TJC Mention in New York Times: University of Virginia Suspends Tours
Excerpt
The tours, aimed primarily at prospective students and their families, were run by student volunteers. For several years, the tour organization, the University Guide Service, has been the focus of criticism from an organization of conservative alumni called the Jefferson Council, which has argued that the volunteer guides have alienated prospective students by providing a “woke version of U.Va. history.”
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The Jefferson Council is an organization of conservative alumni who say their mission is to preserve Thomas Jefferson’s legacy as the founder and architect of U.Va. One of the group’s main complaints was that the guides emphasized how Mr. Jefferson was a slaveholder while downplaying his more positive contributions as a founding father and the nation’s third president.
Tom Neale, the organization’s president, wrote an open letter in June to Mr. Youngkin, in which the Jefferson Council asked that the university sever ties with the volunteer guides, among other requests.
Mr. Neale said on Thursday that the guides had started their tours by describing how the university’s land had been stolen from the Monacan Indian tribe, then segued to how the Rotunda, designed by Mr. Jefferson as the center of campus, was constructed by slave labor.
“We’ve gotten hundreds of emails, calls and texts from prospective parents saying, ‘I’m so turned off that my kid is not going to Virginia,’” said Mr. Neale, a Baltimore businessman.
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“If we can get balanced tours, which is your first blush for many coming to U.Va., that’s all we want.”
Stephanie Saul reports on colleges and universities, with a recent focus on the dramatic changes in college admissions and the debate around diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.