BREAKING NEWS: BOT approves Douglas Hall rename
Joyce Madigan, the chairperson for the Board of Trustees, and David Glassman, Eastern Illinois University President, convene after the Friday Board of Trustees meeting was adjourned. The meeting was held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Union University Ballroom. The board approved of an additoin of one year to Glassman’s contract, all were in favor of the extension except one.
April 22, 2022
Douglas Hall will be renamed to Powell-Norton Hall following a unanimous vote by Eastern’s Board of Trustees.
The name represents two Black women who were influential in Eastern’s history, Zella Powell and Ona Norton.
Powell was Eastern’s first Black graduate in 1910, and Norton was a community member who helped Black students find housing off campus in the 1950s.
The board allowed for a 20-minute period of public comment, however, no one spoke at that time.
The current name, Douglas Hall, is in the name of Stephen Douglas, a pro-slavery proponent and former Illinois senator who debated Abraham Lincoln in Charleston in 1858 for a senate seat.
Douglas Hall was named in conjunction with Lincoln Hall to memorialize the debate.
Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at deneic@gmail.com.
