St. Louis University alumni protest planned sculpture honoring demonstrations

Published February 18, 2015

Donors and alumni of Saint Louis University are up in arms over a proposed sculpture honoring a protest on school grounds against police brutality.

The plan has led those opposed to the art project to launch a petition demanding plans for the monument be shelved according to the College Fix.

The higher education blog also reports that students are divided on the issue and that a campus forum will be held later this week.

Last October, protestors refused to leave the St. Louis campus and end their demonstration, which was intended to extend the Ferguson, Mo. protests of the previous summer.

Demonstrators flew upside-down American flags and gave speeches and teach-ins on topics like "conscious awakening, systematic oppression, white supremacy, and students' responsibility to the community."

In order to get the protestors to leave, University President Fred Pestello agreed to a list of 13 demands, including that a monument be installed on the quad.

The demands came from the coalition of protestors which included Tribe X, the Metro St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion and Equality, and the Black Student Alliance.

The proposed monument is described as a sculpture slated to fulfill the demand of "mutually agreed upon artwork" and capturing "the spirit and importance of the demonstration and encampment at Saint Louis University on October 13-18, 2014," according to a statement released by the university.

There was no indication of the sculpture's size or what form it might take.

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St. Louis University alumni protest planned sculpture honoring demonstrations

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