Liberty Counsel Wants College's Closeted Chapel Cross Put Back on Display
by Ed Thomas
December 13, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The chairman of a Florida-based legal organization is calling for the removal of a cross from its permanent placement in William and Mary College's Wren Chapel, a demand the attorney sees as a sign of modern-day influences on yet another institution originally founded on Christian principles. The cross has been in place in Wren Chapel for 75 years, where school policy allowed it to be removed for special events by request and then returned to ongoing display. But in a reversal of policy, William and Mary's current president has ordered the cross permanently placed in a closet, from which it is removed only by request for special events.
Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel says his pro-family legal group has sent a letter to the college's president, expressing disagreement with the president's action taken, ostensibly, to avoid offending non-Christians. "This cross has been in Wren Chapel for 75 years, undisturbed until recently," Staver points out, "and now the president - Gene Nichol -- has ordered it to be removed."
Neither current William and Mary students nor alumni have objected to the cross being part of the permanent decoration of the chapel, the Liberty Counsel spokesman points out, and some have voiced displeasure over the policy change with regard to its display. He says the impetus for the removal of the cross likely came about through the influence of Nichols - a former chair of the University of Colorado's Gay and Lesbian Issues Task Force - and William and Mary chancellor Sandra Day O'Connor, who joined the school after leaving the U.S. Supreme Court.
"So unfortunately you're beginning to see some influences in this historic college," Staver says. "And, indeed, it started off as a religious college," he notes, "but in recent years has been taken over by the state, and it is now a state college."
Nichol has been quoted as saying the cross in question "sends an unmistakeable message that the chapel belongs more fully to some of us than others." The William and Mary College administrator claims he ordered the removal of the cross from the altar area in order to make the chapel less faith-specific, the Liberty Counsel attorney explains.
But Staver says the legal organization has written to the school officials, charging that the removal of the cross from permanent display sends its own "unmistakeable message" -- one that shows antagonism toward Christianity -- rather than inclusiveness. "Liberty Counsel has now sent a letter," he notes, "to both the president and to the chancellor of the university, explaining that it's improper and shows hostility toward religion to remove this cross, and asking for the cross to be immediately replaced back in Wren Chapel."
Meanwhile, Staver adds, Liberty Counsel is urging current students and alumni to write to the college officials as well, requesting that the cross be restored to permanent display in the chapel as the original policy permitted.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
