(AP) — The University of Mississippi said it’s renaming a campus building to honor a one-time student activist who became a longtime administrator at the school.
The school said a board voted to rename the Martindale Student Services Center as the Martindale-Cole Student Services Center.
The new name honors Donald R. Cole, who enrolled in 1968 and pressed for an end to racism and more opportunities for Black people on campus. He was among eight students expelled after a protest in 1970 but later returned.
Cole retired from Ole Miss in 2019 after a decades-long career as a professor and administrator. A university announcement said Cole was known as an advocate for diversity.
“Dr. Cole’s legacy can be seen, heard and felt all across this institution each and every day, so it’s very fitting that his name adorn the very building that so many students go to for support on our campus,” Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce said in a statement.