Columbia University students are losing their chill over a new sculpture being installed on campus, the Huffington Post reports.
Reclining Figure, by the late artist Henry Moore, is set to be installed on Columbia’s central lawn, but students are concerned that the work will tarnish the beauty of their historic campus. A pleading but witty editorial written by an alumni and three students, published in the Columbia Daily Spectator and cleverly titled “Statue of Limitations,” reads:
“As both inheritors and wards of our beautiful campus, we object to this desecration of our home. We also condemn the administration’s surreptitious launch of this offensive project.”
Columbia is home to several famous sculptures, including their most distinguished, Alma Mater, which sits in front of the Low Memorial Library—directly across from Butler Library, the area in front of which has been chosen to house Reclining Figure.
“Moore’s monstrosity besmirches our library, our athenaeum, with its arrogant middle finger to the world,” the editorial reads.
The protests have even grown to include a popular online petition, and some students are calling for the statue to be sold to pay for a 24-hour rape crisis center (a worthy cause at any college), according to the Huffington Post.
The students finished their editorial with a message of optimism, writing:
“We cling to some hope that it’s not too late—and that Alma Mater won’t have to stare at that ugly hunk of metal for the rest of goddamn time.”