College Officials Approve New Names For Campus Buildings

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) — Officials at the State University of New York at New Paltz have picked new names for campus buildings that were named for slave-owning families.

The college said they selected new names Wednesday for six buildings based on a survey that drew responses from more than 3,000 students.

For more than a year, the school has been considering renaming the buildings named after Huguenot families who settled in the region and owned slaves.

The new names have local links, including Shawangunk Hall, named for Shawangunk Ridge, and Minnewaska Hall, named for a lake that sits on the ridge.

The SUNY New Paltz College Council voted in February to rename the buildings.

The new names are now pending approval by the Board of Trustees.