Ole Miss Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter confirmed that he has submitted a proposal to the State Institutions of Higher Learning to remove Ed Meek’s name from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Vitter announced his proposal for expedited consideration of the matter in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“The proposal to change the name of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media has cleared all administrative steps required on our campus to change the name of an academic program,” the statement read.
Vitter has recommended that his proposal now be placed on the agenda for the next IHL Board meeting, which will take place on Oct. 18.
“The Board of Trustees has the authority to approve or not approve any request or recommendation brought forth by an institutional executive officer,” IHL communications director Caron Blanton said in a previous statement to The Daily Mississippian. “The Board must take a vote in order to take action on any agenda item.”
Vitter’s recommendation comes after the School of Journalism and New Media faculty, Graduate Council, Undergraduate Council and Council of Academic Administrators all voted to remove Meek’s name. Meek requested that the university remove his name in a public statement released three days after he drew widespread criticism for the racist beliefs conveyed in a Facebook post he published on Sept. 19. Since the Council of Academic Administrators’ vote, a group of UM faculty, staff and students have called for reparative justice at the university and for the journalism school to be renamed in honor of anti-lynching advocate and investigative journalist Ida B. Wells.
