A century-old tradition at Wesleyan College ends, and many say good riddance

When Tyler Walker started her freshman year at Wesleyan College, she was excited to learn her class nickname was Red Pirates.

Then she learned the racist history behind it and took a different view.

“Coming in, I automatically knew I wanted to do something about it,” said Walker, who is black. “You would get a lot of different responses, but the consensus was something needed to change.”

Wesleyan students are starting their school year Monday with an end to controversial class names that have stood for about a century. Now a sophomore and a resident adviser, Walker was part of discussions that led to the change, and she is glad to see it happen.

The school announced July 24 that it is eliminating the class names, at least one of which had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. The announcement states that by 1917 the school, founded in 1836 as the first in the nation only for women, had done away with sororities for “an elite few.” To create a sisterhood bond that included all, classes were identified by names.

One class at that time called themselves the Ku Klux Klan. The 1913 yearbook was also named the Ku Klux.

The original Ku Klux Klan had dissolved by the time the name was adopted, though it soon re-emerged. The school’s online history states that students may have been influenced by the novels of Thomas Dixon that glorified the KKK as protectors in the aftermath of the Civil War, while the book ignored the Klan’s racism and terrorist activities. The film “The Birth of a Nation” in 1915 gave a similar portrayal of the Klan.

In the 1930’s, the class name of Ku Klux Klan at Wesleyan changed to the Tri-K, and later the Tri-K Pirates. That name persisted until 1993, when the class became simply the Red Pirates. Other class names adopted after 1917, and that have stood until this year, are Golden Hearts, Purple Knights and Green Knights. An incoming freshman class would adopt a name, carry it until the class graduated, and then it would return back to the freshman class the next year.

The change this year is that the classes will now identify only by the colors, not the original names. Wesleyan President Vivia Fowler said other than Red Pirates, historical research showed no evidence that the other class names had any origin to the Klan. But the decision was made to drop the tradition because of its connection to that era.

The school’s online history cites evidence that the “knight” name was derived from medieval history, not the Klan, but Fowler said the perception of that connection remained.

“We came to a decision we needed to move forward and develop some new student traditions that did not include class names,” she said.

She acknowledged class names are a big part of the Wesleyan tradition, and it wasn’t easy for some to let go of that. But she said the majority of students and alumnae supported the change. She said she had a couple of people tell her they no longer want to be associated with the college because of the change.

She also said that while the Red Pirate name is not itself connected to the Klan, the history of the name was passed down to new Red Pirate classes, and many students were hurt to find out how the name evolved.

The discussion over the names took place over the past year among faculty, students and alumnae, prompted by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story last year that delved into the racist history of the school. That included hazing traditions involving nooses draped around the necks of students, hooded robes, and treating black school workers as mascots. Last year, racist graffiti was discovered in a dorm at the school.

Fowler said there is some racial tension at the school, but she does not consider it any greater than society in general.

Rawlanda Hercules, a junior resident adviser who is black, said she has never used her class name. She just tells people what year she is in whenever the subject comes up.

“We are in a new day and age, and I think it’s important to respect all different nationalities and beliefs,” she said. “It’s great that they did change that.”

Laura Feltman, a Wesleyan senior who is white, said she followed her sister to Wesleyan and was well familiar with the class name tradition. She looked forward to entering as a Golden Heart, but she did not know the full history behind it. She is also a resident adviser and took part in the discussion on the names, and although it wasn’t easy for her to let go of the tradition, she eventually decided it was the right thing to do.

“With the colors instead of the names, we are going to connect with our sister classes through the generations, so I just have to hold on to that,” she said. “It’s more important to be part of an environment that’s open to change, and knowing we are in this historic moment for the college, it’s a proud moment because we have to let these things go in order to move forward and make a difference for the generations to come.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2018 at 12:00 AM.