Derrick Rollins, diversity adviser to the President’s Cabinet at Iowa State University, has written that he believes that Catt Hall should be renamed, saying that he now understands the pain that others feel.

We do not wish to belittle these feelings, which we are sure are sincere, although we are left to wonder about the “pain” that might be felt by females and others if the Catt Hall were to be renamed.

It seems to us that important dimensions of this issue have not been fully discussed.

If we assume that it is reasonable to apply a moral standard based on today’s cultural understanding to leaders from the past, then we have an obligation to review the lives of Beardshear, Curtiss, Parks, Heady, Snedecor, Carver and many others after whom buildings on the ISU campus are named.

What are we to do when we find that these people made disparaging remarks or engaged in behaviors that today are considered inappropriate?

Do we ignore the contributions made by these individuals because of improper actions that may have been culturally acceptable in their time?

Or are they to be “grandfathered” in?

Rollins suggests we should forge ahead regardless of this concern.

We are not convinced that a double standard is an appropriate solution to this problem.

More to the point, it seems entirely unreasonable to expect that any human being lives her or his life without error or that there is a timeless moral standard that can be applied with acceptance by all.

How many of us “decent honest folk” have subconsciously or consciously altered our behavior or our sense of truth when fervently fighting for a cause?

Does this imply that we are Machiavellian, or does it show a lapse in judgement?

If we have a lapse in judgement, does it discredit all of our actions?

Whenever this controversy arises, one can’t help but think of the dramatic portrayal of Catt presented by Jane Cox, a leading scholar on the life of Catt.

In a discussion following an abbreviated presentation of Cox’s play last spring, Cox was asked about the renaming of Catt Hall.

It was clear that Catt had indeed used racist remarks to sway votes in favor of suffrage, but that this was not her dominant method of campaigning.

Catt also included African Americans and other disadvantaged people in her struggles, which hardly seems like an act of someone who is a dyed-in-the-wool racist.

Rollins says that personal egalitarianism is not good enough when one is politically racist.

Most of us would agree with this statement.

Rollins goes on to describe a hypothetical example in which a decision must be made on whether to name a building after a male ISU alumnus who won a Nobel prize for his work in chemical engineering but who also led a national campaign to discredit women’s abilities in engineering.

Rollins suggests we would not use his name because of his political activities.

Few would disagree, particularly if the cultural context were the late twentieth century. But the analogy is not perfect.

Catt was not leading a national campaign to discredit blacks. She was leading a national movement to gain suffrage for women and on occasion used unsavory and expedient tactics to reach her goal.

We wish Rollins well as he enters the thorny job of diversity adviser at Iowa State.

We hope that he takes this opportunity to focus on issues that transcend the divisiveness of race, gender, and sexual preference.

Instead of striving to build a world in which individuals are asked to accept differences that result from one’s anatomy or sexual orientation or skin color, let’s move on to something more fundamental: the acceptance others’ thoughts, opinions, traditions, and behaviors, regardless of what group they belong to.

We have far to go in reaching the goal of eradicating racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.

The renaming of Catt Hall would dishonor one historically disadvantaged group’s hero to satisfy another group.

Can’t we find a more productive means of addressing the climate for diversity at Iowa State?

Sarah Nusser, Assistant Professor

Dianne Cook, Assistant Professor

Alicia Carriquiry, Associate Professor

Linda Collins, Assistant Professor

Department of Statistics

Iowa State University