St.Thomas Undergraduate Student Government has approved the changing the name of Anderson Student Center’s second-floor hallway from Campus Way to Dorsey Way after the school’s first African-American student.

Junior Cory Kemp has been pushing to get the walkway — called Campus Way since the building opened in 2012 — renamed after John Henry Dorsey, who enrolled in 1888 as the first African-American student at what was then St. Thomas College. Dorsey later became the second African-American ordained priest in the U.S.

“I thought it would be a great way to promote inclusiveness on campus and acknowledge the leadership that has went through St. Thomas,” Kemp said.

Kemp initially became interested in getting Dorsey recognized after he was brought up in a Purple Bench meeting through Student Diversity and Inclusion Services.

“One day, we were talking about where we could get (Dorsey) recognized, and I said, ‘Why don’t we change Campus Way to Dorsey Way?’ and everyone I talked to thought it was a great idea,” Kemp said.

After coming up with the idea, Kemp started a petition to get the name changed and had 50 signatures of people who agreed with him within six hours.

Once he came up with the signatures, Kemp made an oral presentation to USG, and they approved of the change quickly.

“This hits both the diversity and the strong Catholic tradition and morals,” USG member and sophomore Tobias Knight said. “I think it’s great, and everyone seems to be on board and happy.”

Now that the change has been approved by USG, Kemp and members of USG will need to present the name change to the president’s cabinet.

The cabinet will meet and discuss whether or not they want to approve the name change. If the cabinet approves the name change, it will become official.

Kemp is set to present to the president’s cabinet at their first meeting of the fall semester.

“Dorsey Way. It just sounds good off the tongue,” Knight said.

Taylor Smith can be reached at smit9660@stthomas.edu.