There are peaks in Colorado named after Yale, Harvard and Princeton, but there won’t be a peak in Colorado named Mount William & Mary.
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names has turned down a second attempt at naming a peak after the college in Williamsburg, Va., saying it doesn’t meet federal guidelines.
Edwin Camp, who helped lead the charge against the proposal, said there is no direct connection between the college and Colorado. He said residents of Leadville and other nearby communities have fought for more than a decade efforts to name the nameless 14,130-foot-high peak next to Mount Elbert, which, at 14,433 feet, is the highest mountain in Colorado.
“Although I have nothing personally against this college, I grew up in Lake County and am unaware of any authentic relationship that the college has with the communities there,” he told members of the federal board.
Community leaders also launched a social media campaign that stirred the ire of nearby residents.
Ken Kambis, a William & Mary professor who helped campaign for the name change, says there are a number of connections between the college and the state. He says one reason for naming the peak near Mount Elbert outside of Leadville involves Thomas Jefferson, who attended the college and was instrumental in acquiring the Jefferson Territory, which included parts of what is now Colorado.
Kambis said the first attempt to rename the peak known unofficially as South Elbert failed because the board said there was no relation between the college and Colorado, so supporters renewed their request trying to establish a connection, including references to current and former alumni.
Kambis said there would be no Colorado without the considerable influence of two William & Mary alumni, Jefferson and James Monroe, who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase that stretched from the Mississippi River to Canada, including part of Colorado. Jefferson Territory was later renamed the Colorado Territory, before Colorado became a state.
Kambis said opponents of the plan offered a suggestion that the college could establish a direct connection by offering free tuition, which was quickly rejected as an attempt to buy off supporters.
“You could do it if you want to buy a mountain in Colorado. I cannot and would not recommend that approach to market their peaks,” he said.
In an e-mail to Camp, the board said the request for reconsideration was not significant enough to warrant reopening the case and offered no further explanation.
