Virgina Woolf 'elitist'

There's a tedious debate going on on a University of Sussex mailing list. A building is to be renamed and, perhaps unwisely, staff have been asked to comment. I was amazed that, from a shortlist that includes Tom Paine, Rudyard Kipling and Virgina Woolf, the last name was questioned on the grounds that it was 'elitist'.
What in earth does the objector mean? That her works are not always an easy read? That she was in some sense anti-democratic or anti-popular?
Someone else, demonstrating how venal academics have become,  remarks that 'names should be reserved for people donating large amounts of money to the university' which would rule out Paine., Kipling and Woolf, but would allow us to name a building after Nicholas Van Hoogstraten  if he happened to have his cheque book handy.