COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – University of Missouri officials have decided not to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson from the Columbia campus after meeting with students who asked that the statue be taken down.
University of Missouri System President Mun Choi said in a statement Friday that administrators are committed to continuing conversations with the groups who raised the issue.
Roman Leapheart, a sophomore from Kansas City, started an online petition to have the statue removed, saying Jefferson owned slaves and fathered children with one of those slaves. The petition garnered more than 3,300 signatures by Friday.
Leaphart and members of the Legion of Black Collegians met Thursday with Choi, three Missouri curators and university administrators to discuss the issue.
Choi said the meeting was an example of the “power of civil discourse” and involved different perspective on complex issues. But after discussion with other curators, the decision was made to keep the statue.
“We learn from history. We contextualize historical figures with complex legacies. We don’t remove history,” he said.
Choi recommended that university faculty and students discuss how the school can put Jefferson into better historical context.
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