The Associate Student Body at the University of Mississippi unanimously voted Tuesday night to relocate the Confederate statue from its current location at The Circle on campus.
The student senate members gave a standing ovation to the students who researched, planned and pushed for this night since November.
“We really thought that there was going to be some type of hesitation to this amendment and there wasn’t,” said Arielle Hudson, who is one of the resolution’s eight authors. “It’s just amazing that it passed the way that it did.”
The student senate voted to move the statue to the Ole Miss Confederate cemetery.
Now, other governing school bodies get a say on the issue.
“We’ve gotten a lot of support from the graduate student council, the faculty senate,” Hudson said. “After us, those are the next steps where the legislation has to pass through.”
For Leah Davis, another co-author of the historic resolution, Tuesday night’s vote is a step towards a more welcoming campus.
“I was emotional, as an African-American woman on campus just what that statue represents to me, and to see a diverse group of students take a stand and say this does not represent Ole Miss.”
ASB President Elam Miller tells Local 24, the resolution will also go before the chancellor, vice chancellor of student affairs and dean of students.