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Frequently Asked Questions

updated April 2025

Are events still being held in the University Chapel?

Yes. The University Chapel continues to host important annual campus events. These include the President’s welcome to new students, the Executive Committee’s Honor Orientation, the President’s address on Parents’ Weekend, Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Beta Kappa induction ceremonies, and the Institute for Honor, as well as visiting speakers and activities sponsored by student organizations. 

Is University Chapel open to the public?

The University Chapel and Galleries are open the public during normal operating hours (Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.). Changes to the chapel’s hours are posted to the Institutional History Museum and Galleries page on W&L’s website.

for approximately six months to allow for significant renovations to the facility, including updates to the large gallery on the lower level, a modernization of the building’s HVAC system and an expansion of the fire and life safety system.

Why did the Board of Trustees undertake this work?

The Board of Trustees’ decisions were guided by four key, overarching objectives:  helping all students, faculty, and staff feel welcome, included, and able to thrive on our campus; recognizing George Washington and Robert E. Lee for their important contributions to the institution; reaffirming the university’s rejection of Confederate ideology; and presenting the University’s entire history fully and honestly. 

The chapel and the annex were conceived and built as two separate spaces with two separate purposes. The original 1868 chapel structure was envisioned by then-President Lee as a gathering place for the college community. The 1883 annex, including the Lee Recumbent Statue by Edward Valentine, was conceived by members of the Lee Memorial Association, in consultation with Lee’s widow, Mary Custis Lee. It features Lee in his Confederate uniform. The chapel has been referred to a variety of names over time: originally, Lee referred to it as the “College Chapel,” and it was renamed “University Chapel” following the change of the name of the college from Washington College to ÄûÃÊÊÓƵ. Since Lee’s death, it was referred to as “Lee Memorial Chapel” and “Memorial Chapel.” The Board’s plan restores the building to its original name and recreates two separate but adjoined and publicly accessible spaces: one for university events and the other for the study of history.

What was the inspiration for the design of the new partition?

The design of the partition that separates the auditorium from the statuary chamber was inspired by the original design of the College Chapel. The original chapel included a large three-panel leaded glass window, flanked by two narrower ones, that served as decorative elements on the stage. These windows were removed when the annex was added in 1883. As it was impossible to recreate the window design accurately without the original windows, the new design is intended to evoke the original design while providing a visual separation between the two spaces. 

Is the Recumbent Lee statue still on view to the public?

Yes, the statuary chamber is open to the public during the chapel’s normal operating hours (Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.). 

Did any of these changes impact the inclusion of the building on the register of National Historic Landmarks?

No. The university worked with federal and state agencies to ensure that the architectural modifications did not affect the chapel’s national historic landmark status. 

Is the university closing the chapel museum?

No. The museum consists of several galleries (Chapel Galleries) on the upper and lower levels of University Chapel. The majority of the galleries – which include the statue chamber, the , Lee’s office, and the Lee Family crypt – remain open to the public. The exhibit in the main gallery, which opened in 2007 and closed in 2020, to complement exhibits planned for the forthcoming Institutional History Museum, and is scheduled to open in spring 2026.

for approximately six months to allow for significant renovations to the facility, including updates to the large gallery on the lower level, a modernization of the building’s HVAC system and an expansion of the fire and life safety system.

What has become of the portraits of George Washington and Robert E. Lee that hung in the chapel?

Four portraits hung in the chapel auditorium from 1963 – 2021:

• The Charles Willson Peale portrait of George Washington as a Colonel in the Virginia Regiment: This portrait was loaned to Mount Vernon from 2018-2023, where it featured prominently in exhibitions. It then returned to W&L, where it was from May 2023 - March 2025. It is currently (VMHC) as a central piece in the exhibition “Give Me Liberty: Virginia and the Forging of a Nation,” which commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As part of the exhibit, the Peale portrait will be on view first at the VMHC in Richmond from March 22, 2025, to Jan. 4, 2026, then travel to the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, where it will be on view from July 1, 2026, to Jan. 31, 2027. The loan to the VMHC and American Revolution Museum is temporary, and the portrait will ultimately find its home in the forthcoming .
• The 1796 Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington: This portrait hung in the Chapel while the Peale portrait was on loan to Mount Vernon. The Stuart portrait is now on display in the in the galleries on the lower level of University Chapel.
• The 1903 Theodore Pine portrait of Robert E. Lee: The Pine portrait is now on display in the in the galleries on the lower level of University Chapel.
• The 1866 portrait of Robert E. Lee by J. Reid: The Reid portrait hung in the Chapel auditorium alongside the Stuart portrait of Washington from 2018-2020.  This portrait is now on display in Lee House.

Are there still references to George Washington and Robert E. Lee on campus?

The university is named for George Washington and Robert E. Lee.  George Washington’s contributions are also acknowledged in the name of Washington Hall, the statue atop that building, the gallery in its lobby, and on the university’s Honored Benefactors Wall. A contemporary copy by William Winstanley of Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 full-length portrait of Washington (Lansdowne version) hangs in Leyburn Library. Robert E. Lee’s contributions are acknowledged in the president’s home, which was built for Robert E. Lee when he was president of Washington College and continues to bear the name “Lee House,” and in the Chapel Galleries, where Lee’s memorial statue, former office and family crypt remain open to the public. Portraits and busts of both men are also included in the “Setting the Stage” exhibit in the Chapel Galleries. 

What happened to the plaques that were removed from the chapel and other locations on campus?

As part of the Board of Trustees’ directives to restore the University Chapel auditorium to a simple, unadorned design, several plaques on campus have been updated or relocated. All of them have been preserved.

Most of the plaques, including the plaque dedicated to the Liberty Hall Volunteers that once hung in the entry to the chapel, will be moved to galleries within the Chapel itself or to the new Institutional History Museum, where they can be displayed with more historical context.  Three plaques, two honoring World War I veterans and one honoring a Vietnam War veteran, have been at the Jefferson Street entrance to campus, where they are displayed with other plaques honoring U.S. veterans.

Two plaques related to Lee’s presidency were moved from Payne Hall, and two plaques dedicated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy to commemorate Lee’s horse Traveller were also moved. All four plaques will be installed in future exhibits. Traveller’s remains were untouched, and a new grave marker signifying the horse’s lifespan (1857-1871) -- in keeping with the style of the grave markers in the Lee Family crypt -- was installed at the same location. A new interpretive marker relating to Traveller’s history replaced the previous interpretive marker at the gravesite, and a nearby plaque dedicated to Anne Wilson, former first lady of W&L, was updated and moved to a new location outside the Lee House gardens in consultation with the Wilson family.

Was the Traveller plaque on the side of the Lee House garage replaced?

The Traveller plaque that was relocated from the Lee House garage for inclusion in a future exhibit was replaced with a new plaque consistent with the style of other plaques on campus.

Does the University plan to move the Recumbent Lee statue, Lee’s remains, Traveller’s remains, or the Lee Family crypt?

No.

Will there be other changes to campus buildings, signage, etc.?

With the addition of the new exhibits in the Chapel Galleries and the new Institutional History Museum, the Board will have fulfilled all the commitments related to campus buildings, symbols and practices that it made to the Washington and Lee community in June 2021.

Will W&L consider requiring a course on institutional history?

The academic curriculum is the purview of W&L’s faculty. Several courses on campus already focus on or incorporate various aspects of W&L’s history.

Is there any commitment to honor the descendants of enslaved individuals sold by W&L?

Upon the recommendation of the Working Group on the History of African Americans at W&L, the university erected a historical marker on campus in 2016 recognizing the enslaved individuals owned by Washington College until the mid-1800s.  Updates were completed in 2023. The university is currently engaged in historical and genealogical research on African Americans, both enslaved and free, who labored on campus over the course of its history.