Reviewing the Appropriateness of Virginia’s Community Colleges Facility Names
The mission of Virginia’s Community Colleges (VCCS) and their shared dedication to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion demand we examine the names regularly facing our students, faculty, staff, and supporters on their community college journey and determine if those names are consistent with that mission and those values.
The State Board for Community Colleges has the authority to determine the names of community colleges and college campuses. The State Board has delegated authority to local college advisory boards to approve the names of on-campus facilities.
At its meeting on July 16, the State Board for Community Colleges, which governs Virginia’s 23 community colleges, passed a resolution asking each institution’s local board to review the appropriateness of its college, campus, and facilities names and to report its findings and recommendations by no later than March 2021 to the State Board for its consideration (this has been extended to June 2021).State Board Resolution
In support of that effort, Dr. John Rainone, President, and the Local College Board established a College Building and Naming Committee to review the name of the College and its facilities. The history of the College's namesake and others have been researched. Additional information is available on this page:
Research Findings
Addendum - June 2, 2021
Please visit our Renaming FAQ page.
The Local Board's response to the State Board's request (December 14, 2020) Letter
In March 2021, the College completed surveys to students and to faculty and staff regarding the naming.
Student Survey Results
Faculty/Staff Survey Results
At the May 2021 State Board for Community Colleges Board Meeting, a request was made to reconsider the naming of Mountain Gateway.
State Board tells Patrick Henry, Mountain Gateway Community Colleges to reconsider keeping their names
State board urges renaming of 2 Virginia community colleges
At the June 21, 2021 meeting of the Local Board voted unanimously to recommend the name change to the State Board
DSLCC-board-votes-favor-name-change
Mountain Gateway Community College agrees to name change after new details about namesake revealed
At the October 18, 2021 meeting, the Local Board voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the Renaming Task Force to rename the college, "Mountain Gateway Community College" effective July 1, 2022.
Mountain-gateway-new-proposed-college-name-0
On November 18, the State Board for Community Colleges, unanimously approved the name "Mountain Gateway Community College."
State-board-approves-mountain-gateway-cc-new-name
For more information, please contact the Office of the President:
Phone: 540-863-2824
For more information on the Local Board, please visit: https://www.mgcc.edu/local-board