The NAACP has come out against two of the new names the Mississippi University for Women is considering.

Lowndes County NAACP President Lavaonne Harris is against the names Reneau University and Waverley University. The university is also considering Welty University as a possible choice.

Harris said the names Reneau and Waverley are both derived from slave holding plantations in the Old South.

Sallie Reneau is the person the school would honor by choosing her name for the school. In the nineteenth century, she lobbied the state legislature to get what is now MUW built. However, she was also a slave owner in pre-Civil War Mississippi.

The 30 member Naming Committee was formed last year and charged with the task of submitting three names for consideration.