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The University of Wisconsin at Madison will rename two rooms in the Wisconsin Union that are currently named after alumni who were members of a campus organization called Ku Klux Klan, Madison 365 reported.
The Porter Butts Gallery and the Fredric March Play Circle will be renamed the Main Gallery and Play Circle, respectively. The change was passed Monday by the Union Council as an amendment to a proposed resolution and awaits approval by Rebecca Blank, chancellor of UW Madison.
“Chancellor Blank has indicated she is supportive of the direction Union Council has taken and it is expected that she’ll approve their recommendation,” Meredith McGlone, a spokeswoman for UW Madison, told Madison 365 in an email.
The resolution calls for March's name to be removed entirely but suggests moving Butts, who founded the Wisconsin Union, to a "non-programming location" and possibly adding an interactive kiosk about his legacy and contributions to the university, as well as information about the campus and national KKK. It is unclear if the campus organization March and Butts were part of was affiliated with the national Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
