Neutral position question: What does the statue accomplish? If it is simply a statue to honor him and not a symbol of anything racist or particularly relevant today, what does it matter if it stays at the center or in Cushing as some have suggested, since then he'd still be on campus?
On the one hand, Sully helped save A&M, but on the other hand the campus at the time was all white male and very different from today. Rudder allowed integration and is arguably more relevant and crucial to shaping campus to be more inclusive. Shouldn't his statue have center place or at least more emphasis than Sully's?
It is argued that a major issue with the Sully statue is the fact it stands as the centerpiece of campus. If we change its position to match its relevancy to current students, then we can end the debate and still have the statue on campus somewhere still honoring him as president, but not seem like we are honoring a Confederate soldier by putting him in a place of prominence.
1965, this debate came up with the statue being covered in flowers and peace symbols. Then again periodically every few years, seemingly every time someone figures out he's a Confederate soldier (I didn't even know back in the day since I was more concerned about classes than anything else). If we already know it has been a divisive object, we should try and figure out some kind of compromise in order to really make our Aggie family more cohesive rather than keep attacking each other (both sides).
If we keep it at the center, we should at least be academically honest and talk about his career as a soldier and why it is not something we emulate, instead of leaving it out of the tour while having it inscribed on the back. If we don't feel that we can take the time to talk about his Confederate contributions during the tour, then we should move it to somewhere we are, whether that be in Cushing or even the art gallery in the MSC (it is still a beautiful work of art) where he'd be with other respected dead.
I'd rather this argument be ended than have it continue into perpetuity or until some radical decides it really should be simply smashed/permanently disfigured. Possibly commission a new one with Sully shaking hands with Gaines recognizing their combined work, and then add to the tour "While Sully did fight in the Confederacy, he later sought to redeem himself by securing funds for both TAMU and PVAMU. We do not honor his actions as a soldier, but as a man repentant who then sought to do his best to help those he could in the capacity he had by working with many key figures of color. [Name those figures too]." Maybe lead with Gaines' contributions since without his work A&M wouldn't have been funded, and Sully couldn't have done what he did. Many seem to think he was our first campus president, but Thomas Gathright was. I agree with OP that some compromise should be reached so the university can stop having nothing but bad PR, and this debate can finally be ended.
