Quick History

In 1998 Belhaven College (now University) constructed a residence hall overlooking the lake in the heart of campus. The building is named after Reverend Dr. Guy T. Gillespie. A seemingly appropriate name considering Dr. Gillespie’s thirty-three year tenure as the President of Belhaven College. 

However, the institution fails to disclose the white supremacist views of Gillespie. In 1954, Dr. Gillespie retired from his post as President at Belhaven College. In the same year on November 4, Gillespie addressed the Synod of Mississippi of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. with a work entitled “A Christian View on Segregation.” The timing of the address is telling. The Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education had just been handed down some six months prior. 

As the title notes, Gillespie attempts to justify segregation by using scripture. He compares integration to Russian communism and that desegregation, “presents a serious threat to the whole cultural pattern of community life.” In other words, segregation protects the cultural power of Whites.

Action

It is the aim of this petition to rename not only Gillespie Residence Hall but also Gillespie Commons, and Guy T. Gillespie Memorial Award, which is presented to the graduating senior who, in the judgment of the faculty, approximates most nearly the ideals of the College. Vestiges of white supremacy have no place on Belhaven’s campus. For years Belhaven, has promoted campus to be a place of diversity. If that it truly the heart of the university, removing the name of a white supremacist should be easy to resolve. Recently, the university has made public statements denouncing the (former) Mississippi state flag which emblazoned the Confederate Stars and Bar as well as the Beauregard battle flag in the canton. While publicly requesting removal of a symbol of white supremacy is important. It is time for Belhaven to take care of business at home. I implore you to reach out to others and share this message.