Signaling a cultural shift, President Folt dedicates building to USC Dornsife alumnus Joseph Medicine Crow
USC alum. World War II hero and war chief of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation. Author and historian. Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow on Monday added another entry to a lengthy list of honors: USC’s Center of International and Public Affairs now bears his name, becoming an inspiration for students of today and generations to come.
The change, celebrated by members of Medicine Crow’s family, USC administrators, faculty, staff and students, also represents USC President Carol L. Folt’s drive to align the university with its core values and shape what USC wants to be as a community.
“From this morning on, this building, with that beautiful globe top tower that is visible all across Los Angeles, telegraphs a new symbol of USC, a new name — I’d say a proper name — to carry tomorrow’s dream,” Folt said told the crowd gathered near the building.
Honoring a legacy
The day began with drizzle, but the sun appeared just as the celebration began and lasted through the unveiling of the building’s newest name: the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Center for International and Public Affairs.
“Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow’s name on this building and his life that’s so dedicated to peace, to unity, education and global understanding, will be a very visible sign of hope and of honor,” Folt said.
Folt also announced that in the fall two students will receive the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow scholarship, another honor dedicated to a man whose life so enriched his alma mater and his country.
A journey that reflects USC’s values
Folt’s journey began when she took the podium at her inauguration in September 2019. Student demonstrators watching the ceremony from the steps of the public affairs building began shouting.
Folt paused to listen. The students were protesting the structure’s original namesake: former USC President Rufus Von KleinSmid.
A supporter of eugenicist theory, Von KleinSmid derailed the educations of Japanese American students at the outset of World War II. As members of the Nisei generation, those born to parents who immigrated from Japan, the students were forced into detention centers across the West.
When the Nisei were released and sought to return to USC, Von KleinSmid denied their readmission. He also refused to give them their transcripts.
For years, descendants and friends of the Nisei fought for their recognition as Trojans, combating a USC policy against awarding degrees posthumously.
Folt heard them and pressed for their cause.
After winning support from the Board of Trustees, the president conferred posthumous honorary degrees on Nisei students at a ceremony 10 days ago.
Folt knew the degrees were but one step toward justice and sought to rename the Von KleinSmid Center building.
“President Von KleinSmid took a number of truly appalling and unjust actions, and he wrote about these beliefs not only antithetical to our current dreams and our mission, but they were actually at odds with USC’s founding mission,” Folt said at Monday’s event. “The founders were an ecumenical group that believed that Los Angeles needed a great university, USC, that would embody and would enable the incredible diversity of the people of the region.”
In searching for a more fitting person for whom to name the building, Folt formed a naming committee of faculty, students and alumni. Members of the committee pored over historical materials, including the master’s thesis Medicine Crow wrote in 1939: “The Effects of European Culture Contacts Upon the Economic, Social and Religious Life of the Crow Indians.” Medicine Crow’s books were also considered.
Medicine Crow, who completed his master’s degree in anthropology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in 1939, received an honorary doctorate from USC in 2003 , one of four honorary doctorates he received in his lifetime.
“He is our USC warrior for peace,” Folt said at the ceremony. “Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow’s dreams, his life of honor — proudly, humbly on our Center for International and Public Affairs — will truly inspire USC Trojans for generations to come.”