Whereas Saint Cloud State University (SCSU) is scheduled to observe its sesquicentennial in 2019, and
Whereas the SCSU campus currently has not named any buildings for academic departments after people of color, and
Whereas a woman named Ruby Cora Webster became the first African American to graduate from SCSU in 1909, when it was known as the St. Cloud State Normal School, and
Whereas Webster became one of the first African Americans to teach in St. Cloud shortly after her graduation, and
Whereas the 51 Building at SCSU has no name specific to a discipline or a prominent figure of Saint Cloud,

We the undersigned petition SCSU to rename the 51 Building as Webster Hall no later than the start of the university’s observance of its sesquicentennial. The renaming would address SCSU’s commitment to diversity on at least a symbolic scale. The new name would show an appreciation of the historic contributions of a woman of color to the Saint Cloud community. The new name would also give the building a name of a local historical figure and, therefore, make the building’s name more consistent with names for other buildings across the campus.