A small panel of members of the Student Center Renaming Ad Hoc Committee, formed<\/a> last April, gave<\/a> campus community members up to three minutes to publicly voice concerns, context, ideas and recommendations relative to the renaming process. AS also invited participants to submit<\/a> written comments via a QR code.<\/p>\n The committee held four one-hour-long hybrid town halls. Committee members heard from 58 public commenters over two days, 18 of which submitted written feedback.<\/p>\n AS Assistant Executive Director of Governance, Christine Amador, says the committee ultimately landed the days and times upon inquiry into course offerings<\/a> for both undergraduate and graduate students, with the most on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.<\/p>\n \u201cThey really wanted to ensure that the town halls were as accessible as possible,\u201d Amador said. \u201cThat\u2019s also why we had the Zoom option as well, so that commuter students\u2026were still able to have the same platform regardless of in which modality they came.\u201d<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s pair of town halls platformed 26 public commenters, consisting of students, faculty, staff members and alumni expressing thoughts on the renaming. While some offered general concerns and questions about the process itself, others advocated for specific naming pathways, with many honoring Bay Area-based social justice movements or activists.<\/p>\n Five speakers on Wednesday voiced support for the League of Filipino Students\u2019 ongoing campaign to dedicate the student center in honor of Lyle Prijoles, an SFSU alum and Filipino-American activist who was among the 19 killed<\/a> last April in a clash between the Philippine Army and rebel forces in the Negros Island municipality of Toboso.<\/p>\n LFS member and second-year history major, Alex Ruiz, who helped launch the renaming campaign in late August, sees\u00a0 Prijoles\u2019 legacy<\/a> of championing human rights at home and abroad as a means to exemplify what it means to live by the university\u2019s mission<\/a> of \u201cpursuing knowledge\u201d and \u201cadvancing social justice and positive change in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the living embodiment of not just what it means to be an [SFSU] student and alum,\u201d Ruiz said. \u201cLyle was not some millionaire who donated a bunch of money to the school. He was a regular guy, a student like us, who did some really brave things.\u201d<\/p>\n Many students, like Queer Alliance assistant director and fourth-year music major Gabriel Mesa, cautioned against renaming the building after another individual, arguing that placing a movement\u2019s image on the shoulders of figureheads poses the risk of delegitimizing it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we idolize people like that in that way, we are just setting ourselves up to be disappointed again,\u201d Mesa said. \u201cIt is, in my opinion, significantly healthier for the student body to put our faith in values and movements rather than in people.\u201d<\/p>\n First-year geography major, Mik Shevelenko, echoed Mesa\u2019s sentiments. Shevelenko says the fallout from the Chavez allegations, which forced governments and institutions statewide to reckon with the dozens of landmarks attached to his tainted legacy,\u00a0 compelled him to speak publicly on the renaming despite being new to campus and not knowing much else about it.<\/p>\n \u201cIndividual people are going to have skeletons in their closet,\u201d Slefelenko said. \u201cThe individual focus of one person neglects the whole story of everyone being a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about these concerns, Ruiz acknowledged that similar discussions had taken place within LFS prior to launching the campaign to commemorate the student center in honor of Prijoles.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not doing this to put Lyle on a pedestal to make him seem like a grand historical figure,\u201d Ruiz said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing it to honor all of the Negros Island 19. We\u2019re doing it to honor the ongoing fight for justice and liberation.\u201d<\/p>\n Some speakers pointed out the exclusionary nature of honoring one social movement\u2019s legacy over another. SFSU alum and senior credential analyst at the College of Education<\/a>, Myla Adeva, suggested a more general name for the building, such as the \u201cGator Student Center.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe most important piece of the puzzle at a university setting are the students,\u201d Adeva said. \u201cI\u2019m all for naming it for a movement, but how could we choose which movement is worthy of being named versus another?\u2026 Let\u2019s celebrate and be proud of being a Gator.\u201d<\/p>\n International relations professor Lucia Volk suggested committee members periodically revisit the renaming process in order to reflect an ever-changing campus culture.<\/p>\n \u201cIn an ideal world, I would like us all to, every four or five years, go through a reassessment of what we remember and see what else we might want to remember,\u201d Volk said. \u201cThe core of what we\u2019re doing is doing the same old thing over and over again and I would love that to be some thought given to commemorating differently.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/AStownhall-600x400.jpg\")
The Associated Students Ad Hoc Committee listens to a speaker during the town hall meeting at the Student Center on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (Jayden Santos \/ Golden Gate Xpress) <\/a><\/p>\n