Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Custodial History:

This collection as a whole was assigned the accession number 2008.63 on 6/30/2008, but the individual items were received from a variety of donors and/or collected by Special Collections Research Center staff from February 12, 2008 to this date.

Preferred Citation:

Gene R. Nichol Resignation and Response Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Information about individual donors, when known, is available in the Special Collections Research Center. This collection as a whole was assigned the accession number 2008.63 on 6/30/2008, but the individual items were received from a variety of donors and/or collected by Special Collections Research Center staff from February 12, 2008 to this date.

Processing Information:

Acc. 2010.578 accessioned by Steven Bookman, University Archives Specialist, 10/2010.

Accruals:

Additional material is expected.

Historical Note:

This collections consists of fliers, announcements, programs etc for the many student organizations.

Scope and Contents

This collection includes material related to the resignation of President Gene R. Nichol of the College of William and Mary on February 12, 2008, and the response of the campus, alumni, and public. Material in the collection was created by a variety of formal and informal organizations and individuals and includes correspondence, fliers, videos, images, websites, news clippings, armbands, stickers, and a variety of other formats. Much of the collection is material produced in response to President Nichol announcing his resignation with a smaller amount of material from the months preceding the announcement. The collection includes material from individuals and organizations who were opposed to President Nichol as well as those who supported him. This collection does not include official College of William and Mary records produced by various offices. Those records will generally be housed with the collections for the creating office or department. Exceptions include communications from the Board of Visitors to the campus community.

When permitted by donor agreements, images and videos will be made available online through the SCRC's pages on the Digital Archive 

Flicker: 

Youtube:

The Special Collections Research Center continues to actively collect material documenting events prior to President Gene R. Nichol's resignation as well as responses to his resignation.

Related Material

University Archives Subject File Collection (UA 9); University Archives Faculty-Alumni File Collection (UA 10); University Archives Artifact Collection (UA 13); University Archives Audiovisual Collection (UA 58).

Several interviews were conducted by the Williamsburg Documentary Project (WDP) related to the controversy surrounding the cross in the Wren Building. See

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• College of William and Mary--History--21st century
• College of William and Mary. Board of Visitors
• Correspondence
• Fliers (printed matter)
• Low-income college students
• Nichol, Gene R., 1951-
• Photographs
• Posters
• Strikes and lockouts--College teachers
• Student movements
• Student protestors
• Student strikes
• Video recordings