You can find Ben’s Original if he was your favorite uncle. And your favorite aunt runs a Pearl Milling Company. But then do people associate oats with religion?
I think Washington and Lee is a fine name. A Republican AND A Democrat. All in harmony. Just like Michael Jackson wanted.
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I’m not certain whether or not this point has been defended, but it appears that @cinnamon1212 essentially said this in the original comment: “I don’t think anyone is saying W&L is perfect but frankly it’s not as bad as some [people] say.”
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That’s terrible. No, I don’t think anyone picked up on that. Not even @cinnamon1212!
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So is WLU’s name a net positive or negative from a marketing standpoint?
Based on what was written above, it seems like a negative for students and faculty, and presumably potential students (particularly non-White ones), but is it still a positive among donors and (donating) alumni?
@cinnamon1212 did, but @cinnamon1212 chooses not to engage 
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Ten years is more than half a lifetime for college students. The experiences of those ten years ago are ancient history.
Not everyone seeks activism on campus. Many find much of campus activism to be performative and intolerant. Nothing wrong with enjoying a campus with little activism.
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You’re basically saying Obama is already ancient history.
I’m not disagreeing with you. W&L has every right to construct a campus culture entirely to its own liking. But in a divided country, they clearly can’t be all things to all people all the time. No LAC can.
It is a matter of age and perspective. To those of us who are of a certain age, of course Obama seems recent. To those girls in college, women aged 31 ( who may be married with kids) and little girls of 11 are hardly their peers, and likely had and will have far different experiences even at the same school they attend. The entire student population turns over every 4 years and the experience changes for students.
I understand that. But getting back to the subject, the OP seems to like the place just the way it is. Who am I to say she’s wrong? Others wouldn’t send their kids there absent a full-ride scholarship. They each have their reasons for feeling the way they do. Clearly, part of the reality each side has to expect is that they will be stuck with some degree of controversy over the space of their four years of attending W&L.
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Tough and emotional topic. I think some of the posters who are trying to contribute constructively have been misinterpreted, which is inevitable in these kind of discussions.
For example, I don’t read any of @circuitrider 's posts to suggest W&L should do or not do anything, or that the integration of women into historically all male colleges was seamless for the women who matriculated through what can only be called the transition period (some might argue the transition is ongoing).
The point isn’t that W&L become an activist school, but whether the faction that wants to do away with all associations with Lee will “do what it takes” to overcome the inertia inherent in making such a radical change. I’m sure there are factions that actively resist making the change, and the motivations behind those stances likely run the gamut from wanting to continue celebrating the history of Lee and the confederacy to truly pragmatic concerns over brand and alumni relations. The relevance of the northern colleges that have had historical challenges of their own is that, not infrequently, the big changes require a hard push to get it over the line. I think that’s the only point there.
And what some have said is true - there is a whole bunch of other troubling history that has not been torn asunder in the United States. The Jefferson Memorial still stands. Amherst may have dropped Lord Jeffs as their mascot, but they didn’t give up their name. I know people have a range of views on the relative seriousness of these and other figures compared with those who strike a powerful symbol of slavery in the South. But they’re still there.
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This idea that people basically have to be bribed with full scholarship money to send their kids to W&L is not supported by the facts of who chooses to attend. If in fact this misinformation was true, then the equally fallacious idea that W&L is only for the rich could not also be true.
Why do I believe that to be fallacious? Because I have been to the town, I have toured the school recently, and I have even had a few little conversations with some of the current students while I visited. They told me and no one promoted them to tell me. They described their experience and I listened to them. I believe them much more than I would believe a website of undetermined authorship or an anonymous internet poster.
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Who said that? And who said that the historical ties of all male schools magically disappeared when women were admitted?
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In general, for any college, any scholarship money is a way for the college to try to entice admitted students that the college is particularly interested in to attend.
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I think I noticed on another thread I read that you are more familiar with public universities, which indeed can also be good, but their funding is completely different.
The scholarships that W&L offers are endowed scholarships. The funds for these scholarships were endowed for that purpose by the donors themselves. They are restricted gifts. It’s a benefit that the school can offer them to any students at all, but no one should apply there with the expectation of being awarded an endowed scholarship. That is not how it works in private schools.
As you are suggesting, public colleges have much more latitude in how merit money is awarded as that money is unrestricted. That reality underlies your assumptions but it isn’t relevant to a private college. For example, I am aware that my in-state public flagship (as many do) awards out of state students merit money to attract them to our state in favor of admitting all in-state students. That is completely different.
If you want to continue this conversation, please start another thread on the topic of scholarships. I’m sure it would get a lot more interest and productivity than one tied to a particular school.
Nothing I wrote has anything to do with whether the college is public or private. When a college offers scholarships, it offers them to the admitted students it is most interested in getting to enroll. Nothing you wrote contradicts that. What you wrote about endowed scholarships just means that there may be an additional constraint based on the donors’ restrictions, but the college awards them to the most desirable admitted students within the donors’ restrictions.
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Delete
It’s been called W&L for decades. That isn’t new.
I graduated from there a very, very long time ago, and I’m not sure in my four years there that I heard anyone call it anything but W&L except in the school song at graduation.
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I can only speak to our family’s “reality”. For anyone interested in my kid’s experience or that of her friends, feel free to DM me. They have all kindly offered to be resources to interested students. I’ve listed basic info on these kids (and this in no way comes close to defining these amazing kids) in case there is a commonality that appeals to a student considering W&L. Or contact Admissions and ask for an introduction to students/faculty with a meaningful connection to your student. I have nothing further to add to this thread.
In an apartment of 4 kids (including my D): cis/bi/non-binary, Catholic/Jewish/Protestant/atheist, Caucasian/Asian, dance/chorus/orchestra, three in sororities, at least three are exec level leaders on campus, all super involved in service (3 poverty studies minors), at least three with campus jobs, from South/Mid-Atlantic/Northeast, STEM & Humanities, Russian studies, Johnson Scholars, weightlifting, pilot… All are kind, smart, inclusive and accepting kids who are getting a spectacular education and overall amazing college experience.
Her closest guy friends are Black/gay/political sci and Caucasian/cis/political sci (leader in “liberal student group”)… her overall friend group is very diverse (all forms of diversity) with majors, activities and interests that run the gamut.
I’m grateful that she is exposed to kids from varying backgrounds and with diversity of thought. And I’m grateful for the wonderfully supportive parent group. To our family, W&L is very special.
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Might I remind members of the forum rules: “Our forum is expected to be a friendly and welcoming place, and one in which members can post without their motives, intelligence, or other personal characteristics being questioned by others."
and
“College Confidential forums exist to discuss college admission and other topics of interest. It is not a place for contentious debate. If you find yourself repeating talking points, it might be time to step away and do something else… If a thread starts to get heated, it might be closed or heavily moderated.”
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/guidelines
I have edited or deleted certain posts that did not comply