Sophomores Kristen Quesada and Isabelle Watkins were walking around the Chapel Jan. 19 when they saw a note sitting where a Robert E. Lee statue used to be.
“Happy birthday Robert E. Lee,” the note, which was accompanied by a pink flower, read. “There are many who still respect your memory despite this foolish university’s disdain for your exemplary life.”
Quesada and Watkins initially approached the Chapel to see if it was open around 5:15 p.m., and Quesada said that she was looking at the statues when she saw the note.
“Obviously, the Robert E. Lee statue isn’t there anymore, but on that day I guess it was his birthday and somebody wrote that note and put it where the statue used to be,” Quesada said.
The statue, which was placed outside the Chapel in 1932, was removed in August 2017 after it was vandalized and over 1,000 alumni signed a petition for its removal. This came in the wake of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., which occurred in response to plans to remove a statue of the Confederate soldier at the University of Virginia.
“We were not extremely surprised to see something like that and we were trying to figure out whether it came from a student or someone else,” Watkins wrote in a message to The Chronicle.
Quesada said the note was “a really weird thing to randomly see on campus.” Both Quesada and Watkins said there was no one else around when they saw the note. The two decided to take pictures “because we thought that someone would take it down soon,” Watkins said.
Watkins noted that she told close friends about the situation.
“I am curious who took it down because it’s not there anymore,” Quesada said. She also wondered if the University documented the situation.
However, Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, wrote in a Wednesday email to The Chronicle that the University was not previously aware of the situation and has no comment. James Todd, communications manager for the Chapel, also wrote in an email that the Chapel was unaware of the situation.
As of now, it is unclear who removed the note.
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Nadia Bey, Trinity '23, was managing editor for The Chronicle's 117th volume and digital strategy director for Volume 118.