(CNN) A North Carolina state court has reversed a settlement that provided $2.5 million in university funds to preserve a Confederate monument.

The UNC system announced in November that a statue commonly known as "Silent Sam" would be given to the North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans along with a $2.5 million charitable trust after the group sued the system over its removal of the monument, according to a 2019 news release.

The monument was pulled down by protesters in the midst of controversy over Confederate statues in 2018.

On behalf of three UNC law students, two UNC undergrad students and a faculty member, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a motion to intervene in the case and stay the distribution of funds, according to a January statement from the organization. A judge denied their motion, and in January they filed an appeal

"This is a victory for students and faculty across the University of North Carolina System and for the people of North Carolina who viewed this settlement as fraudulent and the transfer of financing to be in direct conflict with the university's mission," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the organization "This development stands as a reminder that we can't stand silent in the face of injustice or tolerate actions that perpetuate dangerous racial ideology."

A Confederate statue known as Silent Sam previously on the University of North Carolina campus.