Against William & Mary
by John Kennedy

Students at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia know better than anyone how the left seeks to undermine traditional values. Last school year, we witnessed a newly elected liberal president attack the traditional faith our college was founded upon. A bit of history must be covered to get the whole picture.

The College of William and Mary is the second oldest college in America. The Wren building on the William and Mary campus is the oldest educational building still in use in America. It was built with an adjoining chapel that was designed to serve as a sanctuary for Anglican services. A part of the mission of the college, as stated by its royal charter in 1693, was to propagate the Christian faith among Native American peoples. A large plaque states this mission on the Wren building for all to see.

Since those days, the college has become public and is now funded in large part by the state of Virginia. The chapel has remained though and retains much of its Anglican influence, including ornate oak walls and a beautiful organ.

Roughly 70 years ago, a small gold cross was donated to the Wren Chapel by Bruton Parish, a nearby Anglican parish that had a strong relationship with the college since its inception. At no cost to the state and in consideration of the college’s history of Christian influence, no issue of church and state had ever been raised by the cross’s presence on the altar. That is, not until President Gene Nichol arrived on the scene.

Nichol, a far-left liberal, came to the college with all of the typical rhetoric: “diversity,” “affirmative action,” “a welcoming campus to all!” His attempts to run for Congress (as a Democrat) didn’t hurt his popularity at the rather liberal college. Of course, no one believed that Nichol would desecrate one of the most cherished traditional monuments at a college that prides itself on its traditions.

But Nichol did just that, deciding to remove the cross without consulting anyone else. He then sent out an unassuming email to the student body indicating that he had the cross removed to ensure that the chapel remains more “welcoming” to all students, but most welcoming to non-Christians, of course.

Though it was an overt act upon the most revered symbol of the Christian faith, it was also much more than that. Nichol’s decision teaches us once again that the left considers long-established traditions to be optional frivolities. The cross represents the traditional faith of our forefathers, whether we are Anglican, Catholic, or Baptist. It is not an offense to any other reasonable religion or philosophy. A connection with the past comes alive today in the Christian services of students who continue to practice the faith that Rev. James Blair, the founder of William and Mary, believed over 300 years ago. To remove the cross from the Wren chapel is an attempt to ignore the Christian heritage of the college and debase the still-present faith of Christian students. In the spirit of Christian tolerance, other faiths have always had the opportunity to practice their religious services in the Wren chapel.

When tradition is no longer allowed to inform education then we can confidently say that tradition is dead. But that is not the case because conservatism won this battle. After petitions and a massive public outcry, the Board of Visitors of the college determined that Nichol’s decision had been made in error and required the return of the cross to the Wren chapel.

The cross’s presence in our chapel is a welcome sight, but it’s presence in the hearts of devoted Christians is what placed it there.

John R. Kennedy is a Senior at the College of William and Mary and an Intern at the American Conservative Union.