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UNC stadium plate swaps father for son, citing 1898 massacre

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill will swap a "Sr." for a "Jr." on a plaque at Kenan Memorial Stadium, to distance the university from William Rand Kenan Sr.'s involvement in the 1898 massacre targeting black North Carolinians.

The News & Observer reports UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said in a Wednesday letter that the university consulted with the Kenan family and decided to change the honorific reference to focus on stadium donor William Rand Kenan Jr.

The younger Kenan's name is on the university's business school, professorships and a charitable trust, but he had made the stadium donation in memory of his parents.

Last month, sportswriter Craig Calcaterra reported the elder Kenan was the commander of "a white supremacist paramilitary force which massacred scores of black residents of Wilmington."

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Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com

The Associated Press


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