Grace Hopper. Photo: Kay Peterson/Archives Center, National Museum.
Grace Hopper won out at Yale University, replacing Calhoun, and at least one person is all manner upsetty about it.
Yale University announced it would change the name of Calhoun College to instead honor Grace Murray Hopper, who was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer during World War II and also helped develop the Mark II and Mark III computers. The school had originally been named for John C. Calhoun, who held several high-profile positions in government, including vice president, senator, and secretary of state. Calhoun called slavery a “positive good.”
So who’s upset? Geraldo Rivera, who apparently had some sort of position there. Oh, he was an associate fellow, whatever that means.
Resigned yeterday as Associate Fellow of #CalhounCollege at #Yale. Been an honor but intolerant insistence on political correctness is lame.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) February 12, 2017
On Sunday, media personality Geraldo Rivera announced he had stepped down from his role as an associate fellow at Yale, following the university’s decision to rename a college that had once been dedicated to a staunch slavery supporter. … Rivera described the university’s decision to cease honoring a champion of slavery and instead recognize a female computer scientist as “intolerant” and “lame.”
Does anyone care what Mr. Rivera thinks? I certainly don’t, and I’m very happy to hear that Yale has done the right thing here. Think Progress has the full story.
Mr Rivera has had his own moments of intolerant insistence of political correctness. For example, he has considered it “politically incorrect” for a black youth to wear a hoodie.
http://calhoun.yalecollege.yale.edu/whos-who/calhoun-fellows
this is not a ‘position’ of any kind.
It seems to be a list of people who do some volunteer mentoring for college students.
I expect Geraldo had to bring attention to his ‘resignation’ because no one noticed.
Saying that slavery is wrong is just you being intolerant. My desire to own a fellow human being as property should be just as accepted and cherished as a gay wedding.
Did I get that right?
I advise staying away from the tweet stream -- there are Trumpoids in it, insisting that by renaming the bloody building, it’s erasing Calhoun completely.
Giliell, #3
I respect your view, but I take the liberal perspective here: The correct position is midway between owning a slave and having a gay wedding.
Engaged gay couples who don’t own slaves are just as bad as straight slaveowners.
from the Wikipedia Calhoun College page, this is why the name was chosen
“He was the only Yale graduate to be elected to a federal executive office in the school’s first two centuries, …”
kinda feeble, he didn’t even leave them any money
Congrats to Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, and Yale.
I’m going to wait for the fever to spike and then get back to figuring this out, I think it will help.
Although I think here:
I’m seeing racism against straight people -- if they can’t equally own slaves or have a gay marriage, what kind of equality is this?
+++
I think Ms Hopper deserves the acknowledgement far more than just some statesman. Congratulations! More visible women scientists!
Aside from her massive intellectual achievements (OMG she invented compilers!!1!), consider the guts it took for a “Grace” to take on the name “Hopper”…
Geraldo complaining about “political correctness”? LOL!!!
Grace was among the most hardcore of yore. An admiral who earned it! She was the awesomest and deserves every accolade and achievement in computing that can be heaped upon her. Geraldo? Not so much. Who was he, again?
Rivera is not fit to shine Rear Adm. Hopper’s shoes. She made important contributions to the world; he isn’t worth the carbon atoms he’s temporarily using.
I still have the nanosecond she gave me many years ago. If I had two I’d send one to him, as an indication of how long he’ll be remembered after he dies.
My first thought upon hearing of Rivera’s resignation was “Why the fuck would Yale want him teaching anything?” Did they need some coverage for opening a long lost safe?
Admiral Hopper’s nickname was ‘Amazing Grace’, and goddamn, she was. She was one of very few people directly responsible for the information age even being a possibility.
@9 Pierce R. Butler
after all these years I didn’t even notice that…
@12 Bob Munck
Get some wire and make one. You can use her story and her metaphor without losing your souvenir.