A Call to Purposeful, Sustainable Action for the Washington and Lee University Community
There’s more to fostering change than just asking for it. How all of W&L can build a less racist and more equitable campus and community. Plus six steps to take next.
Nearly two months have passed since President Dudley wrote the Washington and Lee community asking alumni and parents to “join him” in the work ahead to make the school “a more diverse, inclusive, and supportive institution.” I felt that his call to address the very real challenges of inequality and systemic racism through education did go far enough. I wrote in an earlier piece that change must happen across campus, within our alumni networks, and beyond the borders the Colonnade into the surrounding community. Now more than ever, I believe a deliberate push for wider reaching efforts for reform is the linchpin for lasting change. I also believe that the wider Washington and Lee community has far more it can and must do to make that happen.
I write today addressing alumni, parents, students, staff, faculty, and leadership who are accepting of the need change at the school, end to systemic racism, and make the experiences of marginalized community members more equitable. Change only comes when it is actively pursued — it is never bestowed. It is frequently hard work and requires us to look into our own hearts and minds in occasionally daunting ways. I ask you today to commit to that work.
Washington and Lee University needs us, its community members, to step up if we are to foster and maintain lasting change. To do so, we must all 1) accept and address our individual roles in reproducing and exacerbating inequality and 2) commit to directly engaging in creating cultural shifts. Moreover, we must acknowledge that this work does not stop just because we are tired.
The challenges of making Washington and Lee University more just and equitable are mirrored in what is happening across the nation. As statues continue to be removed from capitols and parks, we must remember that these immobile men are only representations of history — their removals do not wash away the systemic racism built into the fabric of this nation. Systemic racism is not a stain on our history, it is weaved into the entire outfit, collar to socks. Lasting solutions come from reevaluating the whole institution, not just the obvious, ugly bits.
Black people and other marginalized individuals from across the W&L community are speaking up, expressing how their negative experiences at Washington and Lee (and in everyday life) impact them, sharing ways to improve the school so that the cycle stops. If the seed that was planted for your own engagement with pushing for change came from realizing the treatment and experiences of Black people and other individuals of color was unfair, then you must listen to our voices when we tell you what we need to see solutions through to fruition.
Successfully addressing these challenges flourishes from amplifying voices like mine, not speaking over them. Marginalized groups do not need others to speak for them — we need microphones, podiums, and support. If your efforts to create change are not centered on improving the experiences of marginalized groups nor advancing our expressed solutions, you are engaging in performative allyship. As many marginalized W&L community members have shared — we need more than a name change. Not focusing on the solutions we have presented that look beyond renaming or changing symbols to the everyday problems we experience is a method, purposeful or not, of diminishing our voices and, in some cases, ignoring our expertise.
I understand the mentality to say that a name change must come first, that it must lead the charge as the name is a visible and historic representation of the school, a lightning rod attracting attention. But lightning rods are built to drive intense bursts of energy into the ground; their purpose is to protect the institutions upon which they are mounted from unwanted impact. We do not need efforts that strike once and hard, like lightning, but ones that burn bright and reach wider, much like the sun. Furthermore, we need efforts that from the start push for institutional reform.
Concentrated attention on creating historic change at Washington and Lee sprang from a widespread response the murder of George Floyd and President Dudley’s subsequent email. I implore that we all remember to stay focused on the call to justice that came from hearing the voices of Black people extinguished and their lives stolen. At Washington and Lee, in particular, this means constantly centering our efforts around improving the experiences of marginalized people and building a better university for future generations. A letter campaign for a name change will not and cannot create nor lead to sustainable changes without more concerted effort from the wider Washington and Lee Community. Now that the Board of Trustees is formally considering a name change, it may feel like the hard work is nearly done. It is not. For lasting reform, more must be done concurrently, with greater intensity, and inclusive of our direct involvement as community members.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was just one voice in a huge movement that embraced the diverse ways in which to demand equality across all aspects of daily life. In his famous 1963 “I Have a Dream” Address, Dr. King spoke not of just striking down symbols, but of whole systems that held Black freedom captive. He was not just speaking to congressional leaders or the President demanding judicial reform — he was speaking to average citizens, like storeowners and educators and nurses. He implored them to not only consider how they treat others in their everyday lives, but how the systems around them encourage inequity and mistreatment. The push for civil rights for Blacks in the 1950s and 1960s was not a singular request — it was an intentional movement for a broader transformation that spanned generations, tactics, and cities.
And just as change must be widespread, it does not — and has not — come from a gradual push. The Tea Party understood the importance of constant, diverse engagement as well. The Tea Party did not drag Republicans farther right by asking only for representatives to reduce the deficit. Moreover, they used multiple methods to engage politicians locally, nationally, and on budding social media. Grassroots Resistance groups that formed after the 2016 election have adopted, in large part, this approach, too.
I share these national examples to show that efforts to enact change, even just within a university, must be deliberate and widespread. We have a responsibility to envision and create a better future. This future should not just improve the experiences of marginalized groups but also focus on cultivating good citizens and lifting up bigger ambitions for our democratic nation. This means, like the leaders, changemakers, average engaged citizens that have come before us, we cannot dream small, nor can we expect change to come without constant diligence. This will require more than asking for leadership to change policies; it will require a direct shift in how students, alumni, staff, faculty, and leadership engage with one another and the university in general. And Washington and Lee’s community must change if it is to remain a leading liberal arts university and produce citizens prepared to lead in our quickly shifting world.
Here, I offer up some concrete ways to engage, consistently and purposefully, in the important tasks of making Washington and Lee University more equitable, a safer place for its marginalized community members, and a leader for such endeavors into the future. I have not curated a complete list, but I believe these calls to action to be accessible and necessary.
As you continue to engage in this work, you will find new ways to be involved. Do not expect that all Black and other marginalized community members will want to be involved in these efforts nor that they will do the work for you. Moreover, it is not our job to make this work comfortable for you and it is important to remember that for many of us it adds a heavy emotional burden. Understand that burden and do the research where you can.
If you have not already, identify how inequality and racism have manifested throughout the University’s existence and explore your own personal role in their exacerbation. This can be challenging work and may also require you to address ways in which inequality and racism present in your everyday life, too. Learn about the history of racism at Washington and Lee and read my first piece on the many ways in which inequality impacts all aspects of social, educational, and cultural engagement on and off campus. Recognize that learning about racism, inequality, and anti-racist endeavors does not make you anti-racist — this must involve thoughtful and purposeful action. Accept now that you will make mistakes, and that those mistakes are okay as long as you learn from them.
When you are ready to take on the intentional work of building a better Washington and Lee and its wider community, I suggest focusing on one or more of the following, depending on your expertise and time commitments. These suggestions are diverse and focus on getting individuals more involved on campus and in interpersonal engagement. Some of this work will not be comfortable — accept that now.
- Students that come to W&L with fewer resources may not be aware of the wide variety of career options available to them, nor the paths to get there. Email the Career and Professional Development Office with information about your career path and current employment so that they can match you with interested students needing support. If your workplace is not actively promoting diverse hiring and working to reduce racial inequality, evaluate first if it fair to recruit marginalized students into such an environment.
- If you work for a nonprofit organization that could host a summer intern, reach out to the associate director of The Shepherd Program. Internships through the Shepherd Program expose students to various aspects of American and international aid while also allowing students who would normally have to work to volunteer or intern without major financial concerns.
- Make the alumni experience more equitable. Reach out to the Office of Alumni Engagement or your local chapter and donate funds to allow for low-income alums to attend events at no or low costs. Request that future alumni events be held in places considerate of accessibility and comfort to marginalized members. Join or start an affinity group that focuses on equity, volunteerism, or social justice.
- Greek life organizations exacerbate inequality. Reach out to your alumni chapter or national headquarters to see how they are addressing racial and economic inequality within the organization. If such efforts are not being made — demand them (use resources from other organizations as suggestions). Offer to help locally or through advising with your on-campus chapter. Identify if your organization is a part of the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee, if they donate money (from member dues), and the ways in which the FSPAC is harmful and problematic. Find ways to reduce race-based and sexual harassment in your organization.
- Donate money directly to the Office of Inclusion and Engagement. Offer to fund workshops, internships, or support groups for students that meet on campus.
- Continue to write various members of leadership within the University. Engage the Board of Trustees and President by sharing with them exactly how you are involved in the above and additional efforts. Share with them some of the suggestions I listed in my first piece and those of your own as ways to improve our school — then offer to be involved in their implementation.
Together we can build a better school non incautus future. Onward!
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