College prez backtracks on cross removal

College prez backtracks on cross removal
Announces 'plaque' to mark Christian beginnings of historic chapel
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Posted: December 22, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

The president of the College of William and Mary College has begun backtracking over his decision to remove a donated bronze cross from the school's historic Wren Chapel, but students and alumni say his proposal for a "permanent plaque" just isn't enough.

WND broke the story on Oct. 27 when university administrator Melissa Engimann circulated an e-mail noting that the cross was going to be stored in order to make the chapel "less of a faith-specific space."

Now President Gene Nichol has sent an e-mail to the "college community" admitting that he "acted too quickly and should have consulted more broadly" in deciding to remove the cross. So to make up for that, he said a plaque would be put up in the chapel and the cross would be put on the altar for extended hours on Sunday.

Students and alums who have assembled in a group called SaveTheWrenCross.org, however, said that wasn't good enough.

"Nichol acknowledged that his unilateral action upset many current students and alumni, who believed that his decision was a dilution of the history and traditions of the College and an example of an animus toward religion in general and Christianity in particular," the group said.

"After apologizing for his failure to involve others in this historic decision, Nichol went on in his letter – apparently unaware of the irony – to dictate what he obviously thinks is a compromise solution to the problem he created," said the organization, which had collected almost 7,500 signatures on a petition seeking the return of the cross.

He promised, first, that he will have placed in Wren Chapel "a permanent plaque to commemorate the Chapel's origins as an Anglican place of worship and symbol of the Christian beginnings of the College." Second, Nichol ordered that 'the altar cross be displayed throughout the day on Sundays with expanded hours.'"

"It is the Wren Chapel, not the Wren Spare Room," wrote Karla Bruno, a 1981 graduate. "Nichol does not address the idea that the Chapel with the cross on permanent display was indeed welcoming as witnessed by the plethora of non-Christian and secular events that have been held there over the years. No one has been turned away because they were not Christian.

"If a visitor is insulted by the history and tradition of William and Mary and chooses to leave a tour and not apply to the College for admission, perhaps that is just as well. We should not be remodeling ourselves to suit a particular sort of applicant – the very narrow sort," she said.

Another graduate, Karen Hall, of the Class of 1978, said Nichols' argument doesn't make sense.

"He explains … the cross has made a number of people feel uncomfortable in the chapel. I would venture to guess that a far greater number of people have been made uncomfortable by the removal of the cross. Why is it that one group's discomfort is enough to merit drastic action, but the other group's discomfort is virtually worthless?"

In Nichol's note, he said he'd asked Louise Kale, the director of the historic campus, to put up the plaque "to commemorate the Chapel's origins" and put the cross back on the altar in the chapel on Sundays.

But Will Coggin, who is planning to graduate in the spring, said Nichol didn't address the issue at hand. "By his own logic, he is now ordering the Chapel to be unwelcoming one day of the week. Thousands of alumni and hundreds of students have called for the return of the old policy, and I will continue to fight for them."

The old policy was that the cross was on permanent display on the altar of the chapel, and was removed only when someone using the room asked that it be removed. Nichol's new policy is that the cross is permanently in storage, and will be brought out only on special request.

"If one takes Mr. Nichol's arguments for removing the cross to their logical conclusion, then the altar, the altar railings, the pews and all other religious symbols should be removed so that the Chapel is welcoming to atheists and the non-religious. In fact, the building should be renamed 'Wren Banquet Hall' because calling it a 'chapel' might be unwelcoming," said Cesar Conda, a graduate in 1983.

The protest group noted in its statement that Nichol himself suggested a "broader College discussion" of the issue, but, "to this day, there has not been a single communication about the decision from the College to all alumni.

"Instead, Nichol has … offered what is essentially another fiat."

The group said its top priority will be for the school's Board of Visitors to talk about the issues at the next meeting, in February.

Nichol wrote that he was distressed about "potential students" touring the Chapel, and choosing to leave immediately after, or a Jewish student who vowed to never return to the building. Singing groups also, he noted, have been "discomfited" by the cross.

But another graduate noted that if someone objects so violently to a symbol of someone else's religion, the problem is with that person, not the symbol.

SaveTheWrenCross.org is an ad hoc coalition of students and alumni who oppose the removal of the century-old cross, which was given to the college by Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in the 1930s.

The students, who organized their group just days after the announcement, had been unsuccessful in getting a change. That's even as nearly 7,500 people were signing its petition, and the school produced only one written complaint about having the cross present.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has not returned messages left by WND seeking a comment.

She recently was named chancellor of the college. It was during her tenure in the Supreme Court that a growing intolerance by the court for religious symbols – particularly Christian symbols – in public places became evident.

The Wren Chapel, built about 274 years ago, became an integral part of the university when it was a Christian school.

The petitions simply want the old policy back.

"We, the undersigned students and alumni of the College, and concerned citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, disagree with your order to remove the Wren Cross from display on the Wren Chapel altar," the petition says.

"The Wren Cross was given to Wren Chapel by Williamsburg neighbor Burton Parish Episcopal Church in the 1930s and has been a fixture on the altar ever since that time. Before your order, the policy was that if a group or individual using the Wren Chapel desired to not have the Wren Cross on display during their use of the Wren Chapel, then the Wren Cross was removed during such event and then returned to the altar.

"We petition you to rescind your October 2006 order and return to the policy that had governed the display of the Wren Cross prior to your inauguration as the 26th President of the College on April 7, 2006."

"In the name of tolerance, we have intolerance; in the name of welcoming, we have hostility, and in the name of unity, we now have division," said junior Joe Luppino-Esposito.