Throughout Iowa State’s history, there has been push-back over the name of Catt Hall, but this is not the only building on campus with a seemingly problematic name.

Beardshear Hall was named in honor of William Beardshear, who was the president of Iowa State from 1891 to 1902, according to Iowa State’s building information. At the surface, Beardshear seemed to have a spotless record. But, a deeper dive into William Beardshear’s life reveals his involvement with the Board of Indian Commissioners, the board affiliated with capturing Native American children and placing them in harmful boarding schools.

During Beardshear’s time as president, Iowa State named cardinal and golded its official colors, and the official mascot was named a Cyclone. He also helped the university to nearly quadruple in size during his time as president. Additionally, many campus buildings were constructed, one being the famous Campanile.

According to Iowa State’s building information website, Central Building’s construction was completed in 1908, and the building was renamed in 1938 Beardshear Hall.

Sebastian Braun, director of American Indian studies at Iowa State, discussed the fact that Beardshear was on the Board from 1897 to 1902. The Board of Indian Commissioners played a part in torturing and pressuring Native Americans to give up their culture, according to National Geographic.

According to National Geographic, the Native American boarding schools were “hotbeds of abuse and humiliation.” Many Native Americans in the schools died from disease and were laid to rest in graves dug by their fellow captives.

Braun said deciding to judge Beardshear, who was appointed to the board because of his focus around Native American issues and education, on the fact that he was a part of the Board of Indian Commissioners isn’t so cut and dry.

The Board of Indian Commissioners didn’t create the policies; instead, U.S. Congress was the source of the boarding schools. Braun said while the commissioners were nominated to reflect the ideas about policy held by the president at the time, the board only had the power to advise on the policies.

“And so as far as I know, it never had any power to enforce, it never had any powers to write policy, it advised on policy and in that function, you know, the board objected vigorously to some policies that were in place and a, a proposed new policies, some of which were accepted, and some of which were not,” Braun said. “And so I think that I would have a hard time to see somebody as, you know, objectionable simply because they served on the board.”

Whether or not someone is objectionable is a core principle in determining whether an on-campus building should be renamed.

An ongoing example of this is the controversy surrounding the name of Catt Hall.

Iowa State’s Catt Hall, home to the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, named after Carrie Chapman Catt, has been under fire in recent years due to the publicizing of Catt’s racist ideas and statements. The issue has resulted in protests and petitions from the Iowa State community and beyond to change the name of the building.

According to Brian Meyer, the associate director for strategic communications at Iowa State, the university released a policy in 2020 that outlined the process and criteria for evaluating the names of and possibly renaming the buildings, areas or sections on campus. The policy lists six principles that Iowa State must take into consideration when evaluating the names of university buildings and areas:

• Clarifying University-Honoree Connections
• Assessing Impact on the University
• Evaluating Legacy
• Weighing Factual Evidence
• Reviewing Past Considerations
• Considering Alternatives

“The policy’s aim was to ensure a consistent, evidence-based and historically thoughtful means to evaluate historical naming decisions,” Meyer said in an email response.

According to Meyer, any individuals affiliated with Iowa State, including students, employees and alumni, can submit a request online to the Office of the President for a name-change investigation. The requests are then directed to the Standing Committee for Consideration of Removing Names from University Property. Meyer said the committee chair will review the information submitted and determine whether there is enough evidence to continue the process.

From there, Meyer said a committee is selected to evaluate and research the property name until they come to a final recommendation for the university on whether or not to change the name.

“If a recommendation for a renaming of a building or major unit is accepted, the final decision would be made by the Iowa Board of Regents,” Meyer said. “The board may reconsider a naming decision in ‘extraordinary circumstances,’ if the prior approved naming may be damaging to the board’s or university’s reputation or may be contradictory to applicable law or policies, procedures or strategic objectives of the board or university.”

When building names are re-evaluated by the committee, Meyer said the timeline fluctuates from case to case. Meyer also said requests to change a university property’s name should only be made after careful consideration and analysis have been taken.

“The end result should be a reasoned, judicious recommendation for making a fully informed and well-considered decision,” Meyer said.

Braun said one of the goals of the renaming, or unnaming process, should be for all buildings and university properties to reflect the values of Iowa State. But, he said there are many ways to address harmful words and actions of previous Iowa State faculty that properties have been named after.

“Then, for example, we might say, ‘Yes, you know, we have found that X, Y or Z person said racist things. We acknowledge that they did’,” Braun said. “And let’s take this as an occasion to have a discussion you know, and maybe even have a discourse about how, you know, how we deal with race.”

This is not the only response that is an option to take. Braun said some instances might require “striking someone from the institutional record.” He said the community does not need to fully forget the person, but their influence should no longer be on campus.

Braun said the issue of racism is not exclusively a past problem. According to him, this issue is contemporary, and something society still deals with to this day.

“And I think that is the message that we send, is that, you know, we, as an institution, do not tolerate this [racism],” Braun said. “Whether it happened 100 years ago, 200 years ago or whether it’s happening now, we do not tolerate this.”