Texas A&M plans to leave a statue of Confederate General and former university president Lawrence Sullivan Ross in place.
According to a report in the Texas Tribune, Texas A&M leadership says the statue will stay where it is: Academic Plaza. This decision comes just days after Interim President John Junkins said the issue was unresolved.
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents was asked to make recommendations on the statue and a redesign of the area around the statue, but removing the statue was off the table.
Of course, the decision to leave it where it is was not taken well by those advocating for its removal. Matthew Francis Jr., a junior who served on the commission as a representative of the TAMU chapter of the NAACP, told the Texas Tribune:
Texas A&M officials say moving Sul Ross statue is no longer an option, but students say the university never made that clear
Texas Tribune
Tags: The statue of former Texas A&M president Lawrence Sullivan Sul Ross stands fenced off from the rest of campus. The fence was put up by the university following calls to remove the statue as a part of furthering racial and diversity programs. Jan. 15, 2021
Credit: Evan L Roy/Texas Tribune
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Texas A&M leadership is clearing the air: the much-disputed Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue, honoring the former university president and Confederate general, is staying put.
, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Texas A&M leadership is clearing the air: the much-disputed Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue, honoring the former university president and Confederate general, is staying put.
Interim President John Junkins stressed the school’s intentions to The Texas Tribune on Wednesday, just two days after the university put out a report that characterized the question of the statue’s future as unresolved. Students who have been pushing the university on diversity issues also said they were never told that the issue had been decided.
Junkins said the statue will remain where it is at the center of campus, known as Academic Plaza.
University officials said Wednesday that the decision to keep the Ross statue in place is not a new one, and that the diversity committee that has been studying the issue for the past three months was never considering removing the statue.
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A diversity committee at Texas A&M University said school officials must resolve the decadeslong debate over moving or removing the statue of Lawrence Sullivan Ross, a former Texas governor and Confederate general, or else the university risks long-term damage to its reputation.
A report released Monday evening found that 75% of the 450 students, faculty and alumni who provided feedback to the committee want the statue moved or removed. But the committee, which was formed as a response to summer protests calling for racial justice and demands by students, did not make its own recommendation, insisting its role was for fact finding.