W&L - Lee Chapel Desecration Update/Call To Action #4, 7-12-2014

Washington & Lee, Lee Chapel photo, POST-DESECRATION. Obtained July 12, 2014...

We find it completely unacceptable that the flags that have flown in honor and sacred memory of Robert E. Lee since 1930 were stripped from this chamber, for NO OTHER REASON than to cater to the extortion-like "demands" of a half dozen students.

Once again, we want to thank each and every one of you who have made phone calls, sent emails, and mailed letters since we first forwarded the contact information last week.  We understand from our sources that phones were tied up and emails were filled with messages voicing disgust and outrage with the actions of officials at Washington & LEE University.

Starting tomorrow morning, we are going to ask you to switch gears and contact these folks:

Alumni Affairs Staff

Waller (Beau) T. Dudley
Executive Director of Alumni Affairs
wdudley@wlu.edu

Thomas D. Lovell
tdlovell@wlu.edu
Associate Director of Alumni Affairs

Mary Webster
Assistant Director for Engagement
mwebster@wlu.edu

Washington and Lee University
Office of Alumni Affairs
Lexington, Virginia 24450
(540) 458-8468

Please contact these folks and let them know that the removal of the flags from the chamber of the Lee Chapel was unacceptable and must be corrected immediately.  These contacts are particularly important to share with anyone who is an alumnus or has alumni contacts.  We must let them know we will stand united and end ALL support until the flags are returned.

If, for some reason, you have yet to contact the President and staff, we have included the original contact request information at the bottom of this email.

Many of you have asked repeatedly about when we are going to "March on Washington & Lee" and start flagging them. Most people see this outward expression of what we do, and may not realize that it is a powerful tool, but one that is typically held in our arsenal and used when all other efforts are exhausted. We contacted the W&L administration in April, when news of "The Committee's" demands first surfaced, and have been collecting information and investigating the situation ever since.

Of course, the actual removal last week has kicked our efforts into overdrive. We have contacted W&L officials again, and our next communication will let them know that if the flags are not returned by our deadline, flaggings will begin. In the meantime, we are making trips to Lexington to scout the area, investigate all pertinent laws and regulations, and preparing literature and talking points so that our Flaggers, and those who join us, have everything needed to be successful. We never step onto the sidewalk until we have covered all of our bases and have all needed resources lined up and available. Everything from parking, to bathroom accessibility is covered.

While we expect to begin scheduling flaggings within the next few weeks, IF the flags are not returned, our main push will come in September, once students are back on campus.  We realize full well that the announcement of the flag removal in July, while students were on summer break, was very much by design. We have been contacted by and are in communication with students who are ready to join us in these protests, and whose presence will be a huge boost to our efforts.  Student move-in dates, Parents' weekends, home football games, and other high profile events will be the targets of our activity.  We are organizing now and are looking for anyone who is willing to join us, especially those in the Lexington area,  to contact us for more details. 

Misc: 

University officials are deleting any and all comments about the flags from their FaceBook page, but you can leave a "rating" here:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-and-Lee-University-School-of-Law/103129179727624

And it appears that comments are allowed and posted on their blog site:
http://alumni.blogs.wlu.edu/president-ruscio-responds-to-concerns-raised-by-law-student-group/

Please sign and share this petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/washington-lee-university-keep-the-confederate

Stay tuned for more updates and information, as we have much more to share... and please continue to forward these emails to everyone on your contact list.  We must keep the skeer on through phone calls, emails, and letters...and have flags ready for the call...it's coming soon!

RETURN the flags!
RESTORE the honor!

Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers

Virginia Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com


Follow us:
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Virginia-Flaggers/378823865585630
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VaFlagger
Blog:  http://vaflaggers.blogspot.com/


Original contact request information:

President
Mr. Kenneth Ruscio
Washington and Lee University
204 West Washington Street
Lexington,Virginia 24450
(540) 458-8700
president@wlu.edu

Provost
Daniel Wubah
Washington and Lee University
Washington Hall 214
Lexington,Virginia 24450
(540)458-8418
dwubah@wlu.edu

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Secretary of the University:
James D. Farrar, Jr.
Washington & Lee University
203 Washington Hall
Lexington,VA 24450
(540)458-8465
jdfarrar@wlu.edu

Executive Assistant to the Board of Trustees:
Katherine Brinkley
Washington & Lee University
202 Washington Hall
Lexington,VA 24450
(540)458-8417
kbrinkley@wlu.edu

W&L Lee Chapel Desecration Update 7-12-2014

Many thanks to the hundreds of you who have called, written, or emailed officials at Washington & Lee regarding the removal of the Battle Flags from the Lee Chapel.  We have received copies of many excellent letters, and have had reports of very interesting conversations held with, and responses received from school officials.

It seems that the staff is doing their very best to draw attention away from the fact that this decision was a surrender to the extortion-like threats of the member of "The Committee", who promised "civil disobedience" if the flags were not removed by September 1st.  Their spin and propaganda is hard to swallow, especially in light of some new information that the Va Flaggers have discovered. 

The members of "The Committee" posed for this photo for the press back in April, shortly after their letter of "demands" was sent to University officials...

Other than the letter itself (attached) we heard very little from the students, until the announcement Tuesday by W&L President Ruscio that the school had caved to the demands and stripped the flags from the memorial.

Since then, the leader of the Committee, Brandon Hicks, spoke openly to the press, telling CNN:

"It's about creating a climate on campus that everyone feels welcome," Hicks told CNN on why he sought the changes. He said some students felt uncomfortable with the flags at Lee Chapel.  "These are huge steps. We are ecstatic," Hicks said of Ruscio's announcement.

"Huge steps"?  As in just the beginning...?  What will these students demand next?  Now that they have won an easy victory, there is little doubt that they will stop their campaign of hate and discrimination, and will not be satisfied until every mention of Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy is removed from the school which he personally saved from extinction and which owes much to the Confederate veterans who helped build it into the University we know today.

"Students don't have to sit in the same room as the flags anymore. I feel like we made a tremendous difference." Brandon Hicks

Now, I have had the pleasure and honor of worshiping in the LEE Chapel on several occasions, and I can testify that this statement not true.  First of all, the flags were in a chamber, behind the pulpit, at the rear of the Chapel.  There is no seating in that room.  The photo below depicts the view from the seating in the Chapel, itself.  Clearly, students NEVER sat "in the same room as the flags", although I would argue that they SHOULD be made to sit there, and taught the TRUTH of what the flags stand for.  Nevertheless,  this is further proof of the distortion of truth  these students are using, in their efforts to eliminate our heritage. 

Once he spoke to the press and posed for the photo, we were able to find out much more about Mr. Hicks.  Mr. Hicks, it turns out, is quite the activist, having been a speaker at "Race for the Ballot," a forum against a proposed family marriage act in NC.  Reports Pam's House Blend, "One of the kickoff sites is North Carolina Central University's Student Union and Law School, which hosted a forum moderated by student leader of NCCU's LGBT group COLORS, Brandon Hicks..."

More here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2nRc8bOe6g#t=15


We can only hope that this new information will serve to motivate alumni, students, and citizens to realize that this effort was nothing more than the manipulative work of "professional activists", attempting to force their views and intolerance on the rest of the University, AND the rest of us.  The Chapel in which Lee's remains are interred may be deeded to the University, but it BELONGS to all of us who love General Lee, the South, and freedom.

PLEASE continue to share our updates, and continue to make phone calls, write letters, and send emails.  We will have some new contact information tomorrow, so that we will start a new round of "mortar fire" on Monday morning.

Please stay tuned, and please STAY MAD!  We need EVERYONE to get involved and help turn this around!

RETURN the flags!
RESTORE the honor!


Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers

P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com

VMFA Update 7/11/2014

The last few months have been very busy for the Va Flaggers, as it has for many of you.  We have several updates coming over the next few days, which will cover a variety of topics. 

While temperatures have soared over 100 degrees in the Capital of the Confederacy, and our Flaggers have often pulled double duty in fulfilling obligations in other heritage organizations, the Virginia Flaggers have remained vigilant in our stand against the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and their forced removal of Confederate flags from the portico of the Confederate Memorial Chapel. 

Twice a week, EVERY week, our Flaggers gather to forward the colors, and educate museum visitors, residents, and tourists about the honor of our Confederate ancestors and the flags they fought and died under. 

These folks were visiting from out of town, and once we explained why we were out on the sidewalk with flags, they offered their full support, and posed for a photo.

Despite the hot and humid weather over the last month, we have had MANY such great conversations, and opportunities to educate, while at the same time, maintaining a constant, visual display of Confederate flags.  Before the Confederate Battle flags were forcibly removed from the portico of the Confederate Memorial Chapel by the VMFA, 2 3x5 flags flew for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. Thanks to the VMFA, dozens of flags now fly in RVA...and more folks than ever are hearing about the honor and sacrifice of the Confederate Veterans who lived on the grounds of the Old Soldiers Home.

We are visited occasionally by a lone agitator, who has taken to stalking our Flaggers, following them closely on his tricycle, and blasting filthy music with lyrics that include vile profanity, racial slurs, and graphic sexual references.

We greatly appreciate that he carries a sign which reads "NOT MY FLAG", as we would not one anyone to associate his antics with our honored banner.  ;)

While he has been unable to get any reaction from our Flaggers, we are hearing from more and more upset museum visitors, tourists, and residents, who are disturbed by his rude, uncivil behavior. 

The gentleman pictured below, and his wife, witnessed the agitator's antics, and pulled over and offered to help hold the line if any of our Flaggers needed a break from the filth. He also left a gift to help fund our efforts, and in appreciation for what the Flaggers are doing.

God bless this couple, and all those who support our Flaggers in their noble efforts...and God bless the agitator, for HELPING us by bringing even more attention to the desecration of the Confederate Memorial Chapel and dishonoring of Veterans by the VMFA Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

RETURN the flags!
RESTORE the honor!

TriPp Lewis










Virginia Flaggers
P.O. Box 547
Sandston VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com


Follow us:
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Virginia-Flaggers/378823865585630
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VaFlagger
Blog:  http://vaflaggers.blogspot.com/

Va Flaggers W&L Update/Call To Action 7-10-14

W&L Lee Chapel flag removal update:

We have received copies of dozens of emails, and had reports of hundreds of phone calls that were made today.  We cannot emphasize enough how much each phone call and email helps to keep the pressure on as we continue to work on this issue from several angles, and develop detailed plans for protests and further action.

Some of you were kind enough of to share the canned reply that you received.  It seems that the administration believes that they can explain away the flag removal, and that folks will take them at their word and give up the fight. 

One of the main issues that President Ruscio and others use as a defense for the removal is the agreement between the UDC, The Museum formerly known as the Museum of the Confederacy, and the University. We have been able to secure a copy of this agreement, and while it does call for the removal of the original battle flags for restoration, and for the flags to be properly displayed in glass cases in the museum in the basement of the Chapel, it in NO WAY dictates that the reproduction flags, provided by the SCV as a replacement for the originals, must be removed from the Chapel.

The referenced agreement was made in 1997, and yet they expect us to believe that it just so happens that they decided to take the reproduction flags out of the Chapel in July of 2014, as part of a new agreement with the Museum formerly known as the Museum of the Confederacy, not to appease "The Committee".  Do not be fooled by this smokescreen.
Please stay tuned for more updates and more contact information, as we need to "keep the skeer on" through the coming days and weeks, and please continue to share these updates and calls to action with as many others as possible.

FYI:  W&L has a FaceBook page.  They do not allow photos or posts from others, but you can comment on their photos and posts, here...  https://www.facebook.com/washingtonandlee

We wanted to leave you with one of the MANY fine communications on which we were copied on today, this one from Mr. Bill Dennison, of Bristol, Virginia.  God bless Mr. Dennison, and God bless each and every one of you who has stepped up to join us in this battle.
 
Sincerely,
Grayson Jennings
 
Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547 Sandston VA 23150
info@vaflaggers.com 

Mr. Kenneth Ruscio, President
Washington and Lee University
 

Mr. Daniel Wubah, Provost
Washington and Lee University

Mr. James D. Farrar, Jr., Secretary of the University
Washington & Lee University

Ms. Katherine Brinkley, Executive Assistant to the Board of Trustees
Washington & Lee University

Re: Restriction and Removal of Southern Confederacy Related Items, Action and Speech
 
Dear Sirs and Madam:

The purpose of this letter is to express my concern regarding action(s) announced by President Ruscio relative to the Army of Northern Virginia regimental flag replicas surrounding the Edward Valentine sculpture, "The Recumbent Lee", the Lee-Jackson Day parade entering onto the Washington & Lee campus and the censorship of presentations made by private groups in Lee Chapel.

Straying a bit from the heart of the matter at hand, I would point out two things that I would have thought would have been obvious. First, because of the location in Lexington of Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's home, his burial place and the presence of the Virginia Military Institute where Jackson taught and which produced many renowned Confederate leaders, coupled with the fact that the final resting place of Gen. Robert E. Lee is on the campus of Washington and Lee University that many credit Lee with saving from extinction because of his efforts there, people throughout the South, the nation and the world hold the City of Lexington as an almost iconic place and travel great distances to visit.

With that thought in mind, I would submit that while the physical location of the flags and the others symbols of the Confederacy may be situate on the Washington & Lee campus, in a larger sense they belong to the people of this country, particularly those of us who happen to be Southern and especially we Virginians.

I know that "The Committee" claims that the flags symbolize slavery and because of that they find them "offensive". I would submit to you that a thorough review of Confederate history will demonstrate conclusively that the issues were, and are, far more complex than that simplistic viewpoint and that these people are "offended" primarily because they choose to be. In fact, one of them, at least, was in his third year of law school before the "offense" became intolerable. Contrary to current "progressive" thought, no one has an unalienable right not to be offended. To paraphrase a comment from another who opined on the matter, for a student holding sentiments such as those of "The Committee" to apply to and attend a university named Washington and Lee is akin to someone enlisting in the Navy when they know they are prone to seasickness.

I included this observation in an earlier letter, but I think it bears repeating. The targeted flags are regimental battle flags representing some of the regiments that Lee commanded in the Army of Northern Virginia. They are soldiers' flags, not, as many would have you believe, symbolic of anything other than the brotherhood of valor that comprised that gallant body of men, Lee's "boys". Those flags are there representing the devotion and respect of those veterans for their old commander, "Marse Robert". 

President Ruscio's statement that, "The purpose of historic flags in a university setting is to educate. They are not to be displayed for decoration, which would diminish their significance, or for glorification, or to make a statement about past conflicts . The reproductions are not genuinely historic, nor are they displayed with any information or background about what they are. The absence of such explanation allows those who either 'oppose' or 'support' them to assert their own subjective and frequently incorrect interpretations." is disingenuous at best and a bald-faced distortion of the true history of how the flags came to be there in the first place, and why. They were not placed there to be "in a university setting" at all. They were placed there to honor the man who led those regiments and the fact that the current flags are reproductions and have no information or background regarding them is moot . . . neither did the originals and the reason there are reproductions there at all is because the originals were deteriorating. The entire statement is pure spin, and amateurishly done at that.

Finally we get to the "marching" and the addresses in the Chapel. The only "marching" that transpires is a single event on a single day out of an entire calendar year and is by people who gather in Lexington for the Lee-Jackson Day parade and memorial service in Lee Chapel. This is done solely to honor the memory and service of two great Virginians, not to espouse or advance any agenda. Whether "The Committee" likes it or not, Lee Chapel is an icon, a beacon that draws people from all walks of life and from all parts of the country for this one hour service, once a year. To deny them this privilege for the sake of the demands of .4 of 1% of the total enrollment of the institution is outrageous.

The final restriction on what may or may not be said during lectures or presentations in Lee Chapel is pure, unadulterated censorship, completely out-of-place in a venue where freedom of thought and expression should be encouraged and defended.

This entire exercise in nothing but a thinly veiled effort by the university administration to kowtow to the racially charged demands of a vocal minority and relegate salient portions of the true history of the university to the dustbin of history. It is unfair, unwarranted, based largely on fallacy and is, above all, cowardly.

Very truly yours,
W. A. Dennison, Jr.

W&L Will Remove Flags from Lee Chapel

Washington & Lee University President Kenneth P. Ruscio announced today that the University will ignore the will of countless alumni, students, and citizens, and bow to the demands of 6 agitators, and desecrate the Lee Chapel by removing the Confederate Battle Flags from the mausoleum of Gen. Robert E. Lee.

"Washington and Lee University will remove Confederate flags from its Lee Chapel after a group of black students led protests arguing that the Virginia school was unwelcoming to minorities."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/washington-and-lee-university-to-remove-confederate-flags-following-protests/2014/07/08/e219e580-06bb-11e4-8a6a-19355c7e870a_story.html

Are YOU mad enough yet?
Rise up, men of honor!
Rise up, daughters of truth!
 

Virginia Flaggers

P.O. Box 547

Sandston VA 23150

info@vaflaggers.com

I-95 Memorial Battle Flag Projects Update

We have been busy preparing both the Chester and Fredericksburg sites for lighting! The Chester flag illumination is almost complete, and Fredericksburg will follow shortly thereafter.

We are thankful for the generous gifts that have allowed us to purchase the necessary supplies, and for the many, many volunteers who have donated the needed labor to get the work done, including a supporter who has recently volunteered his services as an electrician! THANK YOU ALL!

We are still looking for some help with tree trimming in Chester, and appreciate any and all gifts which will help us finish up at these two sites and get started on the next project. We are excited at the prospect of these flags being illuminated, which will greatly increase their visibility and influence.

We want to again offer our sincere appreciation to each and every one of you who have supported our efforts thus far. These projects, and all of our heritage defense initiatives, have been made possible by hundreds of you, and we are touched by each gift and note of support.

Gifts* to the I-95 Memorial Battle Flag projects may be mailed to:

Va Flaggers
P.O. Box 547

Sandston VA 23150
Payable to Va Flaggers

or through PayPal:

http://www.vaflaggers.com/i95flagdonate.html

Susan Hathaway
Va Flaggers










*Although we are NOT a registered 501c3 entity, we are absolutely a "not for profit" organization, and every gift goes directly toward expenses for our Interstate Battle Flag and Heritage Defense projects. There are no salaries or benefits paid to any member(s) of our organization, most of whom work full-time jobs, and give freely of their time, talents, and resources to further the Cause for which we stand.

Francis Key Howard - "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland!"

During the War Between the States, Francis Key Howard, grandson of Francis Scott Key, was the editor of the Baltimore Exchange.  He, along with many others, were arrested for writing and speaking out against Lincoln.  He was imprisoned at Fort McHenry, and wrote these words:  

'When I looked out in the morning, I could not help being struck by an odd and not pleasant coincidence. On that day, forty-seven years before, my grandfather, Mr. F. S. Key, the prisoner on a British ship, had witnessed the bombardment of Ft. McHenry. When on the following morning the hospital fleet drew off, defeated, he wrote the song so long popular throughout the country, the Star Spangled Banner. As I stood upon the very scene of that conflict, I could not but contrast my position with his, forty-seven years before. The flag which he had then so proudly hailed, I saw waving at the same place over the victims of as vulgar and brutal a despotism as modern times have witnessed."

When he was finally released on November 27, 1862 he wrote:

"We came out of prison just as we had gone in, holding the same just scorn and detestation [for] the despotism under which the country was prostrate, and with a stronger resolution that ever to oppose it by every means to which, as American freemen, we had the right to resort."