Clarifying Statement
In September, BYU’s campus newspaper, The Universe, published an article about our committee and its efforts. Some of the ideas expressed in that article misrepresented the stances of our committee. In order to give our side of the story, we sent this clarifying statement below to the editor of the paper, asking them to correct the story. We received no response.
THIS WAS THE STATEMENT WE SENT TO THEM:
“Given recent developments, news stories, and information circulating on social media websites regarding our Committee’s purpose. The Committee for Unnaming Buildings at BYU wishes to correct some misunderstandings as well as clear up any future misunderstandings with regards to campus building names at BYU.
First, our Committee seeks to unname all campus buildings at BYU, not rename them. This distinction is crucial. In the past few years, BYU has adhered to policy to not name any new buildings on campus after individuals. Our mission is to encourage the University to apply this policy to all existing buildings. In this way, we seek to utilize the administrative infrastructure already in place. In contrast to renaming buildings, unnaming them would allow the University and its Board of Trustees to not have to “call out” any one individual by renaming one building while allowing a name to stay on another. This way, the University does not risk publicly defaming or holding any one person accountable. Our efforts do not seek to vilify any figures who have helped establish the University that has benefited each member of our committee.
Second, our efforts to unname all buildings are aimed at freeing University officials from being the judges of a deceased person's legacy by forcing them to somehow weigh an individual's “goodness” or “badness.” We recognize that humans are complicated figures whose lives cannot simply be categorized as wholly good or wholly bad. The University’s current policy (stated above) affirms this by implying that they recognize the challenge of naming a building after an individual. Some argue that some individuals’ past racist actions were justified because of the time in history in which they lived. However, even if some racist actions were more widely shared, these choices have implications on our present times. In other words, though their lives began and ended in a different historical period, the positive and negative aspects of their legacy affect us in the present. The fact is, there are people whose names now title campus buildings at BYU who participated or have perpetuated racism through comments or through their actions as slave owners. By owning other humans, slave owners gave power to an institution that deemed certain humans lower than others because of the color of their skin.
Through naming buildings after complicated, though not wholly bad individuals, we glorify their goodness and neglect acknowledging their complexity as humans. Inadvertently glorifying some aspects of their humanity while ignoring others only tells one side of history. This thereby sends a subtextual message of negligence to the individuals who were and are negatively affected by history’s “other side.” This includes current students of color at BYU who face the uncomfortable position of passing and occupying buildings whose namesakes would have prohibited these students’ acceptance into the University because of the namesakes’ segregationist actions and practices. We all seek to emulate the good aspects of every human and honor this goodness. However, as we do this, we must make sure that we do not overlook and perpetuate damaging beliefs that these individuals held.
We understand that the individuals after which these buildings are named have contributed significantly to the University and, therefore, have benefitted us. Indeed, our committee would not exist without the sacrifice of BYU’s founders and administrators. We recognize that un-naming campus buildings doesn’t solve all racial injustices or prejudices, nor do we believe that these are the only steps BYU administrators can take to make BYU more equitable. Nevertheless, we do believe that by implementing the changes outlined in this statement as well as in the letters originally sent to BYU’s Board of Trustees and the NAACP, Brigham Young University will better prepare students to “go forth and serve” as racially aware and empathetic students.”