College campuses across the nation are finally listening to the public. All it took was a violent rally in Charlottesville to show them the error of their ways. 

Duke University has chosen to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee from its chapel in the wake of a nationwide effort to denounce the traitorous historical movement. The University of Texas has also removed four statues dedicated to the Confederacy overnight, according to NBC News.

“I took this course of action to protect Duke Chapel, to ensure the vital safety of students and community members who worship there, and above all to express the deep and abiding values of our university,” said Duke President Vincent E. Price in a statement.

“The removal also presents an opportunity for us to learn and heal. The statue will be preserved so that students can study Duke’s complex past and take part in a more inclusive future.”

 University of Texas President Greg Fenves went one step further by claiming that Confederate monuments have become “symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism,” which the university can’t support. [One could easily argue they always have, but better late than never..?]

“The University of Texas at Austin is a public educational and research institution, first and foremost. The historical and cultural significance of the Confederate statues on our campus — and the connections that individuals have with them — are severely compromised by what they symbolize,” Fenves said. “Erected during the period of Jim Crow laws and segregation, the statues represent the subjugation of African Americans. That remains true today for white supremacists who use them to symbolize hatred and bigotry.”