Faculty Council expected rejection of proposal to rename Louise and James R. Moffett building

By Renae Merle
Daily Texan
March 19, 1996

UT System Chancellor William Cunningham formally rejected a Faculty Council resolution to rename the Louise and James R. Moffett Building, Faculty Council Chairman Reuben McDaniel said Monday.

The rejection came as little surprise to faculty members who acknowledged that the resolution was adopted for symbolic reasons.

"This, of course, is not a surprise," said Gretchen Ritter, who sponsored the resolution. "He had made up his mind ahead of time."

The resolution, adopted at the council's Feb. 19 meeting, requested that Cunningham and the UT System Board of Regents ask the Moffetts to voluntarily allow the building to be renamed.

McDaniel presented the resolution to Cunningham and UT System Board of Regents Chairman Bernard Rapoport on behalf of faculty members.

Replying to the resolution, Cunningham sent a letter dated March 1 identical to previous statements expressing his disappointment in the vote.

"In response to your letter of February 29, I am very disappointed and strongly disagree with the action taken by the U.T. Austin Faculty Council relating to a suggested change in the name of the Molecular Biology Building," Cunningham said in a letter addressed to McDaniel and released Monday.

McDaniel said he met with Rapoport, who expressed similar sentiments and said he saw no reason to revisit the issue.

Neither Cunningham nor Rapoport could be reached for comment Monday, but each has maintained a consistent stance against renaming the building.

The building name has met resistance from faculty members and students armed with accusations that Freeport-McMoRan has committed environmental degradations and human rights violations in their Indonesian mining operations, which the company denies.

Moffett, Freeport's chief executive officer, donated $2 million to the construction of the building, which will house the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology. Freeport donated an additional $1 million.

"I believe that the response from Rapoport does not close the door," said Alan Cline, a professor of computer sciences who has been on the forefront of the debate about the building name. "We still await someone who has contact with the Moffetts to approach them.

"It seems that the regents will not actively reopen it, but if someone else approaches the Moffetts the naming [issue] could be reopened."

The resolution also was contested by the Deans' Council, which includes UT President Robert Berdahl. In a statement sent to Cunnigham and the regents, the council said, "We encourage the chancellor and the Board of Regents not to seek a reversal of its decision on the naming of the molecular biology building."

"The Deans' Council believes it is vital for the University to honor its commitments to donors and to keep its word when recognizing gifts."

Freeport officials have declined to comment on the campus debate, labeling it a "University issue."