Proposal to Rename the Social Sciences Building By Leslie Macias

November 28, 2021

Leslie Macias

For The Racial and Colonial Foundations of UC Berkeley class for review by the UC Berkeley Building Name Review Committee

Background of Building and Campus Process

            The Social Sciences Building, formerly known as Barrows Hall, is a building on the UC Berkeley campus which sits on the territory of xučyun, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chonchenyo speaking Ohlone people, the successors of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County.[1] The Social Sciences Building houses several undergraduate majors including Political Science, Ethnic Studies, Native American Studies, African American Studies, and Sociology. The Social Sciences building was unnamed from Barrows Hall on November 18, 2020, in response to an unnaming proposal submitted by members of the campus community in July of 2020.

The fight to rename the Social Sciences Building began long before this research and the unnaming in 2020. While the origins of the Rename movement are not completely clear, the movement gained traction in 2015. This is because in 2015, the Black Student Union at UC Berkeley published a document titled “Ten Initial Demands,” where the BSU included “Rename Barrows Hall ‘Assata Shakur Hall’” as part of their demands.[2] While their demand to rename was not met in 2015, the release of the document sparked public interest and support of the renaming as several news sites began to report on the movement. In March of 2016, the Daily Californian, the UC Berkeley student-operated newspaper, released a feature in support of the movement to rename Barrows Hall.[3]

            In response to the growing campus support of the movement, in April 2017, UC Berkeley’s Building Naming Project Task Force released a report with recommendations for the University. While the task force did not comment on whether Barrows Hall should be unnamed, they established that “The principal legacy of the namesake of a building should be in alignment with the values and mission of the University.”[4] Again, while the task force did not rename or unname, they did establish 1. The legacy of the namesake of a building should align with University values 2. All relevant campus communities should provide input in unnaming and renaming buildings. Additionally, the task force recommended that the University create a formal Building Naming Review Committee, so the formal committee was commissioned in the fall of 2017.[5]

            Two years later on November 18, 2020, Barrows Hall was officially unnamed and given its current temporary name, The Social Sciences Building.[6]

Summary of Rationale

            Despite its unnaming, The Social Sciences Building’s former name, Barrows Hall, continues to haunt the UC Berkeley campus. While unnaming was the correct first step, the University failed to properly address the Rename Barrows Hall movement’s goals, as the movement was focused on renaming, not unnaming. The focus of the movement on renaming Barrows Hall is important because it facilitates a conversation about who is important and worthy of remembering. By simply unnaming, the University did not commit to honoring POC who had been hurt by Barrows, instead, they did it to protect the University from further criticism.

Therefore, it is necessary that we completely rid the legacies of Barrows by not only unnaming but renaming to produce conversations of who is actually important. By not renaming, the University continues to allow the legacy of racism and colonialism to live on campus. A quick internet search for “Social Sciences Building UC Berkeley” will return “The Social Sciences Building (Barrows Hall).” Additionally, several UC Berkeley websites, including the University’s Disability Access and Compliance website, still refers to the Social Sciences Building as Barrows Hall.[7] 

Additionally, the campus community has expressed disappointment in the lack of building names, and therefore, have continued to refer to the buildings as their former names. As a current undergraduate student at the University, I hear the building’s former name, Barrows Hall, being used to refer to the Social Sciences Building almost daily.  Hence, though the Social Sciences Building has been officially unnamed, because of the lack of a new name, we continue to hear and see the hurtful legacies of Barrows on campus today. The informal existence of Barrows Hall on campus today exists as a hurtful public reminder of historical trauma which can lead to psychological distress among communities that were hurt by the former namesake.[8]

I propose that we allow the communities that were hurt by the former name, Barrows Hall, to select new names for the buildings. This way, the University will show its commitment to inclusivity of the communities that it has historically and continuously hurt. The renaming of buildings is the first step forward to the future for UC Berkeley’s supposed dedication to justice. If renamed, the next generations that attend UC Berkeley will constantly be reminded of the importance of the newly named building and the new namesake’s legacy instead of the former racist namesake.

Methods and Findings

            In order to gather feedback on the unnaming and possible renaming of the Social Sciences Building, I created a survey to the campus community asking ten open ended questions about both the unnaming and renaming of the building. The survey was available for anyone to complete from November 7th to November 28th of 2021. I received a total of 105 responses. I will go over my findings in the following sections.

It is important to note that the research I have conducted does not accurately include all campus communities because it was limited in its responses, but I hope the University recognizes that there are voices on campus who feel passionately about renaming the Social Sciences Building. The University should create its own version of a suggestion survey, so that communities on campus can directly give their input on the renaming.

• Question 1: Are you a UC Berkeley student?
  • Findings: Of the 100 responses to this question, 88 identified as a UC Berkeley student, 0 as faculty, 0 as staff, 10 as alumni, 1 as a visitor, and 1 as other (with no comment clarifying)
• Question 2: Do you know why Barrows Hall was renamed?
  • Findings: Of the 100 responses to this question, 7 answered they did “Definitely not” know why Barrows Hall was unnamed, 4 answered “Somewhat not,” 8 answered they “Might or might not” know, 55 answered “Somewhat yes,” 26 answered “Definitely yes.”
• Question 3: From your knowledge, why was Barrows Hall unnamed?
  • Findings: Of the 100 responses to this question, 23.04% answered they knew of “Barrows’ involvement in colonizing the Philippines,” 22.17% answered they knew of “Barrows’ racism against Filipinos,” 22.17% answered they knew of “Barrows’ racism against Black people,” 31.74% answered they knew of “Barrows’ white supremacy,” and 0.87% answered “Other” with two comments 1. “Barrow, the person the building is named after, is racist but I don’t know the specifics” 2. “He did way more than this.”
• Question 4: Did you support the unnaming of Barrows Hall in 2020?
  • Of the 98 responses to this question, 62 “supported the unnaming,” 1 “didn’t support the unnaming,” 29 “wasn’t aware of the unnaming,” and 6 selected “Other” with four comments 1. “indifferent” 2. “Neutral” 3. “I was part of the group who unnamed them” 4. “I was indifferent because I knew they weren’t going to name it after a notable person of Color, especially one from the communities Barrows has harmed. It was an empty notion.”
• Question 5: How do you refer to the Social Sciences Building today?
  • Of the 98 responses to this question, 14 answered they “Mostly refer to it as its former name ‘Barrows Hall,’” 15 answered “Sometimes refer to it as its former name ‘Barrows Hall,’” 27 answered “Sometimes refer to it as its new name ‘Social Sciences Building,’” and 42 answered “Mostly refer to it as its new name ‘Social Sciences Building.’”
• Question 6: Do you believe the University should rename the Social Sciences Building (formerly Barrows Hall)?
  • Of the 75 responses to this question, 71 answered “Yes, the University should rename the Social Sciences Building” and 4 answered “No, the University should not rename the Social Sciences Building.”
• Question 7: Why do you believe the University should or should not rename the Social Sciences Building?
  • Of the 63 responses to this question, 60 answered “Should” with fifty comments addressing the following points 1. The Social Sciences Building is a “lame name for a building” and is too long 2. The Social Sciences Building should be named after someone who has done good in the world/champion of social sciences 3. The Social Sciences Building can be written as the “SS Building” in shorthand which has its own negative connotations 4. Every other building is named after someone 5. It’s a minimal change with social impact 5. Leaving it as Social Sciences Building makes the unnaming seem performative,                                and 3 answered “Should not” with two comments 1. “Might cause increased confusion though I support renaming in favor of someone with better values.” 2. “It’s fine how it is.”
• Question 8: What kind of name should be considered in renaming the Social Sciences Building?
  • Of the 98 responses, 55 answered “Activist,” 3 answered “Politician,” 0 answered “Donor,” 19 answered “Professor,” 14 answered “Alumni” and 7 answered “Other” with three comments 1. “Pertaining to the Indigenous community whose land we are on,” 2. “Leave as “social science building.” Sure, people will ask “why is it called social science building if my math discussion is in here?” But in asking that question someone may be able to provide the answer of the symbolic name change of the building” 3. “Student activist”
• Question 9: Suggest names that should be considered if the University were to rename the Social Sciences Building
  • Huey P. Newton Hall (Black revolutionary, co-founder of the Black Panther Party)
  • Mario Savio (Student activist during the Berkeley Free Speech Movement)
  • Jerry Brown (Former governor of California)
  • Joan Didion (American author, UC Berkeley Alumna)
  • Richard Aoki (Japanese American activist, early member of the Black Panther Party)
  • Betty Friedan (American feminist writer, UC Berkeley alumna)
  • Keith Kerr (Retired US Army Reserve Colonel, openly gay)
  • James Baldwin (Black novelist, activist)
  • Assata Shakur (Black revolutionary, member of Black Liberation Army)
  • Angela Davis (Black revolutionary, scholar, and author)
  • Larry Itliong (Filipino-American labor organizer and activist)
  • Carlos Bulosan (Filipino activist and author of America Is in the Heart)
  • LaNada Means/War Jack (first Native American student admitted to UC Berkeley, leader of reclamation of Alcatraz in 1969, UC Berkeley alumna)
  • Dawn Mabalon (Filipina activist and author of Little Manila Is in the Heart)
  • David Peoples (American screenwriter)
  • Malcom X (Black revolutionary)
  • Charles Derber (American sociologist focusing on crises of capitalism)
  • Frederick Douglass (American abolitionist and activist)
  • Billie Holiday (Black artist and activist during the Civil Rights Movemnet)
  • Michael Omi (UC Berkeley faculty, American sociologist, cofounder of racial formation theory)
  • Ronald Takaki (American historian, UC Berkeley alumnus)
  • Ysidro Macias (Chicano student activist, co-founder of Third World Liberation Front, UC Berkeley alumnus)
  • Marsha P Johnson (Black gay liberation activist, co-founder of Gay Liberation Front)
  • Veve Clark (Black author and scholar, former UC Berkeley professor)
  • Pablo Gonzales (Professor in Ethnic and Chicano Studies at UC Berkeley)
• Question 10: Feel free to include any concluding comments, opinions, or questions.
  • “The university should change the name of the building to honor the name of someone that was dedicated to ending/condemning western imperialism, neocolonialism, and white supremacy. It is important, if the university is serious about challenging white supremacy, that it be explicit in its principles against any form of racial capital/white supremacy.”
  • “I don’t think this creates material change to berkeleys racial dynamics but it still would be a nice change. Berkeley still has a lot of work to do in regards to racist infrastructure on campus and it has been a long time coming. Renaming barrows to honor a person of color is one step but it isn’t the only one”

Analysis and Conclusion

            Though my survey was somewhat limited in its number of responses, I believe the data reveals several key takeaways.

• Many in our campus community are either completely or somewhat unaware of the history behind the Social Sciences Building
  • The responses to questions two and three imply that there are individuals on campus who are unaware of the unnaming and renaming movement. In question two, 11 people answered that they definitely did not know or only somewhat knew and 8 people answered they might or might not know why Barrows Hall was unnamed. This represents a lack in knowledge available to the campus community about the building’s history. Many, since they unnamed Barrows during the virtual learning period, arrived to campus in person without knowing that the building had been renamed to the Social Sciences Building. This might be part of the reason why people continue to refer to the Social Sciences Building today as Barrows Hall. In question three, we see that the majority of people are aware of Barrows’ legacy as a “white supremacist,” but do not know how or why he was a white supremacist. The University should be committed to educating and learning from history, so there needs to be a better way to honor the communities that were hurt by Barrows. 
  • The majority of participants support renaming the Social Sciences Building
    • Responses to question six indicate that an overwhelming majority of participants are in favor of renaming the Social Sciences Building. Again, while this data is not representative of the entire campus, it does reveal that out of these participants, most support the renaming. In question seven, when asked why the University should rename the Social Sciences Building, there were several different types of responses that I was able to categorize.
      • The Social Sciences Building is a boring/bad name for a building
      • The Social Sciences Building should be named after someone who has done good in the world/champion of social sciences
      • The Social Sciences Building can be written as the “SS Building” in shorthand which has its own negative connotations
      • Every other building is named after someone
      • It’s a minimal change that would honor POC on campus
      • Leaving it as is, Social Sciences Building, makes the unnaming of 2020 seem performative
      • Participants want the building’s new name to honor POC activists or revolutionaries
        • Of the responses, the majority of suggested names were names of influential Black or Filipinx activists and revolutionaries. This suggests that participants chose names from communities that Barrows most infamously hurt. Whether participants intentionally chose Black and Filipinx names in response to Barrows’ racism against those communities is unclear, renaming to honor a Black or Filipinx activist symbolizes the progress of University values.
        • This also suggests that at the least, students want to feel respected and included on campus. Many, in their comments, viewed the possible renaming of the Social Sciences Building to a POC activist as, “small effort to show they actually care about minority identities.” So, while students recognize that renaming the Social Sciences Building is not going to fix the racial dynamics on campus, many recognize it as a small effort with big meaning.