Va. students object to Martin Luther King Jr. Day classes

Washington Post

January 13, 2012

Washington and Lee University will hold classes Monday over the objections of some law school students, who unsuccessfully petitioned their institution to shut down for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. They are concerned, in part, that the day commemorating King will be overshadowed by events three days later to mark the birthday of Robert E. Lee. The proximity of the two occasions poses a particular challenge for Virginia and for the university named in equal parts for the founding father and the Confederate commander. Lee served as the school's president after the Civil War and set it on a course toward national prestige in the liberal arts.

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