UC Berkeley removed the name “Boalt Hall” from a building of its prestigious law school Thursday, officially acknowledging that the virulent anti-Chinese views expressed by attorney John Henry Boalt will no longer be honored at the university. After years of deliberation, the hall will now simply be known as the Law Building, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ wrote in a letter sent to the campus community Thursday. “This is the first time a UC Berkeley building has had its name removed because the values of its namesake were so out of sync with those of our institution,” Christ wrote. The op-ed prompted a strong response from Berkeley faculty, students and alumni, and a committee led by law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky recommended the name be removed in 2018. Tar Rakhra and Ryan Sun, Berkeley law students who advocated for the name to be removed, were at the law school entrance at 7 a.m. Thursday to watch the letters come down.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 30, 2020 19:41 UTC