The Prince William County School Board last week reaffirmed its decision to rename Godwin Middle School for a local philanthropist and community leader.
Board members voted unanimously March 2 to rename the Dale City school in honor of George M. Hampton in a compromise that also called for the county's newest elementary school to be named in memory of Kyle R. Wilson, the only Prince William firefighter to die in the line of duty.
Hampton and Wilson had been the two most popular choices for the new elementary school’s name, so board member Justin David Wilk (Potomac) introduced the idea of calling the new school “Wilson” and renaming Godwin. He said it was fitting that the name of Hampton, an African American, would replace the name of the late Mills E. Godwin Jr., a two-term Virginia governor who Wilk said had a segregationist past.
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But criticism of the decision came quickly. Godwin School staff members and parents were upset that they had not been notified of the possible name change. Others questioned what the swap would cost, a matter that remained unclear last week.
The controversy prompted school board member Gilbert A. “Gil” Trenum Jr. (Brentsville) to ask to revisit the issue. He introduced a motion Wednesday that would have retained “Godwin” and named a future school for Hampton. That move, however, failed on a 5-to-3 vote.
In their haste to make a decision March 2, Trenum said, board members “neglected the Godwin Middle School community, and we didn’t give them a voice at the time.”
He also said that the board took the naming process, aimed at honoring people, and “inserted race” into it. Some of his colleagues, however, took issue with Trenum’s comments.
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“How dare you say we inserted race,” board Vice Chairman Lillie G. Jessie (Occoquan) said. She spent several minutes describing some of the challenges she and others overcame as African Americans. Her husband, Richard, also spoke Wednesday in favor of the March 2 decision.
Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers (At Large) called Trenum’s move “pure political theater.” Trenum and board members Alyson A. Satterwhite (Gainesville) and William J. Deutsch (Coles), who voted with him, knew the motion would not pass, yet pursued the plan anyway, Sawyers said.
He said that it is generally expected that individuals for whom schools are named are good people. “But Mills Godwin was not a good person,” Sawyers said from the dais, his voice rising.
The board’s vote followed a lengthy public comment session, in which more than 20 people spoke in favor of maintaining the earlier decision about Godwin. They talked passionately about segregation and the pain and injustice of racism in general.
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One of those who came to the lectern was the Rev. Keith A. Savage, pastor of First Baptist Church in Manassas. He noted that Godwin never apologized for his role in Virginia’s “massive resistance” to school integration.
“He later expressed regret,” Savage said, “but not an apology.”
A few speakers Wednesday criticized the school name change, although they did not specifically praise Godwin, who served twice as governor — as a Democrat (1966-1970) and as a Republican (1974-1978). He also created the state’s community college system.
Mary Jo Stoy, a secretary at Godwin, reminded the board that her community did not know a name change was being considered, so they did not have the option of speaking on the matter at the March 2 meeting.
“Godwin Middle School supporters would have been here in full force,” said Stoy, who has worked at the school for 37 years.
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After Wednesday’s vote was recorded, well-wishers surrounded Hampton outside the chamber at the Edward L. Kelly Leadership Center. He said he was happy with the board’s decision, and he confirmed that it means even more to him because it includes a repudiation of Godwin.
“Of course it does,” Hampton said.
Drex Bradshaw, however, when reached Thursday, said he was not pleased about the decision. The 77-year-old retired naval aviator knew Godwin for most of the former governor’s life, and he still lives in Chuckatuck, a neighborhood of Suffolk city where Godwin grew up.
Bradshaw, a member of the Greater Chuckatuck Historical Foundation, said that political correctness has run amok and that the reasoning for stripping Godwin’s name from the Dale City school also would call for removing mention of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson from public places because of their misdeeds.
He said that Godwin was not a racist but simply a politician caught up in that era’s Virginia Democratic political machine, run by former Virginia governor and U.S. senator Harry F. Byrd Sr.
Godwin “was doing what everybody else was doing back in those days,” said Bradshaw, adding that it was wrong to chastise Godwin now that he is dead and cannot defend himself.
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