University of Texas at Arlington: Statue of pro-Confederate university president to be removed
Arlington, TX – A years’ long struggle spearheaded by University of Texas at Arlington students came to a pitch in a recent meeting held between the Progressive Student Union and the university’s president, Jennifer Cowley. At the meeting, Cowley announced that the Progressive Student Union’s push to have the statue of E.H. Hereford removed was approved by the UT system’s administration staff.
E.H. Hereford’s legacy is that of Confederate sympathy and bigotry. He is credited for establishing the UTA’s “rebel” theme, prominent from 1951 to 1970. Through the efforts of student activists like Fahim Minkah, the Confederate theme was dropped, though Hereford’s bust still stands in the University Center. Robbed of its Confederate history, the statue’s placard echoes empty platitudes about how great of a man Hereford was, ignoring the legacy he built off of romanticizing a state that’s very purpose was the preservation of slavery.
Initially, the Progressive Student Union attempted to pursue the statue’s removal through the student government. Time and time again, however, they were stonewalled. Senators who claimed to represent the student body repeatedly shot down the creation of a referendum which would allow students to vote on the removal of the bust. There was outcry from the student body as tensions ran high in the student government chambers.
Realizing that student government was a waste of energy, PSU decided to bring the struggle all the way to the top, scheduling a meeting with the university’s president, though not without any pushback. Meetings were delayed and students grew frustrated. This energy coalesced in a rally and subsequent sit-in at the president’s office on March 22 of this year. A month later, a meeting between the president and the organization got the gears moving for the removal of the bust. Nearly nine months later, PSU's plan to have the statue removed was approved.
“We’d been fighting for the removal of the statue for a while, and we’re proud to say that we have confirmation,” states a PSU member.