UNITED STATES NEWS

Former governor sues college over chapel name removal

Mar 27, 2023, 10:11 AM

A former Republican governor of Vermont has sued Middlebury College, his alma mater, accusing it of cancel culture behavior for removing the name of another former governor and Middlebury graduate from the campus chapel for what the school said was his role in eugenics policies in the early 1900s.

Former Gov. James Douglas filed the breach of contract lawsuit against the president and fellows of the Vermont college on Friday as special administrator of John Abner Mead’s estate. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and to have the Mead name restored to the chapel.

Without any warning or public discussion, Middlebury announced in 2021 that Mead Memorial Chapel would “no longer bear the name John Mead, Vermont governor from 1910 to 1912 and Middlebury Class of 1864, due to (Governor Mead’s) role in promoting eugenics policies in the state that led to the involuntary sterilization of an estimated 250 people,” wrote Douglas who served as governor from 2003 to 2011.

“This language makes a grossly distorted claim of the type that has become all too common in the current ‘cancel culture’ in which we live. Such a claim is not what one would expect from an internationally renowned liberal arts college,” the 79-page lawsuit states.

Middlebury College said Monday that it had received the complaint but could not discuss pending litigation. Middlebury officials said in 2021 that Mead Memorial Chapel was named after John Mead and his wife when they gave $74,000 to the school in 1914 to create a new, prominent chapel on the highest point on campus. Two years before that, Mead had strongly urged the legislature to adopt policies and create legislation premised on eugenics theory, they said.

In spring 2021, the Legislature apologized to all Vermonters and their families and descendants who were harmed by state-sanctioned eugenics policies and practices that led to sterilizations. Some Vermonters of mixed French Canadian and Native American heritage, as well as poor, rural white people, were placed on a state-sanctioned list of “mental defectives” and degenerates and sent to state institutions. In 2018, the University of Vermont decided to remove a former school president’s name from the school library because of his support of the Eugenics Survey of Vermont and its leader, a UVM professor. The following year, the outgoing president of UVM apologized for the school’s involvement in eugenics research, calling it “unethical and regrettable.”

The lawsuit states that the chapel was not named for John Mead but was named “in memory of the Mead family ancestors who embodied the values that were symbolized by the Chapel itself.” It was built by Mead as a place for divine worship and as a meeting house, designed “to symbolize the simplicity and character of the people of the Otter Creek Valley and the State of Vermont,” the lawsuit states.

By removing the name, Middlebury breached that agreement and promise, and “obliterated any memory of the selfless acts and the altruistic contributions John Mead made to his nation, state, county, town, church, and to Middlebury College itself,” Douglas wrote in the lawsuit.

Mead and other family members fought in the Civil War. He also was a beloved physician in Rutland; a businessman and philanthropist; and was elected to the state Senate in 1892. He served as lieutenant governor before becoming governor, the lawsuit states.

The basis for the name removal was Gov. Mead’s support, in his farewell address of 1912, “for proposals to restrict the issuance of marriage licenses and to appoint a commission to study the use of a new operation called a vasectomy, which was a safer and more humane process of sterilization,” the lawsuit states. But claims that his comments caused sterilizations to happen 20 or 30 years later “is factually baseless and legally unjust,” Douglas wrote.

“The problem with imposing our 21st century world view on actors who lived over a century ago lies in judging and ostracizing them for mainstream views prevalent in the society of the time,” the lawsuit states.

___

Rathke reported from Marshfield, Vermont.

United States News

Associated Press

Ramaswamy was the target of death threats in New Hampshire that led to FBI arrest, campaign says

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man has been accused of sending text messages threatening to kill a presidential candidate ahead of a scheduled campaign event Monday, federal prosecutors said. The U.S. Attorney’s office did not name the candidate. However, a spokesperson for Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Monday that the texts were directed […]

5 minutes ago

Associated Press

Man filmed wielding folding chair in riverfront brawl pleads guilty to misdemeanor

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A man filmed swinging a folding chair during an Alabama riverfront brawl this summer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge Monday. The guilty plea resolved the last of the charges brought in connection with the brawl. The man was ordered to perform community service and given a suspended sentence. […]

5 minutes ago

Associated Press

Bronze top hat missing from Abraham Lincoln statue in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Abraham Lincoln’s top hat is missing from a bronze sculpture along the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. The sculptor, Ed Hamilton, posted photos of his artwork at Waterfront Park on Facebook on Saturday and said someone stole the hat from the sculpture. “They had to be strong and determined to pry […]

26 minutes ago

Researchers from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center inspected a 52-foot-long female fin whale ...

Associated Press

52-foot-long dead fin whale washes up on San Diego beach; cause of death unclear

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 52-foot-long (16-meter-long) dead fin whale washed up on a San Diego beach over the weekend and officials said there was no obvious sign of the cause of death. The young female whale was found Sunday in Mission Beach and was later towed out to sea, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. […]

35 minutes ago

FILE - Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donal...

Associated Press

Special counsel Jack Smith asks Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether Trump can be prosecuted

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to take up and rule quickly on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results. A federal judge ruled the case could go forward, but the Republican former president signaled he would […]

47 minutes ago

Associated Press

Rapper Quando Rondo charged with federal drug crimes. He was already fighting Georgia charges

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The rapper Quando Rondo has been indicted on federal drug charges in Georgia, where he also faces state gang and drug charges filed six months ago. Chatham County jail records show the 24-year-old rapper, whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, was booked in the federal case Saturday after being arrested […]

50 minutes ago

Sponsored Articles

Follow @KTAR923...

The best ways to honor our heroes on Veterans Day and give back to the community

Veterans Day is fast approaching and there's no better way to support our veterans than to donate to the Military Assistance Mission.

Follow @KTAR923...

The 2023 Diamondbacks are a good example to count on the underdog

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the World Series as a surprise. That they made the playoffs at all, got past the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card round, swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS and won two road games in Philadelphia to close out a full seven-game NLCS went against every expectation. Now, […]

...

SCHWARTZ LASER EYE CENTER

Key dates for Arizona sports fans to look forward to this fall

Fall brings new beginnings in different ways for Arizona’s professional sports teams like the Cardinals and Coyotes.

Former governor sues college over chapel name removal