The University of Georgia is asking regents to name two buildings for early Black graduates

UGA President Jere Morehead attends the 74th Annual Peabody Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on Sunday, May 31, 2015, in New York.

Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

The University of Georgia is asking regents to name two buildings for some of the university’s earliest Black graduates. This week’s proposal followed a decision by the University System of Georgia regents not to remove names of any people associated with slavery, segregation or the mistreatment of Native Americans from 75 buildings statewide.

University President Jere Morehead said UGA would seek to name its existing science library for Shirley Mathis McBay, the first African American to earn a doctorate from the university. UGA also is asking regents to name a dormitory under construction for Harold A. Black, Mary Blackwell Diallo and Kerry Rushin Miller. They were the first three African-American students to enroll at UGA as freshmen and graduate.

Regents decide the names of buildings and facilities at all of Georgia’s 26 public universities and colleges. Their next scheduled meeting is in January.