William & Mary president resigns after cross controversy

Following public criticism over the removal of a chapel cross and a racy campus show, the president of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., resigned Feb. 12.

The resignation of Gene R. Nichol, who had led the public university since 2005, comes after he was told on Sunday that his contract would not be renewed in July.

In 2006, William & Mary removed a cross from permanent display in the campus chapel, a move criticized by some alumni and conservative activists. One donor threatened to withhold a multimillion-dollar pledge.

Under a compromise, the cross was later kept in a display case and was to be placed on the altar by request.

Nichol defended those decisions, saying that it was necessary for a chapel “used regularly for secular college events — both voluntary and mandatory — in order to help Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other religious minorities feel more meaningfully included as members of our broad community.”

The former president tied his actions to the legacy of William & Mary alumnus Thomas Jefferson, who, Nichol said, “argued for a ‘wall of separation between church and state.’”

William & Mary’s Board of Visitors said the decision not to extend Nichol’s contract “was not in any way based on ideology or any single public controversy.”

— RNS