On Thursday April 16th, 2009, the Green River Community College (GRCC) Board of Trustees approved the name of Salish Hall; soon to replace the ST building area. The new building will be home to five academic divisions of Fine Arts, Social Science, English, Humanities and Business.
The idea of Salish Hall was presented to Sam Ball, Dean of Instruction and Capital Projects at GRCC, by the Social Science Division. The name was then presented to The Board of Trustees by Marianne Jacobs, Anthropology Division Chair at GRCC, in March 2009.
The name of Salish comes from the Native Indian group Coast Salish, who are made up of Northern Coast Salish, Central Coast Salish, Southern Coast Salish and Southwestern Coast Salish. The name does not actually come from one particular Native Indian group but what they refer to themselves as when talking about them as a whole.
The idea to name the new building Salish Hall is due to the fact that Green River is built on their original lands. “None of the other buildings on campus are named like this” said Jacobs. “We view this name as an opportunity to honor the peoples of this region, to potentially build better relations with them and to acknowledge their contribution to our campus.”
“This is a chance to honor the tribes, a way to honor what they gave us” says Jacobs. One hopeful plan for the new building is to house Native Indian paintings and art. “It is a good opportunity to incorporate Native art” said Jacobs.
Student’s accepted the new name with optimism
“I think it’s awesome to have a building that embraces the original land use and culture,” said La-Basha Alexander, a student at Green River. “Even though it is just a small gesture in recognizing the original natives, it can make a strong impact.”
The hope for the new building name is to change campus ideas of what campus buildings should be called.
“With the new same of Salish Hall, it opens up more opportunities and possibilities for the change of building names. Names that would have significance on what the college is built on,” said Alexander.
The building for Salish Hall is to be completed by Fall 2011.
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