University distances campus from founder of brutal Indian mission system

Tuesday, September 18, 2018  

Stanford University plans to remove most references to Junípero Serra from its campus in northern California, located on the homelands of the Ohlone people.

Serra was the founder of the brutal Indian mission system, during which tribal citizens were forced to move away from their homelands as part of religious conversion efforts in the 1700s and 1800s. Though he lacked a connection to Stanford, a student dormitory, a research institute and the university's mailing address and mall -- essentially the institution's front door -- bear his name.

“The committee called for renaming several features on campus that recognize someone who had no direct role in Stanford’s history and lived a century before the university was even founded, yet whose role as the recognized leader of the mission system provides an acute reminder to our Native American community of the profound impact of the mission system on indigenous peoples,” Jeff Raikes, the chair of the Stanford Board of Trustees, said in a September 13 announcement about the names.

Stanford's decision will not affect Serra Street, which extends beyond campus boundaries. But the university plans to "pursue new educational displays and other efforts to more fully address the multidimensional legacy of Serra and the mission system in California," according to the announcement.

“It was important for us to understand the perspectives of groups within and beyond our university community,” Paul Brest, a former law school dean who chaired two committees that looked into the issue, said in the announcement. “We met with students, staff and alumni including Native Americans, Roman Catholics, members of the Latinx community, alumni of the Serra dormitory and attendees of an open campus meeting we convened, along with leaders of the Muwekma Ohlone tribe, on whose historic lands Stanford sits.”

Serra was made a saint by the Catholic Church by Pope Francis, during his first visit to the United States in 2015. Though some tribal citizens took part in the ceremony in Washington, D.C., others said the church has not done enough to address the genocidal legacy of the mission system.

"At the beginning of the mission period, there were 30,000 Ohlone Indians," Chairman Valentin Lopez of the Amah Mutsun Band said on the Democracy Now! program at the time of the canonization ceremony. "At the end of the mission period, there were less than 100."

To Catholics, Junípero Serra is a saint. To Stanford University, he’s a mailing address worth eliminating. (The Washington Post September 18, 2018)
Stanford is stripping the name of a Catholic saint over his treatment of Native Americans (CNN September 17, 2018)
Stanford is removing Junipero Serra's name from parts of campus (The Los Angeles Times September 16, 2018)
Stanford to remove references to Junipero Serra over treatment of tribes (The San Francisco Chronicle September 14, 2018)

Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation decries vandalism at mission (September 29, 2015)
Simon Moya-Smith: Pope Francis must offer more than apology (September 24, 2015)
Pope Francis fails to address mistreatment of tribes in California (September 24, 2015)
Papal mass features reading in Native language from California (September 23, 2015)
Pope Francis lands in nation's capital for historic first visit to US (September 23, 2015)
Two from Muwekma Ohlone Tribe to take part in sainthood mass (September 21, 2015)
Pope Francis to bestow sainthood on founder of Indian missions (September 10, 2015)
Al Villanueva: Indian mission founder did not commit genocide (September 7, 2015)
Steven Newcomb: Pope in denial about genocide of our peoples (August 21, 2015)
Opinion: Church's apology not enough for some Native people (August 18, 2015)