Washington & Lee is still Washington & Lee, and likely will be for a very long time. The university’s board of trustees voted 22-6 Friday to reject suggestions that the school’s name be changed, owing to perceived racial insensitivity. Robert E. Lee owned slaves and went to war to defend their enslavement. W&L decided something so consequential and controversial didn’t merit a change in the way things are. The trustees “found no consensus about whether changing the name of our university is consistent with our shared values.” And so it goes.
Pump your fist or shake it. Or if you’re like me, W&L Class of ’79, seek a separate peace and hope that the school’s deeds, not its name, are what continue to make it remarkable. Meantime, a plea to Washington & Lee, whatever it chooses to call itself:
Just educate young adults. That’s all.
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