Name Game.

• Author: SHORT, TIM

Who's behind the names on Indiana campuses?

Granting naming opportunities on college campuses is a practice with a long history. In 1636, a college in Boston adopted its name after receiving a substantial gift in the form of money and books from a gentleman by the name of John Harvard. And in 1860, John Purdue gave $150,000 to the state of Indiana to relocate to West Lafayette the college that now bears his name.

Dr. Gene Tempel, the executive director of the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, suggests that universities encourage naming as "serial reciprocity," or "recognition that one's success can be attributed to the giving of those who preceded you, and in turn, doing the same for those who follow."

So how do colleges decide what names to put on buildings? At Ball State University in Muncie, a donor's impact on the college as a whole is heavily weighed. The Whitinger building, home to the College of Business, was named in 1979 for Ralph Whitinger, who was recognized for his generosity but also for his help in establishing the Ball State Foundation in 1951.

Hudson Akin, Ball State's executive director of development, makes a point of calling it a "gift." "I can make a donation out of my pocket; a gift requires more thought."

Valparaiso University used many of the same techniques in the naming of the Schrage Basketball Wing, a group of offices housing both the men's and women's basketball programs. Paul Schrage was not only a donor but a noted alum, member of the school's board of directors and an intense fan of basketball. The Brauer Museum of Art was named for Richard Brauer, associate professor emeritus of art and the first director of the museum. Its naming came at the request of a group of donors, both corporate and individual, who gave money for the building of the Center of the Arts, the facility that houses the museum. Wehrenberg Hall received its name in recognition of the Wehrenberg family's cumulative support and lengthy relationship with...