Patrick Henry Community College sends two new name suggestions to state board

College looking to be known as Patriot Hills or Patriot Heights

Debate continues over Patrick Henry Community College name change

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Although leaders at Patrick Henry Community College still want to retain their name, they’ve sent two new names to be considered by the State Board for Community Colleges.

This comes after the Board told the college in May that it would need to reconsider keeping its current name.

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On Monday, Patrick Henry’s local board voted to send the names “Patriot Hills” and “Patriot Heights” to the State Board.

While submitting those names, the local board will also ask the State Board to review a letter to allow the college to keep Patrick Henry in its name. The college would prefer to add a hyphen between the two names.

“We are now on two parallel tracks,” says PHCC’s College Board Chair, Janet Copenhaver. “We will send the Foundation Board’s letter along with our support of the statement that PHCC was named for the localities it serves. However, in good faith, we did not discontinue the work the State Board has allowed us to do in suggesting a new name. We are also submitting Patriot Heights and Patriot Hills. The State Board may choose to reconsider keeping Patrick Henry with a hyphen. However, if it does not, we want them to know what we would recommend for a new name.”

The State Board will review the options during its next meeting on July 21.