Fyodor's Shilpit Wee Nyaff* of the Day.

Meet Gene Nichol, President of William & Mary College.

Human Events Online: William & Mary's Assault on the Cross

...with no formal complaint, no legal pressure from anyone, no deliberation, no consultation, and as a pure personal whim, Nichol stealthily removed the cross from the altar of the Wren Building's 275-year-old chapel. It seems Nichol woke up one morning with the vague notion that someone somehow might be offended by the display of a cross in a public space that had been designed and used as a college chapel for almost three centuries. "Our chapel, like our campus, must be welcoming to all," Nichol oozed. "I believe a recognition of the full dignity of each member of our diverse community is vital."

It was a bizarre move for a former law school dean: regal, not legal. And his latest move compounds it. He first issued a royal decree removing the cross; now he issues two royal decrees: adding an otherwise unnecessary historical plaque to be paid for by Virginia taxpayers and a generous pardon to exhibit the pesky cross on Sundays. Virginia's last royal governor, Lord Dunsmore, would have been so proud.

Now, it is true that not everyone is all that fond of the cross as a symbol. Vampires, werewolves, satanists, Wiccans, rabid secular academics, and members of al Qaeda would certainly find it threatening to their "full dignity." But, for the record, as of the present date none of them has complained, and neither has anyone else since the chapel was finished around 1732.

* "a misshapen little good-for-nothing"