"We don't need no education , . ."

"We don't need no thought control . . ."
__Pink Floyd, 1979

"[University of Pennsylvania] English professor and Department Chair Jed Esty was surprised to find a large portrait of William Shakespeare waiting in his office.

A group of students removed the iconic portrait from the walls of Fisher-Bennett Hall and delivered it to Esty’s office after an English Department town hall meeting discussing the election, which took place on Thursday December 1. They replaced it with a photo of Audre Lorde, a black female writer."
Ref: The Daily Pennsylvanian

Why?

Well, DonDiego can assure the interested reader, if any, that an "African American writer, feminist, womanist, lesbian, and civil rights activist"* is significantly superior to William Shakespeare, arguably the finest writer of the English Language ever, to represent the ideals of the English Department of a University in the United States in the 21st Century.
*Ref: wikipedia

What is wrong with academics nowadays? Have they no respect for history? . . . for culture? . . . for anything? Or is it simply a total lack of testicular fortitude?

Penn is University of Pennsylvania, private Ivy League school. Not Penn State, semi- state supported university. Penn has a $10 billion endowment, while lowly Penn State has a $3.6 billion endowment but a much better football team.

There once was a picture of Shakespeare in Fisher-Bennett Hall
But now Audre Lorde hangs on the wall
There was a meeting, a group of students did attend
They had no respect for what the Bard had penned

Trump is a graduate. Total co-inky-dink.

No pudding for you DD!

The Daily Pennsylvanian? What kind of publication is that? The college newspaper?

Legitimate publications would include the full name of the college/university at least once, not leaving us to guess which school "Penn" refers to. I learned better than that during my English Comp II course at a community college.

Thanks to ecomstoc for the distinction and explanation of their financial support.

BTW, I agree with DD. Once again, I'd yank my kid (and money) outta that school, if I had either, IF the story is true and IF the portrait swap was supported by the chancellor, or whatever title the head guy/gal is known by.

But then, I'm an aging baby-boomer who has a lot of appreciation for the works and place in English Literature of Shakespeare , so my preferences run that way.

DonDiego thanks ecomstoc for the correction. He has corrected the original post.

It's the schools newspaper.

Slow news day? The president-elect just put Exxon in charge of keeping Vladimir Putin in check. ...but on a more important note, students swapped out a picture at a University. ok then.

How on God's green earth did PJ learn about our new Secretary of State? Personally, I read about it on the internet and have watched it splashed all over the news. Apparently, it's objectionable to some that we discuss topics other than the secretary of state.

That seems narrow minded to me, but I'm an inclusive sort of guy.