Washburn University in Kansas pre-emptively removed bronze statues of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin back in July according to a report by The College Fix.
The university apparently came to the decision after discussing the matter with the family that donated the monument.
Fear of leftist mobs protesting and vandalizing the monuments likely spurred this decision
A Washburn spokesperson, Patrick Early, informed The College Fix on August 28, 2020 that the statues were taken down in July.
Early claimed there were no specific protests carried out against the statues that ultimately led to their removal. That said, Early pointed to the Jefferson statue at the University of Missouri and how it turned into a “lighting rod” of controversy. Early feared that the same kind of controversy would spill over to the public university situated in Topeka, Kansas.
Early claimed that the statues of the Founding Fathers did not possess any unique features and were part of a larger set of replicas that could be found all over the country. By contrast, most of the artwork on the Washburn campus is made up of original pieces, which is mostly comprised of modern art.
However, the university’s website somewhat contradicts Early’s dismissal of the statues. The bronze statue of Franklin was set up in 2000 at the law school’s entrance. The bronze statue of Jefferson was erected in May 2002 to the south of the law school. Sculptor George Lundeen created the statue and it was donated to the university by Gerald and Shannon Michaud.
Washburn President Jerry Farley held talks with the donor’s family and “raised the question of the best thing to do” regarding the statues, and this decision was reached.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Gerald Michaud was a Washburn Law alumnus who donated the statues and has since passed away, and the statues were returned to his family.
“In place of the statues, the university installed the same blue benches located at other spots around campus. Most of the university’s other statues are modern art, with the exception of a relatively recent statue of Ichabod Washburn that the university commissioned,” the Journal reported.
Thanks to how the radical the Left has become, people across the nation are absolutely jittery about the idea of keeping historical monuments up.
The Left’s goal is to eradicate American history and transform America into a lifeless political blob of left-wing authoritarianism.
Right wingers should stand resolutely against all attempts to erase American history.
