User:CTardigrade/William B. Munro

Name Removal at Cal Tech
In February 2021, Caltech decided to take William B. Munro's name off one of its buildings because he supported and practiced eugenics, which is a belief that certain people are better than others based on their genes on a scientific and racial level. The building was called the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, but it was renamed the Hameetman Center. Caltech made this decision as part of an effort to recognize and address its past connection to eugenics, which has hurt many people through discrimination and damage to marginalized communities. The president of Caltech, Thomas F. Rosenbaum, said that removing Munro's name reflects the university's commitment to including everyone and recognizing its institutional history.

Munro was an advocate for eugenics, a now-discredited theory that aimed to improve the genetic quality of the human population through selective breeding and sterilization. Munro argued that the "superior" races should have more children and the "inferior" races should have fewer children, and he supported laws that allowed for involuntary sterilization.

While Munro's legacy is complicated by his support of eugenics, he also made contributions to the field of political science. He authored several books and articles on political theory, international relations, and American government, and he served as president of the American Political Science Association in 1940.

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