Slashes all around

Names for stops at three new METRORail lines more or less state the obvious

New light rail are currently under construction.
Photo by Robert Williams
METRORail's Board of Directors approved the new names for the light railstations.

"Be creative, but don't be creative." That's the simplified translation of METRORail's guidelines for naming the (already named) light rail transit stations on the forthcoming North, East End and Southeast Lines.

The transit agency opened up the survey to Houston residents in May and the rules were strict: A maximum of 26 characters, no names of persons (living or dead), incorporate nearby landmarks, districts and intersections. And "the fewer words, the better."

"The original names were placeholders, based on geographic location," Jerome Gray, vice president and senior press officer for METRORail, told CultureMap. "We had the intent and the expectation. . . that we could land on some names. All but three came from community input."

METRORail released those community-influenced names this week, revealing an abundance of slashes and an eschewing of the rules of simplicity.

North Line names

On the North Line, the previously-named Northline Transit Center became Northline TC/HCC.

Melbourne became Melbourne/North Lindale.

Graceland became Lindale Park.

Cavalcade and Moody Park stayed the same, but Boundary completely changed over to Fulton/North Central.

Quitman became Quitman/Near Northside, and Burnett Transit Center added on to become Burnett TC/Casa de Amigos.

East End Line names

There were more slashes in the changes to station names on the East End Line: York is now Coffee Plant/Second Ward (a nod to the Maximus Coffee Group factory, formerly the headquarters of Maxwell House Coffee).

Lockwood became Lockwood/Eastwood.

Altic became Altic/Howard Hughes (according to Gray, the "no name" rule was broken due to input from the advisory board, who wanted to recognize Hughes Tool Company).

The Cesar Chavez stop became Cesar Chavez/67th St. (Looks like the "no name" rule was bent again because Cesar Chavez was already a Houston street named in honor of the farm worker labor leader.)

Southeast Line names

The Southeast Line boasts still more: The Bastrop station near the new Dynamo stadium became EaDo/Stadium (no mention of BBVA/Compass in there, despite the concession for commercial naming rights in the rules).

Leeland became Leeland/Third Ward and Elgin became Elgin/Third Ward, making for possible confusion.

Scott/Cleburn, a pretty clear intersection, became a convoluted Robertson Stadium/UH/TSU. Yet it leaves no doubt you're near a college campus.

Wheeler/MLK became UH/University Oaks, and MacGregor Park became MacGregor Park/MLK.

What do you think? Do the new names make the stops seem more clear or more confusing?

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”