Letter to the Editor

To Miss Chipman, September 29th Movement Members and to all others whom this letter may concern:

I find your reaction to Mr. Hosler’s letter to the editor quite disturbing. Your blatant attempts at discrediting Mr. Hosler were a disgrace to this university, to the movement you mean to defend and to yourself.

To respond to a person that has a different viewpoint than your own with slander only does yourself an injustice, not the person to whom you are trying to make a point.

Your article only furthers my beliefs that you and the people in the movement you mean to defend are losing touch with what you are trying to accomplish.

Why do you and other members tear down anyone who may hold a different opinion than your own about the Catt Hall issue?

It seems to me that you cannot logically defend your position on this issue without first trying to take away the credibility of the person with whom you are in conflict.

I am not in disagreement with what you and your movement are trying to do.

If you truly believe that Ms. Catt was a racist, and if you feel that changing the name of Catt Hall will change that fact and it will make you feel better, then, by all means, pursue your quest to change the name of Catt Hall.

However, what are you going to do about all the other buildings on campus, the buildings all around the state, and all the federal buildings that dot the landscape of this country?

Many of these buildings were named after racists, bigots and people with shady backgrounds. Should we rename the Washington Monument or the Jefferson Memorial?

These men obviously were racists because they owned slaves, but we still hold them in high esteem because they were the founding fathers of this nation and did many great things to get this country going. So, how should we deal with that?

The September 29th Movement is missing one very big point. These people were all part of the history of this great nation. They may not have been the best; they may have had faults. They may have done many wrong things when they were alive, but the fact remains that they are a part of our history.

The United States at one point in time was a very racist nation and to totally deny this point is trying to rewrite history.

Instead of renaming all these buildings and holding these people up to the standards of today, they should serve as a reminder of what our nation once was.

I am sure that I will get a rash of angry responses to this letter and the Movement will probably shun me for the point I am trying to make.

The fact still remains: our past is there to guide us into our future. Racism is an ugly thing that likes to rear its head when it can, divide people and stop groups from getting along.

The day we realize that we are all the same deep down inside is the day that racism will cease to exist. Someday we will realize that we are all just trying to make it through this life; and on the very basic level, we are all the same — we are all human.

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Lucas W. Boyken

Sophomore

Management of Information Systems