Troy University is honoring Rep. John Lewis with the renaming of a campus building after the late Georgia congressman.
The university dedicated John Robert Lewis Hall at a ceremony this weekend with school representatives, congressional representatives and members of the Lewis family in attendance.
“To see this happen in his hometown of Troy, in a city where he was once denied his basic right to education, he would have been overcome with pride and gratefulness,” said his nephew Jerrick Lewis. “My uncle would have been proud to have his name displayed on this building, and he would’ve been proud of this university for showing the world what it truly stands for: unity and equality over hatred.”
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“It is the right thing to do to name this building for a great man,” Troy Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr. said. “I am proud of our Board for making that decision. On July 25, we honored John Lewis for a day. Today, we honor him for an eternity.”
The building previously had been named after Bibb Graves, a former Alabama governor who had ties to the Ku Klux Klan according to AP.
The Troy board of trustees voted in August to rename the hall after Lewis instead. The university and city both honored Lewis following his death a month prior. One of his memorial services was held on the Troy campus.
Yesterday was a special day. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate a great day for TROY, our city, and the state of Alabama!
Posted by Troy University on Saturday, November 14, 2020
A gentle breeze blew a cascade of autumn leaves through the air just as Rep. John Lewis’ nephew talked about the...
Posted by Troy University on Friday, November 13, 2020
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Lewis and his siblings grew up working on the family’s farm in Troy, Alabama. Troy, like many other cities in the United States at the time, was divided by race.
“I would come home, ask my mother, ask my father, my grandparents, ‘Why?’ And they would say, ‘That’s the way it is. Don’t get in the way. Don’t get into trouble,’” Lewis said.
As a teenager, Lewis applied to Troy, an all-white university at the time, but never got a response.
Meanwhile Lewis formed a friendship and bond with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
It was King who gave Lewis his nickname “The Boy from Troy" during one of their first encounters.
“I saw Dr. King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy standing behind a desk in a little office, and Dr. King said, ‘Are you the boy from Troy? Are you John Lewis?’ I was so scared,” Lewis said. “And he started calling me the boy from Troy. And during that time, we became like brothers.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
