NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville International Airport could soon have a new name. According to WTVF, a city council member proposed renaming the airport after Oprah Winfrey.
Councilwoman Sharon Hurt said one of her constituents proposed the idea, leading her to put it before the mayor and airport authority.
“I think this makes Nashville uniquely positioned to do something that has not traditionally been done,” Hurt told WTVF. “I’m mean, Oprah is Oprah! She is one of the most influential people in the world.”
Winfrey is not originally from Nashville; she was born in Mississippi and grew up in Milwaukee. However, the TV mogul later moved to Nashville and completed high school there. She went on to graduate from Tennessee State University before landing her first television job at WLAC in the Tennessee capital.
WTVF said the city’s airport authority would have final say on whether its name would be changed. Moreover, its current policy states that people honored through the naming of a building or a facility must be dead for at least two years, and must have made a substantial contribution to the airport or aviation.
Hurt told WTVF that Winfrey still deserves to be honored.
“Nashville creates stars and Oprah was one of them,” said Hurt. “We need to recognize this.”
The station said the airport authority is next scheduled to meet Dec. 19. A meeting agenda has not yet been posted.