UA Trustees Approve Autherine Lucy Hall As New Name For Education Building

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees voted on Friday to drop the name of Bibb Graves from Lucy-Graves Hall, in favor of naming the building Autherine Lucy Hall.

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Lucy was the first African-American student to attend The University of Alabama and, on Feb. 3, saw her name receive Board approval to join that of the former Alabama governor and member of the Ku Klux Klan on the building.

However, amid backlash from the campus community and beyond, the UA System was prompted to reconsider the decision.

On Tuesday, UA System Board of Trustees President Pro Tempore W. Stancil Starnes convened the UA System Working Group on Named Structures and Spaces to discuss the name of Lucy-Graves Hall following the outcry.

And in a press release on Wednesday, the UA System said the Working Group acknowledged the complexity of the amended name, as detailed in the initial Board Resolution and the group's Final Report. It was then announced, as Patch previously reported, that the Board of Trustees would once again take up the matter.

The entire controversy at present can be traced back to June 2020, when the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees convened a diverse working group to conduct an in-depth review of named buildings, structures and spaces on UA System campuses.

Following the progression of events that saw the names of numerous building changed, the outrage drew national attention over the decision to rename the university's education building to Lucy-Graves Hall.

A vote was then held Friday by the full Board of Trustees, which resulted in the decision to drop Graves' name from the building altogether.

This is a developing story. Be sure to follow Tuscaloosa Patch for more updates.