Dear Chancellor Vitter:
The recent events in Charlottesville make even clearer what many of us have known for some time: Confederate monuments are not only an affront to a large proportion of our population, but are also a rallying point for neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and the so-called alt-right. These monuments have never been about teaching or commemorating history, but were rather raised as tools of oppression against the African-American community and symbols of white supremacy. Monuments like these were purposefully placed in strategic locations—the statue of the Confederate soldier in the Lyceum Circle very clearly warns African Americans to stay off campus and continues to alienate many members of the UM community.
We urge you to take immediate action to relocate the monument to the Confederate cemetery on campus—another public place that is a much more appropriate resting place for a tribute to fallen soldiers. In doing so the University of Mississippi would stand among other colleges and universities in the South and nationwide that have in recent days either removed, or declared their intention to remove, Confederate monuments from places of prominence on their campus to more appropriate sites. These include UT-Austin, Duke University, and Bowdoin College. More colleges and universities are assured to follow suit. Given our university’s particular history on race and segregation, the University of Mississippi should do the same.
Contextualization is not enough—as long as the statue remains in such a prominent place on campus, it will continue to signify the brutalization of African Americans at the hands of white supremacists, the legacies of which continue to be felt today. It is also not enough to merely begin a dialogue on moving the statues. The move to eliminate the Confederate flag from football games, the on-field mascot “Colonel Reb,” slogans like ‘The south will rise again’, as well as the lowering of the state flag have taught us that decisive action is the only effective way to get rid of these hateful markers that continue to hold the University back.
Campus and statewide groups are likely to begin calling for the statues to be removed. If you allow this to become a drawn-out, public debate, UM may very well find itself in a similar situation to that of Charlottesville and UVA. If the statue isn’t moved promptly in light of this new spotlight on the place of Confederate markers in our society, and especially in light of other colleges and universities doing the same, we will hand the forces of hate a victory and once again make our campus a symbol of resistance to civil rights. But if you do take executive action to remove the statue—much as the leaders of several colleges, universities, and cities across the U.S. (Baltimore, Annapolis, Gainesville, New Orleans) have done this past week and in preceding months— then we will send a very clear message that the University of Mississippi does not condone expressions of intolerance here or elsewhere.
We therefore urge you to immediately take all necessary executive and legal action to move the Confederate statue from the Circle and to place it in a more suitable location on campus where those who wish can reflect on its history and that of race relations at UM. Doing so will demonstrate to the country at this timely moment that the University of Mississippi is—much as our University Creed espouses—a community that truly adheres to its beliefs in the respect and dignity of each person, fairness and civility, and personal and professional integrity and that leads by example. The University community looks to you for leadership on this important matter.
[We should mention that alumni in particular are continuing to add their names to the letter; the following includes all signatories as of Tuesday, August 29.]
The undersigned members of the English Department,
Faculty
Ivo Kamps, Professor of English and Department Chair
Jaime Harker, Professor of English and Director of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies
Kiese Laymon, Professor of English and Creative Writing
Ann Fisher-Wirth, Professor of English and Director of the Minor in Environmental Studies
Karen Raber, Professor of English
Deborah Barker, Professor of English and Director of Undergraduate Studies
Beth Ann Fennelly, Professor and Poet Laureate of Mississippi
Catherine Lacey, 2017-2018 John and Renee Grisham Visiting Writer in Residence
Leigh Anne Duck, Associate Professor of English
Tom Franklin, Associate Professor of Creative Writing
Adam Gussow, Associate Professor of English and Southern Studies
Cristin Ellis, Associate Professor of English
Peter Reed, Associate Professor of English
Kathryn McKee, Associate Professor of English and Southern Studies
Annette Trefzer, Associate Professor of English
Daniel Novak, Associate Professor of English
Erin Drew, Assistant Professor of English
Lindy Brady, Assistant Professor and Assistant Chair
Ari Friedlander, Assistant Professor of English
Monika Bhagat-Kennedy, Assistant Professor of English
Melissa Ginsburg, Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing
Ian Whittington, Assistant Professor of English
Matt Bondurant, Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing
Dustin Parsons, Senior Lecturer of English
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Professor of English and Creative Writing
Caroline Wigginton, Assistant Professor of English
Adetayo Alabi, Associate Professor of English
Jay Watson, Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies and Professor of English
Jaime Cantrell, Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Chris Offutt, Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing
Daniel Stout, Associate Professor of English
Shari Holt, Instructional Associate Professor of English
Mary Hayes, Associate Professor of English
Derrick Harriell, Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies and
Director of the M.F.A. Program
Blair Hobbs, Senior Lecturer of English
Sarah Baechle, Assistant Professor of English
Jennie Lightweis-Goff, Instructor of English
Kate Lechler, Adjunct Instructor of English
Beth Spencer, Lecturer of English
Tim Earley, Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Graduate Students
Amber Hodge, Ph.D. student
Kristin Teston, Ph.D. student
Ryan Charlton, Ph.D. student
Cullen Brown, Ph.D. student
Susan Wood, Ph.D. student
Jacob Agner, Ph.D. student
Sarah Sgro, M.F.A. student
Regina Young, M.A. student
Juyoun Jang, Ph.D. student
Caitlin Turner, Ph.D. student
Allison Nick, Ph.D. student
Lara Avery, M.F.A. student
Sharon Wofford, M.A. student
Bailey Moorhead, Ph.D. student
Amie Irwin, Ph.D. student
Sarah Huddleston, M.F.A. student
Mellissa Black, Ph.D. student
Sarah Heying, Ph.D. student
Will Palmer, Ph.D. student
Sara Stephens, Ph.D. student
Josh-Wade Ferguson, Ph.D. student
Eric Delp, M.F.A. student
Jan Verberkmoes, M.F.A. student
Andrew Freiman, Ph.D. student
Scott Obernesser, Ph.D. student
Andrew Dally, M.F.A. student
Katherine Howell, M.A. student
Chinaza Amaeze Okoli, Ph.D. student
Isadora Wagner, Ph.D. candidate
Catherine Albert, M.A. student
Rossanne Arii, M.F.A. student
Alumni
Nathan Likert, M.A., 2017
Molly McCully Brown, M.F.A., 2017
Elizabeth Tran, M.F.A., 2015
Elizabeth Rodriguez Fielder Ph.D., 2016
Michael Martin Shea, M.F.A., 2014
Amy King, Ph.D., 2014
Joshua Davis, M.F.A., 2012
Thomas Bullington, Ph.D., 2016
Elizabeth Kaiser, M.F.A., 2010
Sara Gabler Thomas, M.A., 2015
Kieran Lyons, M.F.A., 2015
Victoria Bryan, Ph.D., 2014
Jill E. Anderson, M.A. & Ph.D., 2012
Laura Christine Godfrey, M.A., 2014
Corinna McClanahan Schroeder, M.F.A., 2011
Daniel Walden, Ph.D., 2009
Elliot Long, M.A., 2013
Rachel Smith, M.F.A., 2012
Kevin Fitchett, M.F.A., 2012
Melanie R. Anderson, Ph.D., 2009
Maegan Poland, M.F.A., 2013
Anya Groner, M.F.A., 2010
Travis Rozier, Ph.D., 2015
Mallory Blasingame, M.A. 2012
Andrew Thomas, M.A. 2015
Hillary A. H. Richardson, M.A. 2011
Troy Wellington Smith, M.A. 2015
