Yale University decides to keep name of college honouring slavery supporter

Yale University has decided to keep the name of a residential college which honours 19th-century alumnus John C Calhoun, an ardent supporter of slavery.

The Ivy League university in New Haven, Connecticut, announced the decision via Twitter on Wednesday.

It said it is keeping Calhoun's name to "teach and confront the history of slavery in the US".

Yale will keep the name of Calhoun College to teach & confront the history of slavery in the U.S.

— Yale University (@Yale) April 27, 2016

The Yale Corporation, the university's governing body, had been gathering input from students on names it might consider for Calhoun College and two new residential colleges it is planning.

Calhoun was a US vice president and senator from South Carolina. Three portraits of Calhoun were recently taken down from the walls of the residential college.

Debate over the name began last summer after nine black people were killed in a church in Charleston, South Carolina.