Dear Friends of Washington and Lee University and The Generals Redoubt

“Two, Four, Six, Eight, America was Never Great!”

“We are Hamas!”

“From the River to the Sea!”

Visit many college campuses these days and the air will be ringing with these chants from our next generation of leaders (as well as some well-placed outside agitators).

These increasingly aggressive protests are a direct result of the controversial DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) movement that has been polarizing society for the better part of a decade. Students in our public schools and at our universities are bombarded with revisionist history that claims that America was built on racism and that our society must atone by removing all traces of this “flawed” past. Unfortunately, these divisive ideas are so firmly entrenched in our educational system that it will be difficult to root them out absent some major changes in the K-12 curriculum.

 There used to be a time when “equality for all”- -which meant equal opportunity and equal protection under the law– was the desired outcome. Now an ill-defined notion of “equity” is being used to justify unequal treatment of various groups.  This is all ostensibly based on the desire to correct these perceived past “injustices”. Unfortunately, a society cannot move forward if it is constantly looking back.  The aggressive Pro- Hamas demonstrations spreading across campuses like wildfire are a fruit of the poisonous DEI tree.  Students of Jewish descent and supporters of traditional American values are increasingly under attack and there seems to be little attempt by colleges to put out the flames. These volatile protests are the result of labeling and categorizing people as members of groups rather than as individuals.

Prospective college students and their parents can put pressure on colleges by “comparison shopping” to avoid institutions with a radical leftist stance and curriculum. College applications are already decreasing as a result of soaring college tuitions. The decline is most noticeable at many of the “top tier” colleges which used to be inundated with eager applicants but have suffered damage to their reputations from plagiarism accusations, lack of free speech, and frivolous course offerings. All of these come courtesy of the DEI movement.

Fortunately, some colleges have begun to respond to criticism of the college climate. Schools like Harvard, Yale, and Brown have reinstated mandatory standardized testing requirements after a period where they were optional.  DEI considered these tests to be “racist” but they actually ensure a stronger and more accomplished student body as well as ensuring that many qualified students are not denied entry into the school of their choice because they are not the “desired” race, religion, or gender.  Making admissions decisions with any emphasis on these traits is the very opposite of “inclusion” and the antithesis of the principle that our universities are, first and foremost, institutions of higher learning.

In response to campus unrest at schools like Columbia and the subsequent failure to protect vulnerable students, prominent individuals like Patriots owner Robert Kraft have announced their intention to cease donations to schools that allow their students to take over college campuses and buildings to support a known terrorist organization. It is imperative that more donors withhold their contributions to let these schools know that there are consequences to their actions.

If there is one glimmer of hope in all this turmoil, it is this:  there is one area where the number of applicants is increasing and that is the American South.  In general, Southern schools have been slower to jump on the DEI bandwagon. Southern schools were less likely to have participated in the recent college protests and there is a justified perception of the South as a more welcoming environment. That’s right…the South, which has long been maligned as “intolerant”, is proving to be a beacon of acceptance and inclusion for college students from many walks of life.  

Unfortunately, Washington and Lee is still in thrall to cancel culture and we are not far from devolving into a much less “civil” environment. Make no mistake about it– Cancel culture is alive and well at Washington and Lee University.  Our founders are being systematically erased and their contributions to America and to the school have been dismissed as unworthy of recognition or further study.

There is no program in place to have students read more about Robert E. Lee before they condemn him to the dust heap of history. Instead, the First Year Readings at the school now include three articles by the controversial Ibram X. Kendi (author of How to Be an Antiracist, Antiracist Baby, and Stamped from the Beginning). It is considered more acceptable to categorize a whole group of people as “racists” based on their skin color than it is to praise the contributions that Robert E. Lee made to this school.

 Millions of dollars are being poured into new DEI initiatives and the University diploma has been “redesigned” to eliminate the images of George Washington and Robert E. Lee.  This is despite a student petition that would allow students to have a choice to include the images. I thought that choice was a good thing?

There is no attempt to put the lives of Washington and Lee in the context of their time period. There is also no program in place to have students read the Federalist Papers to learn about the thought processes behind the careful planning of our Founding Documents. A steady diet of Kendi, and other race and gender obsessed “warriors”, leads to a fractured society that leaves no room for opposing viewpoints.

 As an additional result of these campus uprisings, some schools have been forced to go “virtual” or to cancel graduation ceremonies for the “safety” of the students and the public. What a sad reflection on our system of higher education.

Fortunately, the students at Washington and Lee University will have their graduation ceremony this year but, it is important to note, there will be a separate LGBTQ graduation.  The administration at Washington and Lee is going down a dangerous path and I hope it will see where that has led other universities. We can’t go back but we can go forward. 

The Generals Redoubt will continue to be an important resource to assure that students get the full historical picture and to build bridges between people rather than burning them down.  DEI is less Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and more Division, Exclusion and Inequality.  This University would do well to learn from the chaos and hate engulfing other universities across the country.   I would like to think that at Washington and Lee University –despite the removal of many of our visual connections to the Founders– enough of Robert E. Lee’s governing principles of honor and integrity will continue to filter down to the student body. This will have to suffice until we can restore Washington and Lee to their rightful positions on the campus.

Judith Conlon

W&L Parent Class of 2016 and Harvard University Class of 1990

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