The Retard
12-02-2005, 08:08 AM
In Desire to Grow, Colleges in South Battle With Roots (http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2005/12/in_desire_to_grow_colleges_in.php)
SEWANEE, Tenn.—The flags from Southern states disappeared from the chapel. The ceremonial baton dedicated to a Confederate general who helped found the Ku Klux Klan vanished. The very name of the University of the South was tweaked, becoming Sewanee: The University of the South, with decided emphasis on Sewanee.
It all seemed eminently sensible to university administrators looking to appeal beyond the privileged white children of the South, who have long been the university’s base, and become a more national, selective and racially diverse university.
But the changes have sparked a passionate debate among alumni, many of whom view them as a betrayal of their history.
Some traditionalists say they fear that the name of the university’s guest house, Rebel’s Rest, will be next to go and that a monument donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy commemorating Edmund Kirby-Smith, a Confederate general who taught at the university for nearly 20 years, will be removed.
“I think they ought to leave it the way it is,” said Dr. David W. Aiken, an alumnus who is an orthopedic surgeon in Metairie, La. “I wouldn’t be for changing anything. I think they’re doing quite well. What is the purpose of making it a more national school? Do I want kids from California, New York coming there? Not really.”
Across the country, colleges are trying to reposition themselves to attract more high-quality students and raise their national profiles. But perhaps nowhere is this more challenging than in the South, where university officials often find themselves struggling to temper Confederate imagery without alienating alumni and donors determined to uphold their heritage.
{snip}
Variations of this debate are playing out on many Southern campuses. Vanderbilt removed the word “Confederate” from the name of Confederate Memorial Hall, a dormitory, but reinstated it after losing a lawsuit in May. At Louisiana State University, students marched several times last month to protest the displaying of Confederate battle flags in the university’s purple and gold colors during tailgating before football games.
The University of North Carolina decided late last year to phase out an award for women after a graduate student discovered that Cornelia Phillips Spencer, for whom the award was named, had opposed efforts to admit black students during Reconstruction.
And at the University of Texas, officials had considered moving statues of Confederate leaders from a prominent site. While that plan is on hold, students raised money to create sculptures honoring Barbara Jordan and Cesar Chavez.
(I'm not registered to the NY Times, so I couldn't post the full article.)
SEWANEE, Tenn.—The flags from Southern states disappeared from the chapel. The ceremonial baton dedicated to a Confederate general who helped found the Ku Klux Klan vanished. The very name of the University of the South was tweaked, becoming Sewanee: The University of the South, with decided emphasis on Sewanee.
It all seemed eminently sensible to university administrators looking to appeal beyond the privileged white children of the South, who have long been the university’s base, and become a more national, selective and racially diverse university.
But the changes have sparked a passionate debate among alumni, many of whom view them as a betrayal of their history.
Some traditionalists say they fear that the name of the university’s guest house, Rebel’s Rest, will be next to go and that a monument donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy commemorating Edmund Kirby-Smith, a Confederate general who taught at the university for nearly 20 years, will be removed.
“I think they ought to leave it the way it is,” said Dr. David W. Aiken, an alumnus who is an orthopedic surgeon in Metairie, La. “I wouldn’t be for changing anything. I think they’re doing quite well. What is the purpose of making it a more national school? Do I want kids from California, New York coming there? Not really.”
Across the country, colleges are trying to reposition themselves to attract more high-quality students and raise their national profiles. But perhaps nowhere is this more challenging than in the South, where university officials often find themselves struggling to temper Confederate imagery without alienating alumni and donors determined to uphold their heritage.
{snip}
Variations of this debate are playing out on many Southern campuses. Vanderbilt removed the word “Confederate” from the name of Confederate Memorial Hall, a dormitory, but reinstated it after losing a lawsuit in May. At Louisiana State University, students marched several times last month to protest the displaying of Confederate battle flags in the university’s purple and gold colors during tailgating before football games.
The University of North Carolina decided late last year to phase out an award for women after a graduate student discovered that Cornelia Phillips Spencer, for whom the award was named, had opposed efforts to admit black students during Reconstruction.
And at the University of Texas, officials had considered moving statues of Confederate leaders from a prominent site. While that plan is on hold, students raised money to create sculptures honoring Barbara Jordan and Cesar Chavez.
(I'm not registered to the NY Times, so I couldn't post the full article.)