Renaming the Building

This event’s position on the timeline is much less definite. The idea of renaming Cutter Hall after Malcolm X existed from the very beginning of the Afro-American Society’s presence in the building. In the late 60s and early 70s, several students from Chicago were fascinated with the Nation of Islam. These students proposed calling the building El Hajj Malik El Shabazz Temple, using the name Malcolm adopted late in his life. When the College initially rejected the name change, the society commissioned the murals dedicated to Malcolm X instead. However, the building’s alternative name was not forgotten. Finally, in the late 1980s, the College approved name change, and “El Hajj Malik El Shabazz” was inscribed over the doorway. The name Cutter remains on a plaque in the front of the building to the side of the front door.