Shakespeare Portrait Swapped For Audre Lorde: University Of Pennsylvania Students Change Picture In English Department

Students at the University of Pennsylvania have started a somewhat unlikely stir after they replaced a portrait of William Shakespeare with one of writer Audre Lorde this week.

The swap was made in an apparent effort to promote inclusion within the English department at the Ivy League school in Philadelphia. Lorde, who died in 1992, was a writer who described herself as a "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet." She dedicated "her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing the injustices of racism, sexism, and homophobia," according to the Poetry Foundation.

The Shakespeare portrait had reportedly hung at the Heyer Staircase at Fisher-Bennett Hall on Penn's campus of years. The English department decided years ago to replace the portrait but had yet to do so, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The Shakespeare portrait was moved to the office of Jed Esty, the chair of the university's English department, reported student newspaper the Daily Pennsylvanian. In its place now hangs a picture of Lorde.

"Students removed the Shakespeare portrait and delivered it to my office as a way of affirming their commitment to a more inclusive mission for the English department," Etsy wrote to the Daily Pennsylvanian in an email. The portrait of Lorde will remain where it is until the department decides on what to do with the space, Etsy added in the email.

The Inquirer noted that the action seemed to cause a stir on social media, with many criticizing the students as over-sensitive millennials. Others, of course, celebrated the swap, including a number of students quoted in the Daily Pennsylvanian.

The University of Pennsylvania has seen its fair share of controversy recently. After President-elect Donald Trump won the election, black Penn freshmen were added to a group chat that sent them racist, violent messages. Trump graduated from Penn's Wharton School of Business. However, the university has long distanced itself from the billionaire.