State Board Enacts New Naming Policy, Accepts Local Recommendations to Change Three College Names

In updating its college naming policy, the Board agreed college names "Should reflect the values of inclusive and accessible education articulated in the VCCS mission statement, with special emphasis on diversity, equity, and opportunity, and be relevant to the students it seeks to serve and to the geography of its service region."

Accordingly, the Board unanimously approved the recommendations of the local college boards of John Tyler, Lord Fairfax, and Thomas Nelson Community Colleges to remove their existing names and return with recommendations of what their new names should be.

Further, The Board unanimously voted to direct Patrick Henry Community College and Dabney S. Lancaster Community College leaders and local boards to reconsider their previous decision to retain their college's name following the state policy change.

The Board's decisions represent the latest step in a process that began nearly a year ago when it asked local college advisory boards to review the appropriateness of the names of its college, campuses, and facilities. The Board, by policy, carries the sole authority to decide the names of Virginia's Community Colleges.