The statue of Jefferson Davis, once president of the Confederate States, stands just south of the Main Building on UT's campus on June 22, 2015.
The statue of Jefferson Davis, once president of the Confederate States, stands just south of the Main Building on UT's campus on June 22, 2015. Shelby Knowles

Days after a state district judge gave the go-ahead, the University of Texas at Austin plans to remove a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis from a plaza on campus Sunday.

The removal will begin around 9 a.m., according to a press release.

The statue is being moved after years of complaints that it was offensive to minorities on campus. UT-Austin President Greg Fenves commissioned a committee to consider its future this summer. Acting upon that group’s recommendation, Fenves decided to remove it and instead display it in its “proper context” at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.

A statue of President Woodrow Wilson will also be removed for symmetrical reasons; it sits across the plaza from the one of Davis.

The statues’ removal has been vehemently fought by the southern heritage group Sons of Confederate Veterans. That group unsuccessfully sought to block the relocation. So far, efforts to appeal have failed.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.  A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here. 

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Matthew Watkins began serving as editor in chief of the Tribune in September 2024. He is a Texas native, born in Houston and raised in Austin. He attended Texas A&M University and has spent his entire...