The Associated Student Body Senate resolution calling for the relocation of the Confederate monument from the Circle to the Confederate cemetery passed the ASB Rules Committee on Thursday night. The Senate will hold a final vote at its meeting on Tuesday evening.
The resolution states that the Confederate ideology “violates the tenets of the University Creed,” and the monument’s current placement undermines their mission “to maintain an inclusive and safe environment.”
ASB Sen. Katie Dames, one of the resolution’s authors, said the committee “checked all the boxes” to make sure the resolution was thoroughly researched and used the correct legal language without errors.
“This has been an extensive and collaborative process, and I am excited to introduce potential for a positive transformation on this campus,” Dames said.
According to the resolution, Mississippi law allows a “governing body” to decide the relocation of the monument, but it is unclear if that governing body is ASB.
In October 2017, Deputy Attorney General Mike Lanford said Confederate monuments can be relocated as long as they remain on similar public property.
The resolution was researched by speaking to historians who were former members of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on History and Context, an expert on race relations from the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation and the director for the Center for Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Engagement, as well as collecting student feedback.
