Mural Depicting KKK Stays at IU’s Woodburn Hall

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A controversial mural at Indiana University depicting Ku Klux Klan members burning a Christian cross and carrying the American flag during a Klan gathering will remain in Woodburn Hall.

IU Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel said the mural cannot be removed due to the type of paint used.

The mural has created controversy over the past 70 years.

Woodburn Hall, also known as Woodburn 100, will no longer be used as a classroom. The move to limit the use of Woodburn Hall comes after an petition started by Jaqueline Barrie gained over fifteen hundred signatures.

Robel said, “Woodburn 100 can usefully serve other purposes, such as a gallery space and public lecture space, that are more conducive to teaching about the mural.”

Woodburn 100 assigned an alternative use beginning in the Spring 2018 semester.