While multiple locations are possibilities, “The majority of the task force believes the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, which has offered to take custody of the statues, presents the most natural solution for relocation”, according to the report.
Advertisement
The other four options include moving some or all of the statues from the Littlefield Fountain to one of the historical exhibits on campus, including the inscription that pays tribute to the Confederacy. “We are the obvious, most logical choice because the statues were executed by Pompeo Coppini, and we are the home of the Pompeo Coppini archives, and the statues were paid for by George Littlefield, and we are the home of Littlefield’s archives”.
6 familiar statues surrounding the University of Texas main mall have been stirring up controversy since they were put there in the 1930’s.
In the report, the task force says “The university’s approach to changing and replacing monuments on campus should be conservative but not uncritical”.
The Jefferson Davis statue in the South Mall of the University of…
The first option allows the statuary depicting Confederate president Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, postmaster John H. Reagan, and military leader Albert Sidney Johnston, along with U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, to stay in place with new plaques meant to enhance the educational value and historical context of the memorials. However, the report notes that leaving the other Confederate statues would prolong the controversy. Option 5 would relocate all six statues and the inscription.
Mandalapu ran for office on the platform that he would get rid of the confederate statues.
Moving the statue of Wilson, three Confederate leaders and the inscription. “I’m the one who’s offended by this and my offense is valid”. “Moreover… I don’t fancy the partner [Davis] they offer me”. The inscription refers to “the men and women of the Confederacy who fought with valor and suffered with fortitude that states rights be maintained”.
Advertisement
Rotnofsky and his friend Rohit Mandalapu ran a satirical campaign for student government president and vice-president earlier this year. The committee, which was created by President Gregory Fenves in June, included leaders of the student government at UT-Austin, faculty members and administrators. Then, the tragedy in South Carolina, which only stopped flying the Confederate flag after outcry over the Charleston massacre, “served as a catalyst” for the issue, according to Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, chair of the task force as well as the university’s vice president for diversity and community engagement.
