LSU College Democrats released a statement March 11 demanding the removal of what they believe are two “incomplete and racist exhibits” residing in the William A. Brookshire LSU Military Museum.
One of the exhibits is a placard titled “Cadets of the Civil War.” It honors 18 LSU alumni who “lost their lives in the war between the states and are honored for their dedicated service.” All 18 of these soldiers except one fought for the Confederacy.
The second exhibit is the bust of Troy H. Middleton, a former LSU president whose name was removed from the LSU Library in 2020. During his time as president from 1951 to 1962, Middleton advocated against desegregation.
Amid the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020, pressure from LSU students, including College Dems, resulted in the renaming of the Library.
The bust in the museum includes Middleton’s name, date of birth and death. Middleton was also a distinguished officer in the U.S. Army who served during World War II. He is well known for his decision to hold the city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
The bust previously resided in the library but was moved to the military museum, according to College Dems.
“The placard does not provide proper context to his military service or his segregationist tenure at LSU,” the press release read.
College Dems said they reached out to LSU administration in February with concerns about the exhibits but were met with no response. College Dems called for a response from the Office of the President, Division of Student Affairs and the Cadets of the Old War Skule.
The club’s officers have a meeting with the university’s interim vice provost, Matt Lee, on Monday. College Dems said they will protest the grand opening of the military museum on Thursday if LSU Administration doesn’t respond.
Two resolutions aimed at adding context to the exhibits passed unanimously in the student Senate.
Political science freshman Landon Zeringue is a student senator and co-authored legislation to remove the placard honoring Confederate cadets, according to SG Resolution 5.
Zeringue also co-authored SG Resolution 6, which calls to remove the Middleton bust until an additional placard is placed “noting his military service and segregationist tenure at LSU and is displayed with it.”
“He was still a WWII hero, but he was also a segregationist,” Zeringue said. “You need the full context and history there.”
Both pieces of legislation passed unanimously on the floor in early March. Zeringue said lower administrators have “passed it up the chain,” and haven’t heard anything yet.
“It’s a resolution showing the stance of Student Government, because from our point of view, it’s kind of like a ‘no duh’ kind of thing,” Zeringue said. “It’s something simple that admin should be able to listen to us.”
Political science junior Myles Kamara is a member of LSU College Dems and believes proper context of the history should be provided in the exhibits. He says he is “not fond of honoring traitors,” in reference to the cadet placard.
“If you want to honor those students because they were former students, go ahead, but let it be known that they were fighting for the Confederacy and the Confederacy was fighting to preserve slavery. If you do that, I won’t have a problem,” Kamara said.
Since 2020, after the Library’s renaming, College Dems and other LSU student organizations have been fighting for the renaming of LSU buildings with problematic namesakes.
Former interim LSU President Thomas Galligan created a committee to evaluate buildings on campus and make recommendations to administration. That committee hasn’t been meeting regularly, and President William Tate IV has signaled a lack of interest in moving forward with the committees’ pending recommendations.
Tate said in September most students don’t know who the buildings are named after, and that the focus of improving diversity and inclusion on campus should be placed elsewhere. He didn’t comment on what the university would do once the committee’s report arrives at his desk.
Some students say building renaming efforts and College Dem’s efforts are misplaced.
“I just think that there are other priorities that are more important to the development and improvement of LSU,” said Economics freshman Nathan Chatagnier. “It’s a minor thing that doesn’t really have a huge impact.”
The cost to replace the cadet placard and the cost to add a placard to the Middleton bust is a concern for Chatagnier.
“It’s going to cost a lot of money to change all that metal and iron and make a new one custom made, install on there and all that,” Chatagnier said. ”It’s just not worth it.”
Architecture junior Tyler Manning said there’s a difference between displaying history and honoring it.
“While the College Democrats are wholly within their rights to protest the grand opening, I question the motivation behind the decision to protest a military museum meant to honor the men and women who gave their lives so that we may enjoy freedom,” Manning said.
The museum will reside in the flanks of LSU’s Memorial Tower.
Kamara said the lack of context around the displays in the museum suggests LSU shys away from its problematic history.
“If LSU wants to speak on their diversity, which they do, they should be honest about the past they came from and not be afraid to shy away from it because it’ll make donors or former alum a little bit nervous,” Kamara said.
Troy H. Middleton's bust sits in the William A. Brookshire Military Museum on June 5, 2021.
