What are Washington and Lee’s Core Values?
Monday, June 2, 2025
Despite a rainy week, the skies cleared long enough on Thursday to celebrate the Washington and Lee Class of 2025. As always, the occasion marked an unforgettable milestone in the lives of young leaders and their overjoyed families. This new generation of Generals has set off into the real world, and we couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments and character!
For these young graduates, the next several months will be defined by transition. They will part with their closest friends and beloved professors, and embark on a new adventure filled with unfamiliar faces and unprecedented encounters. No doubt, this transition will be challenging; but the core values gleaned through Washington and Lee will stick with them. In fifty years, the Class of 2025 will look back at a life filled with transitions and be grateful for the timeless principles of integrity, honor, and responsibility, which their alma mater instilled in them.
W&L now finds itself in a similar period of transition. They must ask themselves what their core values are, and whether certain programs and initiatives are indeed timeless, or just a passing fad.
As for The Redoubt, we hope the university will prioritize the classic qualities and characteristics of Washington and Lee, the ones that set our institution aside, rather than endorse the fleeting fixation on identity-based education.
Such a fixation is both well observed — as it was during last week’s baccalaureate and commencement ceremonies — and quite dangerous to the educational mission of Washington and Lee.
None have articulated this concern better than alumnus, parent, and grandparent, Garland Tucker, who had the great pleasure of returning to campus for the Class of 2025’s graduation. Please click THIS link to read his observations on the occasion, and consider supporting The Generals Redoubt so we can restore the core values of our beloved university:
Sincerely,
Kamron M. Spivey ‘2024
Campus Director & Research Fellow