Students from the University of Missouri who want a statue of Thomas Jefferson removed from the Columbia campus have met with campus leaders to discuss the issue. University of Missouri System President Mun Choi met in private Thursday with the organizers of the petition. University spokesman Christian Basi said the meeting was “very constructive" but said more details would be released later. An online petition seeking the statue's removal garnered more than 3,250 signatures by Thursday afternoon. One of the petition's organizer's, Roman Leaphart, said he objected to the statue because Jefferson owned slaves and fathered children with one of his slaves.
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