POINT: Von KleinSmid Center’s name stunts university’s progress


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This week, after years of student pushback, the president of Yale University announced that it would rename a residential college named for John Calhoun, a 19th-century defender of slavery, replacing it with computer scientist Grace Murray Hopper.

In light of this step, USC should finally rename the Von KleinSmid Center, named for noted supporter of eugenics and the University’s fifth president, Rufus B. von KleinSmid. Yale’s decision sets the example that a concentrated student effort can eventually receive results.

By now, many students have heard the story behind von KleinSmid. He was a passionate supporter of forced sterilization programs, and he co-founded the Human Betterment Association, a leading eugenics organization. Forced sterilization programs were part of a dark but rarely discussed period in America — and especially in California — which played a large role in popularizing the practice. Von KleinSmid’s view of these programs was clear. In a paper titled “Eugenics and the State,” he wrote, “The application of the principles of Eugenics to organized society is one of the most important duties of the social scientist of the present generation.”

Von KleinSmid also has a history of racism, notably withholding transcripts to colleges enrolling Japanese American citizens after their release from internment camps in 1945. These actions clearly contradict USC’s values as a diverse and inclusive global university and should be enough to warrant the removal of von KleinSmid’s name from one of our University’s most visible buildings. While von KleinSmid was undoubtedly an influential USC administrator and helped the University progress, his public values are very much at odds with what the University is striving toward today. If USC wants to be a progressive university open to students from all backgrounds, it needs to strip the very building dedicated to international studies of a name tainted by racism and discrimination.

USC has seemingly endless prominent alumni and past administrators who made valuable, positive contributions to our University community. If it were entirely up to me, Minnie C. Miltimore is the first USC alumni who comes to mind who is deserving of more recognition on campus. Miltimore — a woman — was USC’s first valedictorian in the school’s graduating class of 1884.  Very little additional information is easily available on Miltimore, and her name is not prominently visible on campus. Naming a building after her would speak to the University’s commitment to its past by recognizing the first graduating class, while marking its commitment to progress and continued commitment to empowering women in higher education.

Realistically, USC would probably either name the building after a top donor or after another former school administrator. In the vein of past University presidents, Norman Topping presents a much more positive representation of our University’s history than von KleinSmid.

During Topping’s 12-year term as president, he raised over $100 million for the University in around five years. Also under Topping, USC entered the Association of American Universities and began to transform its image from a regional to a national university. These actions had a lasting impact on USC students today, as USC continues to be recognized as a leading national and international institution. Unlike von KleinSmid, Topping’s activities outside of USC had a largely positive impact. He was widely regarded in the medical field and helped develop a vaccine against typhus that is still used today. He also had a vested interest in USC’s surrounding community, serving as president of the Los Angeles Transit Authority after his tenure at USC ended.

Also, unlike most other past University presidents, Topping both studied at and presided over USC, demonstrating his strong connection to the Trojan family. Topping received his bachelor’s and his medical degree from USC. Naming the building for Topping would allow USC to recognize students, alumni and University administration with one action. While Topping’s name is currently recognized through the Norman Topping Student Aid Fund and a building on the health sciences campus, it should also be recognized through a physical building on USC’s main campus.

Norman Topping is a solid and fitting choice as the potential new name for VKC. However, the point remains that there simply needs to be a new name for VKC — but if students want this to happen, it will require a concentrated effort, as it did at Yale.

Erin Rode is a junior majoring in journalism and political science. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Wednesdays.