WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY 250th Observance

Washington and Lee University Announces

The 250th Anniversary Celebration Events

Washington and Lee University announces a full calendar of special events throughout the 1998-1999 academic year in honor of the 250th anniversary of its founding in 1749. As the ninth oldest college in the United States, the University will honor the long tradition of educating young men and women.

Simultaneously, the Washington and Lee School of Law will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1849, with additional events throughout the academic year.

The academic centerpiece of the celebration is a lecture series on responsibility organized by Winston Davis, Washington and Lee professor of religion. Fourteen participants, invited by the University and the Law School, will discuss the idea of responsibility in the disciplines of religion, politics and history. These lectures will be compiled and edited for publication by Professor Davis at the end of the year.

Additional events and updates will be announced throughout the year.

1998 Events

* Aug. 24: Law School Opening Convocation. Virginia Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Lacy will deliver the address.

* Sept. 9: Undergraduate Fall Convocation and 250th celebration kick-off. The Hon. William E. Brock '53, former Senator of Tennessee, will deliver the opening address. Dabney Stuart, Washington and Lee professor of English and noted poet, will read a special work commissioned for the occasion. A brass quintet will play a specially commissioned fanfare written by Margaret Brouwer, former associate professor of music and currently professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Representatives of other universities and colleges across the country will join in the academic procession at the convocation.

* Sept. 17: Ralph Lerner, University of Chicago, will deliver a keynote address in conjunction with the Symposium on Responsibility.

* Sept. 24: Amy Gutman, Princeton University, will deliver a second keynote address for the same symposium.

* Oct. 1-3: Homecoming Weekend and the rededication of the Lee Chapel Museum following a $2 million renovation. Virginia Gov. James Gilmore has been invited to deliver the dedication address at the Chapel ceremony Oct. 2. Chapel donors, architects, planners and members of the Lee family will be recognized. Other homecoming activities will honor returning alumni and their families.

* Oct. 9: Gordon Wood, Brown University, will deliver the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise Lecture sponsored by the Library of Congress.

* Oct. 17: The University's Washington Society, which includes former members of the alumni board, law council and board of trustees, will present a gift of $50,000 to the Regents of Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. The gift honors and symbolically returns Washington's gift of $20,000 to Liberty Hall Academy in 1796, ensuring the future of the Academy and, ultimately, Washington and Lee University.

* Nov. 5-8: W&L hosts the annual conference for the Center for Academic Integrity. More than 200 students, faculty members and administrators from W&L and other institutions will discuss issues of academic honesty and integrity, Senator John Warner, keynote speaker.

1999 Events

* Jan. 19: University Founder's Day. The convocation will feature Derek Bok, former president of Harvard University.

* Feb. 11: The University and the U.S. Postal Service will issue a 250th anniversary commemorative 20-cent postcard featuring a campus scene. At the 200th anniversary of the University, a commemorative stamp was issued.

* Feb. 12: Tucker Lecture, School of Law, featuring Pauline Maier of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

* April 30: National Service of Prayer and Thanksgiving.

* May 1: The largest gathering of University alumni in history. More than 3,000 alumni will gather in Lexington to participate in a show that will be produced live on campus and beamed via satellite to alumni gathered at chapter sites across the country.

* May 16: Law School Commencement. Chief Justice William Rehnquist will deliver the address.

* June 3: Undergraduate Commencement. By University tradition, Washington and Lee President John W. Elrod will deliver the principal address.

Special Publications

* Come Cheer for Washington and Lee: The University at 250 Years, is the special anniversary book celebrating University history. The book will contain 400 duotone images on 320 pages, with text from 14 authors. The book, edited by Mame Warren, goes on sale in September.

* The Washington and Lee Alumni Magazine will feature special articles throughout the year.

* A special 250th Newsletter will provide complete coverage of anniversary activities.

* A 250th commemorative calendar will feature historical highlights, photographs and etchings.

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