LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that would have stopped the removal of a controversial mural in the University of Kentucky's Memorial Hall, but the judge also said the mural must stay in place for now.
The mural includes images of enslaved Africans and Native Americans, and it has been a subject of debate for years.
In 2020, the University of Kentucky announced that, after years of debate, the mural would be removed. In an effort to halt that process, writer Wendell Berry and his wife, Tanya Berry, sued the university. Tanya is the niece of Ann Rice O'Hanlon, the muralist.
The lawsuit argued that the mural was created through a government program and is owned by the people of Kentucky. Therefore, President Eli Capiluoto does not have the right to decide to remove it.
In the ruling, Judge Thomas Wingate granted UK's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. However, Judge Wingate also said that given the removal of the mural would "result in its destruction as it is a fresco—painted on the plaster itself—the Court holds that Defendants shall continue to maintain the status quo of the O’Hanlon Mural pending any and all appeals in this matter."
