Montpelier Foundation revokes Montpelier Descendant Committee from equal say

ORANGE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - The Montpelier Foundation Board is reversing a 2021 decision to allow Montpelier Descendants Committee equal say.

The foundation says it is still committed to creating parity between the its board and the descendant community and wants to broaden the pool of descendants.

The Descendant Committee says Montpelier isn’t following through with the agreement made last June and this is a way of gatekeeping which descendants can work with the foundation.

“It’s as much a recommitment or ongoing commitment to parity as it is trying to expand the options available to get us there. But it is not a single-throated dismissal of the MDC,” Montpelier Foundation Board Chair Gene Hickok said Monday, March 28.

“What they would rather do is pick the leaders of the descendants themselves, the ones that they feel, they’re comfortable talking to, not the ones that have been elected by the by the 300-plus member descendant community,” Monticello Descendant Committee Chair James French said.

The Montpelier Descendant Committee says it will be willing to work with the Montpelier Foundation Board if it commits to honoring the committee as the sole representatives of the MDC.

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