Virginia campus removes Confederate flags

7/8/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LEXINGTON, Va. — Washington and Lee University says it is removing Confederate battle flags from its campus.

The move was announced in a lengthy email from university president Kenneth Rusio to faculty and students on today.

This spring, a group of law students demanded the school banish the flag from campus and repudiate one of its namesakes, Gen. Robert E. Lee. The group at the private liberal arts college found the flag troublesome in part because they had to pledge to an honor code in its prescence at the Lee Chapel.

The Roanoke Times reports that while the flags will be removed, the school expects to display original flags from a Civil War museum on a rotating basis.