An outdoor statue of Jefferson Davis was removed from the campus of University of Texas at Austin Sunday.
Starting in the morning, university contractors started the process of removal on the campus’ Main Mall. It was finally taken down after about two-and-half hours, reported The Dallas Morning News.
UT-Austin’s plan is to relocate the statue of the president of the Confederate States of America to the university’s Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, where it will be repurposed as part of a “new educational exhibit.” A statue of Woodrow Wilson is also being taken down, but will be moved to another outdoor location on campus.
“As a public university, it is vital that we preserve and understand our history and help our students and the public learn from it in meaningful ways,” said UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves. “Jefferson Davis had few ties to Texas but played a unique role in the history of the American South that is best explained and understood through an educational exhibit. The Briscoe Center has the expertise to do that.”
UT-Austin originally planned to remove the Davis statue on Aug. 15, but that plan was delayed by a request for a temporary restraining order that was filed in state district court by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a historical group that acts to preserve Confederate history. At the hearing, the judge ruled against the request.
The statue was the target of vandalism and a mounting effort for its removal. The official decision to take down the Davis statue was guided by the advice of a 12-member task force that gathered input from many Texans, including UT alumni, students and faculty members.
“UT Austin has worked in recent decades to overcome its history as a segregated university and has become a national leader in issues related to diversity and inclusion,” the university said in a statement. “Adding the statue to the Briscoe Center’s collections will continue those efforts.”
About 100 students had gathered, cheering and singing as the statue was taken down, The Dallas Morning News reported.
In the wake of a mid-June racially-motivated shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., and the subsequent discovery of pictures showing the shooter posing with a Confederate flag, there has been a push to remove Confederate symbols from universities and public places. The governors of states like South Carolina and Alabama have taken down Confederate flags from their state’s capitol grounds, and there has been a push in the U.S. Capitol to remove all references to the flag.
