JACKSON, MS (WLBT) -The Confederate statue at the Circle on the Ole Miss campus will get moved to the Confederate cemetery if the student government gets its way. But how legally binding is Tuesdays’ Associated Student Body Senate vote?
Here’s Mississippi College School of Law professor Matt Steffey’s take.
“This is the most forceful way they can respond," explained Steffey. "But if they had the authority to move the monument, it would be moved by now.”
The state law being cited by the ASB reads: “The governing body may move the memorial to a more suitable location if it is determined that the location is more appropriate to displaying the monument.” But the question is whether the ASB can be considered the “governing body”.
“It’s a stretch by any criteria to call student government part of the university shared governance model unless we want to say that part is both largely symbolic and quite small comparatively speaking,” added Steffey.
We checked in with the ASB President. Here’s the next steps he described.
But then what? Here are the steps the Institutions of Higher Learning explained.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are already reacting to the ASB vote.
“Some of these confederate monuments may not be politically correct but they’re still part of our history,” said Rep. Gary Chism (R).
“It shows the university is making the right steps to make change for our state,” noted Rep. Chris Bell (D).
According the information from the IHL, it appears there’s still more hurdles to be cleared before the statue can be relocated.
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