Naming for New Residence Halls Long, Complicated

The Department of Housing and Residential Education plans to give the four buildings interim names. The interim names are based on the adjacent residence halls with "South" added to Morrison and Ehringhaus residence halls and "North" added to Hinton James and Craige residence halls as a suffix.

Assistant Housing Director Rebecca Casey said the housing department is concentrating on the interim names for now. "We are doing our best to ensure that they are communicated to the students and the University community," she said.

Casey said the housing department is reviewing the practical implications, such as problems with housing assignments and possible postal difficulties, of the names.

Housing department director Christopher Payne said officials in his department hope to finalize the names by the end of the semester.

There was a philosophy behind the interim naming process, Payne said. In addition to the names being self-explanatory and short to avoid confusion, they should help clarify each new residence hall's location.

The housing department and the Residence Hall Association sponsored six presentations this month to elicit feedback from students and leadership groups about the interim names.

"Students will continue to be involved with the process," Payne said.

RHA President David Cooper said RHA officials have contacted Chancellor James Moeser about student representation on the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Naming University Facilities and Activities.

The committee, which now has no student members, will make the final decision on the names, a process that could take years.

In an e-mail to the RHA, Moeser stated that he supports the idea of having a student representative on the committee. He then forwarded the e-mail to Sue Kitchen, vice chancellor for student affairs, who will decide whether a student representative is included.

University facilities and activities are named "in consideration of personal services rendered or financial contributions made to the University or of services rendered to society at large," according to the charter of the advisory committee.

Former Chancellor Paul Hardin established the charter in November 1992.

If someone donates money to the University for facilities improvements, the contribution cannot be less than half the cost of constructing or replacing the building or facility for which the money is intended, according to the charter.

When the committee decides on a name for a school or department, the donation has to be at least equal to school or department's annual operating budget.

But Speed Hallman, director of development communications, said the donation criteria used to name schools and departments is not used to name residence halls. "They are generally not named for donors," he said. "I believe the South Campus dorms are named for governors, except for Hinton James, who was the first student at Carolina."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.