Washington and Lee University history

Until 1852, the institution benefited from their enslaved labor and, in some cases, from their sale.

While taking the waters at White Sulphur Springs in 1869, Lee met the industrialist and financier George Peabody, America’s first great philanthropist, who had a particular interest in promoting education in the prostrate South.

By the time of Lee’s death in 1870, the school was on sound financial footing and had an enrollment of 400 students, making it one of the largest colleges in the South.

Grace Church immediately added “Memorial” to its name, honoring Lee, and in 1903 renamed itself R. E. Lee Memorial Church.

In 1905, the Board of Trustees formally organized a School of Commerce in order to train students in business and finance alongside the college and the School of Law.

Omicron Delta Kappa or ODK, a national honor society, was founded at Washington and Lee on December 3, 1914.

Emmett Till’s family calls for arrest over 1955 lynching after finding unserved warrant

He founded (1960) what became the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which aired his talk show, The 700 Club.

Since 1970, the League of Conservation Voters, a legacy environmental advocacy group, has used its “National Environmental Scorecard” to track and rate lawmakers' environmental votes.

Once an all-male institution, Washington and Lee first admitted women to its law school in 1972.

M. Harman, Jr. ('44 Law), re-created the episode in 1976 for the dedication of the new law school building by having several barrels of Scotch imported (without the unfortunate dénouement). Robinson also left his estate to Washington College.

Robertson subsequently founded CBN University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and it opened to students in 1978.

Beginning in 1985, women were permitted to enroll in two undergraduate programs.

After a strong start, however, his support waned, and Robertson withdrew from the race in February 1988.

The following year he founded the Christian Coalition, an influential conservative political organization, and served as its head until 2002.

In 2007 he stepped down as CEO of CBN and was replaced by his son Gordon Robertson.

In 2010, he made a $4 million donation to the university for what became the Mudd Center for Ethics.

In 2014, Washington and Lee University joined such colleges as Harvard University, Brown University, the University of Virginia, and The College of William & Mary in researching, acknowledging, and publicly regretting their participation in the institution of slavery.

The process launched by Dudley in the summer of 2017 lasted for just over a year.

In 2018, W&L appointed a director of institutional history to develop a museum to explore our history and its many connections to American history, and to create dynamic educational programming for the campus community and the public.

President Donald Trump threatened to incite a trade war with Sweden to release United States rapper A$AP Rocky from prison in 2019, according to the country's justice and home affairs minister.

In July 2020, for the first time, university faculty (by more than a three-quarters vote) and the executive committee of the Student Body called for Robert E. Lee's name to be removed from the name of the university.