DCI 201: Contact Committee & Campus Speech Controversies

While the Contact Committee was the principal source of free speech-related controversies on campus, it was not the exclusive culprit. This page will cover four notable events throughout the storied history of Washington and Lee—all having a significant impact on the campus that can still be seen today.

The Southern Collegian was a University-funded magazine published sporadically from 1868 until 1967. However, in 1966, W&L faculty unanimously approved a resolution that would end the magazine’s publication for good. The faculty cited poor taste in content and a lack of educational purpose. The response from the student body was immediate and overwhelmingly negative, with the Executive Board and the Publications Board both coming out in support of the first edition of the Ring-tum Phi after the decision to defund the Collegian was announced. Ensuing editions of the Phi (when it was published semi-weekly) continued front-page coverage of the controversy, with students further voicing their discontent. Eventually, the student body got its way, as the Southern Collegian was revived a year after it ceased publication in 1968, albeit neutered in content and only surviving for an additional year. This anecdote about the Collegian continues to support the narrative that students understood the necessity of free speech in the 1960s.

Students continued to battle the administration on freedom of expression in the 1990s. In March of 1992, the Confidential Review Committee (composed of faculty and staff) released new plans to establish a rule for students titled “The Principle of Civility and Decency.” This principle would crack down on politically incorrect statements by methods as extreme as expulsion. Students’ main issue with the principle was its vagueness, providing the CRC with unchecked power for what can be considered politically incorrect. Outrage was plentiful in both the Ring-tum Phi and the W&L Spectator, with students on both sides of the political spectrum expressing displeasure. One cartoon in the Phi references the slippery slope of the administration cracking down on what people can and can’t say. The Spectator points out that none of the quotes from Robert E. Lee that the CRC references mention neither “civility” nor “decency” and that no principle has ever existed at Washington and Lee. While a decision by the CRC could go unnoticed and be dismissed as simply an addition to the Honor System, students immediately unified to prevent its passing.

Decades after The Southern Collegian was forced to end, a different alternative student publication faced its own controversy. But, instead of punishing the organization, the University administration came after the writers this time. When two writers from The Trident newspaper published an article referring to specific students as "pretentious sluts" and "trapped in the closet," immediate outcry from the student body followed. Both members of the faculty and students called for the immediate resignation of the two writers. Eventually, both culprits were convicted after a trial held by the Student-Faculty Hearing Board for conduct unbecoming Washington and Lee students—the sentence: probation for the rest of their college careers. However, controversy erupted not long after the ruling for two reasons. First, the trial was mysteriously handled by the SFHB, a body comprised of mostly faculty that traditionally did not hear these types of cases; conduct unbecoming is meant for the Student Judicial Council. Second, students and faculty felt that punishing students for their remarks in The Trident violated the right to freedom of expression. Eventually, a professor created an online forum to record the outcry. Despite this, both of the writers had to accept their punishment.

The most recent free speech-related controversy on campus involved a clash between the University administration and students. Two unlikely student organizations joined forces to fight an unjust policy: College Democrats and College Republicans. In September 2021, the state midterm elections in Virginia were heating up, and both political organizations were eager to promote their party's respective candidates. However, when College Republicans were seen distributing materials endorsing gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin, an administration member approached the organization and forced them to stop. The administration attempted to justify this action by citing Washington & Lee's 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, which prevents the University from endorsing any political candidates. This claim was later debunked by multiple free speech advocacy organizations, such as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Today, student organizations are free to endorse as many political candidates as they want, free of any speech restrictions from the administration.