Let's just do what it is we're going to do (get the horrid and offensive thing OUT of here) and deal with the unwashed masses who may protest later because everyone knows that once something like this is done, not much is going to be done to undo it.  Offer some fake, faint words of regret, pretend to humble onesself as a "Christian" who has "seen the light of diversity," create a committee to "handle things" and get back to business as usual.

Eric Johnson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:  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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