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UNC students campaign to ‘Kick out the KKK’

A campaign is afoot to strip a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill building of its nearly century-old name because of its ties to the Ku Klux Klan.
April 29, 2014

A campaign is afoot to strip a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill building of its nearly century-old name because of its ties to the Ku Klux Klan, the Daily Tar Heel reported. When the university christened the building with the name in 1922, the intention was to honor William L. Saunders for his work as a compiler of historical documents, according to the university's website. 

Saunders served many other roles, including Secretary of State, Confederate colonel and university trustee, but his role as a leader in the KKK in North Carolina and Chapel Hill during Reconstruction has outraged students who have turned to the Twitter with “#KickouttheKKK.” Once home to the history department, Saunders Hall now houses the department of religious studies.

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