University of Virginia suspends tours that had come under fire for mentioning Thomas Jefferson's ties to slavery
The Jefferson Council alumni group had opposed University Guide Service volunteers for mentioning that the school's founder was a slaveowner.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna168960Aug. 30, 2024, 1:21 PM EDT
By David K. Li
The University of Virginia suspended a campus tour program that had been criticized for citing school founder Thomas Jefferson's ties to slavery, officials said Friday.
The tours led by University Guide Service have been plagued by spotty attendance by student volunteers and issues with "consistency" in content, university officials said in a statement to NBC News.
The school has been "in close contact with the student-led University Guide Service" for two years "to address a trend of issues and concerns surrounding guide attendance and tour consistency, and to discuss plans for improvement," UVA said in statement.
The Jefferson Council, a conservative alumni group, had been calling for an end or change to the tour program, insisting that volunteers had been wrongly besmirching the legacy of UVA's founder.
The university's statement did not cite the Jefferson Council's ongoing campaign against University Guide Services.
And UVA spokesperson Bethanie Glover went a step further adding that: "This isn't in direct response to any criticism from the Jefferson Council. This is more to do with the guides not showing up for their scheduled tours."
