Since Sept. 29, 1995, there have been many significant changes made to ISU policies.

And they began with the controversial re-naming of a university building.

The Sept. 29 Movement was formed to oppose the re-naming of Old Botany Hall to Carrie Chapman Catt Hall, after the first female ISU graduate and women’s rights activist.

A letter written to Uhuru, then the Black Student Alliance newsletter, claimed Catt had made racist comments during her campaign for female suffrage.

Students organized hunger strikes, protest rallies and sit-ins to draw attention to their cause.

Three students were arrested after refusing to leave former ISU President Martin Jischke’s office.

The letter submitted to the Black Student Alliance indicated she didn’t appropriately fight for the equal rights of all students at Iowa State, said Meron Wondwosen, president of the Black Student Alliance during the movement’s last active year and a former editor of the Uhuru newsletter.

Wondwosen was also one of the students arrested in Jischke’s office in 1998.

Wondwosen said the article was meant to educate and raise campus awareness about issues of racism, classism and xenophobism throughout the university.

“Catt Hall symbolized many issues facing black students at Iowa State,” Wondwosen said.

As a result of the protest movement more attention has been given to campus diversity, said Thomas Hill, vice president for student affairs.

The most recent stride made in regard to improving the university’s campus climate includes the new Center for American Intercultural Studies, which opens Monday.

Hill said he felt the movement was a success and resulted in many university programs in place today.

“The attention to scholarship and aid made available to students of color, the overall campus climate and the retention and recruitment of students of color on campus are also major improvements that have been made at Iowa State,” he said.

He said the university has since made many improvements to campus.

They have been aimed at fostering understanding and making the university’s atmosphere a more welcoming and safer place for students from multicultural backgrounds.

Randell Phillips, director of publications for Black Student Alliance, said there’s been a lot of progress made on campus and said he feels Iowa State has been an advocate for change.

“Right now, they’re helping getting the Black Cultural Center opened again, and many programs throughout the university to improve campus diversity at Iowa State,” Phillips said.

“I’ve seen the minority population increase since even last year,” Phillips said.

Since last fall, the minority enrollment rate has risen 3.5 percent to just more than 2,100, according to the Office of the Registrar.

Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center, said within the last 10 years, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which is housed in Catt Hall, has made many specific improvements to diversity.

“The college has made a lot of efforts and progress serving minorities and women,” Bystrom said.

“The Catt Center, with support from the university, has really developed into a nationally recognized leader for advocating women’s issues and women’s leadership.”

She said since the movement, the center has developed a strong women’s studies program, and the center works to positively impact issues affecting both women and minority students on the ISU campus.

“Iowa State is a very active campus,” Wondowsen said.

“The movement inspired much-needed change at the university, but there’s still a long way to go.”