Washington & Lee University Board Votes 22-6 To Keep Lee’s Name (Faculty Had Voted 188-51 To Remove It)

Following up on my previous posts (links below):  New York Times, Board of Washington and Lee University Votes to Keep Lee’s Name:

Washington and Lee University, the private liberal arts school in Virginia, will not change its name after a monthslong review over whether to remove its reference to the Confederate general Robert E. Lee, the school announced on Friday.

The school’s board of trustees voted 22-6 on Friday in favor of keeping its current name, which developed as an acknowledgment of a donation given by George Washington in the 18th century and Lee’s tenure as school president after the Civil War. The vote came after a nearly yearlong review of the school’s name and the symbols connected to its history and campus surroundings in Lexington, Va.

Press Release, The Future of Washington and Lee University

• Chronicle of Higher Education, How Does a College Decide Whether to Change Its Name?
• Inside Higher Ed, Retaining Its Name
• Inside Higher Ed, What's in a Name?
• Roanoke Times, Washington and Lee to Keep Its Name
• Slate, White Supremacy Was on Trial at Washington and Lee University. It Won.
• Washington Post, A Virginia College Taps the Brakes on Change
• Washington Post, What Washington and Lee Has Embraced

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Should Washington & Lee University Change Its Name? (June 4, 2018)
• Washington & Lee University Keeps Its Name (Sept. 5, 2018)
• W&L Law Students Demand Right To Strip George Washington And Robert E. Lee From Their Diplomas (Nov. 21, 2019)
• 79% Of Faculty Vote To Strip Robert E. Lee's Name From Washington & Lee University (July 7, 2020)
• W&L Law Prof: University Must Drop Both Robert E. Lee And George Washington From Its Name (Aug. 6, 2020)
• Washington & Lee Offers Full-Throated Defense Of Professors Targeted For Political And Racist Reasons (Oct. 10, 2020)