Tufts University announced last week that they will remove a historic mural of important figures in the university’s history in order to “increase diversity.” Students said the mural made them “feel uncomfortable” because they portrayed white men.
Tufts University announced last week in a press release that they will be removing a historic mural that covers the walls in the Alumnae Lounge. Students told administrators that the mural makes them feel uncomfortable because it exclusively features white men.
The removal, which was highlighted this week by Campus Reform, will involve an intricate conservation process that will ensure that the mural can be properly archived. The university argued in its press release that removal of the mural is essential if the institution wants to accurately represent the school’s history.
As a matter of historical record, however, the murals tell an incomplete story about the origins and growth of Tufts. There is not a single image of a person of color, for example, despite the fact that black students were enrolled at Tufts as early as the late nineteenth century, according to university archives. And as faculty and students shared at two public forums, the murals do not reflect the diversity of the Tufts community, both past and present.
That missing narrative has, in turn, made the space of Alumnae Lounge feel unwelcoming to many members of today’s university community. In an open forum last year, students spoke about feeling alienated by the murals and questioned the university’s support for imagery that undermines its values of diversity and inclusion—a response especially important because Alumnae Lounge is a frequent gathering space for awards ceremonies and other events.
Breitbart News reported in August 2017 that Yale University had decided it would remove a piece of “hostile” artwork that depicted a conflict between a Native American and a Puritan.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more campus updates.
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