LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Virginia Military Institute’s board has voted to erase the name of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s name as the author of a quotation on a plaque in the student barracks.
The Washington Post reports that the college’s Board of Visitors voted Saturday to erase Jackson’s name as the author of the mantra: “You may be whatever you resolve to be.”
Cadets and alumni memorize the phrase and it has been engraved in class rings.
The quotation added to the barracks in the 1950s will remain, but Jackson’s name beneath them, implying that he wrote them, will be removed.
The college says a plaque will be installed attributing the phrase to William Alcott and the Rev. Joel Hawes and noting that Jackson kept the phrase in an inspirational quote notebook.
