Former UC President and UCSD Chancellor Richard C. Atkinson has withdrawn himself from naming considerations for Sixth College less than a week after A.S. President Christopher Sweeten, joined by a group of students wearing all black, held an April 22 rally in Price Center to protest the lack of student input in the naming process.
In an e-mail sent to the Sixth College community, Provost Gabriele Wienhausen stated that Atkinson has requested to have his name withdrawn from further consideration. Administrators had previously chosen Atkinson’s name for the college, a decision opposed by some students.
“Should President Atkinson choose not to reconsider his decision, the process is suspended,” Wienhausen stated. “As Provost, I will explore with members of the Sixth College community how best to proceed.”
Sixth College students, as well as members of the Student Affirmative Action Committee, had called on the college administrators to stop their decision to name the college after Atkinson prior to his request in favor of a more open renaming process.
“There is a void in the community,” Sweeten said. “In this case, it is the voice of the students.”
Thurgood Marshall College senior Victor Huynh, who attended the rally as the president of the Asian and Pacific-Islander Student Alliance and a member of SAAC, said the event was a means to get the attention of both students and the administration.
“We hope that the blackout is a starting point where we can engage the administration,” Huynh said. “We are trying to reach those certain few students who do care to become more involved in the school.”
Huynh also said that he is frustrated that students are unable to give their opinions on the future name of the college.
“We have a strong opinion on how we like to see the campus develop,” Sweeten said.
After an April 24 meeting with Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, Sweeten said that the chancellor has agreed to attend a May 5 town hall forum on the subject at the Cross-Cultural Center.
Earlier this month, the A.S. Council passed a resolution endorsing the blackout and opposed the naming of the college after Atkinson. The resolution also criticizes the current name-selection process for not taking adequate student input into account.
“The ASUCSD understands that the naming of Sixth College after Richard C. Atkinson would be an insult to the struggles of underrepresented students on this campus and its rich history of student activism,” the resolution states.
Some students said they feel that there are alternative candidates who better represent Sixth College.
“Atkinson represents the status quo. [He] does not represent the ideologies of San Diego — only the elite know of him, not the middle or lower class,” Sweeten said. “The best ally of people of color is a person of color.”
Currently, three of the other five colleges are named after white males, and Huynh said he would welcome having Sixth College named after someone of color, a female or someone of different sexual orientation.
“I felt that the name should be reflective of the college itself,” he said, referring to the college’s focus on the exploration of culture, art and technology.
Associate Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer Jorge A. Huerta stated in an e-mail prior to Atkinson’s announcement that he was in support of sticking with the previous naming decision.
“I [have] nothing but positive things to say about Dr. Atkinson,” Huerta stated. “I do believe that Dr. Atkinson has worked very hard for all of the themes that [Sixth] College encompasses.”
The Sixth College Executive Committee has allotted only one seat for a student representative in the naming process. The A.S. resolution alleged that the lone student was misinformed of the meeting time of the committee, and was thus unable to fully voice student opinion in the decision.
