Columbus Renaming Committee Member Resigns

MEDFORD, MA — A member of the Advisory Committee to rename the Columbus Elementary School resigned Wednesday amid outrage over his comments about a possible alternative name.

In a letter to committee Chair Jim Lister, Hendrik Gideonse said he believes his "words were intentionally taken out of context in order to disrupt the renaming process" but regretted that they had been "used to inspire the anger" of the community.

Gideonse's comments about Jean Barry-Sutherland, a principal of the Columbus School who died in 2016, led to blowback during the public comment portion of Tuesday's City Council meeting.

In a Facebook post, Gideonse discussed his unfamiliarity with Barry-Sutherland and claimed her popularity as a replacement for Columbus stemmed from "cheating" among people who did not want the name the change.

"So we only get positive anecdotal information," he added. "We don't know if for instance she was awful to Black students."

Many residents spoke in defense of Barry-Sutherland at Tuesday's meeting, including her husband and sister.

"I can't believe, all that Jean Barry did in this city, that I'm hearing what I'm hearing," her longtime colleague Gwendolyn Blackburn said.

Gideonse hit back against the idea that his comments were intended to disparage the late educator.

"I never said anything bad about Jean Barry-Sutherland," he wrote. Gideonse said he spoke to 13 people who knew her before giving her the "second-highest rating" of the nominees.

School Committee member Melanie McLaughlin praised Gideonse for his commitment to social justice and said his intent, along with the Committee's, was to thoroughly vet nominees.

"The circumstances have been twisted into either an alleged assault against a nominee or a combined community assault against a committee member," she wrote in a Facebook post. "In either case these are people and their families who are affected by hateful rhetoric."