Murray State issues official position on removing Confederate memorial at Calloway County Courthouse

A Murray State University spokesperson says the university supports the removal of a Confederate monument on Calloway County courthouse grounds. 

This support follows other departments of the university issuing separate letters calling for the removal of the monument, which features a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The monument was installed in 1917, funded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

“Murray State University, like the city of Murray, firmly supports the relocation of the statue,” said Shawn Touney, Murray State Executive Director of Marketing and Communication, in a statement. “The university has no jurisdiction over this matter and ultimately this is a decision of the Calloway County Fiscal Court.”

Former Murray State basketball star Ja Morant on Saturday also called for the removal of the statue. Calls to remove the monument began when Murray State Assistant Football Coach Sherman Neal issued an open letter June 1 to county and city leadership demanding the statue be removed from its current location.

The Calloway County Fiscal Court is meeting Wednesday morning, where advocates for removing the monument plan to speak to the Fiscal Court. Other Confederate monuments have been removed in larger cities across the country, including Louisville, Kentucky. 

This story first ran on WKMS, the public radio station at Murray State University.

Liam Niemeyer

Ohio Valley ReSource Reporter & Assistant News Director at WKMS

Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves as Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups.