Rename Helms Hall -Wingate University
Rename Helms Hall -Wingate University
The Issue
If you are currently enrolled or have ever been a student at Wingate University, you associated the name Helms with that dorm up on the hill and never really thought anything of it. Buckle up folks, it’s about to get real.
Jesse Helms was a bigoted congressman from Monroe, North Carolina, from 1973 to 2003. He got his start in politics as a researcher for a segregationist candidate and was known as “Senator NO” in his own political career. Now you’re asking, what does that mean? Well, Helms was known as a conservative in pretty much every aspect and was extremely opposed to the following (just to name a few):
1) The Civil Rights Movement
2) Disability Rights
3) Feminism
4) LGBTQA+ Rights
5) The National Endowments for the Arts
and even
6) The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
By now, I hope you’re thinking, “Man, this is a bad dude.” But if I haven’t quite convinced you, IT GETS WORSE:
Some of his other great “accomplishments” in the Senate include:
-Failed obstruction of the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
-Support for apartheid in South Africa
-Frequently documented harassing Carol Mosley Braun, the first African American woman elected in the Senate. One way he did this was by singing a song named ‘Dixie’ and emphasizing certain lyrics that talked about how good the United States was before the end of slavery
-Turned his back on Nelson Mandela when he visited Congress in 1994
While these instances listed above do not even begin to scratch the surface of describing what kind of man (or lack there of) Jesse Helmes was, for an institution like Wingate University to preach that campus is an accepting environment where students and faculty can feel safe while keeping the name of a person who was deeply against those inclusive values is unbecoming of a school I have to say I attended.
There are plenty of people within the school’s history that are worthy of being remembered, some currently still teaching on it’s campus. In light of the state of the world right now, I call upon Wingate University to follow through on their promises to make campus safe and accommodating to all students; no matter their race, sex, gender, sexuality, etc..
FIDES SCIENTIA PIETAS
REFERENCES:
Link to his official congressional page, here you can see his voting history:
https://www.congress.gov/member/jesse-helms/H000463?searchResultViewType=expanded&KWICView=false
Links to articles posted after his death about him:
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/jesse-helms-american-bigot/
There is always more information out there but here is just a sample of literature so you can get to know Jesse Helms yourself.
The Issue
If you are currently enrolled or have ever been a student at Wingate University, you associated the name Helms with that dorm up on the hill and never really thought anything of it. Buckle up folks, it’s about to get real.
Jesse Helms was a bigoted congressman from Monroe, North Carolina, from 1973 to 2003. He got his start in politics as a researcher for a segregationist candidate and was known as “Senator NO” in his own political career. Now you’re asking, what does that mean? Well, Helms was known as a conservative in pretty much every aspect and was extremely opposed to the following (just to name a few):
1) The Civil Rights Movement
2) Disability Rights
3) Feminism
4) LGBTQA+ Rights
5) The National Endowments for the Arts
and even
6) The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
By now, I hope you’re thinking, “Man, this is a bad dude.” But if I haven’t quite convinced you, IT GETS WORSE:
Some of his other great “accomplishments” in the Senate include:
-Failed obstruction of the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
-Support for apartheid in South Africa
-Frequently documented harassing Carol Mosley Braun, the first African American woman elected in the Senate. One way he did this was by singing a song named ‘Dixie’ and emphasizing certain lyrics that talked about how good the United States was before the end of slavery
-Turned his back on Nelson Mandela when he visited Congress in 1994
While these instances listed above do not even begin to scratch the surface of describing what kind of man (or lack there of) Jesse Helmes was, for an institution like Wingate University to preach that campus is an accepting environment where students and faculty can feel safe while keeping the name of a person who was deeply against those inclusive values is unbecoming of a school I have to say I attended.
There are plenty of people within the school’s history that are worthy of being remembered, some currently still teaching on it’s campus. In light of the state of the world right now, I call upon Wingate University to follow through on their promises to make campus safe and accommodating to all students; no matter their race, sex, gender, sexuality, etc..
FIDES SCIENTIA PIETAS
REFERENCES:
Link to his official congressional page, here you can see his voting history:
https://www.congress.gov/member/jesse-helms/H000463?searchResultViewType=expanded&KWICView=false
Links to articles posted after his death about him:
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/jesse-helms-american-bigot/
There is always more information out there but here is just a sample of literature so you can get to know Jesse Helms yourself.
Petition Closed
Share this petition
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on June 10, 2020