Donor withholds $12 million over Wren cross flap

Donor withholds $12 million over Wren cross flap
William and Mary president: Funds loss 'serious setback to the college'

A major donor to the College of William and Mary is among the college's alumni who have voiced strong opposition to a decision to remove a cross from permanent display in the university's Wren Chapel.

In a letter obtained by the Daily Press, former Board of Visitors member James W. McGlothlin wrote another former board member on Feb. 16 that President Gene Nichol's decision to remove a brass cross in the chapel was "unbelievable."

"This has been so disturbing to me that I have decided to withhold any future contributions to the College," he wrote.

He said in the letter that a "very large contribution was in the making" before President Tim Sullivan retired from the college. McGlothlin, of Bristol, Va., is a longtime donor to the College of William and Mary.

Calls to McGlothlin have not yet been returned this morning. It unknown if McGlothlin is the donor who recently rescinded a $12 million pledge to the college of William and Mary over the cross controversy. School officials confirmed Tuesday that such a donation had been revoked.

When asked if McGlothlin was the donor who revoked the pledge, a William and Mary spokesman said this morning that the school does not discuss individual donors to the college.

McGlothlin copied his Feb. 16 letter to the College of William and Mary's Board of Visitors.

The controversy over the cross started after Nichol decided in October to remove it from permanent display on the chapel's altar in order to make the chapel open to all religions. He later compromised and put it back on the altar on Sundays, and it can be returned on request.

McGlothlin's letter was addressed to Linda Skladany, also a former Board of Visitors member. Skladany said this morning that she didn't know a specific dollar amount tied to McGlothlin's decision not to donate to the school. She called McGlothlin a "magnificent friend of the college - an alumnus, a supporter, so generous with his time, his support, his resources."

Skladany is a 1966 graduate of the college who served on the Board of Visitors from 1994 to 1998.

She said by phone that she has been distressed by Nichol's decision about the cross, and has signed the petition at SaveTheWrenCross.Org. After a meeting between the Cypher Society - which is made up of former Board of Visitors members - and the current Board of Visitors members was cancelled earlier this month, Skladany mailed letters and a packet of information from SaveTheWrenCross.org to more than 60 former Board members.

McGlothlin's letter was one of "a number" of responses she received from people upset with Nichol's decision, she said.