Following up on my previous posts (links below):  New York Times, A New Name for California’s Oldest Law School? It’s Not Easy.:

When a New York Times article last year detailed the involvement of the founder of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in state-sponsored massacres of Indigenous Californians, an outcry ensued. The law school’s board swiftly and unanimously agreed to change the school’s name.

But in the months since, university administrators have learned that deleting a tainted name might be the easy part. Choosing a new one is proving to be a fraught and costly process. …

A small but vocal group of people at Hastings believe that the university should keep its name after all. “It seems like it would make more sense to use the money for things that would be more beneficial,” said Marsha N. Cohen, a professor at the law school who has also worked in the admissions office. …

The law school’s board has proposed that the new name should be the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco, according to David Faigman, the chancellor and dean.

“San Francisco is a world-class city, well known for dynamism and innovation — qualities that distinguish our law school as well,” Faigman said in a written answer to my questions. “The San Francisco name also conveys the useful information of where we are located and aligns us with the naming convention of every other campus of the University of California.”

A group of Yuki tribe members is pushing back on that name. It was Yuki Indians who were massacred in campaigns in the mid-1800s that historians say were bankrolled and masterminded by Serranus Hastings, the founder of the law school.

Some members of the Yuki tribe are urging Hastings to rename the school with a name from the Yuki language. Steve Brown, the president of the Round Valley Yuki committee, proposes “Powen’om,” which means “one people.”

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• The Moral Case For Renaming UC-Hastings Law School Due To ‘Indian Hunting’ By Serranus Hastings In The 1850s (Jan. 11, 2017)
• Hastings Law School Balks At Name Change Despite Founder’s Role in Genocide (Dec. 7, 2020)
• Hastings Law School To Keep Name Despite Founder’s Role In Genocide, But Will Partner With Indian Tribe To Redress Past Injustices (July 6, 2021)
• NY Times: Should UC-Hastings Law School Change Its Name Due To Founder’s Role In Native American Genocide? (Oct. 29, 2021)
• UC-Hastings To Seek Legislation To Change Its Name Due To Founder’s Role In Native American Massacres (Nov. 4, 2021)