Former radio host Garrison Keillor was removed from the University of Minnesota’s Scholars Walk following a recent sexual harassment scandal.
Scholars Walk, which honors outstanding University faculty and alumni, removed Keillor’s plaque. Keillor’s song lyrics from an early “A Prarie Home Companion” was still on the Wall of Discovery as of Sunday night.
In an emailed statement to the Minnesota Daily Monday afternoon, a University spokesperson said Keillor was removed from Scholars Walk on Friday, Jan. 19.
“The Scholars Walk and the Wall of Discovery are reviewed regularly,” the statement read. “The panels featuring Walter Brattain, William D. Kelly, Garrison Keillor, Ernest O. Lawrence and Norman Shumway were replaced and reconfigured to include representations of 13 members of the University community.”
Keillor, a longtime Minnesota Public Radio personality, was fired in late 2017 after facing allegations of workplace sexual harassment.
In a letter to members published on Jan. 23, MPR’s President Jon McTaggart said that an outside investigation looked into dozens of allegations regarding sexually inappropriate incidents by Keillor.
When asked for more information on the decision Sunday night, a University spokesperson deferred comment to a company based in McNamara Alumni Center that manages Scholars Walk. When reached for comment, the company deferred comment to a University spokesperson.
Keillor graduated from the University with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1966.