Penn students remove picture of William Shakespeare, replace it with Audre Lorde
A few years ago, the English department at the University of Pennsylvania voted to take down a portrait of William Shakespeare and replace it with something else that better represented diversity in writing. However, the portrait remained up while they decided what to replace the portrait with… until a group of Penn students decided to take matters into their own hands.
The students removed the portrait and delivered it to English professor and department Chair Jed Esty’s office, replacing instead with a picture of black feminist writer Audre Lorde.
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“Students removed the Shakespeare portrait and delivered it to my office as a way of affirming their commitment to a more inclusive mission for the English department,” Esty said in an email to the Daily Pennsylvanian.
Esty also emailed a statement to English majors and minors saying that the photograph of Lorde would remain up while they decided what to do with the space on a more permanent basis.
“We invite everyone to join us in the task of critical thinking about the changing nature of authorship, the history of language, and the political life of symbols,” Esty wrote.
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