Art belongs in museum

Plenty of people say they can't think of a better place to keep politically charged paintings than Woodburn Hall, the political science building.\nI can think of one: A museum.\nThe painting is part of a mural, a series of masterpieces. It belongs where students can appreciate it at their leisure. It doesn't need to be forced on students while they're trying to learn. Nobody wants to think about the history of Klan involvement in Indiana during a sociology test.\nIt doesn't matter that the painting is a valuable piece of Indiana's history, or that its message is decidedly anti-Klan. What matters is that it's out of place in a lecture hall. In a museum, if someone doesn't like looking at a painting, they can turn away. In Woodburn 100, students don't have that option.\nDespite the painting's message, many students have found it offensive over the years. While it might be educational to many, this isn't enough to risk offending even a handful of students.\nThe same applies to the swastikas at the HPER. It isn't important that they were put there long before Hitler adopted the symbol for the Nazis, or that they are actually reverse swastikas, an ancient Native American symbol for good luck. What is important is that the symbol has been associated with hate for so long that it has become offensive. Almost no one today remembers what the swastika originally stood for, and a plaque reminding us is not enough. The University's mission is to educate, and perhaps this controversial artwork is educational. But education shouldn't come at the expense of someone's feelings.