From the Two Virginia’s Newsroom with your local news, I’m Gregory Howard…

In a unanimous vote by the Board of Directors at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College on Monday evening, DSLCC will be known as Mountain Gateway Community College. The decision was prompted by new research that emerged about the namesake of the college.

Dabney Lancaster was a state education superintendent and a former president of Longwood University who opposed school integration in Virginia.

The Virginia State Board for Community Colleges called on campus leaders to change the college’s name last summer, but the local board decided against it. The state board asked college leaders to reconsider replacing the name again last month.

Researchers recently discovered that Lancaster was an active member, and at one point a national officer, in what historians described as an “elitist KKK” organization. The new discovery motivated college leaders to reverse their decision.

The new name is awaiting approval from the state board in November. From The Two Virginias Newsroom, I’m Gregory Howard…