The practice by Indiana University of naming buildings and even schools for individuals and families who make major financial donations to the university only makes sense. The financial support is crucial to the university’s progress, and the donations deserve recognition.
Thus the Jacobs School of Music, the Kelley School of Business, the Maurer School of Law, the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology and all the rest pay appropriate tribute to benefactors to the university. The names also encourage others on a certain economic level to consider what they might want and be able to do to put their name in the public spotlight.
On the other hand, reporter Michael Reschke’s sparked some points to consider as the naming concept continues to grow.
First, the names of some buildings should not be for sale no matter what the price. The most obvious example is the Wells Library, named for Herman B Wells. The naming decision came not from his financial generosity, but for his intellectual, visionary and leadership gifts as president and chancellor of the university. The same could be said for Bryan Hall, named for IU President William Lowe Bryan, who led the university for 35 years. Men and women who made huge and lasting contributions serving the university should never have their names removed from buildings because someone has the money to offer.
Second, IU should be wary of selling naming rights to corporations. An exception could be made, potentially, for a corporation with strong Hoosier roots. But as Josh Boyd, a communications professor at Purdue University who has researched naming rights told Reschke, “When you name something for an aging benefactor or a person who is deceased, you sort of know what you’re getting. With a company, you don’t.” The company could lose its good name, such as Enron; or it could be sold and basically moved offshore, such as RCA; or it simply could make the university look greedy and indiscriminate about who it will chose as a partner.
At the end of the day, the university and its supporters must be able to take pride in the names on IU’s buildings and centers. And pride doesn’t come with a donation level.