Dear Daily Editor:

I praise the choice of written resolution of the ASSU Undergraduate Senate and Graduate Student Council, as opposed to, for instance, vandalism, but my response aimed at them is: “Don’t erase what you don’t like.” Whether you prefer the words of George Santayana or Winston Churchill, don’t forget history, and don’t try to erase it.

I happen to like seeing the name Junipero Serra on statues, streets and buildings. I was born and raised in San Diego, site of the first mission in the California chain of missions, and have visited the Serra Museum in Presidio Park over the last 70 years, along with thousands of others. To me, Friar Serra is as much a part of California history as are Leland Stanford and Stanford University. Friar Serra was not perfect, but he is a saint! He did what he did, and you can’t change history by erasing his name from a street sign or building, or by covering his hands on a statue with red paint.

— Gary Anderson, B.S. ’67 M.S. ’68