Decrying stereotypes of native Americans and blacks, some students, employees and alumni of the University of Notre Dame are renewing calls for the removal of large murals in the Main Building that depict the life of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.

The 12 paintings by artist Luigi Gregori have been on the walls of the building's corridors since 1884. It's time for the murals to go, according to an open letter to the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, that was published Tuesday in the Observer, the student newspaper. The open letter was signed by more than 340 students, employees and alumni.