After decades of controversy, Yale University is renaming its iconic Calhoun College for a feminist scientist. The college will be renamed in tribute to Grace Murray Hopper, a groundbreaking computer programmer who died in 1992.
Calhoun College is one of the university’s twelve “residential colleges”, which are grandiose dormitories for undergraduates. The colleges have their own dining halls, libraries and live-in faculty “masters” (recently controversially renamed as “head of colleges”) and command fierce alumni loyalty.
Embattled University President Peter Salovey made the announcement today, reversing a controversial decision last year to preserve John C. Calhoun’s name. For years, progressives and social justice warriors have denounced Calhoun College’s namesake, a former U.S. vice president and avowed white supremacist who died in 1850. Last year, Yale students compared Calhoun to Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden.
This past summer, a black Yale cafeteria worker faced criminal charges after smashing an historic stained glass window in Calhoun College that depicted slaves picking cotton. The charges were later dropped at Yale’s request.
This is the first time 300-plus year-old Yale has renamed a building based on the legacy and reputation of its namesake, and signals the end of a years-long and deeply divisive debate.
John C. Calhoun, a Yale graduate, was an American statesman in the mid-1800s who’s best remembered for his defense of slavery, which he did in the context of defending Southern values and perceived threats from the Union infringing upon states rights. His later career as a proponent of limited government and opposition to high taxes heavily influenced the South’s war for secession.
There are no excuses for slavery, but as reprehensible as his views were, Calhoun was very much a man of his time and was regarded by a Senate Committee as one of the greatest US Senators of all time. Many Yale alumni who lived in Calhoun College have strongly objected to changing the name, which they identify with their “bright college years”.
As political correctness rose to a new crescendo in recent years, Yale seriously considered renaming Calhoun and then, last year, made a tortured announcement that it was not changing the name. But the University– seemingly caught between conservative powerful alumni and agitating progressive students — reversed course last year and said it would again consider renaming the college. Saturday’s announcement follows the recommendation of a new University committee on renaming.
“The decision to change a college’s name is not one we take lightly,” Salovey wrote. “But John C. Calhoun’s legacy as a white supremacist and a national leader who passionately supported slavery as a ‘positive good’ fundamentally conflicts with Yale’s mission and values.”
Hopper, a US Navy Rear Admiral whose work allowed for advances in computer science, is credited for creating the first compiler of a programming language.
Further efforts will be made to erase Calhoun’s presence from Yale, including his family crest, which still adorns the building. But Calhoun iconography and symbols will still remain throughout Yale, with a committee of scholars working to “reconfigure” them for context.
Yale is also finishing construction of two new residential colleges to accommodate an increased student body that will produce more tuition revenue. One college will be named for the inventor and diplomat Benjamin Franklin, the other for Pauli Murray, a black lesbian activist.
Salovey said the decision to choose Hopper to represent the renamed Calhoun College was made based on her representation of the Yale’s values.
“We considered many names nominated from many rounds of outreach and considered them in many contexts,” he said. “Over the recent years we’ve had hundreds of names — people of all walks of life and cultural backgrounds — suggested and considered.”
Salovey also says that students can continue to associate themselves with the Calhoun name, and said he listened to concerns over the erasure of history. Alumni, for instance, will still be able to wear a “Calhoun” sticker at their reunions.
“People of good will and intelligence have many different perspectives on this question,” Salovey said. “We need to respect history and there needs to be a strong presumption against renaming.”
With all that’s said and done, Yale still renamed the building.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
