President Robert Brown rejects Myles Standish Hall name change petition

By Sydney Topf and Ava Berger 

In 1623, Myles Standish, a Plymouth colony military leader, was sent to Wessagusset with a small army after word of a multi-tribal attack — led by Massachusett, Nauset, Paomet and other Indigenious tribes — planned on the Weymouth and Plymouth colonies. Upon arrival, Standish invited Massachusett War Chiefs Pecksuit and Wituwamut and other warriors to a “peaceful summit.”

According to Massachusett tribal history, the summit ended with Standish ambushing, poisoning and murdering the war chiefs, warriors and several Wessagusset villagers. As a warning to all other Indigenous populations, Standish beheaded Wituwamat and displayed his head at the Plymouth Plantation entrance.

Almost 400 years later, Boston University’s dormitory at 610 Beacon Street bears the name of Myles Standish, but a recent petition is calling for it to be changed to the Wituwamat Memorial Hall, named after the beheaded warrior.

“Myles Standish is remembered by this lands’ first peoples for the extreme acts of violence he committed against their ancestors,” the online petition said.

The petition was created by the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag and Travis Franks, a postdoctoral associate at Kilachand Honors College. It was sent to President Robert Brown and the Boston University Board of Trustees with over 900 signatures on Oct. 12, 2021.

But Brown rejected the call for change, citing Standish’s important role in Massachusetts’ history.

“Myles Standish was a capable and flawed individual whose responsibility was the defense of his community in a precarious time and place,” Brown said in a letter sent on Dec. 14, 2021. “His role in the history of the founding of Massachusetts, and thus our nation, was significant. To remove his name from the residence hall would discount his significant role in our history. I am not prepared to remove his name at this time.”

Although Brown acknowledged that Standish murdered Wituwamat and members of his tribe, he pointed to the alliances the military officer built with other Indigenous tribes. Brown also stated that BU is only connected to Standish through his efforts as a militia leader in the Plymouth Bay Colony.

Myles Standish Hall was first built as Myles Standish Hotel in 1925 and was bought by BU in 1949.

Faries Gray, sagamore of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, questioned Brown’s response at an event held at Kilachand Hall last Saturday.

“How much effort does it take to change a name, to acknowledge that this guy should not be on it? That’s what it is about for us,” Gray said.

While Franks does not disagree with Brown that Standish’s actions were an “important historical factor” in the founding of Massachusetts, he does not believe it justifies Brown’s decision.

In the closing of his letter, Brown emphasized how more research on Standish is warranted.

“I would suggest that it is entirely appropriate that Myles Standish’s life and deeds be studied in detail—to the extent available accounts allow—and in their moral contradictions,” Brown said. “Although I am not a historian, I am an avid reader of history. I offer the thought that the most instructive histories are the ones written with conscious devotion to accuracy and a certain humility about what we can know and understand about another time and place — and the choices made by individuals in that time and place.”

Leaders of the Tribe and Franks invited Brown to the Saturday event.

“One thing I appreciated in President Brown’s letter was the closing,” Franks said in an interview. “I do feel it would be entirely appropriate to continue a conversation about Standish’s life in detail … ideally, we would love to have him join us to take part in that conversation.”

Brown did not attend. Franks said he was told Brown was out of town at the time.

“I’m not sure if [Brown] wants to have the conversations, but it is really important because it’s how you build relationships,” Gray said.

Despite Brown’s reluctance to change the building’s name, some refer to Myles Standish Hall by its address, 610 Beacon Street.

Lillie Webb, director of Global House, a living-learning community located in Myles Standish Hall, said Standish is the “antithesis” of everything they stand for.

“I think that it is really unfortunate that my program which is so focused on building bridges and connections across cultures and finding a sense of commonality and understanding, should be in a building that is named for someone who instead stands for xenophobia, colonialism and violence,” Webb said.

Webb noted that, even though BU did not name the building, they now have the ability “to take a stand and to make a change.”

“If BU were to take the opportunity to move forward with this, it would send a strong message about where our university stands when it comes to the rights of indigenous peoples,” Webb said.

Nico McMahon, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, learned about Myles Standish when taking a class with Franks his freshman year.

“It was never something that was talked about until recently, so the conversations in that class helped to open my eyes to the history of this area,” McMahon said.

McMahon said he feels other students in the class also feel discontent with the name.

“[Students share my] general disgust for the idea that this ubiquitous place, this dorm that we all pass by every day, could be named after someone who’s attached to so much pain for the Indigenous community,” McMahon said.

McMahon said he sees no benefit of Brown rejecting the petition.

“I feel like it hurts the BU community,” McMahon said.

Franks will continue to work with the tribe and BU students to spread awareness of the issue.

“We are still expanding our efforts to the greater BU community, so we’re working with student groups, we’re working with faculty, colleagues, and we are contacting the tribe,” Franks said.

When asked for a comment, BU spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email that, “President Brown’s letter speaks for itself.”

President Brown’s office declined to comment.

“Either he doesn’t know or he doesn’t care or possibly he might think that it’s okay that Myles Standish cut the heads off people,” Gray said.

Correction: In a previous version of this article it stated that Lillie Webb was the director of Kilachand Honors College. Lillie Webb is only the director of Global House and that has since been amended.