As an alumnus of William & Mary, I recently received President  
Nichol's annual letter updating alumni about activities and  
achievements at the College over the past year.  He included some  
discussion and updates on the Wren cross issue, and I wrote and  
received permission to post those comments for the members of the  
list so that folks might hear it from "his side" as well:

___

The diversity of our broad community includes an increasing religious  
diversity. As I talked with students, faculty, staff, and alumni over  
the last 18 months, I heard from many that the display of a table  
cross in the Wren Chapel seemed at odds with our professed welcome of  
such diversity -- and posed a troubling tension with our role as a  
public university. They typically understood that to Christians, like  
me, the cross conveys an inspiring message of sacrifice, redemption,  
and love, but suggested that the presence of such a powerful  
religious symbol also sends a message, however unintentional, that  
the Chapel belongs more fully to some than to others. Late last fall,  
therefore, I asked that the cross be displayed throughout the day on  
Sundays, whenever it is requested for Christian services, and when  
requested by individuals for prayer and meditation. At other times,  
it will remain in the Chapel’s sacristy. I also commissioned a  
permanent plaque commemorating the Chapel’s origins as an Anglican  
place of worship.

As I’ve shared with the campus community -- where the decision has  
received much support -- I likely acted too quickly and should have  
consulted more broadly. And while students and staff who embrace  
faith traditions other than Christianity report using the chapel for  
the first time, many, many others have asked, in the strongest terms,  
that the action be reconsidered. Broader questions than the placement  
of the Wren cross have also been implicated. Does the separation of  
church and state at public universities seek a bleaching of the  
influence of faith and religious thought from our discourse? Can a  
public university celebrate a particular religious heritage while  
remaining equally welcoming to those of all faiths? How does one  
square the operation of an historic Christian chapel with a public  
university’s general charge to avoid endorsing a particular religious  
creed?

Given the challenge of these questions -- the very grist of great  
universities -- it is my hope that our community will explore them in  
the most thoughtful way possible. To that end I have announced the  
creation of a presidential committee whose members -- including  
alumni, staff, students, and faculty -- will examine the role of  
religion in public universities in general, and at the College of  
William and Mary in particular, including the use of the historic  
Wren Chapel. The committee comprises some of our most recognized and  
accomplished alumni, including former rectors Jim Brinkley and Jim  
Murray and Terry Thompson, chair of the President’s Council. It will  
be co-chaired by two of our most distinguished faculty members: Dr.  
James Livingston, emeritus chair of the College’s religion department  
and one of the College’s most beloved instructors, and Professor Alan  
Meese, eminent legal scholar and a leader in the Faculty Assembly. I  
have asked Professors Livingston and Meese to report their  
recommendations on the Wren Chapel to me by the middle of April --  
before the Board’s gathering that month -- and to consult with  
Provost Feiss to invite experts, scholars, and activists from varying  
perspectives to explore these and other questions and their ties to  
our mission as a public university.

I look forward to this committee’s work, which the Board helped begin  
by hearing from a half-dozen members of our broad community at its  
meeting earlier this month. The Board then put forward, eloquently,  
its own thoughts in a statement Rector Powell will share with the  
alumni community very soon.
___

His comments are printed in full here: http://www.dailypress.com/news/ 
dp-nicholletter.f23,0,2263765.story.  The Rector's statement  
mentioned above is the one shared with this list on Friday by Anne  
Gwaltney.

As a practicing Christian while a student and since, I do agree with  
President Nichol's action and the reasons for it--though I also agree  
that he might well have proceeded a little more gently.  I am  
heartened, however, that he recognizes this fact (something he  
mentioned above and has said in other comments).  And I'm more  
heartened and prouder still that this entire issue is now being used  
as an opportunity to explore those very weighty questions at the  
heart the matter--a thing that we should all applaud, I believe.

All my best,

--Eric

Eric D. M. Johnson
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