Less than a week after the school’s superintendent handed in his resignation after state officials called for an investigation into the school, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) will remove the statue of Stonewall Jackson.
The VMI Board of Visitors voted unanimously to move the statue from its central location on campus. A new location for the statue has not been determined yet. The president of the board John Boland told the Roanoke Times the “general consensus” has been that moving the statue is the right idea and that his only concern in moving it is cost.
“I would rather move the statue once rather than twice,” Boland told the Times.
When the Black Lives Matter protests hit their peak this summer, students and alumni began calling for the downfall of Confederate statues and names on military bases and campuses. Those calls included the statue of Stonewall Jackson to be removed from the campus. More than 800 VMI alumni and students signed a petition to remove the statue.
Peay largely ignored the request, saying he’s made efforts to address racism on campus but would not remove any statues or names.
