Letters to the Editor: Wesleyan Tradition

Letters for Aug. 27:

Preserve the name, legacy of Virginia Wesleyan
By Letters to the Editor


PUBLISHED: August 26, 2025 at 6:00 PM ET
Batten University


origin
Re “Virginia Wesleyan to change name” (A1, Aug. 21): 

My father Robert F. Boyd was crucial in building Virginia Wesleyan College, giving a very large part of the foundational money to start the school.

The one and only reason for naming the school after John Wesley is the tremendous spiritual influence Wesley left, leading hundreds of thousands to Christ. We want all of the students who attend this college to know about Wesley, and more importantly, the main message that he preached — to know God and his son, Jesus Christ. May The Virginian-Pilot stand against the renaming of a university titled after a hero of the Methodist faith.


Bob Boyd Jr., Norfolk