NEWS BRIEF: Yerkes Center and other Emory sites must be renamed, protesters say

The Yerkes National Primate Research Center on Emory University’s Atlanta campus is a respected hub for biomedical and behavioral research. The 25-acre facility houses at least 1,000 nonhuman primates — and has not been without its share of controversy over the years. While concern for the treatment of animals at Yerkes has been a primary focus of criticism, now, the center’s name is the target of protest. The place is named after one of the most notorious eugenicists of the 20th century. Robert Yerkes, who died in 1956, spent decades advocating for the sterilization, isolation and extinction of people who weren’t considered socially “useful,” according to The Emory Wheel. A group of alumni, faculty and students known as the Emory Community Members for Historical Accountability has been pushing for name changes to the Center and other campus entities with racially questionable monikers. In response, Emory VP Laura Diamond said in a Feb. 11 email that college leaders are “actively evaluating” demands to revise the offensive appellations and predicted an update before the semester ends. emorywheel.com