LEXINGTON — Washington and Lee University’s president used the words of Robert E. Lee’s great-grandson to support him as he discussed an old controversial topic at the beginning of a new semester.
Most of W&L’s new freshmen intermingled with campus seniors just outside Lee Chapel on Wednesday as university President Kenneth Ruscio brought up the Confederate battle flags that have been stirring arguments of history, tradition and respect on and off campus since the spring.
In his convocation speech, Ruscio said his decision over the summer to remove Confederate battle flags from Lee Chapel was a way of building a community of diverse views and respect on campus.
Ruscio talked about the letters of support he received over the summer, but he read Robert E. Lee IV’s letter in full.
“It is clear to me that president Lee would wholeheartedly support your goals of making Washington and Lee a welcoming environment for all students who choose to come there today,” Lee’s great grandson said in his letter. “As a proud alumnus, I, too, support those goals.”
Robert E. Lee was president of the university after the Civil War until his death. Many of his innovations, starting in 1865, are credited with saving what was then called Washington College. The college was renamed after his death.
The flag controversy started in the spring when a group of W&L law students asked the university to stop glorifying the Confederate general. The students called the Committee complained because they had to pledge an honor code in the presence of the flags, something they said glorified Lee’s actions.
Ruscio informed students and faculty in a statement this summer that these reproduction battle flags would be removed and the university will instead rotate flags on loan from the American Civil War Museum in Richmond in its Lee Chapel Museum.
The Committee advocated for other changes on campus, including observance of Martin Luther King Day by canceling classes and not allowing those observing Lee-Jackson Day to “march” on campus and use it to espouse their statements.
“In my view, removing the flags from the statuary chamber is overdue,” Lee’s great-grandson said. “I am proud of my alma mater. I am certain that my great-grandfather would be proud of the institution he once led.”
It was unlikely that members of the Committee heard Lee’s great-grandson’s supportive words at the convocation, as law students don’t normally attend, law professor Joan Shaughnessy said. Some of the Committee were law students in their last year of school and would have graduated in the spring. Others, still at W&L, have been in class for two weeks and were likely preparing for mock trials later this week.
“I felt that it was absolutely the right thing to do, and I felt that it was done very thoughtfully and with good explanation after looking into the history,” Shaughnessy said of removing the flags. “I was 100 percent behind the decision.”
The decision seemed to be more controversial off campus, rather than on campus, she said.
Even though some of the freshmen may not have known what Ruscio was talking about, most probably knew about the flag controversy because it was all over the news, W&L student body president Lucy Wade said.
“I was glad he brought it up,” Wade said. “I think a lot of people are afraid that people push away criticism, but I don’t think he does that. I think there are still things that need to be addressed. He’s facing it head-on.”
Brandon Dorsey, commander of Camp 1296 of the Lexington-based Stonewall Brigade of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said it doesn’t matter that a distant relative of Robert E. Lee supported taking down the flags because it wasn’t right in the first place.
To him, Lee deserves to have flags of the nation he fought for hang in a building memorializing him.
“It’s disrespectful,” Dorsey said. “There wouldn’t be a Washington and Lee University if there hadn’t been a Robert E. Lee. He deserves to have that recognition remain there.”
Dosey heard about the letter from a W&L student about a week before convocation.
“Just because you have a family member that takes a position doesn’t mean that has any reflection on the father or grandfather’s views,” Dorsey said. “It’s neat that he’s a descendant, but he didn’t know Robert E. Lee.”
Undergraduate W&L students, whether they understood what the university president was talking about at convocation or not, start classes today.
“No matter the differences across time, across generations and across the many individuals who live here today, a common unifying thread binds us all,” Ruscio said at the end of his speech.
“This is a community based on trust and respect. One that seeks common ground and celebrates our differences.”
