Committee's Recommendations on the Wren Chapel (Current decision on William & Mary cross display)

The Board Of Visitors of the College of William & Mary | 3/6/07 | Gene R. Nichol & Michael K. Powell

[holidayidol]

Dear Alumni and Friends of the College of William and Mary:

As you know, in early February the William and Mary Committee on Religion in a Public University was asked to present recommendations on the display of the Wren Chapel cross by mid April. The charge, while daunting, was accepted in the spirit you'd expect from the best among our College's alumni, faculty, students, and staff.

Last evening we received a unanimous recommendation from the Committee on a new compromise practice on the cross's display. We have accepted and will begin to implement it immediately. A joint statement from the Board of Visitors and the president, including the Committee's full recommendation, follows.

Michael K. Powell Rector

Gene R. Nichol President

JOINT STATEMENT OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS AND THE PRESIDENT

President and Board Accept Committee Recommendation on Wren Cross

Following its meeting yesterday, the William and Mary Committee on Religion in a Public University unanimously recommended a compromise practice on the display of the table cross in the Wren Chapel. We accept and will immediately begin to implement the Committee’s recommendations, which we quote in full:

THE WREN CHAPEL CROSS SHALL BE RETURNED FOR PERMANENT DISPLAY IN THE CHAPEL IN A GLASS CASE. THE CASE SHALL BE LOCATED IN A PROMINENT, READILY VISIBLE PLACE, ACCOMPANIED BY A PLAQUE EXPLAINING THE COLLEGE'S ANGLICAN ROOTS AND ITS HISTORIC CONNECTION TO BRUTON PARISH CHURCH. THE WREN SACRISTY SHALL BE AVAILABLE TO HOUSE SACRED OBJECTS OF ANY RELIGIOUS TRADITION FOR USE IN WORSHIP AND DEVOTION BY MEMBERS OF THE COLLEGE COMMUNITY.

The cross will still be available, of course, for use on the altar during appropriate religious services. This practice is similar to that used by other universities with historic chapels, including the University of Virginia. Other religious symbols, which may be stored in the sacristy when not in use, will also be welcome during the services for which they are appropriate. Under this policy, the Wren Chapel will continue to play its unique historic and affirming role in the life of the College: a place of worship for our students and a site for our most solemn occasions.

The Committee's quick action was unexpected but deeply welcomed. Rector Powell stated, "The Committee membership recognized that further division among our broad university community is unhealthy and it worked intensely to come to a unanimous recommendation, having considered the wide range of sincerely held views of alumni, faculty, students, and friends of the College." President Nichol added, "This has been a challenging task for the Committee, but it has produced a compromise that allows for permanent display of the cross in the Chapel, while remaining welcoming to all. I fully embrace it."

We are grateful to the Committee, and especially its chairs Professors Alan Meese and Jim Livingston, for earnestly embracing this part of their charge. We look forward, as well, to their coming work on other important challenges.

[holidayidol]

Just got this email from William & Mary. It's a partial victory against the ACLU-natured Gene Nichol, but the compromise still has a small stench to it.

[CFC__VRWC]

Echos of the South Carolina Confederate flag uproar some years ago. The liberals wanted it removed from the Statehouse grounds, and finally "agreed" to a "compromise" where it would not be flown over the Statehouse, but would be flown on the grounds at a Confederate soldiers memorial.

Guess what, that's not good enough for the left now. They're demanding it be removed completely from the Statehouse grounds. The same thing will happen with this cross in a few years - demands will be made to remove it completely from the campus.

[freekitty]

It appears they had a few big donors that said "No cross, no money".

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Maybe the works of Plato and Aristotle in the library could be placed in a glass case just in case anyone might be offended by their overt frontal display on the shelves. They could then be taken out at certain times on special occasions when someone felt prompted to look into them after which they could be placed back in the case and covered with special felt coverings. A similar reliquary storage could be worked out for the works of Shakespeare, John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, et al., or any offensive issues of National Geographic with which some people might object to on the symbolic level.

[Siobhan]

Bump to your excellent observations and commentary, HMBA.

[JockoManning]

Ping to WND

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55286

[JockoManning]

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Newspaper says Wren Cross university chief ‘unfit’
College rankings drop as president takes Christian symbol out of chapel

Posted: April 20, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

College of William & Mary President Gene Nichol, who created a furor by arbitrarily ordering a Christian cross removed from the school’s historic Wren Chapel, is “unfit” for office and his contract should not be renewed, according to an editorial by the staff of The Virginia Informer, the independent student newspaper at the school.

The newspaper noted the university’s recent statistics: the law school ranking dropped from 29th into a tie for 32nd since Nichol arrived, a college donor withdrew a pledge for $12 million, applications have risen by one percent or less, and fundraising plummeted from a 12 percent growth rate to 2 percent...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55286