West Chester University Removing Professor's Name On Science Center

WEST CHESTER, PA — Professor Samuel Christian Schmucker’s name will be removed from West Chester University’s science center after an investigation determined that Schmucker advocated eugenics, the University’s Council of Trustees voted unanimously on Thursday.

Eugenics is a scientifically erroneous theory that gene pools can be eliminated from those who are considered socially inferior.

The decision followed an in-depth investigation by a Namesake Committee appointed by Christopher Fiorentino, college president, to research the issue.

Fiorentino said the Council believes firmly that the evidence found necessitates removing his name, sending a message to students, faculty, and staff that the university is an institution that affirms the worth and dignity of everyone.

“It takes the entire community of educators to collectively look at our past to better our future and West Chester University remains resolute,” Florentino wrote in a statement to the community.

The investigation

The legacy of Schmucker, who was a well-liked science teacher in the late 1800s at West Chester State Normal School, was rediscovered recently through the scholarly research of a student and their professor.

The findings were brought to the attention of Fiorentino who appointed an inclusive committee to conduct further investigation of the namesake.

The committee concluded that the harm caused by Schmucker through his advocacy for a dangerous pseudo-science still reverberates on our campus today.

Upon the committee’s presentation of their final report this summer, Fiorentino and the members of the president’s Cabinet concurred with the committee’s recommendation to remove the name of Samuel Christian Schmucker from the building.

In an Aug. 31 letter to the Council of Trustees, President Fiorentino wrote, "Our mission here at WCU is to be a community of educators that develops graduates to succeed personally and professionally and make all of us better.

Likewise, as an institution of higher education, we should honor only those individuals who have come before us and do the same — make us better. The people we remember must be worthy of that honor.”

President Fiorentino’s recommendation to the Council of Trustees and the Committee’s report can be found here.