EWING -- The College of New Jersey has announced it is changing the name of its admissions building that had been named for an ardent supporter of segregation.

Paul Loser Hall will now be known as Trenton Hall. The change goes into effect immediately.

The board of trustees made its decision Wednesday, a week after President R. Barbara Gitenstein accepted a recommendation from an advisory commission.

"The name Trenton Hall embraces the college's history, under its six different names, as an institution born in the city of Trenton," Gitenstein said. "We have a longstanding history with the city and this name will remind us and everyone who visits campus that TCNJ's roots run through our state capital."

A group of students pushed for a name change last fall after learning of Loser's past when conducting research on Trenton's educational system from the 1930s through the 1960s.

Loser, who served as schools superintendent from 1932 to 1955, attempted to keep the city's public schools separated by race -- even after a 1944 state Supreme Court decision prohibited it.

Gitenstein said Loser's legacy is at odds with the TCNJ's mission and values and his views were opposed at the time by then-college President Roscoe West, who was a member of the Trenton Committee on Unity and a prominent advocate for school desegregation in the capital city.

She said that while she believes the name change was the right decision to make for the college, it was not without difficulty, given the family's support for the college's "quest for excellence."

One son, Paul, was instrumental in creating the TCNJ Foundation, and his other son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Carol, donated $1 million in 1987 to help the college realize its aspirations of supporting top faculty and students, Gitenstein said.

She says the gift was not contingent upon or tied to the naming of the building. The family donated another $5 million in 2006.

The newly renamed building houses the Office of Admissions and the School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Science.

The advisory commission will continue to meet and issue a final set of recommendations in June on how the college can help improve race relations and social justice moving forward.

Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.