My name is Louise Lex and I joined the political science department in the early 1970s. I was the second woman hired and the only woman in the department at the time.

The current campus debate over Catt Hall includes the assertion that students’ voices were ignored, both in the 1990s and again today. Yet the first time the university considered naming a building for Catt, students were not only consulted, they led the charge.

In the 1970s, Iowa State had built a physical education building, and I initiated an effort to name the building after Carrie Chapman Catt to honor her contributions to Iowa State and to the world. Moreover, Catt was a great advocate of exercise and good health, including during her career at Iowa State.

The student government leadership strongly advocated for the Catt name. Ann Kerber, a student government leader, was especially involved. However, Dr. Lagomarcino, chair of the naming committee at the time, vetoed the idea. I was told he didn’t want a “Catt House” on campus. The physical education building was named Forker after a recognized scholar in physical education. 

Lagomarcino’s casual sexism was normal for the 1970s and is echoed in the current campus discussion. Far too often, women’s achievements and contributions are minimized or overlooked and their faults are amplified. Far too often, the opposite is true for men. 

Yet the facts remain: Catt led the movement to add the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which was, and remains, the largest single expansion of voting rights in history. Catt was, and is, worthy of being honored by her alma mater by having her name affixed to a building.

Louise Lex is a the health planner for the Iowa Department of Public Health.