A 60-day period to share thoughts, comments and concerns about the name of the building home to the headquarters of the College of Liberal Arts closes Sunday.  

The Review Committee for Consideration for Removal of Names from University Property was formed in March 2021 and will conclude its work with a second and final vote in November, though the exact date has not been set. The committee asked the public for comment in August following an initial vote. 

In the initial vote, the committee voted 9–6 in favor of keeping Carrie Chapman Catt’s name on the building.

Since that vote, the committee has been accepting public comments and will continue until Sunday at midnight. 

Brian Meyer, associate director for strategic communications, said about 290 comments have been submitted as of Wednesday.

Public comment from any interested people, including those who work and study at Iowa State, is welcome to be submitted to the committee through the public comment form. 

“I think we’re coming towards the end of the process here,” Meyer said. “It’s taken a long time, but you know, it’s a deep history and they’ve gone through a lot of historical documents, talked to a lot of people…This is the chance that students, faculty, staff, alumni, anyone in the public if they want to interject into the discussion, now’s the chance through Sunday night.”

Comments made through the portal will be made public online in November, Meyer said. 

The meeting for the final vote is yet to be set, and once the comment period closes, the committee will review the comments and take a final vote. 

“I’m sure that committee meeting that comes in November will include discussion. Was there anything that came in from the public comments that they want to talk about?” Meyer said.

The meetings have not been public, and most have been conducted virtually.

After the meeting, there will be a final report from the committee. 

Once a final vote is cast, the committee will finalize the report and deliver it to the office of the president. 

If the committee votes to change the name of the building, the measure moves up to the president and is then passed to the Board of Regents, which makes the final decision. If there is no change to the name of the building, Meyer said he believes President WendyWintersteen will accept the report. 

Catt Hall was built in 1892 but did not receive Catt’s name until nearly 100 years later in 1990 when the Board of Regents approved the name. Since then, the reputation of its namesake has been called into question, resulting in several initiatives to remove Catt’s name from the building, but none so far successful. 

Catt was the only woman in the Iowa State class of 1880 when she earned a degree in general science. Catt is more commonly known for her involvement in the advocation for the 19th Amendment, which approved women’s suffrage. 

The movements made against Catt’s legacy have called into question her character, calling her racist. 

There was a movement shortly before the hall was named for Catt in the 1990s, with the Iowa State Black Student Alliance newsletter featuring an essay called “The Catt’s Out of the Bag: Was She Racist?” 

The naming of the hall led to a letter-writing campaign, teach-ins on diversity, a hunger strike by a graduate student and calls for increased cultural studies. 

 A petition surfaced in 2020, calling for the renaming of the building. Shortly after, policy was created for a formal process of removing names from campus buildings and properties. 

Following the confirmation of the renaming policy, there were 21 requests to reevaluate the naming of Catt Hall. 

Since then, the committee has met more than 25 times to discuss the matter, with meetings consisting of a consultation with a Maryland-based research firm, interviews with 12 people with knowledge and expertise on the history of the building and deliberations on the matter. 

Those the committee interviewed include those who studied in the Catt Center for Women and Politics, professors, alumni, members of the September 29th Movement, a movement against naming the building for Catt and more. 

The committee must vote in a two-thirds fashion.

The committee’s August initial report addresses the six principles evaluated during the renaming process: clarifying university-honoree connections, assessing impact on the university, evaluating legacy, weighing factual evidence, reviewing past considerations and considering alternatives.

Meyer said he does not know of any other buildings requested to be renamed under the recent policy allowing a formal process.