Vermont college chapel renamed over eugenics link can keep new title, judge says

A private liberal arts college in Vermont that changed the name of its chapel over ties to eugenics will not be ordered to restore the title, according to a ruling in a lawsuit against the school.

Middlebury College announced in 2021 that it had stripped John Mead’s name because of his “instigating role” in eugenics policies of the early 1900s, which “sought to isolate and prevent the procreation of so-called ‘delinquents, dependents, and defectives.’” The court ruled Oct. 3 that the college isn’t required to restore the name but the judge is allowing the case to proceed to a jury trial on damages on other claims, said former Gov. James Douglas, special administrator of Mead’s estate, on Wednesday.

Douglas had filed a breach of contract lawsuit against his alma mater in 2023, accusing the school of cancel culture behavior when it removed the Mead name from the building, which is now called Middlebury Chapel.

Mead, a physician and industrialist who graduated from Middlebury in 1864, served as Vermont governor from 1910 to 1912. The Mead Memorial Chapel’s name was unchanged for over 100 years, even after Mead’s death in 1920, the judge wrote.

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“Governor Mead contributed most of the funds supporting the initial construction of the chapel, but he did not provide funds for its indefinite maintenance, and Middlebury has determined that the time has come to change the name,” Superior Court Judge Robert Mello wrote in the order. “In these circumstances, the court concludes that the reasonable duration of any contractual term as to the name of the chapel has been satisfied as a matter of law.”

Middlebury College said it’s pleased that the court has resolved the claims at the heart of the estate’s case in the college’s favor. The school’s “attorneys are evaluating the next steps to fully resolve the few remaining issues and move this case toward a close,” said spokesman Jon Reidel by email.

Douglas, who teaches part-time at Middlebury, said he is disappointed.

“Obviously the college could do the right thing at any point,” Douglas said. “The college should understand that they have disparaged a generous and loyal benefactor who loved Middlebury College.”

The name was removed after the state Legislature apologized in May 2021 to all residents and their families and descendants who were harmed by state-sanctioned eugenics policies and practices that led to sterilizations. Middlebury was not the first school to remove a name over support for such policies.

In 2019, the outgoing president of the University of Vermont apologized for the school’s involvement in eugenics research in the 1920s and 1930s that helped lead to sterilizations. The year before, the university decided to remove a former school president’s name from the library because of his support of the Eugenics Survey of Vermont and its leader, a university professor.

Mead and his wife gave $74,000 to the school in 1914 to create a new, prominent chapel on the highest point on campus, Middlebury officials said in 2021. Two years before that, Mead had strongly urged the Legislature to adopt policies and create legislation premised on eugenics theory, they said.

Douglas said Mead chose Mead Memorial Chapel as the name to honor his ancestors.

“So the whole basis for the decision is flawed,” he said.

The remaining issues to be resolved at trial are whether the transaction was a gift or a contract that Middlebury unfairly breached without good faith, and if so, what damages, if any, the estate is entitled to, the judge wrote.