Dear Friends, Thank you for supporting our petition, begun nearly two years ago, to change the name of JEB Stuart High School in Falls Church Virginia. Your voice has remained strong in these two short years and lawmakers have listened to you and people like you, with actions culminating in the remarkable series of Confederate statue removals in New Orleans. These changes are fueled by people just like you who have chosen to speak out. Mitch Landrieu, Mayor of New Orleans said it best: "The Confederacy was on the wrong side of history and humanity. It sought to tear apart our nation and subjugate our fellow Americans to slavery. This is the history we should never forget and one that we should never again put on a pedestal to be revered." Studying the Confederacy in the context of the classroom, disciplined scholarship, and a balanced approach brought through serious study is appropriate. Over 150 years of revering and glorifying the Confederacy out of context (including names and statues without balanced explanations offered with them) is not appropriate and has led to over a century of racial strife and even horrific killings such as the Charleston Massacre on June 17, 2015. We need you to speak out again, loud and strong, once and for all to each and every one of the Fairfax County School Board’s members. Add your voices to help magnify the desire of current Stuart students who have urged the Fairfax County School Board to change the name of their school, and student leaders including the current Executive President of the Student Government Association, and student groups including the Stuart Black Student Union, the Stuart Muslim Student Association and the JEB Stuart Impact Club. We need you now more than ever! The School Board is scheduled to vote on whether to change the name of JEB Stuart High School on June 22nd, with a working session on June 12th. (The new name will be chosen at a later time). The Board has just lost a member and there are also some undecided votes. We need you to sway them all! Please e-mail each of the Fairfax County School Board Members listed below to register your support for changing the name on JEB Stuart High School. If you are an alumnus, please list your graduation year. If you are a resident of Fairfax County, please highlight that. If you are a parent of a current or former student please note that. If you are a current or former Stuart or FCPS teacher please note that If you live in the JEB Stuart school district, please note that. Ryan.McElveen@fcps.edu | ilryong.moon@fcps.edu | JHough1@fcps.edu | Megan.McLaughlin@fcps.edu | Jane.Strauss@fcps.edu | Pat.Hynes@fcps.edu | TDKaufax@fcps.edu | SSEvans@fcps.edu | KLCorbettsan@fcps.edu | DaPalchik@fcps.edu | Elizabeth.Schultz@fcps.edu | TAWilson1@fcps.edu Sincerely, “Alumni for Change” Bruce Cohen JEB Stuart High School Class of 1979 Jeff Parker JEB Stuart High School Class of 1975 Lisa McQuail JEB Stuart High School Class of 1978 Marley Finley JEB Stuart High School Class of 2016