After several student protests in the last few years, Pepperdine University has decided to cave to the pressure and remove a statue of Christopher Columbus located on the Southern California campus.
The statue was given to the school in 1992 by a group called the Columbus 500 Congress. “For years the story of Columbus and the fascinating exploration that brought him to the new world was taught in schools across America.” university President Andrew Benton wrote in an email to students. “It was heroic and exciting.”
In the last 25 years, however, Benton discovered new history about Columbus that was apparently not known before (spoiler: it’s not actually new history). “Later, as the impact of the arrival of explorers was assessed more fully, especially as those impacts related to indigenous people, a different view formed.” he wrote. “Today, for many, including those within our campus community, stories of conquest and the art associated therewith are painful reminders of loss and human tragedy.”
The university’s Black Student Association commended Benton for the decision in a statement to The College Fix. “We are happy to finally see this come to fruition. We thank everyone involved in this movement for their hard work and dedication towards fighting for this cause,” the organization said. “We are humbled to contribute to this work of justice.”
Benton also points out that the people who donated the statue “did not mean to offend”, but the statue was clearly so offensive that it needed to be removed. The statue will be moved to the Pepperdine campus in Florence, Italy but will take some time to actually get it there.
