South Carolina Football Alumni Call for Renaming of Strom Thurmond Center

As colleges around the country have started to rename or remove landmarks named after racist figures, South Carolina football alumni have joined the cause.

On Wednesday, former Gamecock football players took aim at the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center, named after former South Carolina governor and senator Strom Thurmond. Thurmond was a well-known, longtime supporter of segregation, once quoted as saying: "There’s not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation," then using a racial slur.

Former football players Alshon Jeffery, Marcus Lattimore and Mike Davis all took to Twitter to announce their support for changing the name of the Thurmond Center, posting identical messages:

Last week, Clemson renamed its honors college from Calhoun Honors College to the Clemson University Honors College after Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins both publicly called for changing the name via a petition.

"Clemson University should not honor slave owner John C. Calhoun in any way. His name should be removed from all University property and programming," Watson wrote on Twitter. "I am joining the students, faculty & DeAndre to restart this petition to rename the Calhoun Honors College."

Also last week, Memphis Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant wrote a letter to a judge in Calloway County—the home of his alma mater, Murray State—calling for the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in downtown Murray, Kentucky, near the school's campus.

"As a young Black man, I cannot stress enough how disturbing and oppressive it is to know the city still honors a Confederate war general defending white supremacy and hatred," Morant's letter said. "Given recent events and the Black Lives Matter movement, it is necessary to act now. We can’t change the culture of racism unless we change the celebration of racism. Please help us take a stand and remove this symbol of hatred and oppression.”