Research by Aaron Stoyack, a Glenmoore native and 2022 West Chester University graduate, prompted the school to strip the name of a eugenics-supporting professor from its science building, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

“I am just happy that the university and really all of its stakeholders found that change to be necessary,” said Stoyack. “It was a change that really aligns with our values.” 

Stoyack’s research looked deeper into the past of Samuel Christian Schmucker, who had taught at West Chester until 1923. Schmucker was a beloved professor at the time and the university honored him in the 1960s by putting his name on its science building. 

Researching the professor, Stoyack realized that he had some very intolerant ideas. Among other things, he justified the forced sterilization of criminals and wrote about “the genetic superiority of Europeans, and Western Europeans in particular.” 

Stoyack approached his history professor, Brent Ruswick, with the issue, and the two presented their findings to a West Chester committee. The committee spent months further researching Schmucker’s work, before deciding to remove his name from the science building. 

Read more about Aaron Stoyack’s research into Samuel Christian Schmucker’s intolerant values in The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

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Editor’s note: this story first appeared on VISTA Today in September 2023.