Duke University names building after a Black woman for the first time in campus history

By Amir Vera, CNN

Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke has now made history at least twice on Duke University’s campus in North Carolina.She was one of the “First Five” undergraduate Black students to enroll at the university in 1963. As of Saturday, her name will be on an academic building, making her the first Black woman to have a campus building named for her, according to the university.The building that will bear her name — the sociology-psychology building — is on Duke’s West Campus and will now be known as the Reuben-Cooke Building. The building actually predates campus integration by about 30 years, according to Duke President Vincent E. Price.

“When the building that now bears Professor Reuben-Cooke’s name first opened, she would not have been allowed to enter it as a student,” Price said in an email. “From this day…

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