Alumni Response to Heather MacDonald and “The Diversity Delusion”On February 11, 2020, Taylor Reese ’19, published the following article on Medium. She has graciously allowed The Vigil to republish her ...
Why did President Dudley allow an offensive agitator to speak at Lee Chapel?In March of 2020, President Dudley allowed Heather Mac Donald to speak at Lee Chapel, Washington and Lee’s chapel named after Robert E. L...
Painting an Incomplete Picture: What It Really Means When You Say "Townie"Driving through Lexington, the last thing you see before turning onto W&L’s campus is bold text on a large banner: TRUMP PENCE 2016. It w...
ICE Holding Facilities are Concentration CampsThe idea of concentration camps evokes an image of horror, of humanity’s worst moment in history. It is impossible to not see photographs...
Why George Washington Would Want You to Write for The VigilIronically, as a politics major, I hate conflict. I have friends from across the political spectrum, and rather than risk disappointing s...
Your Words Have Consequences: A Response to the SpectatorRefugees and Immigrants Always Welcome. Photograph taken by Lourie Shaull It takes a lot to make me mad. Growing up as a Latina immigrant...
A Hope Worth Holding: Voter Suppression and Democratic ApathyVoters waiting to vote in polling place sourced from Getty After the 2018 midterms, Democrats—for the most part—rejoiced. They took back ...
W&L, Turn Off Your Mute ButtonBeing a first-year is hard. Being a first-generation college student is even harder. Being a black first-generation student can feel impo...
Way Too Early Thoughts on the 2020 Presidential ElectionTwo and a half months ago, the 2018 midterms turned the tides in American government, giving the Democratic Party the opportunity to take...
Speak Up and DribbleSome of the biggest storylines dominating the sports, and political news cycles, revolve around politically active athletes. This is somew...
Khashoggi, Tear Gas, and the Failure of MoralityIn the past few weeks, we’ve witnessed the Trump administration’s continued ignorance to, sponsoring of, or active participation in human...
What the President's Red Hen Tweet Reveals about Calls for CivilityThe calls for civility we’ve seen pour out of conservative outlets over the past few days have been replaced by the president’s latest tw...
Fighting Climate Change: Circumventing the DivideAs with many different issues in modern politics, there seems to be an ever-growing divide in opinions regarding climate change between t...
Teaching Latin to Transgress(At left) Distemper painting on wooden panel from the Fayum, Egypt. Second century CE. From the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. To teach is a p...
The Intolerance of IntoleranceTwo weeks ago Richard Spencer—self-proclaimed white supremacist and key figure in August’s rallies in Charlottesville—once again occupied...