As the article points out, African-American U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch (who is a terrible person who has defended civil forfeiture, let banksters off the hook, been a part of the War on Drugs, and generally been a willing cog in the human meatgrinder known to mankind as the American "criminal justice" system -- but that's another rant) is also named "Lynch". By coincidence, or sometimes distant family ties, some people have the same name as people who did awful things.
People with aspirations of intellectualism -- e.g., college students -- ought to be able to deal with that fact. This is a very different case than, for example, the proposed renaming of Byrd Stadium, where the building's namesake stands accused of significant misbehavior.
Naming of Lebanon Valley College's Lynch building questioned amid equality push (PennLive.com)
Students at the private college in Annville have demanded administrators remove or modify Dr. Clyde A. Lynch's last name, as it appears on a campus hall, due to the associated racial connotations.
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But while their remaining demands...appeared warmly received at Friday's forum...a call to change the name of Lynch Memorial Hall has been decidedly more controversial, both at the school and beyond.
In the days that followed, commenters on pennlive.com leapt to defend Lynch, who served as the college's president from 1932 to 1950 when he died in office, saying he's been unfairly dragged into the fray by this modern-day movement.
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According to its website, Lynch led the college through the Great Depression and World War II, helping to raise $550,000 for a new physical education building which was named for him following his death.
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But with the title recently identified as racially insensitive by activists, or at least potentially unappealing to the public eye, it is now at the center of a larger debate building on college campuses both regionally and nationwide...
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But Lynch's Lebanon Valley College (LVC) supporters say there's no comparison, and that his name should stay where, and as, it is.
In response, student activists who made the demand said they'd be willing to settle for adding his first name and middle initial to the building instead of removing it altogether. At Friday's forum they acknowledged no known links between Dr. Clyde A. Lynch and the practice of "Lynching" but said as is, the building and last name harken back to a period in American history when Blacks were widely and arbitrarily killed by public hangings and "Lynch Mobs."
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And while student organizers at LVC indicate a willingness to compromise, many critics remained unappeased and wondering, sarcastically, whether public officials like U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, places like the White House or Lynchburg, Va. might be targeted for alteration next.
"I will not longer watch NFL football when John Lynch announces. Or watch Jane Lynch on TV. Too upsetting," a commenter named "gmaven" quipped.