Lane Theological Seminary - The "Rebels" Depart

The "Rebels" Depart

As Cincinnati businessmen, the members of the school's board of trustees were quite concerned about being associated with such a radical expression of abolitionism. President Beecher did not want to escalate the matter by overreacting, but when the press began to turn public opinion against the students that summer, he was in Boston. In his absence, the Executive Committee of the trustees issued a report recommending the abolishment of the school's antislavery society, stating that "no associations or Societies among the students ought to be allowed in the Seminary except such as have for their immediate object improvement in the prescribed course of studies." They further urged the adoption of rules to "discourage...such discussions and conduct among the students as are calculated to divert their attention from their studies." The committee underlined their position by dismissing professor John Morgan for taking the side of the students. In October, without waiting for Beecher to return, the board ratified the committee's resolutions. (Fletcher, pp. 158–60)

On his return, Beecher and two professors issued a statement intended to assuage the anger of the students regarding the action of the trustees, but it was regarded by the students as a faculty endorsement. Within a week, approximately 40 students and trustee Asa Mahan requested dismissal from the school. The "Lane Rebels," as they came to be known, established an informal seminary of their own for a time and then accepted an invitation to join Oberlin College, which became an interracial institution committed to the emancipation and education of African Americans. The stand taken by the "rebels" not only challenged the school's unchecked authority over student and faculty activities, but also marked a shift in American antislavery efforts from colonization to abolition, and many of them became ministers, abolitionists and social reformers across the country. (Fletcher, pp. 161–63)