College of Charleston students envision ways to 'outshine' John C. Calhoun monument

The debate about Confederate monuments tends to boil down to two sides: Leave them up or take them down.

Nathaniel Walker, an architectural history professor at the College of Charleston, knew a lot of his students were caught somewhere in between.

Many of them major in historic preservation, so they believe in protecting what was built long ago. At the same time, they're well aware that leaders from ancient Rome to the American South have used memorials and monuments to assert their power and their own versions of history.

The professor took their plight as an opportunity to shed new light on a conflict that Charleston's elected officials still haven't figured out how to resolve.

"These students, they have a great social conscience," Walker said. "They want our historic landscapes to be more empowering for everybody."