Middle College at NC A&T will be renamed to honor students who led sit-in

The Middle College at North Carolina A&T State University will change its name to honor four former students whose sit-in made civil rights history.  

The Guilford County Board of Education has unanimously approved a measure renaming the school as “The A&T Four Middle College at North Carolina A&T State University.”

The name honors Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond, the A&T students who refused to give up their seats at the segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro. Their 1960 sit-in helped spark the nationwide civil rights movement.

Following the vote at Tuesday night's meeting, Middle College Principal Travis Seegars thanked the board for approving the name change.

"I was able to bring pretty much a lot of my community ... former parents, current parents, staff members are here tonight just super excited. Thank you so much. We are happy about this name change, just the fact that we now get to submit ourselves even more so in the legacy of the A&T Four," Seegars told the board. 

The Middle College is an all-male high school located on the campus of N.C. A&T.