Letter to the RTP Editors

To the editors of The Ring-tum Phi,

By Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., ‘78

(Cook delivers his speech, Mark Ozboyd)

[The following column was written in response to a news article published by The Ring-tum Phi on January 23, 2023. The Spectator covered the same event on January 18 and agreed to publish Mr. Cook’s response to The Phi after their editors informed him that his letter might only be published online, if at all. The Spectator is committed to free speech and civil discourse, for both students and alumni.]

There are a few misunderstandings as well as journalistic omissions from The Ring-tum Phi’s recent article that are key to understanding the true narrative of my lecture in the chapel. 

I was asked to speak about a spiritual, religious epiphany that was experienced by my father, W&L ‘48, after his 3 year tour of duty in the Pacific War. His ship, the most decorated of its type, was hit by a kamikaze strike which killed his mates before his eyes. He was next preparing for the invasion of Japan, in which he was certain he would die. 

After he returned to Lexington, the intense heat in the W&L library reminded him too much of the South Pacific. He couldn’t study there, so Dean Gilliam allowed him to study independently in Lee Chapel, a cooler building. Dad ultimately graduated valedictorian, Summa cum laude, ODK, with various other honors. Dean Gilliam expected this and so allowed him that special place of honor to study. 

My father faced the Recumbent Lee statue each evening and was moved to read every book published on Lee. He admired Lee for rebuilding Virginia, for denouncing guerrilla warfare — which my father had personally experienced on Japanese islands —  and for establishing a beloved community of honor, honesty, and gentlemanly behavior in Lexington. These actions blessed my father with an epiphany that the unfinished work of the Civil War was Civil Rights, that it had to come out of the South, and that it had to center in Atlanta, the city of peace. His study of Lee’s example led him to befriend and help Dr. Martin Luther King.

The Phi’s article stated, “the protest communicated fierce student opposition to Lost Cause rhetoric on Washington and Lee’s campus.” 

There was no Lost Cause rhetoric of any sort. 

The story said when asked for thoughts on the protest by an audience member, I “took a moment to dig at the students,” saying that the speech “might have been too long for them, anyway.” The context was not fully reported. I had just said my speech was too long. The dig was against myself, not the students. 

Upon entering the chapel, the students faced a heroic scaled statue of Dr. King, centered under the arch and the Recumbent Statue of President Lee. It was shocking, breathtaking, beautiful and the right thing to do. It is an image that only W&L can convey to the world, but The Phi did not show the beauty and drama of the whole statue ensemble with that of Lee. Why? This original statue maquette I brought to the chapel made the mold for the bronze, which will be unveiled on the 55th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination in The Honorable Rodney Cook Sr. Peace Park. The Phi falsely reported that the statue is already there. It is not; Washington and Lee saw it first. Following the MLK statue unveiling in April, a peace walk of thousands will start at the Center for Civil and Human Rights and proceed to the park, where a report on our Billion Prayer Revival will be delivered.

Next, Zach Zimmerman, 23L, delivered my credentials and introduced my friend Alveda King of the Martin Luther King Center. Her video welcomed everybody to the chapel, mentioned our 4 generation family friendship, how helpful my father was to her grandfather and uncle in securing Civil Rights in America, and that his epiphany in that very chapel led him to her family to help them do that. Alveda shared that I had traveled with her cousin and my friend, Bernice King, when she spoke at W&L five years ago on the 50th anniversary of her father’s assassination. She mentioned how hard it was for a white family to help them, and that the KKK burned a cross on our lawn when I was 6. (What Alveda did not share was that I did not speak for a year after that horrific incident.) The Phi did not mention this important introduction.

A few minutes before the event began, I heard that a demonstration was assembling outside. I walked to the chapel terrace and saw a young man holding a large sign, “White Supremacy Meeting Straight Ahead.”

I wonder if that young man ever had a cross burned in his yard to write such a thing against me. 

A student demonstrator remarked to The Phi, “I hope they walked away feeling like maybe what’s being said here is not accurate or a promotion of peace. But more importantly, I hope that students of color on this campus felt supported and felt like their voices were heard by participating in this protest.”

The student demonstrators did not do their homework. The lecture was about peace and reconciliation, not focused on Lee, the Lost Cause or whitewashing. It was focused on a spirit-filled epiphany in a Christian chapel, it was focused on Dad’s friend Martin Luther King, Jr., his beloved community, and the power of love to compel us to start talking and listening to one another again. I hope that students of color on this campus, rather than feel supported by the demonstrators, realize that their protesting peers chose not to listen, turned their backs on Martin Luther King, Jr and one of his living family members fighting for his legacy, and walked out.

The opinions expressed in this magazine are the author's own and do not reflect the official policy or position of The Spectator, or any students or other contributors associated with the magazine. It is the intention of The Spectator to promote student thought and civil discourse, and it is our hope to maintain that civility in all discussions.