University of Wisconsin, Madison to reckon with Ku Klux Klan history, but won't remove KKK member names from buildings

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University of Wisconsin-Madison will not remove from campus buildings the names of well-known student leaders who also were members of a campus Ku Klux Klan society in the early 1900s, the university announced Thursday.

A report from a campus study group released Thursday acknowledged the power of the argument in favor of removing segregationist names and replacing them with others who made major contributions but did not hold such views.

The study group also acknowledged the viewpoint that the student leaders were "people of their time,' that they affiliated with a group named Ku Klux Klan for a brief time during their youth, and that this self-identification shouldn't overshadow their subsequent contributions to campus, community and American life.