LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon University’s library could be getting a new name.

The Eastern Oregon University Board of Trustees will take the final report from the Pierce Library Naming Committee under consideration during its Nov. 12 meeting.

The library’s name has been controversial for years.

Its namesakes, former Oregon Gov. Walter Pierce and his wife, Cornelia Pierce, held a number of public leadership roles in Oregon during the first half of the 20th century. But Walter Pierce also received political support from the Ku Klux Klan, and the couple advocated for eugenics and racist policies. As governor, Walter Pierce upheld and created discriminatory and anti-immigration policies.

The 14-page report, which the committee submitted Aug. 27 to EOU President Tom Insko, contains research and testimony in support of changing the name of the library.

“We must never be complacent in prioritizing the values of justice and equity in the work we do every day at EOU, and we must intentionally carry these values into every conversation we have in this community and every decision we make as leaders of the university,” Insko said in a press release about the report and upcoming meeting. “The name of the library is one of those conversations that continues within, and outside of, the EOU community.”

The committee consists of EOU Vice President for University Advancement Tim Seydel, students Andrea Camacho and Joel Chin, associate history professor Rebecca Hartman and library faculty Katie Townsend. The committee set up criteria for determining the naming of the library and answered several questions in an analysis in the report, including whether the values of actions of the Pierces conflict with EOU’s mission statement, values and principles, and whether they demonstrate discriminatory views that actively promoted systemic oppression.

According to the report, the committee found the Pierces’ legacy does conflict with Eastern Oregon University’s values.

“In applying this set of criteria we were most troubled by the enduring nature of the Pierces’ commitment to exclusionary and nativist values and we identified a clear conflict between this commitment and EOU’s values of inclusiveness, embracing diversity and valuing multiple perspectives,” according to the report.

The committee detailed the former governor’s discriminatory history, including involvement with the KKK, limiting immigrants’ ability to own property, and particularly his discrimination against immigrants from Asian countries.

“In the context of our criteria, we conclude that regardless of the question of his Klan membership, (Walter) Pierce’s support of the Compulsory School bill, his and Cornelia’s successful campaign for forced sterilization, his vote against a federal anti-lynching law and his sustained assault upon the civil liberties of Japanese-Americans are clear evidences of the Pierces’ discriminatory actions and values,” the report said.

The committee found the Pierces never attempted redemption or reflected on their ideologies, but there is no evidence either promoted physical violence against people.

Committee report supports removing Pierce from EOU library name