Izabela Cieszynski, a member of the College Board, and Cyndie Callaway, vice president of Institutional Advancement. The task force hopes to submit its recommendations to the College Board on April 1.
The State Board for Community Colleges oversees the names of its 23 institutions and campuses, while the names of buildings and classrooms rest with each institution.