WKU reconsidering Potter College name

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- Western Kentucky University’s Potter College of Arts and Letters is under discussion to undergo a name change as the great-great grandchildren of the namesake have asked the university to change it. 

Gill and Douglass Potter are descendants of Pleasant J. Potter who owned slaves. That is who the college is named after. 

The two brothers wrote a letter to the university, within it saying “the name has been on the building for long enough. It is time to excise this ghost.” 

Bob Skipper, Media Relations Director for WKU says a campus task force is working on discussing the name changes. 

“They are deep into studying the backgrounds of the various naming opportunities on campus looking at policies elsewhere and just doing a good bit of homework. They will soon be soliciting comments and information from the general public, specifically the campus community,” said Skipper. 

Skipper said there is no timeline for the change, and that there’s more to it then a quick switch. 

“There are a lot of different things to weigh in this kind of a decision. They have to look at what it means to our campus community, and that’s not only the current students and how it affects recruiting students, but what it means to our alumni, our donor base, and just to the community in general,” said Skipper. 

The campus task force that is weighing the decision is made up of various faculty members, students and alumni.