The September 29th Movement was a student-led effort that described itself as a "movement dedicated to the elimination of racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, and classism at Iowa State University, recognizing that changing the name of Catt Hall, a symbol of exclusion, must be the first step in that struggle." The group was primarily composed of students, faculty, and staff members from Iowa State University, but was not an officially registered campus organization. The name of the movement came from the publication date (September 29, 1995) of an essay about Carrie Chapman Catt that was published in UHURU!, the newsletter of ISU's Black Student Alliance.



The September 29th Movement developed as a result of the renaming of Old Botany Hall to Carrie Chapman Catt Hall in October 1995. In the spring of 1996, the September 29th Movement’s activities began in earnest with a letter writing campaign to President Martin Jischke and a silent march in support of changing the name of Catt Hall.



Objections to the naming of Catt Hall arose due to remarks made in speeches and writings by Carrie Chapman Catt that the group identified as racist, classist, and xenophobic. Additionally, the September 29th Movement felt that the original naming process excluded people of color and that the administration did not get the feedback of the ISU community. The group's activities ended in 1998. The Government of the Student Body’s Catt Hall Review Committee: Final Report was released in November 1998 and gave recommendations on how the campus might find a sense of closure to the controversy.