College President Sparks Controversy by Taking Down Blackface Photos

The blowup over a blackface photo in the 1984 yearbook of Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia prompted Hollins University, in Roanoke, to examine its own yearbook, The Spinster, for similarly offensive fare. But President Pareena G. Lawrence’s decision to remove four editions of The Spinster from its digital archive has sparked a controversy of a different sort — over perceived censorship and top-down decision making.