Students vote ‘No’ on the removal of Francis Eppes statue

In a vote to keep the statue of Francis Eppes on campus, more than 70% (71.2% to be exact) of the Florida State University population voted in favor of keeping the statue. Our school’s founder, Francis Eppes, can be found sitting on a bench in Westcott Plaza looking down College Ave. Since 1999, the statue has been in place. However, lately, the statue’s presence has been causing a stir among students. The Tallahassee Student Democratic Society created a referendum to remove the statue because of it’s seemingly racist undertones, referring to the fact that Eppes owned slaves.

After the results of the election were announced, the Tallahassee Student Democratic Society posted to their Facebook page: “71% of students who voted chose to keep the racist Francis Eppes statue. We will keep fighting, a statement is coming soon.”. Minutes later a statement was then released, stating:

“SDS is saddened to hear the results of the SGA referendum on Francis Eppes. With the referendum being the only question available for students, they chose to vote for Francis Eppes and to maintain his monument and the building named after him.Francis Eppes was a slave owner who owned 91 slaves on his plantation in Tallahassee. He built the night watches that worked to enforce racist laws and catch slaves. Francis Eppes was a firm believer in the confederate cause, selling his land to fund the confederate army. As someone who worked his whole life to enforce and maintain slavery, Francis Eppes does not deserve to be honored at FSU. SDS is committed to continuing the fight against racism on campus. We want a campus where diversity and inclusion are our reality, not simply rhetoric. We want the reimplementation of affirmative action programs that ensure black students a place on campus. We want the establishment of ethnic studies and more Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous faculty. We want a campus free of all monuments and honors given to slave owners and confederates. For all students interested in fighting racism on campus, we encourage you to join us this Saturday, October 22, for a Black Lives Matter march on campus. We are meeting at 5 PM at the Integration Statue, and will be marching to the Francis Eppes statue on Westcott and then on to the Capitol building, to condemn this system of racism and demand an end to police brutality.”

To the contrary, the Florida State University College Republican General Body posted on their Facebook page in response to SDS: “@Tallahassee SDS: Sorry the results for the referendum didn’t go your way, hope we can continue to be friends and work towards a more inclusive campus.” Ouch.