This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/01/2023 08:00 AMMore than 90% of our country’s monuments, memorials, and places named after people honor white males, while contributions of white non-males, people of color, and indigenous people of all genders go largely unrecognized. The erroneous message is that these contributions are insignificant, diminishing us all. Naming Madison’s new school is an opportunity to rectify this imbalance.
On Oct. 19, a notice soliciting school name nominations gave a deadline of Friday, Nov. 10 — just three weeks! With the project not breaking ground until next spring, rushing to name selection is unjustified. Securing a nominee’s required 10 recommendation letters alone could easily take longer than that and suggests the committee already has some favored candidate(s) lined up and wants to seal the decision early.
Let’s extend the deadline, widely publicize the process, expand the selection criteria beyond favoring long-time educators, and give particular/additional attention to candidates outside the white male cohort. Let’s engage young Madisonians to reflect on their aspirations and what name is most inspiring to them— after all, it’s their school and their future. Let’s encourage them to discover people whose contribution to our town has not traditionally been noticed/celebrated. This process would foster new appreciation and understanding of the diverse spectrum of people integral to our collective good. Let’s invite them to give speeches and have each school vote for top candidates to submit to the committee. They would be engaging directly in the democratic process, and the experience would likely ignite their passions. What more important thing could our schools teach?
Please join me in calling on the Board of Education to consider these essential changes that can help ensure our new building bears a name that is a source of pride and meaning for the largest number of Madison citizens, especially our young ones.
Cecily Baran
Madison