The Board of Trustees at Washington and Lee University voted 22-6 on Friday to continue under its current name, which includes former President George Washington and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The board acknowledged “sharp disagreements” about the school’s name and history but said members found no consensus as to whether changing the Lexington, Virginia, university’s name “is consistent with our shared values.”
Board members explored a name change after receiving requests to do so from members of the student body, faculty, and university alumni amid protests against racial injustice, the board said. Petitioners sought to change the name and the university diploma, which bears images of both Washington and Lee.
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“While we heard broad support for advancing our commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus, we found no consensus about whether changing the name of our university is consistent with our shared values,” the board wrote in a letter addressed to members of the Washington and Lee community Friday. “Nor is there consensus on whether changing the name will position the university to be the most successful it can be in the future.”
The name acknowledges Washington for giving a gift to the school, then known as Liberty Hall Academy, that helped it to continue operations, according to the letter. The school subsequently adopted the name Washington Academy.
Lee served as president when the school was known as Washington College, and trustees added his name after he died “in recognition of his leadership in saving and transforming the school after the devastation of the Civil War,” the board said.
While the board voted to keep the university’s name, it decided to adopt a new design for the university diploma that doesn’t contain images. It also chose to rename the campus’s Lee Chapel, which will now be called “University Chapel,” and to discontinue the university-celebrated Founders Day, which has been held on Robert E. Lee’s birthday.
Board members also committed to expand racial and gender diversity on the board and committed $225 million for the school’s “Strategic Plan” priorities, which include funding for scholarships and other needs.
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“We are confident that W&L will emerge stronger as a result of our active engagement on these issues, the work we have done together, and the actions and commitments we are taking,” the board said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “We look forward to continuing to engage our community on these critical issues as we execute on our Strategic Plan in support of our mission.”
