Students at Washington and Lee University want the option of receiving a diploma without the portraits of the university's namesakes: President George Washington and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. A great-nephew of Lee supports them.
A petition is gaining support among law students there, and now, a great-nephew of the Confederate general is joining them."It's always been coming, we're just finally dealing with the past," the Rev. Rob W. Lee IV told CNN."If we don't do that now, it will continue to fester as a wound on our nation."The school was named after Washington, an early benefactor of the institution.
"The goal of establishing this option is to create a diploma that alumni are proud to prominently display in their homes and places of work," the organizers write.Gen. Robert E. Lee descendant leaves pulpit after backlashUniversity Dean Brant Hellwig and President Will Dudley responded to the petition in November, supporting its students for expressing their opinions. "Free and critical thinking, and civility, are fundamental to our community," they said in the statement.
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