Gerard Leckiepad
Gerard Leckiepad

Radboud University likes to give its buildings a name (but which one?)

Names matter, as anyone who has ever had to choose a name for their baby knows. So too at Radboud University, which is teeming with names of buildings, paths, and squares, names that, unlike babies’ names, can be revisited. Are the names still adequate? And why is the University so fond of big names from far away (as opposed to those of its own scholars)?

The first day of October – Diversity Day – marked the launch of a new reflection tour about campus names, with several guided tours inviting visitors to consider the names of buildings and streets. And to sharpen their thinking, they are asked to put forward a new name for Erasmus Square. Those wishing to contribute their thoughts are welcome to attend one of Radboud Reflects' ‘dialogue sessions’ on names.

During the guided tour, Professor Johan Oosterman points to a striking Nijmegen trait when it comes to choosing names: while other universities prefer technical names – like Eindhoven University of Technology's ‘Flux’ and ‘Helix’ – or a mix of technical terms and people, Nijmegen opts for personal names for almost all its important streets and buildings. At the risk of having the names in question be discredited, like that of the namesake of the Beel Room in Huize Heyendael.

Tainted reputation

Beel was a law faculty alumnus and prime minister, which was the reason for naming a room after him. As prime minister and some time later High Commissioner of the Dutch East Indies, he was responsible for “police actions” that involved excessive violence. The Beel Room at Huize Heyendael was recently renamed The Salon, the room's original name. “Linnaeus was also not without blemish”, as visitors heard during the tour. The 18th-century namesake of the science building was allegedly guilty of racism in his biological taxonomy.   

The personification of buildings is a relatively modern trend in Nijmegen, and still not ubiquitous – see the Lecture Hall complex, the Aula, or the Research Tower of Radboud University medical center. But each new faculty building is given a name, a phenomenon that is discussed at length during the tour. Why lean mainly on scholars from far away, the visitors ask. Why do we forget our ‘own’ scholars (like founding professors Schrijnen or Post), and instead honour Comenius, Grotius, Erasmus, Spinoza, and Maria Montessori?

Bord Maria Montessorigebouw

Inferiority complex

University historian Jan Brabers, also a participant on the tour, can relate to this criticism. Apart from the ‘Reinier Postlaan’, there is little Nijmegen glory in the public campus space – incidentally, many rooms in the Aula, Huize Heyendaal, and elsewhere do bear Nijmegen names. “With the names of great scholars, the University wants to show where it wants to belong: with great science. But I do think it's a shame we don't draw names from our own history. Leaning on big names (“Look who we are associated with!”) may also have to do with an inferiority complex from the past. As far as I’m concerned, there is good reason to name buildings after people like Schrijnen or Post.”

Thea Ivenspad en Gerard Leckiepad

Christine Mohrmann Square

Should naming be more inclusive, with more variety in colour and gender? Brabers points out that when 10 campus paths were named last year, a lot of attention was devoted to inclusion: the new paths were named after students, but also Suriname's Gerard Leckie, who now lives on in the name of a campus avenue. Leckie was a psychology alumnus and one of the victims of the 1982 December murders. Brabers notes that the desire for variety often clashes with strict requirements: in addition to being of impeccable character, a namesake must have been dead for at least 10 years.   

Can another scholar replace the namesake of Erasmus Square? Yes, say the visitors: Erasmus has already been honoured with a building, a street, and a statue. A few potential candidates are mentioned: Karl Marx and – more inclusively – Christine Mohrmann, the University's first female professor (in 1953). As can happen with names, Mohrmann's name meets with some hesitation. “We should be aware of the fact that she does represent a very old-fashioned set of beliefs,” says Brabers. “Moreover, she didn’t have an easy personality and by the time she left, she was clearly not on good terms with everyone at the University.” Yes but, some tour participants counter, are all the male namesakes entirely blemish-free? Mohrmann is and remains our first female professor. Reason enough to name a square after her.” And that is something Brabers can also concur with.

Would you like to think along about the names on campus? Make sure you sign up for one of Radboud Reflects' dialogue sessions. Wednesday 30 October, 2.30 p.m.  4.30 p.m. (English) or Tuesday 5 November, 3.30 p.m. 5.30 p.m. (Dutch), both in Huize Heyendael. 

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Diversity, Radboud then and now