University of Texas at Austin will relocate its controversial statue of Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, to a campus educational exhibit, according to a statement Thursday from the university president.
In a letter to the UT community, President Gregory L. Fenves said the “best location” for the statues of Davis was the university’s Briscoe Center for American History.
Fenves appointed a task force in June, shortly after assuming office, to give options for the states of six statues. The task force recommended Monday to remove all statues of Confederate leaders or add plaques with historical context to each, the Texas Tribune reported.
“While every historical figure leaves a mixed legacy, I believe Jefferson Davis is in a separate category, and that it is not in the university’s best interest to continue commemorating him on our Main Mall,” according to the statement. “Davis had few ties to Texas; he played a unique role in the history of the American South that is best explained and understood through an educational exhibit.”
Davis’ statue was tagged with “Davis Must Fall” in April and “Black Lives Matter” in June, following the killing of nine black parishioners at the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the south by a white 21-year-old in Charleston, South Carolina.
The statue of former President Woodrow Wilson will be moved to “an appropriate exterior location on campus,” according to the statement.
Fenves said he will consider adding a plaque to “provide context” to the statue of Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army.
Statues of James Stephen Hogg, Albert Sidney Johnston and John Reagan will remain in their current locations.
Old Jeff is familiar with retreating.
Or to the Texas Memorial Museum with the other dinosaur fossils on campus. (No shame really. Coolest Pterosaur on Earth is there.)
http://tmm.utexas.edu/exhibits/pterosaur/images/pterosaur.jpg
Not Jefferson Davis! Not him two! Its all ab out heritiage and also to about tradition respect as well. Respect for our war dead and the evil that was done to the Southern States over our right to have rights. States RIGHTS! Also to the BIBLE supports slavery so it wasnt realy about that!
Now that’s going to cause a lot of butt-hurt! Look for Gov. Abbott to seek funding cuts to University of Texas-Austin.
President Fenves may think he has resolved the controversy by removing the most controversial statute in the set, but he has not. I strongly suspect that UT’s students and the broader community will find it very odd that UT has made a considered decision to keep its statute of Robert E. Lee. Yes, Davis is even worse. But Robert E. Lee? Seriously?
This will not be the last word, and Fenves may not be the last UT president to deal with this controversy. It’ll go on until the whole set of confederate statutes and the racist inscription on the fountain at the foot of the campus are moved and put under glass in a museum.