Trustees react to IDS column

After a full day to regroup since news broke nationwide of a controversial University building name, IU trustees gave scant insight into an official course of action, but expressed concerns in line with much of the University community.\nThe controversy centers on an Indiana Daily Student column that ran Tuesday, charging former IU officials with naming a University gymnasium after a former president of the IU board of trustees who wrote letters advocating segregation.\nIDS columnist Andrew Shaffer demanded a dialogue among campus leaders and urged renaming the Ora L. Wildermuth Intramural Center after discovering letters from him to former IU President Herman B Wells that disparaged African Americans. \nNo University officials have defended the longtime IU servant, whose legacy extends far beyond Bloomington’s borders. Several have called his remarks unacceptably racist and not befitting a 21st century university.\n“There’s no place for that in our society. Period. The end,” said IU trustee Sue Talbot. \nIf IU leaders choose to follow a path toward change, Talbot will act as one of the deciding votes. She would not give definitive indication that she would support the possible name change, but called the column a “red flag of caution.” She said it would be important to continue examining all of the facts involved in the case.\nMost leaders around campus have remained carefully political when speaking on the situation – walking a tightrope between steadfast decidedness and avoiding rashness.\nHerbert made clear in a statement Tuesday his desire for an open dialogue about “issues of race in the context of Indiana’s history and identification with less progressive views on the topic.” Whether this dialogue brings the change Shaffer demands will be seen, but as citizen activists across the nation now eye the University, leaders feel the forthcoming decision could send ripples coast to coast.\nTrustees have said it is not yet decided whether a discussion of the gym will arise at their regularly planned business meeting, which is slated to begin May 2. Further, Talbot said she had not yet heard any plans from her colleagues to convene in special session prior to the business meeting.\nStill, there is a presumable possibility that a discussion on the issue will not occur with the same immediacy that Shaffer, along with some students and faculty, have already demanded. Clarence Boone, an IU trustee from Gary, Ind., said that he does not necessarily expect the issue to come up at the May 2 meeting, citing that this type of decision will likely first receive consideration in a previously assembled on-campus naming committee. \nThe Ora L. Wildermuth Branch of the Gary Public Library will likely have to open a similar discussion after the discovery of the man’s racist sentiments. \nAlthough there has not yet been any indication from Roma Ivey, interim director of the Gary Public Library, that an immediate judgment of the branch’s name will occur, she said the board who governs the library would not appear rushed in any potential decision. She expressed, however, her expectation that activists would demand a change. \n“I’m sure there will be some protests at our next board meeting,” she said.