An activist student group at Towson University has started a petition to rename two buildings on campus that are named after prominent Maryland politcians and farmers from the 17th and 18th centuries. The students argue that the buildings should be renamed because their namesakes owned slaves.

According to a local news report, a small group of students at Towson University is making a push to have two campus buildings renamed. The builders are named after William Paca and Charles Carroll, both of whom were prominent figures in Maryland’s earlier history. The students are pushing to change the names because both men owned slaves.

At the time of this writing, a petition created by the students and posted to Change.org has received almost 5,000 signatures. The students claim that Charles Carroll had more slaves than anyone else in the state of Maryland.

Towson University has TWO building names that are named after racist slaveowners. William Paca (Paca House) and Charles Carroll (Carroll Hall) were both Maryland slaveowners. They owned plantations in Maryland, William Paca and his family owned the Wye Plantation and Charles Carroll owned the Doughoregan Manor plantation. It is stated in an article that Charles Carroll was the LARGEST slaveowner in Maryland. In 1773, there were three hundred and forty slaves that were listed as living on that plantation. Both of these families built their wealth off of the enslavement, abuse, and forced labor of African American people, and Towson is deciding to celebrate Charles Carroll and William Paca by naming a building after them. Is this what Towson stands for?

The student group, which calls themselves “Tigers for Justice,” claims that they intend to keep fighting this battle until the administration agrees to change the names. For now, they are hoping that people will keep signing their petition.

Many universities around the country have renamed buildings after student protests. Breitbart News reported in May 2017 that the University of Oregon spent $23,400 to rename several buildings on campus after students tied them to controversial pasts. A few of the buildings were renamed for figures that were influential in expanding “racial diversity and inclusion.”

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.