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Home Opinion Petition For Dorm Name Change Should Be Considered

Ruth B could need a new dorm sign soon. Photo courtesy of Sower Staff.

 

The Sower believes that the recent petition to change the names of Ruth B and C to Boaz and Obed is an excellent proposal worthy of consideration.

Every other dorm on campus has its own unique name, creating unique sub-communities all over Concordia. Ruth A, B and C are unlike these other dorms. The Ruths are grouped together. Renaming two to Boaz and Obed will continue the sense of family, as Boaz and Obed were Ruth’s husband and son, but they will be distinct from Ruth instead of having three Ruths.

The proposal started with the modest goal of 100 signatures, but now has over 200 and is aiming for 500. Student response has been positive.

The Sower believes this is due to many factors aside from the indisputable fact that the Ruths stand out from other dorms. One of them is that the names are biblical, which will continue the tradition started by other dorms.

Additionally, because the Ruth dorms are named after people from the Bible instead of people who donated to Concordia, the proposal has a real chance of success. Buildings named after donors must keep their names, but the Ruths are free to be renamed.

The Ruth buildings are connected, but separating the names will provide for a sense of structure that is lacking in the current names.

One unfortunate downside is that the lounges would also need to be renamed –there can be no Ruth BC lounge if there is no Ruth B or C. It would also be overly ambigous to call one lounge after any one of the buildings, as each lounge is connected to two buildings.

The Sower would like to make a slight amendment to the petition, however–we believe that Ruth B and C should not be the dorms changed, but A and B. Ruth C will remain Ruth, honoring the fact that it has served as a girls’ dorm.

The Sower advocates for students taking ownership of their campus, which is what this name change essentially is. Now, as Concordia University Portland is disbanding, is the time, more than ever, for us to come together as a community and invest in our campus. We are Concordia’s legacy. We are proud of our university and are looking toward its future.

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