Board approves moving Confederate statue on Ole Miss campus

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The Mississippi Department of Archives and History voted to remove a Confederate statue from the Ole Miss campus.

The statue would move from a central spot on the Oxford campus to a Confederate cemetery, which is also on campus.

The vote comes after a protest by hundreds of people on campus in February.

The 23-foot monument has stood there for over 100 years. Critics say its display near the main administrative building sends a signal that the school glorifies the Confederacy and glosses over the South’s history of slavery.

The move still needs approval by the Institutions of Higher Learning, the board that governs Mississippi’s eight public universities.

IHL says they have not been presented with a request from the Chancellor to relocate the monument. The Chancellor of the university determines the items concerning UM that will be submitted to the Board for consideration.

The next Board meeting will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2020.