The Confederate monument in the Circle, which was erected in 1906, has been the focal point of the university’s ongoing debates about Confederate symbolism on campus for years. In 1962, James Meredith’s enrollment in and integration of the school drew racist rioters to the statue’s base. In 2016, then-Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter proposed a series of contextualization plaques as a solution to the controversy. This solution would not satisfy the UM community — Students Against Social Injustice marched in the fall to protest the statue. This demonstration led to the escalation of events of the spring.

In just 10 days in February of this year, public scrutiny of the statue’s prominence intensified. Three campus demonstrations in support of removing the monument and one highly publicized protest in opposition to its removal occurred over three days. Nearly a week of tension and controversy was overshadowed in just 63 seconds as eight Ole Miss men’s basketball players knelt during the national anthem.

The Associated Student Body Senate, the Senate of the Faculty and the Graduate Student Council passed resolutions recommending the relocation of the monument from the Circle to the Confederate cemetery on campus. University officials soon made the same recommendation to the Institute of Higher Learning Board and submitted a notice of intent to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.