At Brown University, the second Monday of October will be known, at least on official campus calendars, as Indigenous People’s Day.
The decision moves the school one step further from the name found on most calendars, Columbus Day. Since 2009, the university has used the term “Fall Holiday Weekend.”
This week’s decision is the most recent attempt at Brown to address criticism for a lack of inclusiveness and sensitivity to racial tensions, including contending with its own history in the slave trade.
This past fall, members of the student organization Native Americans at Brown pushed for the fall weekend name change. A majority of faculty voted in favor of the change this week.
The student group says the new name will increase visibility of Native Americans on the Ivy League campus, and highlight the displacement and oppression some feel Christopher Columbus has come to symbolize.
