Former Clemson Tigers wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins wants his alma mater to distance itself from slave owner John C. Calhoun.
Hopkins tweeted he is joining students and faculty members who are using a petition to call on Clemson to remove Calhoun's name from its buildings, signs and more:
"Clemson's Honors College was founded in 1962, but Calhoun's name was not added until 1981," the petition reads. "To change the name of the college, therefore, is not to 'erase history'; rather, it is to acknowledge that our understanding of history has evolved. To maintain the name, on the other hand, is to convey Clemson University's continued indifference toward a history of institutional racism and state-sanctioned violence against Black life.