Bethany College Removes Robert C. Byrd Name from Student Health Center

WHEELING -- Bethany College announced late Wednesday it was removing Robert C. Byrd's name from its student health center, saying the college can no longer allow the long-time U.S. senator's name to "represent how we lead in today's world."

Byrd, a U.S. senator who represented West Virginia for more than 50 years, died in 2010. He was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1940s but later in his career denounced the organization.

Bethany College President Tamara Rodenberg, in a written statement, said removing Byrd's name from the campus would give the college a chance to move into a "new shared future."

"And so from this point forward, a new chapter begins on our campus, one informed by more diverse voices, one predicated on mutual respect and human value, and one that aims to unite through words, actions and hope," Rodenberg wrote.

"Our lives are marked by decisions, by actions, and by grace, and today we embrace all three in a tangible, visible way at our beloved Bethany College."

Byrd worked later in his Senate career to remove himself from the KKK affiliation. In the early 2000s he formed a strong friendship with then-Sen. Barack Obama, who later became president and eulogized Byrd during his funeral in 2010. In her statement, Rodenberg noted that Obama said during the eulogy that Byrd had "capacity to change, a capacity to learn, a capacity to listen, a capacity to be made more perfect."

But she added that the college recognized in the past few weeks that Byrd's name attached to the health center "created divisiveness and pain for members of Bethany community, both past and present."

"These attributes about Sen. Byrd's legacy, however, are the same ones that lead us to remove a symbol of the past, and open our hearts and minds to equality, justice and equity," Rodenberg said.

Byrd's name is synonymous with West Virginia and attached to countless civic institutions, building and roads across the state and in the Northern Panhandle. Other organizations were tight-lipped Thursday on whether they were considering similar action to remove Byrd's name from institutions and buildings elsewhere in the Northern Panhandle. And the city of Wheeling -- which owns the Robert C. Byrd Intermodal Transportation Center downtown -- said through a spokesperson that it had no plans to address removing the senator's name from the garage.

At Wheeling University, his name is attached to the National Technology Transfer Center. School officials did not respond for a request for comment Thursday.

The late senator is the namesake of the Byrd Wing at Oglebay's Wilson Lodge. David Lindelow, president and CEO of Wheeling Park Commission that operates Oglebay, called Bethany's decision "interesting" but noted the Park Commission is not necessarily considering taking similar action.

"It has not come up in our conversations, so it's not something we were considering," Lindelow said, adding they may discuss the issue eventually. "I'm not sure where it will take us, but it was not on our radar."

He said they would "take time to digest it and see if there is an impact on the park and our operations" before making a decision.

"There is a high level of sensitively today, which I think is appropriate" Lindelow said. "But I'm not the person to say whether it's appropriate or if it's gone too far or what it represents."