Students at a New York university declined to meet with their school president over a Thomas Jefferson statue a day before the statue was vandalized, Campus Reform reported Monday.
Unidentified vandals have defaced the Jefferson statue at Hofstra University with white spray paint, Black Lives Matter paraphernalia, and a sticker reading “DECOLONIZE,” according to Campus Reform.
Hofstra students discovered their Jefferson statue vandalized with a Black Lives Matter fist taped to one of its shoulders and the “DECOLONIZE” sticker plastered on its forehead on Thursday. White spray paint covered part of the statue’s arm and a sheet of paper reading “Black Lives Matter” hung over its face Friday.
#ThomasJefferson is a racist rapist that should not be at the entrance to the student center on Hofstra University. He…
Posted by Ethan Duran on Friday, April 20, 2018
Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz offered to meet with anti-Jefferson students Wednesday, but the students declined, objecting to the president’s stipulation that students attending the event each received three minutes to speak and that no decision regarding the statue will be made at the meeting.
“For over a decade, students have unfortunately been put in a position where in addition to being students they must also bare the burden of pleading with the administrators of their university to see the socio-emotional health and stability of its students of color, specifically those who are the descendents [sic] of colonized and enslaved peoples, as something worth investing in and something worth taking into consideration going forward,” the student organizers of “Jefferson Has Gotta Go” stated.
“For a minimum of thirteen years, black students have taken on the role of the mouse and white supremacy and misogynoir have assumed the role of the elephant’s foot,” the students continued, referencing a quote by South African activist Desmond Tutu.
The anti-Jefferson students demanded to be able to record any future meeting they have with administrators and complained about the president’s allotment of only three minutes per speaker.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Hofstra for comment but received none in time for press.
A Jefferson statue at the University of Virginia also suffered vandalism in April, with red paint reading “rapist + racist” smeared found smeared on it on the Founding Father’s April 13 birthday. (RELATED: Thomas Jefferson Statue Branded With ‘Racist + Rapist’ On His Birthday)
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