For those who have been waiting for years for the BK Roberts name to be removed from the FSU College of Law, this fall should bring a pleasant surprise—the lettering on the outside of the building is finally gone. Previously, the letters spelling out “B.K. ROBERTS HALL” appeared on the bricks under the light fixture to the right of the south entrance, as can be seen on the home page photo of this website.
The building officially remains “BK Roberts Hall” as designated by the 1973 legislature. However, FSU officials say the wording of that law was scrutinized and, finding nothing requiring a big sign on the building, the lettering has been removed.
FSU remains committed to pursuing legislation to permanently remove Roberts’ name from the building and giving FSU the option to rename it. Bills filed the past three years were unsuccessful, but plans to try again in 2022 are already being made. Since the legislature put the name on the building, only the legislature has the power to remove it.
Should the BK Roberts Hall designation ever be removed by the legislature, FSU plans to recognize Roberts by a display inside the building that would contextualize the 1950s Florida Supreme Court opinions written by then Chief Justice Roberts that prevented Virgil Hawkins from enrolling at the University of Florida because he was black--in defiance of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawing separate but equal education systems as well as a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court decision that more specifically instructed Florida to admit Hawkins without delay. The display would include information about Roberts’ role in founding the FSU law school in the 1960s, as well as his contributions to the Florida legal world which include establishing a public defender system and the present structure of the court system with county, circuit, DCA and supreme court levels.