Whom does the Board think they’re convincing?

Whom does the Board think they’re convincing?
The university no longer honors George Washington and Robert E. Lee, so stop telling us you do.

(Changes made in 2023 to the university’s memory of Robert E. Lee, including plaque removals and the erection of a wall to block the primary view of the Recumbent Statue. Source: The Spectator)

The Fall 2023 issue of The Washington and Lee Magazine contains an article titled “155 Years of Evolution in University Chapel.” While the article attempts to make the case that the “new and improved” changes to the chapel make it a more desirable place to visit, nothing could be further from the truth.  It has gone from an interior replete with memorials to students, events, and organizations that are important to the legacy of W&L to something akin to an empty warehouse.

The article also intends to convince alumni that the legacies of George Washington and President Robert E. Lee are still honored by the administration and the Board of Trustees. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. The list of things the administration and the Board of Trustees have done to demean and marginalize the legacies of Washington and President Lee is long.

Lee-Jackson House — where Lee originally resided as campus president, and where Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had resided following his marriage to the daughter of the President of Washington College — was renamed in 2018 after the first female professor at W&L. This is the house Jackson lived in while teaching at VMI and from which he left on Sunday mornings to violate the statues of the Commonwealth of Virginia by teaching Sunday School and the Bible to slaves.

The diploma I have hanging on the wall contains pictures of President Washington and President Lee; new diplomas do not.

The plaque in Payne Hall memorializing the place where President Lee took his oath of office has been removed.

The plaque in Payne Hall memorializing President Lee’s first office has been removed.

Lee Chapel, National Historic Landmark, has been renamed the “University Chapel.” At my 50th reunion this past Spring I took a tour of Lee Chapel led by then-Director of Institutional History Lynn Rainville. I asked her the reason the Trustees decided to change the name from Lee Chapel to University Chapel after 150 years.

Her response was that it was changed “because it was originally named University Chapel.” Even though that is not true — as anyone researching past issues of the Calyx or histories of the chapel can see — for arguments sake I continued to ask, what was the motivation to make the change after 150 years? I got the same response from her. Nonsense.

The memorial at Lee Chapel over the grave of Traveller has been replaced with one that does not reference President Lee as his owner.

The plaque in Lee Chapel indicating where President Lee sat every morning during services has been removed, as well as nearly twenty others. When I asked Dr. Rainville why the plaque had been removed, I was told it would have “greater context” in a future museum elsewhere on campus. Greater context than on the wall next to where President Lee sat in Lee Chapel each morning? Nonsense.

The internationally famous Recumbent Lee statue has now been walled off so that it cannot be seen from Lee Chapel’s seating area. Out of sight, out of mind as they say.

Traditionally, every year on President Lee’s birthday the university celebrated Founders’ Day, and a corresponding event was held on campus in honor of Washington and President Lee. You won’t find it on the calendar anymore.

After the Civil War, Washington College was a shell of an institution, with a handful of unpaid faculty and around forty students. It was on the verge of extinction. President Lee saved the college and improved it such that upon his death it was one of the most prominent colleges in the South. This was due to Lee’s national stature, the educational programs he implemented, and his fundraising efforts to build Lee Chapel and ultimately a great educational institution.

The clear and ongoing efforts of the administration and the Board of Trustees to marginalize President Lee’s legacy is shameful. President Lee is the most prominent figure in the history of W&L, and his legacy should not be left at the mercy of the administration and trustees, none of whom measure up to Lee’s stature or legacy.

[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.]