It's hard to miss, walking through the courtyard of the Mattin Center: 15 raised light-gray letters on one of the south-facing granite steps. "M&T Bank Courtyard."
That's right: a corporation has earned permanent naming rights for this campus space. In my mind, this violates the spirit of Johns Hopkins as an academic institution. Though it's one thing to recognize corporate contributions, it's quite another to actually name one of our buildings, quads or courtyards after a corporation.
This large open space between the Morris Offitt and F. Ross Jones buildings is the only physical space on campus that is named after a corporation. It indicates the dangerous possibility that the University might, in the future, elect to name more parts of campus after commercial entities.
According to M&T Bank Vice President Mike Riley, the courtyard naming began about eight years ago when Hopkins sought funding from individual and corporate donors for the construction of the Mattin Center on the southeast edge of campus. At that time, Allfirst Bank agreed to make a $1 million contribution toward the project, to be paid over the course of ten years. In return, Hopkins granted Allfirst the right to name the courtyard, and a plaque commemorating "Allfirst Courtyard" was placed on the steps leading from the courtyard toward the library. When M&T Bank acquired Allfirst in 2003, it pledged to continue the gift. This summer, the plaque was changed to "M&T Bank Courtyard."
It's entirely appropriate to mount a plaque recognizing corporate donors. For instance, a prominent sign inside the Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center thanks PepsiCo for its generous donation to the facility. This isn't intrusive because the University building is still named after a person, not a corporation. However, when a building or a part of a building is literally named for a corporation, the University is crossing a line that should not be crossed.
Naming University buildings after companies is wrong on several levels. First, it interrupts a long tradition of naming buildings after the people, mostly alumni, who have longstanding ties with the University. Second, it cheapens our campus and turns it into a billboard for these companies' goods and services. Finally, it fundamentally violates the spirit of the University as an academic haven safe from the intrusion and influence of the corporate world.
I am not against the idea of corporations donating money to universities. In fact, if not for the generosity of companies like M&T Bank and PepsiCo, many of the facilities I use here at Hopkins would not exist. I am in one of the many a cappella groups that uses the amazing facilities at the Mattin Center, and I frequent the recreation center. I am thankful for the contributions that these companies have made to my experience at Hopkins.
However, there is an important distinction between recognizing corporate generosity and naming a building or public space on campus after a company.
Bob Lindgren, Hopkins' vice president of development, said in a telephone interview, "The need to have private support for a place like Johns Hopkins is very critical." However, Lindgren also claimed there was no difference between naming a courtyard after M&T Bank and naming the physics building after Michael Bloomberg -- founder of the financial network of the same name -- or the Decker Quad after an alumnus who helped found Black & Decker. While Lindgren is correct to point out that these buildings and spaces share their names with corporations, it is fundamentally different to name a campus space after the founder of a company than to name it after a company itself. While naming parts of campus after these donors may indirectly promote the companies they founded, this promotion is not nearly as direct as naming a space after the full name of a company, as in the case of the M&T Bank Courtyard.
Although I laud its civic-mindedness, M&T Bank did not seek naming rights for the Mattin Center courtyard just out of the goodness of its heart. As a growing bank in the region, it knows that its million-dollar donation is an advertising investment that will, over the course of many decades, influence the banking choices of Hopkin students. Banks compete fiercely for college students, knowing many or most undergraduates will continue to use the same bank account after graduation.
The appropriate way to honor corporate donations is to erect subtle signage that thanks the companies for their generous support. Resorting to naming campus spaces after corporations is selling out Hopkins. Would we allow ourselves to walk across the Coca-Cola Quad? Would we be willing to study in the Exxon-Mobil Library? Let's not allow corporations to receive naming rights at Hopkins. It's just plain wrong.
--Joshua Robinson is a junior international studies major from Potomac, Md.
