Free Speech on Campus

Professor Lee Epstein and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin

Political Science 334

Spring 2022


RENAMINGS (March 2)

Case Study

Many universities have considered the question of whether to "remove a historical name" from a building, a school, or "other prominent structure or space on campus." They have reached different conclusions.

Princeton University's trustees, for example, voted to "rename the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Wilson College, removing the name of the alumnus and former U.S. and [Princeton] University president whose racist actions have been the subject of a critical reevaluation in recent years."

Princeton's president, Christopher L. Eisgruber, originally opposed removing Wilson's name but later changed his mind. In an op-ed, he explained why:

To some, this decision will seem obvious and overdue. To others, it will seem an excess of political correctness, an unjust judgment upon a man from another era.

For me, the decision was wrenching but right. Wilson helped to create the university that I love. I do not pretend to know how to evaluate his life or his staggering combination of achievement and failure. I do know, however, that we cannot disregard or ignore racism when deciding whom we hold up to our students as heroes or role models. This is not the only step our university will be taking to confront the realities and legacies of racism, but it is an important one. Our commitment to eliminate racism must be unequivocal, and that is why we removed the name of Princeton’s modern-day founder from its School of Public and International Affairs.

Amherst College took a different route. The town of Amherst, from which the college took its name, was named after Lord Jeffery Amherst. "Lord Jeff" was a British commander who suggested, in wartime correspondence, using smallpox-infected blankets to wipe out the Native American population. Amherst College retained its name but dropped Lord Jeff as its mascot.

When making these decisions tensions abound, many of which are documented in a report by Yale faculty, students, and alum on the question of renaming. (Yale ultimately decided to rename Calhoun College, one its undergraduate residential colleges, to honor alum Grace Murray Hopper.)

Reading

  1. Please read all the linked material, especially the Yale report.

Section/Class Activities

Professor Martha S. Jones (Johns Hopkins University) will meet with our class on March 2. In your section meeting, you'll devise questions to ask Professor Jones.

We also want you to consider whether/how Washington University should undertake an assessment of our buildings, spaces, and structures.