Cornell University Removes Lincoln Bust and Gettysburg Address from Display After Student Complaint

Cornell University recently admitted to removing both a bust of President Abraham Lincoln and a plaque of the Gettysburg Address from its library after a student anonymously complained about the display, presumably due to so-called “racism.”

Fox News reports that biology professor Randy Wayne gave a very brief statement on the matter, simply saying “someone complained, and it was gone.” Wayne said that he first noticed the missing display several weeks earlier and asked the librarians what had happened, to which he was told that the school had received some kind of complaint; the librarians refused to provide any specific details on the nature of the complaint.

The bust and plaque had been on display in the university’s Kroch Library, home to the university’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. The Lincoln display had been there since 2013.

In response to the news, a spokeswoman for Cornell claimed that the Lincoln display was always meant to be a “temporary exhibit,” specifically to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the historic Gettysburg Address in 2013.

“President Lincoln’s bust was part of a temporary exhibit on the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address,” said spokeswoman Rebecca Valli. “The bust was on display in the Rare and Manuscript Collections from 2013 to 2021.”… (Excerpt from The Virginia Star)