By Marissa Yelenik
The University of Maryland School of Public Policy building was named after civil rights lawyer and former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall almost a century after he was denied admission to the university.
The change was made official in a ceremony on Tuesday — the last day of Black History Month. The building’s new name, Thurgood Marshall Hall, was announced in an email sent out by President Darryll Pines on Feb. 23.
“[Marshall] is the embodiment of bringing people together for constructive dialogue in the pursuit of the public good. He is a reminder of our past, and our progress,” said Pines.
Thurgood Marshall is nationally known as a civil rights activist for his role in Brown v. Board of Education — the consolidated Supreme Court case which ultimately declared the segregation of public schools to be unconstitutional, overruling the “separate but equal” doctrine set by Plessy v. Ferguson.
However, prior to this, Marshall played a pivotal role in the desegregation of the University of Maryland, College Park as the attorney for Parren Mitchell and Hiram Whittle.
Mitchell and Whittle, each of whom also have a building on campus named after them, sued the university with the help of Marshall after being denied admission on account of their race.
Instead of offering the two applicants admission, the university offered Mitchell and Whittle scholarships to go out of state — attempting to placate any complaints while keeping Black students off campus grounds, according to the University of Maryland Archives.
After winning the case, Whittle became the first Black undergraduate student at the university, and Mitchell was the first Black student to take graduate classes at the university.
“[Marshall] broke down the barriers of segregation and threw open doors for Parren, Hiram and thousands of students after them to attend the University of Maryland,” said Pines.
This was not the first tangle between the university and Marshall, who also argued Murray v. Pearson alongside Charles Houston in 1935.
Murray v. Pearson, a landmark civil rights case, laid the first legal framework against segregation in Maryland after it was ruled there was no alternate law school that would be considered equal to the University of Maryland School of Law.
Marshall’s long history with the university and constant positive influence is now forever commemorated by his place as the namesake of the School of Public Policy building.
“The addition of Thurgood Marshall’s name on our campus is a symbol of our dedication to serving the public good. We will protect it, and pass it on,” Pines said.
However, some students question the decision to name the building after Marshall.
“I think the renaming may not send the message UMD wants to send — that UMD sees racism and is doing something about it. I think it could be interpreted as performative,” sophomore public policy major Theo Ng said. “What does this substantively mean in terms of remedying racial injustice?”
Ng commented that it might be better for the university to take more concrete actions in addition to symbolic gestures.
“Sometimes it’s easier to point to a name on the face of a building as a way to say ‘Look, we acknowledge racism and the disinvestment of resources to communities of color,’” Ng said. “The naming of the building is a good thing, don’t get me wrong. But I think there are additional steps UMD can take.”
Featured image: The new building nameplate sits on the Public Policy building on Feb. 28, 2023. Photo by Marissa Yelenik.