Music building will remain renamed, say UCLA officials

By Monique Simpson
Daily Bruin Contributor

Ostin Hall will keep its new name, despite documentation showing
that the auditorium in the music building was officially named
after composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1955, university officials
said.

In an effort to try to have the hall changed back to Schoenberg,
the Schoenberg family met on Oct. 10 with Michael Eicher, vice
chancellor of external affairs, and Daniel Neuman, dean of the
School of Arts and Architecture.

UCLA officials contend that the university’s naming policy
was correctly followed in the Schoenberg case.

“It’s the appropriate recognition of a substantial
endowment,” Neuman said.

Nonetheless, the Schoenberg family plans to further pursue the
issue by taking their case to the next meeting of the University of
California Board of Regents. Lawrence Schoenberg, the son of the
late composer, recently sent a letter to top UC and UCLA officials
expressing his dismay at the renaming.

Lawrence wrote in the letter that “if the naming of the
auditorium in 1955 was an honor to my father, then certainly the
renaming in 2000 is a dishonor.”

He has also said the university should have notified the
Schoenberg family before publicly announcing the naming.

The hall, Neuman said, was a suitable place to honor the Ostins,
because their donation supports the “university’s
central mission of educating students.”

Neuman also said he considered the whole music building being
named after Schoenberg “a more significant honor than just
the auditorium.”

Neuman said the renaming would have been proposed regardless of
the controversy over whether the hall was officially named in the
past ““ because both the building and the music hall were
named after Schoenberg.

Mo Ostin, a UCLA alumnus and music industry executive for
Dreamworks SKG who gave the donation on behalf of his wife and
himself, was unavailable for comment since the renaming.

Some students were displeased with the renaming.

“It’s the glorification of money” said Curt
Stokes, a fourth-year physiological science student. “Honor
he who has money.”

Other students worried that if UCLA frequently renames buildings
after donors, the honor is diminished.

“If UCLA keeps changing names based on who funds it, it
undermines the historical significance behind these
buildings,” said Rahwa Asmerom, a fifth-year international
development studies student.

When deciding to name a location after a donor, the size of the
donation along with the individual’s prominence and
relationship to the university are considered.

According to the university’s policy for naming university
facilities, the gift should “fund the total cost of the
project to be named or provide the total cost which would not have
been available from any other source.”

The chancellor’s executive committee is responsible for
reviewing and approving all name requests.

After looking at documents regarding the music building, Neuman
interpreted the naming of the entire building after Schoenberg as
creating a naming opportunity for the auditorium.

Consequently when the Ostins donated $5 million to the arts
program, the name of the hall was changed.

Neuman said he apologized to the Schoenbergs for an error made
when a spokesperson for the School of Arts and Architecture, stated
the hall “was never named.” He attributed the error to
miscommunication.

Before the building was named after Arnold Schoenberg, the
performance hall inside the building held his name. While
university officials contend that the hall was unnamed, the
Schoenberg family disagrees.

“In 1962, the building was named after Schoenberg, and it
looked as if the hall was unnamed,” said Neuman.

As the debate over naming buildings after donors continues,
university officials, as well as some students, said it is
important to remember that the money donated benefits the
campus.

“The university can’t continue without (funding
from) the state, federal government, corporations, foundations and
private individuals,” Neuman said.

The donation will be used for scholarships, programming, and
other features which will support programs in the school.

Neuman also said there is a “technical possibility”
that other halls, like the auditorium in Royce Hall, could be
renamed in the future.