UVA President Says School Will Not Remove Thomas Jefferson Statue
“as long as I am president, the University of Virginia will not walk away from Thomas Jefferson”
This is good news, but it’s stunning that this was even considered, given the fact that Thomas Jefferson founded the school.
NBC 29 News reports:
University of Virginia president: ‘UVA will not walk away from Thomas Jefferson’
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan is sharing his thoughts on the future of the Thomas Jefferson statue and more in written remarks published by the university.
Ryan says he received many notes and some of them were skeptical, but in the end, he has a clear view of the Jefferson statue: it will stay.
There are already plans to contextualize it, but President Ryan wrote: “I do not believe this statue should be removed, nor would I ever approve such an effort.”
He went on to say, “as long as I am president, the University of Virginia will not walk away from Thomas Jefferson.”
Ryan also wrote about the much-talked-about sign on a door on The Lawn.
The sign says ‘[explitive] UVA’ and lists its operating costs as ‘genocide, slavery, and Black and brown lives.’
The student-resident, Hira Azher, said she put the sign up after an injury to her ankle, which showed the lack of ADA accessibility on The Lawn, and her frustration with the university’s response.
“The solution was not to make the lawn more accessible, the solution was to find me alternative housing for up to a month, which in itself is a problem,” she told NBC29 on Sept. 16.
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Comments
Good point. Jefferson was a poor public speaker, but made up for it with voluminous writings. Consequently, much of what he fretted about has been preserved. But I recall no effort on his part to lay any Enlightenment foundation for anything like ADA. That rascal!
Finally, a University President & Administrator w/some spinal fortitude
Someone hurt their ankle and that’s every -ist in the book that we can think of!