Several months ago, in a letter to the editor defending Northern Michigan University’s decision to remove Luther West’s name from the physical structure now known only as The Science Building, I issued...

This is sent with profound sadness and concern over NMU’s hasty decision to erase all traces  of Dr. Luther West from it’s campus. As a relative by marriage, I testify to the character of the man I knew for 36 years.

The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees made the right decision when it voted last month to remove Dr. Luther West’s name from the edifice formerly known as West Science—now denominated simply as the Science Building. This action communicates to the general public, and to the NMU community in particular, that the university considers the value of an inclusive, pluralistic society to be a fundamental and paramount one.