University of Wisconsin moves rock seen as symbol of racism [View all]

KAYLA WOLF, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL VIA AP
Crews work to remove Chamberlin Rock from Observatory Hill on UW-Madison campus in Madison, Wis., Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.


MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin removed a large boulder from its Madison campus on Friday at the request of minority students who view the rock as a symbol of racism.

Chamberlin Rock, on the top of Observatory Hill, is named after Thomas Crowder Chamberlin, a geologist and former university president. Students of color on campus say the rock represents a history of discrimination. The boulder was referred to as a derogatory name for Black people in a Wisconsin State Journal story in 1925.

The derogatory term was commonly used in the 1920s to describe any large dark rock. University historians have not found any other time that the term was used, but they said the Ku Klux Klan was active on campus at that time, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

University Chancellor Rebecca Blank approved removing Chamberlin Rock in January but the Wisconsin Historical Society needed to sign off because the boulder was located within 15 feet (4.6 meters) of a Native American burial site.

Read more: https://www.startribune.com/university-of-wisconsin-moves-rock-seen-as-symbol-of-racism/600085428/