Mitchell, who is black, partially attributed Murray's actions to behavioral norms of the past, but he said: "I don't want to be defending why we have a building named after Murray. . . . That's not what this university is about."

Mitchell did not specifically propose renaming the buildings after former Gov. Henry Bellmon, but he praised Bellmon for pardoning a black man who was falsely accused of murder in the 1940s and for working to ensure equal accommodations for black people. He called Bellmon "one of our most distinguished alums."

Earlier this month, professor Bob Darcy proposed to OSU administrators that Murray Hall and North Murray be renamed Clara Luper Hall and Angie Debo Hall, respectively.

Luper led sit-ins at Oklahoma City restaurants and stood up for civil rights. Debo wrote about the abuse of American Indians in Oklahoma and donated royalties from her books to the OSU library, Darcy wrote in an e-mail.

He has asked since 2002 that the buildings be renamed.

"William Murray was the architect of Oklahoma segregation and Jim Crow," Darcy wrote in the e-mail. "He inflamed Oklahoma politics with race. . . . He opposed blacks participating in politics and helped orchestrate the grandfather clause by which blacks would be denied the right to vote."

A&M regents did not respond to Mitchell's request at their meeting.

More classrooms: Also Friday, OSU and Northern Oklahoma College broke ground on a classroom building in Stillwater.

NOC, a two-year college based in Tonkawa, offers classes in Stillwater for students who do not meet OSU's admissions requirements. Students in the NOC-OSU Gateway Program can work toward gaining admission to OSU.

NOC in Stillwater has grown from 461 students four years ago to 2,012 this semester, NOC Regent Linda Brown said.

NOC President Joe Kinzer said the tiny campus needs more classrooms.

A variety of OSU disciplines also will use the forthcoming classroom building, OSU Interim President Marlene Strathe said.

The 48,500-square-foot building will cost $14 million, with $4 million coming from the 2005 statewide higher education bond issue: $1 million from OSU's share, and $3 million from NOC's. Construction is expected to be completed in time for spring 2009 classes.

New greenhouse: A&M regents also voted Friday to allow OSU to build a new greenhouse for biosafety labs, where researchers will look into genetically modified plants that could be used by terrorists to affect food supplies, according to information from OSU and Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer Steve McKeever.

He said the greenhouse will give researchers an opportunity to study new viruses.

April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com