Current Events > My former university removes 'racist rock' from campus

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://news.wisc.edu/no-longer-a-memorial-rock-removed-from-campus/

No longer a memorial, rock removed from campus

The University of WisconsinMadison moved the former Chamberlin Rock, an object that had become a painful symbol of racism to generations of students, to a site off the main campus on August 6.

The rock had sat at the crest of Observatory Hill since 1925. That same year, it was referred to in a newspaper headline by a deeply offensive nickname that included a racial slur. The derogatory nickname was commonly used at the time to refer to any large, dark rock.
The Wisconsin Black Student Union, in partnership with the Native American student organization Wunk Sheek, led an effort to remove the rock from campus. UWMadisons main campus is on ancestral Ho-Chunk land.

Last November, students testified at a meeting of the Campus Planning Committee that the continued presence of the rock was a daily reminder of the injustices, past and present, that students of color face on campus. Committee members recommended to Chancellor Rebecca Blank that the rock be moved off campus; Blank accepted that recommendation.

It took courage and commitment for the Wisconsin Black Student Union to bring this issue forward and to influence change alongside UWs Wunk Sheek student leaders, said Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor. In the midst of demands for justice following George Floyds murder last summer, the students wanted change on campus and they worked hard to see this through. While the decision required compromise, Im proud of the student leaders and the collaboration it took to get here.

UWMadison senior Nalah McWhorter, who served as president of the Wisconsin Black Student Union during the 2020-21 academic year, was among a small group of onlookers who watched as a crane lifted the rock out of the ground early Friday morning.
It was very meaningful for me to be there and to see the process all the way through to the end, McWhorter said. It was about a year ago that we released our demands and met with the chancellor and explained to her why those demands meant so much to us. It was a powerful moment today to see this demand come full circle.

McWhorter said she hopes that the removal of the rock inspires other students to work for change on campus.
I see this as offering the next generation of students something to build off of, she said. We got this project going, and now the next round of students can continue to work on the other demands and come up with other ideas. We hope this movement and this momentum carries on.

The rock is a rare, large example of a pre-Cambrian era glacial erratic, likely over two billion years old. It had been designated as a monument on campus in honor of Thomas Chamberlin, a noted geologist who also served as president of the University of Wisconsin from 1887 to 1892.

The plaque honoring Chamberlin has been removed from the rock. The rock will no longer be referred to by this name but rather known simply as a glacial erratic. A new plaque honoring Chamberlin will be placed on Chamberlin Hall.

The rock has been moved to university-owned land southeast of Madison near Lake Kegonsa. The area is within a glacial till landscape.

Moving the rock to this remote site prevents further harm to our community while preserving the rocks educational and research value for current and future scholars, said Gary Brown, director of campus planning and landscape architecture, who led the search for the rocks new location. Students and the general public will no longer casually encounter the rock, but it will remain available to those specifically seeking it out for teaching and learning purposes.

The rock has immense teaching and educational value in addition to its scientific importance, according to the UW Madison Department of Geoscience. The department uses the rock in its coursework.

UWMadison was statutorily required under Wisconsins Burial Sites Preservation Law to get permission from the Wisconsin Historical Society to move the rock because it sat within what is called a catalogued burial site. The rock was near effigy mounds that are sacred Native American burial sites. The Wisconsin Historical Society approved the UWs permit on August 2 following two rounds of public review that sought input from various stakeholders, including the Native Nations of Wisconsin.

We have worked closely with the Wisconsin Historical Society and our colleagues in the Ho-Chunk Nation to assure minimal, if any, disturbance to the sacred burial sites nearby, Brown said. Although the rock did not sit on top of a burial site, it was located within a protected Native American burial mound area.

Bill Quackenbush, tribal historic preservation officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation, and Zachary Stencil, a project manager with the Archeological Research Laboratory Center at UWMilwaukee, observed the moving of the rock. The presence of an archeologist was a condition of the state permit. The contractor laid ground mats to minimize any soil disturbance or compaction during the work. Over the decades, various estimates had placed the rocks weight between 35 and 70 tons. The crane operator Friday was able to get an exact reading: 42 tons.

UWMadison historians have not found evidence that the racist term attached to the rock in the 1925 newspaper article was used in any capacity by the university. However, they note that the Ku Klux Klan was a pervasive presence in the Madison area in the early part of the last century and that people of color were often mocked in minstrel shows at campus facilities and in campus satiric periodicals.

The cost to remove the rock is not expected to exceed $50,000 and will be paid for by the chancellors office using private donations.

tldr:Because in 1925 a newspaper called the rock " <cite>joe40001 posted [p:957901463] in My former ... [t:79654027]...</cite> <quote> Did this rock need to be removed for being racist? Yes "The continued presence of the rock was a daily reminder of the injustices, past and present, that students of color face on campus" No. That inanimate rock was not racist Vote View Results Did this rock need to be removed for being racist? - Results (107 votes) Yes "The continued presence of the rock was a daily reminder of the injustices, past and present, that students of color face on campus" 28.97% (31 votes) 31 No. That inanimate rock was not racist 71.03% (76 votes) 76 Show Voting Form https://news.wisc.edu/no-longer-a-memorial-rock-removed-from-campus/ <quote>No longer a memorial, rock removed from campus The University of WisconsinMadison moved the former Chamberlin Rock, an object that had become a painful symbol of racism to generations of students, to a site off the main campus on August 6. The rock had sat at the crest of Observatory Hill since 1925. That same year, it was referred to in a newspaper headline by a deeply offensive nickname that included a racial slur. The derogatory nickname was commonly used at the time to refer to any large, dark rock. The Wisconsin Black Student Union, in partnership with the Native American student organization Wunk Sheek, led an effort to remove the rock from campus. UWMadisons main campus is on ancestral Ho-Chunk land. Last November, students testified at a meeting of the Campus Planning Committee that the continued presence of the rock was a daily reminder of the injustices, past and present, that students of color face on campus. Committee members recommended to Chancellor Rebecca Blank that the rock be moved off campus; Blank accepted that recommendation. It took courage and commitment for the Wisconsin Black Student Union to bring this issue forward and to influence change alongside UWs Wunk Sheek student leaders, said Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor. In the midst of demands for justice following George Floyds murder last summer, the students wanted change on campus and they worked hard to see this through. While the decision required compromise, Im proud of the student leaders and the collaboration it took to get here. UWMadison senior Nalah McWhorter, who served as president of the Wisconsin Black Student Union during the 2020-21 academic year, was among a small group of onlookers who watched as a crane lifted the rock out of the ground early Friday morning. It was very meaningful for me to be there and to see the process all the way through to the end, McWhorter said. It was about a year ago that we released our demands and met with the chancellor and explained to her why those demands meant so much to us. It was a powerful moment today to see this demand come full circle. McWhorter said she hopes that the removal of the rock inspires other students to work for change on campus. I see this as offering the next generation of students something to build off of, she said. We got this project going, and now the next round of students can continue to work on the other demands and come up with other ideas. We hope this movement and this momentum carries on. The rock is a rare, large example of a pre-Cambrian era glacial erratic, likely over two billion years old. It had been designated as a monument on campus in honor of Thomas Chamberlin, a noted geologist who also served as president of the University of Wisconsin from 1887 to 1892. The plaque honoring Chamberlin has been removed from the rock. The rock will no longer be referred to by this name but rather known simply as a glacial erratic. A new plaque honoring Chamberlin will be placed on Chamberlin Hall. The rock has been moved to university-owned land southeast of Madison near Lake Kegonsa. The area is within a glacial till landscape. Moving the rock to this remote site prevents further harm to our community while preserving the rocks educational and research value for current and future scholars, said Gary Brown, director of campus planning and landscape architecture, who led the search for the rocks new location. Students and the general public will no longer casually encounter the rock, but it will remain available to those specifically seeking it out for teaching and learning purposes. The rock has immense teaching and educational value in addition to its scientific importance, according to the UW Madison Department of Geoscience. The department uses the rock in its coursework. UWMadison was statutorily required under Wisconsins Burial Sites Preservation Law to get permission from the Wisconsin Historical Society to move the rock because it sat within what is called a catalogued burial site. The rock was near effigy mounds that are sacred Native American burial sites. The Wisconsin Historical Society approved the UWs permit on August 2 following two rounds of public review that sought input from various stakeholders, including the Native Nations of Wisconsin. We have worked closely with the Wisconsin Historical Society and our colleagues in the Ho-Chunk Nation to assure minimal, if any, disturbance to the sacred burial sites nearby, Brown said. Although the rock did not sit on top of a burial site, it was located within a protected Native American burial mound area. Bill Quackenbush, tribal historic preservation officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation, and Zachary Stencil, a project manager with the Archeological Research Laboratory Center at UWMilwaukee, observed the moving of the rock. The presence of an archeologist was a condition of the state permit. The contractor laid ground mats to minimize any soil disturbance or compaction during the work. Over the decades, various estimates had placed the rocks weight between 35 and 70 tons. The crane operator Friday was able to get an exact reading: 42 tons. UWMadison historians have not found evidence that the racist term attached to the rock in the 1925 newspaper article was used in any capacity by the university. However, they note that the Ku Klux Klan was a pervasive presence in the Madison area in the early part of the last century and that people of color were often mocked in minstrel shows at campus facilities and in campus satiric periodicals. The cost to remove the rock is not expected to exceed $50,000 and will be paid for by the chancellors office using private donations.</quote> tldr:Because in 1925 a newspaper called the rock "</quote>

... Copied to Clipboard!

imo it just a rock and because it a rock it shouldn't be a big deal to remove it especially if other students find it offense.

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About $50,000 worth of "fighting racism" can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irh6LJLHD4Q

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Lol I made this topic a while back. People weren't too happy about it.

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Of course it's racist. Look at it

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Hate when people load the options. Just keep it simple.

joe40001 posted...

About $50,000 worth of "fighting racism" can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irh6LJLHD4Q

impressive. 50k is just a drop in the bucket. that like the tuition fee of 1 student right?

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Wow a rock huh?

GeraldDarko posted...

Hate when people load the options. Just keep it simple.

The yes option was a quote from testimony from people who wanted it removed. I'm not putting words in people's mouths.

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GeraldDarko posted...

Hate when people load the options. Just keep it simple.

It's joe numbers, if he couldn't load the options he couldn't make polls.
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it was made into something of a racist landmark and they parted ways with that history. fairest of nexts.

it's a little disingenuous and shitty that you had to phrase this as if they were calling the rock racist, and not the name and history that had been attached to it. please change, joe.

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I think they wanted to remove the rock and used the racist history as a justification.

You don't spend $50,000 dollars to remove a rock because a news paper article made a racist remark about it 95 years ago.

Bio1590 posted...

It's joe numbers, if he couldn't load the options he couldn't make polls.

It's literally a quote from their testimony. That's about as fair to the option as I could possibly be.

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I was thinking this was about rock music, not an actual rock.

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Eh, it's just a rock. I won't put too much thought into it one way or another.

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Fluttershy posted...

it was made into something of a racist landmark and they parted ways with that history. fairest of nexts.

If you heard 86 years ago a newspaper called your street a racial slur would you be in support of tearing it down?

If not please explain why you support racism.

it's a little disingenuous and shitty that you had to phrase this as if they were calling the rock racist, and not the name and history that had been attached to it. please change, joe.

Um... they clearly were calling the rock racist. Because they removed the rock. If only the name of the rock was racist then all they'd have to do is remove the name... which they didn't have to do because that was never it's name. By all accounts it was only formally called that once in a newspaper.

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Youre about a month behind the CE zeitgeist. Oh, you were in purg at the time for spreading flagrant covid disinfo

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Didn't some political figure have a farm or something called the same thing? I remember it being a story years back but don't remember who it was about

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Ratchetrockon posted...

impressive. 50k is just a drop in the bucket. that like the tuition fee of 1 student right?

Yeah... kinda makes you think...

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Shezarr posted...

Youre about a month behind the CE zeitgeist. Oh, you were in purg at the time for spreading flagrant covid disinfo

1. It was my home university (I don't know how to spell alma mader) so I am able to talk about it
2. Youtube specifically said the video I was purged for sharing was not misinformation.

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Jiek_Fafn posted...

Didn't some political figure have a farm or something called the same thing? I remember it being a story years back but don't remember who it was about

Romney. I think growing up he went fishing at a lake that had that name IIRC.

We need to start a fund to get that lake drained, before the fish who swim in it also get infected by racism.

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joe40001 posted...

1. It was my home university (I don't know how to spell alma mader) so I am able to talk about it
2. Youtube specifically said the video I was purged for sharing was not misinformation.

Shilling ivermectin is covid disinfo. Shut the fuck up

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Ratchetrockon posted...

imo it just a rock and because it a rock it shouldn't be a big deal to remove it especially if other students find it offense.

Serious question (2 parts):

1. Is there something you would find it unreasonable for somebody to get offended by?
2. If students found X offensive, what would be the limits to what you think is justified to fix their offendedness?

For example: If an Irish person was legitimately offended by the presence of "Lucky Charms" cereal in the cafeteria, would it's removal from the cafeteria be justified?

I sincerely am curious about your thoughts on such things.

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Shezarr posted...

Shilling ivermectin is covid disinfo. Shut the fuck up

Well then, it stands to reason that I am being truthful in saying I wasn't doing that, and that all accounts that I was doing that come from people who aren't particularly invested in accurately representing the truth.

Youtube originally took down the video as misinformation (likely due to the title involving the drug name) then "after review determined this video was not misinformation." Unless you doubt youtube's ability to assess what is and is not misinformation, you are, on the facts wrong.

Now please stop derailing topics with this. Nobody likes it.

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If you heard 86 years ago a newspaper called your street a racial slur would you be in support of tearing it down?

tear down a street? do you read your own posts before you submit them?

but yes, if my street was a racist landmark and they wanted to do something to distance it from that history, i would be in favor.

Um... they clearly were calling the rock racist. Because they removed the rock.

did they at any point say those exact words, that the rock was racist?

and no, joe, don't equivocate. you may as well say that when they tear down *other* racist landmarks it's them calling whatever building material that was involved racist. don't be slimy. and don't make dumb arguments that aren't worth responding to.

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If it was actually upsetting people, then good.

https://youtu.be/ORe2PulqyEg
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There's no historical reason to object to this; but is it really the best use of money to... get rid of a fucking rock?

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Trumble posted...

There's no historical reason to object to this; but is it really the best use of money to... get rid of a fucking rock?

Their tuition just got that much more expensive

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No, it was a stupid decision, and reflects how far the mind set of the people has drifted from sanity.

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It was called Racist Rock? I can see why it was removed. It's literally named after racists.

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Fluttershy posted...

If you heard 86 years ago a newspaper called your street a racial slur would you be in support of tearing it down?

tear down a street? do you read your own posts before you submit them?

but yes, if my street was a racist landmark and they wanted to do something to distance it from that history, i would be in favor.

So in your mind if somebody called a location a racist name, that location becomes a "racist landmark"? And merits being torn down?

What are the rules for this?

Like if the KKK today called a well known tree in your town a racial slur, should it be chopped down?

Aren't you giving an insane amount of power to people who use racial slurs if you insist that every location on which a racial slur is used becomes a "racist landmark"?

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whitelynx posted...

If it was actually upsetting people, then good.

Same question I had for the other person (2 parts):

1. Is there something you would find it unreasonable for somebody to get offended by?
2. If students found something offensive, what would be the limits to what you think is justified to fix their offendedness? In other words, what would you think is "not worth it" when it comes to addressing offendedness?

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So in your mind if somebody called a location a racist name

i asked you to make posts worth responding to and i told you to stop equivocating, dude. if all you can do is shitpost, i won't give you the time of day.

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Marginalized minority pocs shouldn't be subject to these kinds of racial offenses, this is the way forward.

Hey, there's a black republican. "Race traitor! Grifter! Uncle Tom! Get the right beliefs for your race, asshole!"

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joe40001 posted...

Same question I had for the other person (2 parts):
1. Is there something you would find it unreasonable for somebody to get offended by?
2. If students found something offensive, what would be the limits to what you think is justified to fix their offendedness? In other words, what would you think is "not worth it" when it comes to addressing offendedness?

https://nypost.com/2020/06/20/inside-the-us-governments-plan-to-blow-up-the-moon/
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Fluttershy posted...

it was made into something of a racist landmark

It wasn't.

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Fluttershy posted...

So in your mind if somebody called a location a racist name

i asked you to make posts worth responding to and i told you to stop equivocating, dude. if all you can do is shitpost, i won't give you the time of day.

I don't understand the criticism of my question or what you are accusing me of "equivocating" on.

I'm asking you questions about the logical implications of your apparent stance.

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Joenumbers asking for logic is just lol *chefs kiss*

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My read on this situation is that some students that are majoring in being a victim decided to protest the existence of this rock and said "you are racist if you don't move this" and the University agreed to move it because I guess BLM was really big back then and they couldn't find some actual racist thing they could fix by just hiring some dudes to move a rock so they did this.

PaulieWalnuts posted...

https://nypost.com/2020/06/20/inside-the-us-governments-plan-to-blow-up-the-moon/

I mean... statistically speaking, somebody at some point had to have called the moon a racial slur.

... ... ...

Just googled it, a famous poet did once.

So I guess we gotta blow up the moon.

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Atralis posted...

My read on this situation is that some students that are majoring in being a victim decided to protest the existence of this rock and said "you are racist if you don't move this" and the University agreed to move it because I guess BLM was really big back then and they couldn't find some actual racist thing they could fix by just hiring some dudes to move a rock so they did this.

Yep exactly.

Might as well rename that rock as "Virtue Signaling Rock" now. Because it's movement cost 50k and literally didn't help anybody.

This is one where I can't at all wrap my head around the logic of it's supporters. Even by cancel culture rules it doesn't make sense, if you are mad about a newspaper from 96 years ago calling it that once, then you would try to find a way to punish the newspaper or the descendant institutions of the newspaper or descendants of those who profited from the newspaper. But not the rock itself.

The rock itself literally did nothing, name the rock to something insanely not racist, or hell name it a slur against privledged white people because I think that counts as "anti-racist".

Call it "ok boomer" rock, leave it there, save everybody 50k, and save the geology department from having to make a field trip each semester.

I think this is my new go to example of how dumb "woke" can be. It's not the most evil or anything, but it's got to be the most stupid.

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The weirdest part is TC chose to bold half a paragraph choosing to unbold as soon as the KKK comes up. Which is absolutely relevant to the portion he bolded just before.

Really odd.

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Zeeak4444 posted...

The weirdest part is TC chose to bold half a paragraph choosing to unbold as soon as the KKK comes up. Which is absolutely relevant to the portion he bolded just before.

Really odd.

Please explain how the KKK existing 100 years ago was relevant to the rock.

I'll wait.

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Why not just rename the rock?

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joe40001 posted...

I mean... statistically speaking, somebody at some point had to have called the moon a racial slur.

... ... ...

Just googled it, a famous poet did once.

So I guess we gotta blow up the moon.

https://youtu.be/1ZTnwKLKVhc
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Zeeak4444 posted...

The weirdest part is TC chose to bold half a paragraph choosing to unbold as soon as the KKK comes up. Which is absolutely relevant to the portion he bolded just before.

Really odd.

Yeah a lot of you guys are purposefully ignoring a lot of important facts about this story and the history behind it. Pretty dishonest.

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