To the editor:

I am writing to correct some historical errors in the letter submitted by Samantha Ahdoot and Heather Jelks, “Eulogy for the Witness Oak,” in the Sept. 10 Alexandria Times. Robin Gibson was a student at George Washington High School, not T.C. Williams High School. He was shot at a 7-11 in Arlandria.

When T.C. Williams, the red and gold Titans, opened in 1965, it was fully integrated. G.W., the blue and gold Presidents, and Hammond, the blue and white Admirals, high schools were also integrated at that time without disturbances.

What happened in 1971 was a consolidation of three high schools that had already been integrated in the mid-1960s. There were disturbances at G.W. and Hammond during the 1971-72 school year when students were transferred through forced busing to achieve a better racial balance in the schools.

-Greg Paspatis, T.C. Williams Class of 1978