VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Some Virginia Wesleyan alumni are angry over the university's plans to change its name.

The board of trustees unanimously voted to change the name to Batten University after the Batten family, its most generous donor.

The announcement was made on Wednesday at the State of the University address in the student center that bears the Batten name. Jane Batten and her late husband, Frank, have been the backbone behind more than 30 initiatives or projects at the school, including the Batten Honors College and the Batten School for International Studies, located in Japan.

A petition on change.org has more than 2,700 signatures calling for the University to reconsider the name change. Petition organizer Devin Cowhey is a 2010 graduate of VWU and said she wants to make

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