In a conference call with reporters Friday, Chancellor Carol Folt said that "Silent Sam has a place in our history and on our campus where its history can be taught, but not at the front door of a safe, welcoming, proudly public research university."
Folt also said that displayed from where it was, Silent Sam was a threat to public safety.
However, Folt would not say if her comments meant that Silent Sam would not be put back on McCorkle Place.
"We have to listen to all sides and I will continue to do that," Folt said. "In the end, we're trying to find that solution with a plan and an opportunity for us to go forward."
Folt said that she respects the different views held about what the monument stands for, although the University repudiates racist commentary from Julian Carr's dedication speech for Silent Sam.
"For many, the pain and hurt that comes from that speech and from the presence at the front door of our University that they love, the monument that they associate with it is a problem they face every day," Folt said. "I also recognize that to many others, it is a memorial to fallen soldiers who were their family members. I hope that we can all appreciate there’s a big difference between commemorating the fallen and people who want restoration of white rule."
