Wildermuth vote expected Friday

The IU board of trustees will vote Friday on a measure to rename the Ora L. Wildermuth Intramural Center.

Thursday, the trustees’ Facilities Committee voted within a matter of minutes to accept the recommendation of the All University Committee on Names.

The All University Committee had suggested the building be renamed the William L. Garrett-Ora L. Wildermuth Fieldhouse.

The trustees will also vote for a plaque and an annual conference to explain the name change.

IU Vice President and Chief Administration Officer Terry Clapacs said he never likes to second-guess the board or predict what the board will do.

“We’ll just see what happens,” Clapacs said.

Wildermuth was a segregationist who served on IU’s board of trustees for several years, and Garrett was the first black player on IU’s basketball team.

Garrett helped end the Big Ten’s tacit “gentlemen’s agreement,” which prohibited black players from playing for a school in the conference.

The same recommendation went before the facilities committee in November, but trustee Patrick Shoulders sent it back to the All University Committee on Names.

Shoulders suggested the gymnasium keep its moniker and that the Student Recreational Sports Center be named after Garrett.

The controversy over the name of the gymnasium came after former Indiana Daily Student columnist Andrew Shaffer denounced Wildermuth in Spring 2007 for letters he wrote advocating segregation.

- Staff writer Alex Benson contributed to this report.