VC Desk: Council agrees to change name of Jameson Hall

Dear alumni,

I am pleased to report that Council resolved at its meeting on 18 June 2016 that the name of Jameson Hall should be changed and that a new name should be identified. The authority to name or rename University of Cape Town buildings is vested in Council.

Council has agreed with the Naming of Buildings Committee (NOBC) – advised by the Task Team on the Naming of Buildings, Rooms, Spaces and Roads, which was established in 2015 – that a careful, extensive, consultative process is required to choose a new name.

The Task Team had set a deadline of 15 April 2016 to receive submissions on whether or not the name of Jameson Hall should be changed as well as suggestions for alternative names. The invitation to submit suggestions was open to every student and staff member, as well as members of the wider UCT community, including alumni around the world.

Based on the submissions as well as its own expertise and considerations, the Task Team’s proposal to the NOBC (see text below) regarding the renaming of Jameson Hall, argued as follows:

The Task Team first obtained legal opinion confirming that there was no legal or heritage reason why the name could not be changed.

The Task Team considered arguments for the retention of the name, expressed as a deep respect for the foundational moment of the University as it is reflected in the names of buildings.

However, the Task Team concluded instead that the “University is a living organism and as time passes successive generations of students, who then become alumnae/i, must also be given the opportunity to reflect on the ethos of the institution and inscribe in turn their interpretation in names given to buildings”.

“The naming of buildings is an emotional issue and care should be taken in selecting names that illustrate what is at the heart, and in the name, of a ‘university’, that is, its ‘universality’, expressed as a pursuit of equality, social justice, reconciliation and human promotion - a university’s space is not merely an assemblage of buildings but a human whole that transcends its components. Naming the Hall should echo this overarching concern.”

A joint meeting of the NOBC and the Task Team held on 17 June 2016 concluded that it is clear from the evidence afforded by respected historians that Jameson’s ruthless self-interest manifested in a profound lack of respect for other people.

Notable in this regard was his decision with a coterie of like-minded doctors deliberately to misdiagnose an outbreak of smallpox in Kimberley in 1883 to prevent the absconding from the mines of black labourers. The infamous Jameson Raid, for which he was imprisoned in England, and the wars against the Matabele in what was to become Rhodesia, are other examples of his ruthlessness and his role in exploiting and oppressing local communities.

The NOBC endorsed the Task Team’s conclusion that: (i) the Hall that stands proud at the heart of the University, and being in this respect out of the ordinary, should have a name that would straddle the distinction between a “proper name” and a “functional name” so as to reflect its exceptionality; (ii) a thoughtful change of name would elicit support; (iii) a new name should evoke something easily recognizable, and with which students, academics, staff and parents could identify when they congregate in the Hall; and (iv) such name should evoke what is performed in the Hall, that is, a celebration of togetherness around the communal search for knowledge.

Based on these criteria, the Task Team proposed that the following be considered as possible future names for the Hall:

Memorial Hall

One of Imbizo, Lekgotla, Pitso, Kgoro, which all mean a meeting or gathering place, or their Khoisan equivalent

Others still under discussion

The newly constituted NOBC and the Task Team will meet as soon as possible after 1 July 2016 (the date of the new term of office of all Council and Senate sub-committees) to determine the process whereby a new name could be identified.

I would like to reiterate what I have said before in relation to renaming UCT buildings: such moments are relatively rare and historic, especially with regards to a building as central to campus life as Jameson Hall. This change offers us an opportunity both to make a definitive break with a past that we are not all part of, and to help define a future UCT that is much more inclusive and respectful of our different histories, cultures and aspirations. It is symbolic of a transformation not only on our campus, but more importantly of our attitudes and values.

Please think carefully on this matter and watch for information to come after 1 July about how you can contribute to this historic process of determining a new name.

Sincerely,

Dr Max Price
Vice Chancellor

TASK TEAM ON NAMING OF BUILDINGS, ROOMS, SPACES AND ROADS

The task team met 3 times over a period of 8 months, from 9 October 2015 to 20 May 2016. Its composition allowed for a variety of cultural viewpoints and intellectual approaches both to the general question of “naming” public spaces and the specificity of UCT’s current juncture, to shape the proceedings. Debates and exchanges were free-flowing, allowing for mutual understanding and respect, especially when contrasts tended to be sharper than expected.

Members were mindful that the conclusions they would reach and the arguments they would formulate to support their findings, would eventually find their way into public discourse. However this statement is not intended for the general public but for the NOBC, hence its length and details in explaining how the task team reached a thoughtful recommendation.

As a starting point members of the task team agreed on easily understood parameters, namely that there was no need to name or rename every locale on UCT’s campuses; that a distinction could be made between “functional names” (sometimes referred to as “neutral”, which is a misnomer that should rather not be used) and “proper names” that celebrate or evoke persons, places, or events. A further suggestion was made that for some buildings, and the proper names they carry, to stand out there should not be an inflation of “proper names”. And also  that room should be left for later generations to name locales on campus.

The task team then embarked on looking at building records, and further soliciting and collating submissions through a public participation process among the University community. This included an invitation to students, staff and alumni. The public participation process delivered some 323 proposals concerning a short list of buildings and tabled at a meeting on 20 May 2016.

The task team focused then their attention on the renaming of Jameson Hall, a practical priority in view of the process to be undertaken and have the Hall renamed for the December graduation ceremonies.

Four arguments emerged that helped the task team form an opinion:

Firstly, naming buildings is an emotional issue and care should be taken in selecting names that illustrate what is at the heart, and in the name, of a “university”, that is, its “universality”, expressed as a pursuit of equality, social justice, reconciliation and human promotion - a university’s  space is not merely an assemblage of buildings but a human whole that transcends its components. Naming the Hall should  echo this overarching concern.

In this regard, a counter-argument was made by some petitioners who rejected outright any name changes, or most name changes, and specifically for the Hall: the main tenet of their counter-argument was expressed as a deep reverence to History understood as a respect toward the “foundational moment” of the University as it is reflected in the names of buildings. However this counter-argument formulates its own rebuttal: the University is a living organism and as time passes successive generations of students, who then become alumnae/i, must also be given the opportunity to reflect on the ethos of the institution and inscribe in turn their interpretation in names given to buildings. In this regard one submission stands out, which reminded us that we are simply the trustees of the University, that we do not own it: it is precisely on this ground that the task team believes renaming is an act of respectful trusteeship, showing that trust passes on from generation to generation without ever fixing it on a given point of reference. It was mentioned that, in a distant future, the Hall may well be renamed again.

Secondly, the task team agreed that a name does not carry always a meaning in itself; that a name may seem to mean something when it means something else. Naming carries with it a duty to educate about the name chosen. Naming the Hall will impose on the University to educate public, parents, students and staff about the significance to the new name so as not to have it fall into insignificance or popular misconceptions.

Thirdly, regarding the Hall, there was agreement around the notion that, as a locale where the University is seen as performing itself on a grand stage, either ceremonially or festively, thought must be given to the place itself upon which the focal point of the University is situated, its cultural or historical substructure.

Fourthly, the task team recognized that, in trying to find a designation that would respond to those three aspects, there was a risk to engage  in creative naming, and repeat the fallacy of made-up indigenous, linguistic coinages under apartheid.

Bearing all this in mind, the task team came to the conclusion that, (i) the Hall that stands proud at the heart of the University, and being in this respect out of the ordinary, should have a name that would straddle the distinction between a “proper name” and a “functional name” so as to reflect its exceptionality; (ii) a thoughtful change of name would elicit support (see above our discussion of the counter-argument), (iii) a new name should evoke something easily recognizable, and with which students, academics, staff and parents could identify when they congregate in the Hall; that, (iv) such name should evoke what is performed in the Hall, that is, a celebration of togetherness around the communal search for knowledge.

In conclusion, the task team thus resolved to put to the NOBC a short list of names which respond to the four criteria defined in the course  of the proceedings, ie:

Memorial Hall

One of Imbizo, Lekgotla, Pitso, Kgoro, which all means meeting or gathering place, or their khoisan equivalent

PhJS  5/6/16 revised after receiving comments 11/6/16

Issued by UCT, 24 June 2016