University of South Carolina asks to change residence name

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The University of South Carolina is joining Clemson University in asking the South Carolina Legislature to change the name of a building that honors a gynecologist who conducted experiments on female slaves.

If trustees agree on Friday, the University of South Carolina will ask to remove the name of J. Marion Sims from a women's residence hall on campus. Sims, who was white, has been honored as the father of modern gynecology, but he did experimental work on women who were slaves without anesthesia.

Passing the measure will be an uphill battle. Under the state's Heritage Act, a law passed in 2000, a two-thirds vote is required to change the name of any building named for a historical figure or move or remove a monument.

“We are all endowed with human frailties and are products of our time, but the actions that are such a large part of Sims’ legacy are incompatible with respect for human dignity and the values we hold dear as a campus community,” university president Bob Caslen wrote in a letter asking trustees to consider the request.

Trustees will vote Friday on whether to ask the General Assembly to change the name under the Heritage Act. Lawmakers haven't given permission to rename or move any buildings or monuments since 2015, when they agreed to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse lawn in 2015.

Clemson University trustees voted last week to ask lawmakers for permission to change the name of Tillman Hall, named after “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, a white man who was governor and a U.S. senator. Tillman came to prominence leading a mob that attacked and killed four black men in 1876 in a successful effort to eliminate the political power African Americans gained after the Civil War ended.

Clemson trustees also agreed Friday to take the name of former U.S. Vice President...