Campus Greenway (looking Northwest down Griffith Street)

Campus Greenway

The section of property that runs along either side of Griffith Street between Beaty Street (to the Southwest) and Watson Street (to the East) is sometimes referred to as the “College Greenway” (pictured here).

Before the 1980s, this area included a number of houses, most of which were owned by Black residents of Davidson. In the late 1970s, Davidson College alum (Class of 1966) Howard Covington began to voice his alleged concerns about the living standards of these residents, claiming he was worried for their health and safety; however, his later remarks claiming that the houses were “wild” and had “junk cars in the front” and racist comments comparing Black residents to dogs and claiming they were incapable of improving their standard of living demonstrate that his true interest lay in creating a White-washed “green” entryway to the college (Maczka 1984, 2-3).

In 1981, a group of Davidson alumni led by Covington incorporated the properties. The college was not technically a part of the incorporation group, but personal investments by trustees and alumni donations to support this specific effort made it clear that the project was an institutional priority; Covington personally invested $75,000 of his own money (Ibid., 2). Throughout the process, Covington refused to answer questions or address community concerns (Ibid., 4), and multiple Black residents believed it to be a deliberate effort to relocate and silence them (Anonymous Interview 1990s).