Petition to Rename Boylston T Stop ‘Emerson College’ Gains 800 Signatures

Photo by The West End on Flickr/Creative Commons

Boston College has one. Northeastern University and Bunker Hill Community College both have one, too. Boston University has three. MIT has half of one.

Students enrolled in a civic design course at Emerson College want to rename the Green Line’s Boylston station in the heart of campus, so that the Lions can have a T stop of their own. A Change.org petition addressed to transportation secretary Stephanie Pollack and MBTA acting general manager Brian Shortsleeve has already garnered nearly 800 signatures, just shy of its goal of 1,000.

“We want to add artwork over the station to represent our students’ creativity,” the petition, launched by students Nia Asim, Aren Kabarajian and Iris Raiken, reads. “We overall want to make it clear for commuters where they are in Boston when getting of the T station, and as students of Emerson College, we want to have a T station represent our school, campus and student body.”

Name changes on the MBTA aren’t all that unheard of. According to T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo, the last stop to change was Tufts Medical Center in 2010, previously known as New England Medical.

“There are no set fees associated with such a change, but if a company or institution wants to offer the MBTA a proposal, we will certainly review it,” Pesaturo said in an email.

Once upon a time, Downtown Crossing used to be Washington. The Orange Line’s Essex stop became Chinatown in 1987. Wood Island Park was shortened to Wood Island in 1967, after the park was destroyed to make room for Logan Airport’s expansion. And until 1940, Wonderland was known as Bath House.