EWING -- Some students at The College of New Jersey are petitioning the school to change the name of Paul Loser Hall after learning that the former Trenton schools superintendent was a segregationist.

The students, Tim Osborne, Chris Loos and Kevin Montayo, say they were spurred into action after uncovering court testimony of Loser's past during archival research of Trenton's education system in the 1930s to the 1960s.

They began posting flyers on campus Wednesday urging others to support a name change.

The flyer says that Loser, who served as Trenton's schools superintendent from 1932 to 1955, "openly and unabashedly segregated black children in Trenton, sending them to the New Lincoln School in some cases 20 blocks from their home (when an all-white school was merely two blocks away).

The mothers of Janet Hedgepath and Leon Williams sued the district in the 1940s after they were denied admission to a new neighborhood school because they were black.

Loser testified during the trial that the school, Junior No. 2, "had not been built for negroes and that they were better off when separated from whites."

"In the case Loser had to testify why two students were segregated," Osborne said. "He said it was done on race, in accordance with the policy and philosophy of education -- but that was his policy and philosophy."

In January 1944, the court sided with the mothers, ordering the board to immediately enroll Hedgepath and Williams in Junior No. 2 and admit all black students to all Trenton schools by the end of the year. The ruling prohibited any school board in New Jersey from refusing to enroll any student in any school on the basis of their race or skin color.

College spokesman David Muha said that students of the school's history program who were doing archival work "uncovered documents" revealing Paul Loser's past and brought the information to the college's provost.

"We're welcoming a conversation and dialogue to learn more," Muha said. "The next step is to have the conversation about what the students have uncovered."

The flyer says that Loser "punished the majority-black New Lincoln School by reassigning its teachers and closing segments of the school."

In 1945, minutes from a Trenton Committee for Unity meeting show "Loser still argues for segregation because it's best for black students," Osborne said. "He dragged his feet."

On Wednesday, students expressed shock over the flyers, saying they knew little about Loser.

"Wow! This was very informative -- I never knew this... I'm glad I know this now," senior Jala Muhammad said. "I feel like a change would be nice, but I feel like realistically that's something that takes time.

"I really love what they're trying to do though," she said.

Senior Joel Hernandez said he was surprised that a school as diverse as TCNJ would name a building after Loser.

"I don't think we should have a building named after someone who was pro segregation," he said.

Other students said they would like more information or open discussions on the matter, but agreed that a name change would be a good idea in light of the new information.

"Knowing this, I wouldn't be against a name change, but since this wasn't widely known I wouldn't go out there and fight for it, but I also wouldn't fight against it," freshman Emily Sorrentino said.

Senior Alexandra Morales said she would like a panel discussion before any name change is considered.

The Loser family has history of donating large sums of money to the college, the school's newspaper, The Signal, has reported.

In 1987, Tom and Carol Loser donated $1 million to the college, the largest private donation in the school's history at that time, to help build Paul Loser Hall -- named for Tom's father.

Tom and Carol Loser donated another $5 million to the college in 2006.

The college has a process by which the board can consider a name change, the college spokesman said.

"It's too early to speculate on any changes that might be made," Muha said when asked if the monetary donations made by the Loser family could impact the decision making process.

Greg Wright may be reached at gwright@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregTheWright. Find NJ.com on Facebook.