UT-Arlington is changing the name of one its key administrative buildings com campus because its namesake has been connected with unsavory racist and eugenicist beliefs.
The building on the south edges of campus is named for Edward Davis who served for more than 20 years as Dean of the Texas Agricultural College from the 1920s to the 1940s.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents has voted to rename Davis Hall after years of complaints.
In a book titled Care of the Feeble-Minded & Insane in Texas, Davis advocated using eugenics. Davis was instrumental in framing one of the first sterilization bills ever considered by the Texas legislature, which stated the disabled should be isolated and sterilized, according to a report from The Shorthorn.
Davis supported segregating ethnic communities to promote white institutions. He claimed the fundamental causes of poverty are “negroes, Mexicans and lowly whites,” according to the Student Senate resolution.
Davis Hall is on the busiest buildings on campus, housing the office of the university President along with records, registration and financial aid offices.