Virginia campus removes Confederate flags

[user_name]

34. I guess that I'll be careful how I respond to this...

I attended and graduated from Washington and Lee. With hindsight, I realize that I could have made a better decision. However, reading your post really bothered me because you misrepresent the students and the strange relationship that the school has with the Civil War history.

First of all, I got significant financial aid as do 40+% of the students. My financial aid package did include student loans, but I graduated with $20,000 in student loans, the rest of my tuition and room and board paid for with work-study and grants. I witnessed none of the privilege that you speak of with regard to the honor code. In fact when I was a student, the daughter of one of the trustees was brought before the honor commission on charges, was convicted, and transferred to Vanderbilt. Her family's position with the school and wealth did nothing to prevent her from suffering the same fate that any other student would have faced. The trial was VERY public and scared the living daylights out of all of us.

As for the legacy of Robert E. Lee and the veneration of the Confederacy, coming from the north I don't really understand it. My husband who grew up in the south has more insight. I was embarrassed by displays of the Confederate Flag when I attended W&L. To me it is offensive and symbolizes a way of life that no one should admire. My husband has a more nuanced perspective. He would never possess a Confederate Flag, but he realizes that it means different things to different people. In fact when he was canvasing for Barack Obama, he went to a house out in the country where they were flying the Confederate Flag. He almost didn't stop, but decided to give it a shot. The family absolutely loved Obama. They were thrilled to have my husband visit, and sent him home with a load of preserves from their pantry. I definitely support the University's decision to remove the Flag from campus and think that it should have happened much sooner. It may not be as straight-forward a situation as you portray it to be. Robert E. Lee was president at the school. That brings a lot of baggage...

Finally, I am not a particularly worldly person, but I think that I would have noticed the cocaine epidemic during my 4 years at the school. I never joined a sorority, but was well accepted socially. While I personally hate the Greek system, I never found it oppressive. Much of the social life revolves around fraternities, but most of the parties are very inclusive with independents and different fraternity/sorority houses being included. And who really cares about some stupid fraternity prank with pennies - again, something that I never heard of - but, really?

Washington and Lee has many flaws. I would't want my children to go there, but I find it hard to accept such a blatant misrepresentation of the place.