During Auburn baseball’s game against Texas A&M on Saturday, Auburn University will unveil its newest addition to campus, a statue of Chicago White Sox legend and Auburn baseball alum Frank Thomas.
With the addition of this statue, Auburn’s campus will have a total of nine statues of athletes and coaches, including Ralph "Shug" Jordan, Cliff Hare, Pay Dye, Pat Sullivan, Bo Jackson, Cam Newton, Charles Barkley and John Heisman. The group is impressive, composed of outstanding players and coaches with laundry lists of achievements, but one shared characteristic among the statues stands out over the rest: they are all men.
Without a doubt, each of these male athletes have achieved more than enough to deserve a statue. There is no question that they should be recognized for all they have accomplished, and in no way should their achievements be discredited or diminished.
However, in building statues to honor its star male athletes, Auburn has neglected to recognize and celebrate its countless outstanding female athletes. With a grand total of zero statues of specific women on Auburn's campus, there is a definite problem—and it's not a lack of talent and achievement by the university's female athletes throughout history.
Two years ago, The Plainsman published an editorial urging Auburn to put up statues of its historic female athletes on campus. Listing off countless Auburn women with impressive achievements, we proposed the question of why Auburn has seemed set on honoring only its men with statues when its women are just as deserving.
In 2019, Auburn unveiled a seven-foot statue, put up to honor 125 years of women on campus, but we urged the university to not stop with a single silhouette of a woman. Outside the McWhorter Center is a statue titled "Wings of Triumph," inspired by winged Victory of Samothrace at the Louvre in Paris, but it is another commemoration vaguely stated as being for women, not of women.
We ask that Auburn recognize its women by putting up individualized statues of historic female athletes—just like it has done for its historic male athletes.
In the two years between then and now, Auburn has dedicated four statues to male athletes and zero to female athletes. The only thing that has changed for Auburn is that it has gained yet another outstanding female athlete in 2020 Olympic all-around champion and three-time Olympic medalist Suni Lee.
Although it would be unreasonable and foolish to expect Auburn to have already built a statue to honor Suni Lee, there are countless other historic female athletes that Auburn has had plenty of time to recognize.
Some of the Auburn women that come to mind are two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and WNBA All-Star Ruthie Bolton, two-time gold medalist, world champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist Vickie Orr, seven-time Olympic medalist—including two gold medals—and five-time world record holder Kirsty Coventry and 1984 Olympian and 1996 Olympic coach Reita Clanton.
The question is not if Auburn’s female athletes are worthy of recognition on campus. Having produced 12 of Auburn’s 22 national championships, including six in equestrian, five in swimming & diving and one in track & field, and winning Olympic medals in multiple sports, it is obvious that they are.
It is up to Auburn to honor its female athletes the same way it honors its male athletes, and a great way it could start is by putting up some statues that aren't just men.
Editorials represent the majority view of The Plainsman's editorial board and do not necessarily represent that of the entire newsroom.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
