Since the 1960s , John C. Calhoun 's white supremacist beliefs and pro-slavery leadership had prompted calls to rename the college or remove its tributes to Calhoun . The racially motivated church shooting in Charleston , South Carolina , led to renewed calls in the summer of 2015 for Calhoun College , one of 12 residential colleges , to be renamed . In July 2015 students signed a petition calling for the name change . They argued in the petition that — while Calhoun was respected in the 19th century as an " extraordinary American statesman " — he was " one of the most prolific defenders of slavery and white supremacy " in the history of the United States . In August 2015 Yale President Peter Salovey addressed the Freshman Class of 2019 in which he responded to the racial tensions but explained why the college would not be renamed . He described Calhoun as " a notable political theorist , a vice president to two different U.S. presidents , a secretary of war and of state , and a congressman and senator representing South Carolina " . He acknowledged that Calhoun also " believed that the highest forms of civilization depend on involuntary servitude . Not only that , but he also believed that the races he thought to be inferior , black people in particular , ought to be subjected to it for the sake of their own best interests . " Student activism about this issue increased in the fall of 2015 , and included further protests sparked by controversy surrounding an administrator 's comments on the potential positive and negative implications of students who wear culturally sensitive Halloween costumes . Campus-wide discussions expanded to include critical discussion of the experiences of women of color on campus , and the realities of racism in undergraduate life . The protests were sensationalized by the media and led to the labelling of some students as being members of Generation Snowflake
church shooting
Charleston church shooting
Yale University