New University Seal, as it appeared on the cover of the August 1959 issue of The Alumnus.
In 1953, Pennsylvania State College changed its name to Pennsylvania State University, starting a trend of land-grant colleges changing their names to universities. Discussion started in 1955 for Iowa State to change its name, as newspapers began writing stories and editorials about the possibility. Alumni soon started writing to President James Hilton about this, with those in favor and others opposed.
President James H. Hilton, University Photos, Box 59.
In the fall of 1958, serious discussions were starting to take place among the different Divisional faculty and staff. Late November saw the engineering faculty hold a meeting in which they voted to change the name to Iowa State University and the Division of Engineering to the College of Engineering. The next month, Dean Richard Bear and Dean Helen LeBaron both sent messages to President Hilton. Dean Bear relayed that the faculty in the Science Division were fully behind the move to rename the College and Divisions by more appropriate names. Dean LeBaron passed along a unanimous resolution by the Home Economics Division Cabinet to change its name from the Division of Home Economics to the College of Home Economics and asked for it to be presented to the Board of Regents.
At the Board meeting on February 13, 1959, President Hilton recommended officially changing all five of the Divisions' names to Colleges, effective July 1, 1959. The recommendation was carried over to the next Board meeting in March. Twelve days later, President Hilton presided over the General Faculty meeting and discussed the development of the Divisional name changes and where it stood with the Board of Regents while also addressing the College's name change. He had shared his opinion with the Board that changing Iowa State's name from College to University was inevitable and that the recommendation of changing the name of the Divisions to Colleges brought to focus the institutional name change. At this meeting with the College's faculty, he pointed out that he had not made an attempt to press for the name change, as he had not received any official request from the faculty to make such a recommendation to the Board of Regents. The Faculty Council then read a resolution that brought forward the formal request for a name change.
Faculty Council Resolution, RS 0/9/1, Box 2, Folder 6
Faculty Council Resolution, RS 0/9/1, Box 2, Folder 6
When the Board reconvened for their March meeting in Des Moines, upon the Education Policy Committee's recommendation, the Divisions' names were changed to Colleges, effective July 1, 1959. Upon this approval, President Hilton recommended that the name Iowa State College be changed to Iowa State University. His reasoning was based on several factors, including the unanimous recommendations from the Faculty Council, General Faculty, Cardinal Guild (Student Body), and the Alumni Association. In addition, Iowa State was having difficulty recruiting and retaining faculty as a college when the faculty wanted to work at a university. The scope and depth of Iowa State's educational fields justified the name change, and the name change of the Divisions to Colleges would have caused considerable confusion if the institute's name had not changed. This recommendation was carried over to the April Board meeting.
As President Hilton awaited official approval from the Board, he worked on drafting information packets and consulted with the law firm of Whitfield, Musgrave, Selvy, Fillmore and Kelly to review the Code of Iowa for 1958 to assist in drafting legislation to formally change the College's name to Iowa State University.
Letter to Allan Whitfield, RS 0/9/1, Box 2 Folder 6
Letter to Allan Whitfield, RS 0/9/1, Box 2 Folder 6
Letter to James Hilton, RS 0/9/1, Box 2 Folder 6
On April 10th, during the Board meeting, it was announced that the name change had been approved during the executive session and that a request was to be filed with the state legislature to officially have the name changed to Iowa State University of Science and Technology. Over the next week, materials were distributed to members of the Legislature to get the bill put to sifting committees. On April 14, House File 738, "An Act to change the name of the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts to Iowa State University of Science and Technology," was passed 92 to 6. It then moved to the Senate, where on May 4th, after minor edits, it passed unanimously 45 to 0, with five absent or not voting. The bill then returned to the House the next day, where it was again passed with a vote of 99 to 2. Governor Herschel Loveless then signed the measure on May 12th, which would go into effect on July 4th, 1959.
The resulting name change didn't manifest in many physical changes to the campus, with one major exception. The lintel above the pillars of Beardshear Hall was replaced to reflect Iowa State's new name. A new official Seal was also needed, to reflect the new name. This was designed by John Huseby, the Publication's Office Senior Graphic Designer. In the 65 years since the name change, Iowa State has continued as a leader in the engineering and agricultural fields and seen enrollment climb from 9,252 to over 30,000.
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