UW Removes Racist Rock
August 6, 2021 12:00PM CDT
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin is removing a 70-ton boulder from its Madison campus 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.
It was referred to as a derogatory name in a Wisconsin State Journal story in the 1920s, at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was active on campus.
The boulder was being removed Friday morning.
