The students also want the private liberal arts college to end the practice of allowing “neo-Confederates” to march on campus with battle flags during Lee-Jackson day, a Virginia state holiday that falls on the Friday before Martin Luther King Day.
The students, known collectively as The Committee, vowed civil disobedience if their demands are not met by Sept. 1. In a letter this month to the university’s board of trustees, The Committee said it decided to act out of “alienation and discomfort” with the trappings of the Confederacy on campus.
They include the array of eight Confederate battle flags in the Lee Chapel, where the entire Lee family is buried. Lee’s beloved horse, Traveller, is buried outside the chapel.
In a letter released Wednesday to the W&L community, President Kenneth P. Ruscio wrote that university officials “take these students’ concerns seriously” and that they would be addressed. He asked provost Daniel Wubah to meet with the students. Through a spokesman, he declined a request Thursday for an interview with The Associated Press.
Dominik Taylor, a third-year law student, said the students decided to speak out after tolerating for years symbols and events they find offensive.
“A lot of students of color have felt sort of ostracized during their time here,” said Taylor, 24, of Yorktown. “It was just a thing where you would talk to your friend after class.”
