LEXINGTON, Va. Conversations about race continue across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd, including a conversation now about changing the name of Washington & Lee University. Washington & Lee is no stranger to change. Thats where a petition, organized by faculty, to remove Lees name from the university comes in. Exactly what the petition will say and how the process will work was still being developed Thursday, but the goal was to get the petition to the universitys trustees soon. Like Casey, Harwood hopes a name change wont overshadow bigger cultural issues at the university that he says need to be addressed.

LEXINGTON, Va. A woman with ties to Washington & Lee Universitys founding is not happy about the recent name change proposal. Im very angry, said Tina Tabor, who feels like history is being destroyed. She is a decedent of Robert Alexander, who served as president of Augusta Academy, which later became Washington & Lee University. The Lee in the universitys name refers to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Faculty members have not discussed what theyd like the universitys new name to be.