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« Well, I know it's in Greece, somewhere | Main | Rescuing the Hubble » Tuesday, October 31, 2006Symbols of the timesAs noted by a conservative student blogger at Dartmouth College, the College of William and Mary has removed a two-foot gold cross from a Chapel in a building designed by Christopher Wren and first erected in 1699. The move was made without fanfare, but calls for clarification led to an announcement from William and Mary president Gene R. Nichol, which read in part: I have not banished the cross from the Wren Chapel. The chapel, as you know, is used for religious ceremonies by members of all faiths. The cross will remain in the chapel and be displayed on the altar at appropriate religious services. Since William and Mary obviously has Christian religious roots, this incident plays into a larger debate about how far religious or semi-religious institutions should or must go to accommodate secular people or those of other faiths. It strikes me as remarkable that a small cross in what is after all a chapel is construed as too restrictive or objectionable in the setting of today's university. Posted by Evan Hughes at 02:45 PM
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