Fox News is dropping former chairman and CEO Roger Ailes’ name from the network’s apprentice program.
The Ailes Apprentice Program will now be called the Fox News Apprentice Program. Ailes, who stepped down amid a sexual harassment investigation, started the program and named it after himself back in 2003.
The program recruits and develops diverse talent who are given a salary and training for their careers. Several past graduates have gone on to work at Fox News. The minority journalist program is in its 12th class and the current group is scheduled to finish in November.
“These graduates are going to change the world. They are the best hope for this country. They understand what it means to work, contribute, communicate and lead,” Ailes said at last year’s ceremony.
Earlier this week, Putnam County News and Recorder in the Hudson Valley area of New York reported the Ailes family intended to donate $500,000 for a local senior center, but 400 residents have rejected it by signing a petition objecting to naming the senior center after Ailes.
“Let’s go back to the beginning. We don’t have to accept his money after all,” legislator Dini LoBue said, according to the paper. One women reportedly said, “The name of Roger Ailes is not appropriate or acceptable for a senior center.” He was also called a “carpetbagger” and one woman said he was trying to “buy his way to heaven” during the nearly 4-hour meeting, the paper said.