Stanford stripped of Serra

Stanford’s removal of Serra’s name from its campus has sparked new conversation at USD

The on-campus statue of Saint Junípero Serra can be easy to miss, tucked away in a shady corner outside of Serra Hall. However, for some University of San Diego students, even the mention of Serra’s name is a reminder of the genocide of thousands of Native Americans under the California mission system. To others, Serra might represent a holy symbol of the Catholic Church, as a recently canonized saint. Now, the USD administration is faced with the task of making a choice between the voices of the school’s Native American students and the university’s identity as a Catholic institution.

According to the University of San Diego’s Undergraduate Student Body Profile, 43 percent of first-year students identify as Catholic. 0.3 percent of USD undergraduates identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, according to USD’s Race/Ethnicity Federal Reports of Fall 2018 Students.

Beginning in November of 2017, members of USD’s American Indian & Indigenous Student Organization (AIISO) have been pushing to remove Serra’s name from Serra Hall, an academic building on campus. USD’s campus lies on Native Kumeyaay land, and students expressed their discomfort in attending class in a building bearing the name of a man who played a part in the genocide of their ancestors. 

In order to educate more students about the history of Serra, AIISO hosted an event in front of Serra Hall in November, showcasing 300 rocks painted red — each symbolizing 1,000 native deaths.

Senior Patrick Murphy, President of AIISO, explained why the club has taken the official stance of wanting to remove Serra’s name from the building.

“We, as a group, see him as a figure who was detrimental to the Native American population here in Southern California,” Murphy said. “(Serra) was being idolized for basically doing wrong things to the community here.”

Despite the club’s efforts, no changes have been made to the name of Serra Hall. There was a discussion panel focused on whether the name of Serra Hall should be changed in February of 2018, and despite fruitful conversation, the event amounted to no changes to the building’s name. Since then, there have been no other events or public campaigns to protest the name of Serra Hall at USD. However, the issue is rising again, this time at Stanford University.

Stanford is seeking permission from the U.S. Postal Service and Santa Clara County to wipe Serra from its mailing address, in addition to removing his name from one academic building and one dormitory. 

A Stanford committee’s report from late August pronounced Serra’s name to be “unfit of display” on campus, in response to the input of Native American students and tribes. Students had been protesting since March of 2016, when a student assembly voted to remove his name from the mailing address, the Stanford Daily reported.

“Though we have no doubt about Serra’s piety and good intentions, it is also a fact that the mission system pervasively mistreated and abused California’s Native Americans,” the committee said.

Stanford students’ fight to remove Serra’s name from the university seems to parallel USD’s in many ways; both movements occur at private liberal arts colleges in California and began with student protests and input from Native American students. 

There is one key difference between the two: Stanford is not religiously affiliated, while USD is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. From the crosses on every building to the integration of the church’s message in many of the school’s statements, USD is not reserved about expressing its identity as a Roman Catholic university. 

Pamela Gray Payton, Assistant Vice President of Media Communications at USD, explained why the university has a building named after Serra.

“It has long been the case in Catholic universities and other institutions to name buildings after those who, despite their imperfections, have given extraordinary witness to the faith and have been designated with the title of sainthood,” Payton said. “For this reason, our location adjacent to the place the faith was first celebrated, and first chapel built in this region by St. Junípero Serra is significant for the University of San Diego and our Catholic Intellectual Tradition.”

 Jeffrey Burns, Ph.D., a USD professor and faculty member in the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture, illuminated why removing Serra’s name from the building would be going against the university’s Catholic identity.

“I know that the university will probably want to keep it as Serra because he was just named a saint,” Burns said. “Taking away that title would be a slap to the Catholic Church.”

Burns added that Serra is often blamed for the entirety of what happened in the California missions.

“I just wanted to point out who Serra was really,” Burns said. “In the current discussion, Serra is turned into a symbol of everything bad that happened in the Missions. (The mass death of natives) was actually because of diseases, and that was turned back on Serra. I want to turn it back to the person of Serra and not the symbol of Serra.”

Despite a lack of visible progress on the fight to remove Serra’s name from the hall, Murphy believes the movement has gained traction.

“It does feel like we have support,” Murphy said. “I’ve had people reach out to me recently about the Washington Post article, saying, ‘Hey, this is happening, this is what you guys are fighting for.’ It’s definitely a step in the right direction. Even around campus, in general, we have more support. Even some of my friends have recognized my work, and they’ll ask me, ‘Hey, how’s it going with the Serra Hall name change?’ A year ago, I didn’t think it would get to where we are right now.”

Murphy hopes to implement some of Stanford’s methods in fighting to remove Serra’s name from the university at USD and within AIISO.

“From (the article), we can try to take it apart and go more in-depth with what they did and kind of mimic their steps and see if it helps us in any way,” Murphy said. “Or we can use it to show that universities are willing to change if there’s enough support for it. We’re not opposed to anything, anything that can gain support and momentum in this effort.”

Although there is a Serra Street on Stanford’s campus, the school does not intend for Serra’s name to be removed from it. Instead, Stanford intends to create a sign or plaque on the street to explain who Serra was and why he is controversial.

Payton affirmed that this is something USD might be willing to do as a compromise in the movement to remove Serra’s name from Serra Hall.

“Yes, there have been discussions about exploring ways in which USD can be sensitive to all of its community while also being responsible to its Catholic intellectual tradition,” Payton said.

 To Murphy personally, however, a plaque or a sign would not be enough.

 “I don’t think that that would be okay,” Murphy said. “I want to fight for the complete name change.”

 The future of Serra Hall remains largely unknown, but the Stanford’s actions brought new attention to the situation. As AIISO continues its fight, USD is faced with balancing the identities and voices its students.