Cauldron

Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Other News

Media Credit: Eric Elizondo ST. THOMAS STATUE

Although a statue of St. Thomas Aquinas arrived on campus March 25, it currently does not have a home. For now, it sits in the student activities lounge in Crooker until the Student Government Association's placement proposal is approved.

Last year, Senator Suzy Garcia introduced a bill to buy a St. Thomas statue. SGA approved the bill in March 2007, and SGA purchased the statue, with student activity money, for $2,000, according to SGA President and MBA student Josh Gautreau.

The idea was first discussed two years ago. "Former SGA President Emiliano Herrera came up with the concept of a prayer grotto with a St. Thomas Aquinas statue," Gautreau said. The grotto cost too much to build, so SGA decided instead to buy a statue.

SGA hopes to place the statue on the Crooker patio outside the new student activities offices. "We have to get approved by the Art Council," Gautreau said. "They have to approve all the art that will placed on the campus."

The newly formed Art Council consists of donors and staff. Formerly, there was no real system to approve art on campus, Gautreau said.

Although Gautreau wrote a letter requesting that the Art Council make a decision on the statue's location during its April 10 meeting, he had not received a response by press time.

Junior history major Matilde Deleon said she disagrees with SGA's decision regarding the statue's placement. She believes it should be placed in or around the Chapel. "It's a traditional place to have our patron saint because that is where we pray," she said. "It will get worn down outside or hit with balls and Frisbees [if it is placed next to Crooker]; it would be disrespectful. If they want it outside, why don't they put it in the [Earthman] garden, where it is more scenic?"

Gautreau said the statue will be bolted to a concrete foundation. Nevertheless, some students question whether the statue is substantial enough to be outside.

"I wonder if it will last a school year," said 2008-2009 Student Activities Board President Amanda Ingersoll, junior marketing major. "It's supposed to be bolted down, but it still doesn't have any girth to it."

Ingersoll said she touched the statue even though a ripped out spiral notebook page has been taped to it saying, "Do Not Touch; Property of SGA."

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