College Students Petition To Remove Statue of Man in Underwear

In this week's unusual statue news, students at an all-female college are petitioning to have an art piece that depicts a nearly naked man removed from the center of their campus.

More than 350 Wellesley College students have signed the Change.org petition to remove the statue called "Sleepwalker," which is a realistic-looking man in his underwear, Gawker reported via Boston.com.

"The statue of the nearly naked man on the Wellesley College campus is an inappropriate and potentially harmful addition to our community that we, as members of the student body, would like removed immediately," Zoe Magrid, a Wellesley junior, wrote in the Change.org petition.

"Sleepwalker" is a piece in an art exhibit called "New Gravity" that features sculptor Tony Matelli in the school's Davis Museum, according to Boston.com.

The petition appeared just a day after the statue was set up near the campus center, a high-traffic location that ensures that the sleepwalking man will be frequently seen.

Magrid noted that the nearly naked sculpture can potentially alarm and requested that it be displayed inside the museum where it won't be startling students who have to walk past it in the campus center.

She pointed out that "this highly lifelike sculpture has, within just a few hours of its outdoor installation, become a source of apprehension, fear and triggering thoughts regarding sexual assault for many members of our campus community."

The Davis Museum director responded to the petition but didn't seem to address the student's particular concerns.

"We placed the Sleepwalker on the roadside just beyond the Davis to connect the exhibition--within the museum--to the campus world beyond," Lisa Fischman explained. "I love the idea of art escaping the museum and muddling the line between what we expect to be inside (art) and what we expect to be outside (life)."

While she said she appreciated any discussion surrounding the art piece, Fishman apparently didn't respond to the issues that Magrid listed in her petition, which was gaining more signatures by the minute on Wednesday afternoon.

"I honestly didn't even want to get too close to him," Laura Mayron, a Wellesley College sophomore, told Boston.com. "It honestly makes me a little uncomfortable with how real he looks. It's odd."