SAN DIEGO. (Washington Post) – Students at Washington and Lee Law School in Virginia have unsuccessfully petitioned to shut down for MLK the university named after slave owner George Washington and the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. After the Civil War, General Lee was the university’s president who played a major role in its success, and his birthday is celebrated on January 19, three days after the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The law students feel that, due to the proximity of the two birthday celebrations, Martin Luther King, Jr. would get more respect if students don’t have to go to classes on that day. Their proposal was rejected last year and now.
Most Virginia universities close for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Washington and Lee University (83 percent white and 3 percent black students) has shorter classes on the General Lee’s birthday.