Sep 01, 2015 02:56 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Yale's University President and College Dean co-authored an open letter to the alumni community encouraging ongoing dialogue regarding Calhoun College, which is named for a 19th century politician committed to preserving slavery.

John C. Calhoun graduated from Yale College in 1804 and went on to become a U.S. Senator in South Carolina. He was then the seventh Vice President of the U.S., serving under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

According to the Associated Press, University President Peter Salovey and College Dean Jonathan Holloway's joint letter took neither side in the matter of renaming Calhoun College, but urged alumni to take part in a conversation, as they did with the school's incoming freshmen.

There does not appear to be a formal movement to have the residential college building renamed, but the letter seems to imply there could be one percolating. Referencing the state of South Carolina's decision to remove the Confederate Flag from its capitol building, Salovey and Holloway encouraged anyone who wanted to engage in the dialogue to thoroughly educate themselves on relevant material.

In particular, they referenced their respective addresses to the incoming students, which they made available alongside their letter.

"Any response should engage the entire community in a thoughtful, campus-wide conversation about the university's history, the reasons why we remember or honor individuals, and whether historical narratives should or should not be altered when they are disturbing," the two administrators wrote. "This is an opportunity for us not only to examine our views, but to do so in a way that leads to thoughtful discourse and appropriate actions. As an institution of higher learning, we also hope to educate not just the public-but ourselves. We look forward to embarking on this conversation with you."

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