Alum says it's the historic Wren Chapel, not the Wren Spare Room

A newspaper editor in the city that is home to the College of William & Mary has called for the school's president to end a months-long controversy and restore a donated cross to a historic Christian chapel on campus, warning otherwise the school could end up losing financial support.

"Having created the controversy over the Wren Cross, (College President) Gene Nichol can quell the uproar by restoring it to the chapel altar," wrote W.C. O'Donovan, in his Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg.

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"He's the president of the College of William & Mary, so he has the right to change operations as he sees fit. Removing the cross because it offended some people's sensibilities is a progressive idea in the interest of secular neutrality. But as dozens of people have articulated on these pages over the past few months, the chapel is nonetheless a sacred place where one expects to find a cross displayed."

He warned while the controversy apparently hasn't yet affected financial support for the school, "but it certainly could. ... That would be most unfortunate, and not just for the money. It's unique for a college president to see such erosion of support over a single issue, especially one of his own devising," the editorial said.

Melissa Engimann circulated an e-mail announcing the removal of the cross

WND broke the story last Oct. 27 when university administrator Melissa Engimann circulated an e-mail noting that the cross was going to be stored in order to make the chapel "less of a faith-specific space."

Nichol recently started backtracking over his decision to remove the donated bronze cross from the chapel, but students and alumni who have assembled nearly 10,000 signatures on a petition to restore the cross say those efforts haven't been enough.

Nichol's e-mail to the "college community" admitted that he "acted too quickly and should have consulted more broadly" in deciding to remove the cross. So to make up for that, he said a plaque would be put up in the chapel and the cross would be put on the altar for extended hours on Sunday.

Students and alumni who have assembled in a group called SaveTheWrenCross.org, said it was just another example of unilateral decision-making.

"After apologizing for his failure to involve others in this historic decision, Nichol went on in his letter – apparently unaware of the irony – to dictate what he obviously thinks is a compromise solution to the problem he created," said the organization.

The newspaper editorial said the collection of thousands of names of people supporting the return of the cross was astonishing, and even if there were some bogus names on the list, it still was significant.

"Alumni are, after all, the core of the college's development base," he wrote.

"Nichol would have us believe this was all done to begin a dialogue about religious symbols in public places. Unilateral action does not inspire intellectual confidence. He yanked the cross from the altar, and only then disclosed his rationale. There was no debate leading up to the removal, and that is a central theme of the protest," the editorial said.

"Nichol is obviously a hard-core secularist who resists religion in the public sphere, which is his right. … But he should know better than anyone that he runs the risk of offending Virginia legislators whom he badly needs. He has a $50 million School of Education on the line in Richmond atop a list of state-funded objectives.

"It was Congress that the Democrats took over, not the General Assembly," he wrote. "Now, millions are at stake from potential alumni donors and tens of millions from a conservative legislature.

"Nichol has already compromised once by letting the cross and a new plaque sit out all day Sunday. Restoring the other six days can be done by simply conceding he was wrong to underestimate the passion with which so many thoughtful people appreciate the symbol staying where it belongs. He'll win a lot more friends that way…"

"It is the Wren Chapel, not the Wren Spare Room," wrote Karla Bruno, a 1981 graduate, in support of the petition. "Nichol does not address the idea that the Chapel with the cross on permanent display was indeed welcoming as witnessed by the plethora of non-Christian and secular events that have been held there over the years. No one has been turned away because they were not Christian.

"If a visitor is insulted by the history and tradition of William and Mary and chooses to leave a tour and not apply to the College for admission, perhaps that is just as well. We should not be remodeling ourselves to suit a particular sort of applicant – the very narrow sort," she said.

The school's prior policy was that the cross was on permanent display on the altar of the chapel, and was removed only when someone using the room asked that it be removed. Nichol's new policy is that the cross is permanently in storage, and will be brought out only on special request.

"If one takes Mr. Nichol's arguments for removing the cross to their logical conclusion, then the altar, the altar railings, the pews and all other religious symbols should be removed so that the Chapel is welcoming to atheists and the non-religious. In fact, the building should be renamed 'Wren Banquet Hall' because calling it a 'chapel' might be unwelcoming," said Cesar Conda, a graduate in 1983.

Petition supporters said their top priority will be for the school's Board of Visitors to talk about the issue at the next meeting, in February.

The cross had been given to the college by Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in the 1930s. The Wren Chapel, built about 274 years ago, became an integral part of the university when it was a Christian school.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has not returned messages left by WND seeking a comment on the issue.

She was named chancellor of the college. It was during her tenure in the Supreme Court that a growing intolerance by the court for religious symbols – particularly Christian symbols – in public places became evident.

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