The Board of Visitors of the Virginia Military Institute voted unanimously Thursday to remove the statue of secessionist Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson from the campus, the Washington Post reports.
Two board members abruptly resigned from the board prior to the vote. They did not publicly comment on their resignations.
VMI has been under pressure to review its heritage and traditions, specifically regarding its history of ignoring or downplaying racism in those practices. Virginia Democratic Governor Ralph Northam, a 1981 graduate of VMI, called for a independent investigation into the school.
VMI’s longtime superintendent, retired Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, resigned at the beginning of the week following a Washington Post report about the school’s continuing discrimination.