As statues of slave traders and confederate leaders are removed from public display — either voluntarily or by protesters against racism and police brutality — former Clemson players Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins are supporting efforts to continue that trend at their alma mater.
The now-Houston Texans quarterback and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver are calling for the South Carolina university to drop John C. Calhoun’s name from the honors college (officially named the Calhoun Honors College). Both former Tigers shared on social media a link to a petition demanding Clemson rename the honors college and encouraged others to sign it.
Calhoun served as vice president of the United States under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and, as detailed several times in his bio on Clemson’s website, he was a huge proponent of slavery, defending it as a senator in 1837 as “instead of an evil, a good — a positive good.”
The effort to remove Calhoun’s name from the honors college is not new, but Watson and Hopkins’ support for it could be significant as massive protests against racial injustice continue nationwide and around the globe in the two weeks since a white Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd.
Clemson University should not honor slave owner John C. Calhoun in any way. His name should be removed from all University property and programming. I am joining the students, faculty & DeAndre to restart this petition to rename the Calhoun Honors College.https://t.co/GdhtCZKFnZ
— Deshaun Watson (@deshaunwatson) June 9, 2020
In his Instagram caption, Hopkins explained that because Calhoun’s name is attached to the honors college, buildings and signs, he “purposely” does not mention Clemson when he’s introduced for NFL games. The wide receiver wrote:
As we watch everything happening in the world, I want to bring up something that has been bothering me for a long time in my community. Clemson University still honors the name of well known slave owner and pro-slavery politician John C. Calhoun on its buildings, signs, and in the name of its honors program. I felt this oppressive figure during my time at Clemson and purposely do not mention the University’s name before NFL games because of it. I am joining the voices of the students and faculty who have restarted this petition to rename the Calhoun Honors College. I urge all Clemson students, football players, and alumni to join us, so the next generation of young Black leaders can be proud of the institution they graduate from. Now is the time for change.
Clemson also notes that the campus was built on Calhoun’s Fort Hill Plantation, where he enslaved 70 to 80 African American people, adding: “Undeniably, Calhoun was an ardent believer in white supremacy.”
The Change.org petition to “remove John C. Calhoun’s name from one of our most distinguished academic programs” had a goal of 10,000 signatures, and at the time of this post, it already had more than 8,100. Directed at Clemson’s and the honors college’s leadership, along with the school’s board of trustees, the petition reads, in part:
Clemson’s Honors College was founded in 1962, but Calhoun’s name was not added until 1981. To change the name of the college, therefore, is not to “erase history”; rather, it is to acknowledge that our understanding of history has evolved. To maintain the name, on the other hand, is to convey Clemson University’s continued indifference toward a history of institutional racism and state-sanctioned violence against Black life. South Carolina’s Heritage Act says nothing about the names of academic programs. It was a choice to rename the Honors College in 1981, and it remains a choice now.
Watson’s and Hopkins’ push for the honors college name change comes as Clemson’s football program is involved in multiple controversies. Coach Dabo Swinney was photographed recently wearing a tone-deaf t-shirt, and he’s been criticized for how he responded to an assistant coach saying the N-word at practice in 2017.
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