NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A year since the initial vote, the Christopher Columbus Family Academy in New Haven officially has a new name.
In a vote Monday night, the Board of Education unanimously agreed to change the name from Christopher Columbus Family Academy (CCFA), a kindergarten to 8th-grade school, to the Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration (FAME).
The process leading up to the name change began last June when the board voted 6-1 to change the name. At the time, wide criticism over the use of the name Christopher Columbus was nationwide. The criticism was part of a wider discussion regarding racism and the country's past following the murder of George Floyd during an encounter with the Minneapolis Police Department. Former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin had since been found guilty of murder and manslaughter.
FOX61 News has reached out to the school's principal for comment.
The death of Floyd sparked nationwide protests which also turned into national conversations on racial inequities continue in the United States, including a look back into its history.
When the board initially voted to change the name of the school last year, one of the members who voted against the measure said he was frustrated because the vote was done so quickly without input from the city’s Italian-American community.
There were also protests and pushback last year when the city removed its Columbus statue from Wooster Square Park.
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