Naming of the Library
Final Report
The Task Force to Review the Naming of the University Library released a 74-page final report (6.7MB) that will inform President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval’s decision on next steps.
Based on the available records, the Task Force’s report concluded that Dr. Henry Miller Madden:
- expressed deep antisemitic and pro-Nazi views before World War II, some of which included violent statements;
- continued to express antisemitic sentiments after the war;
- never apologized for, expressed remorse about, or otherwise attempted to make amends for those views at any point;
- never expressed empathy or sympathy for Jewish victims of Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust;
- made racist remarks about Jews and other ethnicities, such as African Americans, Chinese, and Mexicans, as an administrator at California State University, Fresno;
- stated in writing that his some of his policies and actions as an administrator were influenced by his racist views;
- donated his papers to the university after personally curating the contents and with full knowledge that they contained antisemitic and racist statements.
The final report is the result of the task force’s thorough review of Dr. Madden’s extensive personal papers, which include more than 100,000 letters and documents, and other archival collections.