(via Drudge) The University of Texas in Austin had a plan. The idea was to take down and relocate a long-standing statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis as part of a nationwide effort to strip away symbols of the Confederacy and, indeed, the Civil War in general. The plan, however, has been interrupted. From the Associated Press:
The cancellation was announced a day after new University President Greg Fenves said he would uproot the century-old statue away from the center of campus, but leave statues of other Confederate figures untouched.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans, which says it seeks to celebrate Southern heritage, filed for a temporary restraining order Friday but has not yet received a decision from a judge. However, university spokesman Gary Susswein said the school agreed to wait until a court can review the challenge, all the while expressing confidence that the Davis statue will ultimately be relocated to a museum.
“We are confident we will move ahead with these plans,” Susswein said.
The plan was conceived only this week, and a letter was sent from the university president explaining their reasoning, which read in part:
“While every historical figure leaves a mixed legacy, I believe Jefferson Davis is in a separate category, and that it is not in the university’s best interest to continue commemorating him on our main mall.”
The Sons of Confederate Veterans have already brought one case all the way to the Supreme Court, where they lost in an effort to prevent Texas from prohibiting Confederate license plates.
The date for the hearing on the statue has not been set. The university has no plans to move a similar statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from display on campus.