In 2017, Chancellor David Faigman led a committee to investigate the history of founder Serranus Hastings. Hastings was a former California Supreme Court chief justice and state attorney general. The report – released in 2020 –found that Hastings had led hunting trips that dislocated or killed hundreds of Yuki Indians in Mendocino County.
Last week, Faigman sent a letter to the school community announcing that more than three-quarters of the school leadership support replacing the Hastings name. Most preferred a more geographical name, like San Francisco. The school still needs approval from the State Legislature, as well as Governor Gavin Newsom, for the Hastings name to be removed.
Faigman has stated that he and the school’s board of directors would like to name a well-known part of the campus after an Indigenous-language name. He has been working with various local tribes on plans to further the Indigenous Law Center and a memorial in honor of the Yuki people at its campus
