MARQUETTE, MI-- An online petition is calling for the removal or rededication of a Northern Michigan University monument with ties to apartheid.
The Carillon Towers—built to replicate the Kaye Hall towers—were dedicated to John P. McGoff. He owned several newspapers, including a South African paper with a pro-apartheid stance. McGoff was accused of accepting more than $11 million from the South African government for promoting the white supremacist message.
In 1978 McGoff gave NMU $300,000, which the school used to create the McGoff Distinguished Lecture Series. Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel initially accepted an invitation to speak at Northern but withdrew his acceptance. He was concerned his visit would cast doubt on the legitimacy of concerns about McGoff.
Today, a plaque on the Carillon monument bears McGoff’s name. More than 1,000 people have signed the online petition calling for the towers to be rededicated in honor of promoting racial equality.
The petition can be found here.
