Tufts University has announced its plans to remove a historical mural from campus because it does not depict any nonwhite people.
The decision was made public in a news release which explained that the imagery “undermines its values of diversity and inclusion.”
Alumnae Lounge, a popular meeting space at the campus, has several murals which are said to depict the university’s history. According to the university, however, “the murals tell an incomplete story about the origins and growth of Tufts.”
“There is not a single image of a person of color, for example, despite the fact that black students were enrolled at Tufts as early as the late nineteenth century, according to university archives,” the Tufts press release explains.
According to a senior vice president at the university, students are uncomfortable in the space. Students have gone so far as to say they feel excluded in Alumnae Lounge and don’t want to attend awards ceremonies there.
A review committee was tasked last year with making a recommendation on what to do with the mural’s noninclusive nature. Based on the committee’s findings, Tufts decided to “remove the murals, professionally conserve them, and archive them.”
Not everyone was immediately thrilled with this course of action. Andrew McClellan, a Tufts art and art history professor and chairman of the review committee, originally had some concerns about the move.
“I am principally opposed to erasing any form of historical record,” McClellan originally said. Eventually, however, McClellan decided to support the decision.
This is part of an ongoing trend on campuses, not only to tear down historical statues, but remove artwork that honors campus founders simply due to their being white.
Dartmouth College moved controversial murals to an off campus storage facility in 2018 because they allegedly depicted Native Americans as “drunk, dumb and highly sexualized.” Similarly, the University of Notre Dame covered up murals of Christopher Columbus earlier this year because they were “demeaning” to “the indigenous peoples.”
Campus political correctness extends beyond murals. George Washington University students voted to “remove and replace” the school’s mascot, George the Colonial, due to its ties to “white supremacy.” And at California State University Long Beach, their longtime mascot Prospector Pete was ditched due to its ties with the “racist” and “repressive” Gold Rush.
Tufts lists some of these examples as reasons to remove their mural from the Alumnae Lounge.
Alexander James is a contributor to Red Alert Politics and a freelance journalist.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this article excluded the detail that Andrew McClellan eventually supported Tufts’ decision.
