The University of Arizona has renamed its LGBTQ+2S Resource Center to Pride Student Space, rejecting the top two student-voted names and prompting criticism from students and former staff who say the process undermined trust.

The center announced the new name on Instagram Jan. 26, saying the UA administration had chosen the new name.

The university, however, offered a different characterization of how the name was selected.

“The name was chosen through a student-led process that involved proposing and voting on several ideas,” University spokesman Mitch Zak told Tucson Spotlight, adding that communication with the center and the students was effective and appreciated. “The Pride name reflects the spirit of the vibrant, supportive community built by our students. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the process of finding a name that is meaningful and represents the students who use and champion this space.”

The name change comes a little over a year after the administration announced the consolidation of the UA’s seven cultural resource centers, sparking large student protests. No official changes were made until May, after many students had left campus for summer break.

In the time since, the individual centers have been renamed to align with new diversity and inclusion standards.

Shortly before the changes began, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration, titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.” In the weeks that followed, the university began removing DEI-related language from its website and other materials.

The former names for the CRCs included Asian Pacific American Student Affairs and African American Student Affairs. These have since been renamed MLK Jr. Student Space, Lotus Lounge Student Space and Pride Student Space.

Although the final decision was made through a student vote, the university did not select the name that received the most votes. The name that was overwhelmingly chosen by students was Queer and Trans (QT) Space.

Most of the other cultural resource centers were quickly renamed, but the LGBTQ+2S Resource Center was permitted to retain its name through the end of the summer. At the start of the 2025-26 academic year, it was temporarily renamed SUMC 404 Student Space, after the building in which it is located.

The process of selecting a new name began in October. The center posted on Instagram that university administrators had given them limited guidelines for acceptable names, saying that Vice Provost Jenna Hatcher and Interim Executive Director Thomas Harris told students they could “maybe get the LGB in there.”

“This is not just about queer and trans people. Authoritarianism relies on systems of oppression such as racism, misogyny, ableism and queerphobia to divide and exploit the working class,” the center wrote.

Despite expressing frustration with the process, the center emphasized in its Jan. 26 statement the need for continued student support.

“Please continue to visit, support and share our work during this transition,” the center wrote.

Former LGBTQ+2S Resource Center director Kristen Godfrey told Tucson Spotlight that they believe the renaming process was an attempt by the university to appear responsive to queer voices while having no real intention of incorporating that input.

“I think it was a waste of time and another illustration of the university’s attempt to hide LGBTQ people and just hide the cultural resource centers in general to capitulate to Trump’s authoritarianism,” Godfrey said. “They go through all of this and then they don’t even pick the name that was democratically voted on.”

Godfrey said that while the university attempted to facilitate cooperation, many students already felt betrayed and cheated by the need to change the name and by the simultaneous changes to other resource centers.

“I think once they decided that they were going to kind of slowly take away (from) the centers, I think a lot of trust was gone between administration and students in the cultural resource center,” Godfrey said. “I don’t know if there was any coming back from that.”

Godfrey views this as a continuation of actions taken by the current presidential administration that they say target queer and transgender people in the United States, including efforts to ban transgender athletes and restrict access to gender-affirming health care.

“The federal government has kind of completely (mistreated) queer and trans students in higher education,” they said. “I think it’s a fear mongering process. I think if they can divide people as much as possible, I think it works for the people at the top.”

Godfrey added that many students are exhausted and opposed the change from the outset.

“I would say that students didn’t want the name change to begin with. I think it was honestly very nice of (the students) to even attempt to go through a process,” Godfrey said. “It’s just really showing that (the university is) not interested in picking a name that queer and trans students think represents them. They’re trying to speak for queer and trans students and silence them.”

Pride Alliance, an internship program run through the Associated Students of the University of Arizona’s Pride Student Alliance, said that while the new name could be worse, they still feel their voices were ignored.

“It is hard to feel like the name given to us is befitting at this university when all it has done is silence and bend our identities into some amorphous ‘pride,’” Pride Alliance said in a statement to Tucson Spotlight. “We are a collection of diverse people. We are a space that welcomes and is home to transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, two spirited, queer, asexual, intersex students, and so many more. We deserve to have our identities shared, heard and seen. That is pride.”

The group said that despite the new name, its focus has not changed and Pride Student Alliance will continue to be a safe place for trans and queer students.

“Even though our name has changed, this truth has not. It is our mission to show the university what pride truly means. We will continue to persevere as a hub for queer and trans students to be ourselves, fight for ourselves and meet others like ourselves,” Pride Alliance wrote.

Emma LaPointe is a journalism, political science and German Studies major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at emma.m.lapointe@gmail.com.

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