The unknown golfer shown on page twenty-three of the summer issue of Union College is my brother, Ed Exner.
He was supposed to graduate in 1952, but in those days Union had a language requirement and compulsory chapel. Ed thought such requirements to be onerous-if not illegal. He was a “hell, no, I won't go '60s type”-too soon, too soon. He so admired Claire Graves that his fraternity name was Siggie. He was a rebel but a good golfer and lettered in football, as I recall.
Odd that Union College should come that week-Ed died on August 15 of a stroke. At any rate, he need not be unknown any more.
George Exner '52
Bonita Springs, Florida
Disagreeing with
the House System
This year, for the first time in perhaps twenty-five years, I made no contribution to the Annual Fund. Here is why.
I live in Lexington, Va., and have watched Washington & Lee struggle with some of the same problems facing Union
-excessive alcohol consumption, student cliques, and yes, even rampant sex on campus. However, as part of their effort to deal with these things and improve campus life, they have chosen to make fraternities and sororities a cornerstone of their rebuilding and improvement efforts. Every day, I drive by five gorgeous new brick sorority houses designed in part to bring students back onto campus. In short, the administration of W&L felt it important to maintain the historic role of the Greek system and to deal
with some system blemishes in head-on fashion. While touting the modernization and survival of the Greek tradition at Union, the College has
purposely placed them on a slippery slope on which they will surely wither and die. To defend this action, the administration points to the need
to compete with great educational institutions of the Northeast. Well, I am not so sure that benchmark is necessarily all that compelling.
I long felt an obligation to contribute because I valued my Union experience and, more importantly, could not have attended Union without significant scholarship assistance from the school. I feel it is defensible to suspend my contributions because I have repaid my (inflation-adjusted) scholarship assistance several times over. Additionally, I am removing Union College as beneficiary of a $50,000 life insurance policy, but will consider Union in some fashion as part of ongoing estate planning revisions. This will provide ample time to assess the ultimate outcome for the Greek system. I have a strong suspicion that many alumni feel the way I do, but in this world of political correctness may feel pressured to keep their ideas to themselves.
Doug Horan '67
Lexington, Va
An update on the House System appears in “The College” section of this issue.-Editor
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