United council formally asks regents to rename building

- Gretchen Ritter, resolution sponsor

By Renae Merle
Daily Texan Staff
February 20, 1996

In its strongest statement yet on the University's association with Freeport-McMoRan, the Faculty Council voted Monday to ask for the renaming the Louise and James R. Moffett Building.

"We can only hope that the Board of Regents care what the faculty have to say," said Gretchen Ritter, an assistant professor of government who sponsored the resolution.

The resolution, which passed 28 to 15, requests that UT System Chancellor William Cunningham and the UT System Board of Regents ask the Moffetts to voluntarily allow the building to be renamed.

"The resolution that we offer is one that asks the regents to invite the Moffetts to make a gracious gesture in the best interests of the University by agreeing to take their name off the building," Ritter said.

The building name has met a wall of 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 they have consistently denied.

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 addition $1 million.

The move by the council may prove fruitless, since UT System regents have already declared that their decision is final and the building will not be renamed.

"It seems to me that the Board of Regents have decided not to change the name of the building, but I am hopeful that the Moffetts may reconsider," said Bob Boyer, a professor of computer sciences and philosophy, who has been at the forefront of the debate over renaming the building.

UT System Board of Regents Chairman Bernard Rapoport, who could not be reached for comment Monday, has said the board made an agreement and that it is extremely unlikely that the regents will change their minds.

"At least we know we did something. Even if the regents don't listen, it'll be on the record that we tried to do something," said Hannah Gould, Students for Earth Awareness president.

"I am very disappointed with the actions taken today by the UT-Austin Faculty Council which relate to a suggested change in the name of the molecular biology building," Cunningham said, in a prepared statement. "Mr. and Mrs. Moffett are loyal supporters of UT-Austin and have an extraordinary record of generosity. Their philanthropic contributions have helped to meet many important needs of the University's academic programs."

"I continue to agree completely with the action concerning the naming of the molecular biology building taken by the UT Board of Regents ... and I see absolutely no reason to revisit the matter," Cunningham said.

Freeport stood by its position Monday not to comment on the matter, because it is a UT issue.

"He did not ask to have the building named for him," said Bill Collier, Freeport spokesman.

The resolution lacked wording that would have requested renaming the building for late UT professor and U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan, or a comparable figure.

"I think the problem that many people had for naming the building for Jordan was that she had nothing to do with molecular biology," Ritter said.

Ritter said she will present a resolution to the council at their next meeting asking that a building be named for Jordan "when the appropriate opportunity presents itself."

UT President Robert Berdahl continued to stand by his pledge to not comment on the matter.

At the last meeting Berdahl asked for an end to the debate and said Monday: "It sounds done to me."

Of three other resolutions presented to the council regarding Freeport, two were withdrawn and a third was approved.

That resolution affirmed the right of its members to "participate responsibly in the free discussion and exchange of ideas."

The resolution was inspired by letters sent to UT faculty members by Freeport threatening them with a lawsuit if they continued to "distort the truth" about Freeport's mining operations in Indonesia.

"Those letters signify to me that Freeport was trying to bully their faculty critics," said Ritter, who sponsored the resolution.

But Michael Granof, a professor of accounting, said the resolution trivialized the issue of free speech.

"It seems to me the Freeport threat of a suit is so hollow it does not need to be taken seriously," Granof said.

Freeport has taken no further action on the letters.

Ritter withdrew a resolution to create a committee to consider the procedure for naming buildings after her concerns about a previously established committee were satisfied, she said.

"The idea behind this resolution [was] to see what we could do in the future to avoid our present difficulties," Ritter said.

Ritter added that the Faculty Development Policy Advisory Committee would address the building naming issue adequately, and that the issue could be raised again when it reported back to the council.

Another resolution to create a committee to "inquire about the circumstances of the donations and the naming" of the building was also withdrawn.

Alan Cline, a professor of computer sciences, withdrew the resolution after a report from Faculty Council chair Reuben McDaniel detailing the history of the donations and the building name.

"I knew of no other way of making this information public than the introduction of this resolution," Cline said. "However, now given its release, I am happy to withdraw my resolution."