The Death of Transparency Again
Tuesday July 7 The day transparency died again. The Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson met with the executive committee of the Faculty Senate. At that point they said they would not join the senate meeting. They claimed then that legal counsel prevented them from answering any questions related to an ongoing DOJ investigation and that this might get in the way of the “Voluntary Resolution Agreement,” that will come soon. They would not even say whether they had met to discuss this rather enormous action. They would like the faculty to turn down the temperature of the conversation. Note that the outside council listed on the DOJ letters is the same Farnaz Thompson mentioned above; a contributor to the 2025 plan and Betsy Devos’ gutting of Title IX. The Tuesday performance was so egregious that even faculty who had been inclined to “give grace” became more interested in a vote of no confidence.
Thursday July 10 The Cavalier Daily published a letter from over 400 concerned faculty. The letter that started with a small group in the college outlines failure of trust and calls on the BOV to collaborate. You can read it here. https://www.cavalierdaily.com/.../a-statement-by...
Friday July 11: At 4:30 today Jim Ryan ended his term as UVa’s 9th President. He left with a characteristicly graceful video message. it. “It was the honor of my life to work and learn from you.” He ended by reminding the students that they give him hope and they are why we are here. I am certain he meant it. I’ve never seen a President engage students like he does. His chief of staff will also leave the University at the end of the month. She is a compassionate and cogent leader, and her absence will make many things harder.
Friday July 11 1:00-3:00 Faculty Senate Meeting. SOME INTERESTING BACK STORY. The faculty representative to the BOV said that between June 7 and June 30 he had no communication from the BOV. This was a radical shift from the rest of his year with the board. He felt quite included until then. He and at least four other BOV members learned of the possible resignation from the New York Times.
The faculty senate voted 46-14 in favor of a resolution of no confidence in the board of visitors. (see WAPO and Cavalier Daily) This was a very intense and tense meeting with about 200 in the room and 800 on zoom. The faculty senate chair did an amazing job of navigating the room. The RMC “security” people showed up for reasons that are unclear to me. It looks like they made people leave water bottles and signs outside. The crowd, mostly faculty and staff, are evidently very scary to the two BOV members on zoom. There was raucous applause, pointed laughter, whispering and gasps every so often. For those that love the founders this is pretty much how this stuff worked then… No one said that democratic harmony was quiet. Also, lots of texting. You could feel the tension in the room. Brie Gertler said that before Jim left, he told the executive team to “band together to carry the university forward.” (she was great)
The resolution states that the faculty senate has lost confidence in the Rector, Vice Rector, and Board of Visitors. A vote of no confidence is exactly what is sounds like: a symbolic statement of disapproval. It implies that the board/leader must earn back the trust of their institution. It has no legal authority. The resolution details dropped on Linked In. (who knew we had that for the senate?) The resolution is on the Senate webpage now. https://facultysenate.virginia.edu/resolution-obligations...
The logic should be apparent. The BOV did not honor its commitments. Their responsibilities mandate candor and transparency. They are not protecting the University. They are clearly not functioning well as some of the board members heard about the blackmailing of Jim Ryan from the New York Times. They have not in fact met since this crisis began.
Nevertheless, this resolution, was hard won. It looked even yesterday like many faculty senators were not ready to take this step. Some feel we need to hear more from the board. Some I suspect are cool with the Board’s warm relationship with the DoJ. The Law School Federalist Society people put up a long and wordy alternative resolution. It basically said that the faculty senate “urges the BOV to protect its authority.” They also “withhold for now final judgement on its confidence in the Board of Visitors.” (The Federalist Society is a conservative organization that has been involved in many efforts over the years to weaken the amendments to the Constitution except the second. They lead the charge of so-called originalists.
One of the faculty senators expressed concern that the resolution of no confidence could be seen as partisan (OMG!!!!). They may want to read the Cavalier Daily’s coverage of the BOV political donations. In total they donated $4.8 million to Republican campaigns, 10K to Democrats and 39K to “other.” The Rector donated 25K to Glen Younkin’s campaign.
The Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson spoke from zoom. This would have worked better as a satirical movie about bad leadership. They want us to have grace and be nice to them. The Rector said the best thing we can do is “cool the temperature down.” Evidently the authoritarian removal of the President of the University should be experienced with quiet contemplation. These is a “dynamic time” for higher education. They both love the University and the faculty and are deeply committed to transparency. Expect that they cannot say anything, won’t answer questions, etc. Wilkinson was totally bizarre. Somehow in the face of all of this she saw fit to tell us about being a little girl on the lawn and being afraid that polar bears would attack here. (I am not making this up).
The first question from a nursing professor was stunning. She said something like, “it looks from the DOJ papers like you did the negotiating before you took on the role of rector. You failed to secure certain commitments which must have been embarrassing. Do you support an investigation into the process and how it broke down.” Much cheering from the faculty ensued. The Rector refused to answer which prompted loud vocal expressions of disapproval, frustration, disgust.
In other News. They did not stop at UVa. George Mason University is the next target. Evidentially the day that Jim Ryan resigned the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced it would open an investigation into antisemitism. A few days later they added complaints about racially discriminatory practices. This is the same playbook they used at UVA. They are targeting and accusing the President, Gregory Washington. These are title VI investigations. Washington is the first Black President of George Mason. The GMU BOV meeting in May about DEI was nasty and made it clear that their BOV would also not be sad to comply with the federal government. GMU is also not all that woke. The law school is named after Antonin Scalia. “Despite the leadership of George Mason University claiming that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, it appears that its hiring and promotion policies and practices from 2020 to the present, implemented under the guise of so-called ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,’ not only allow but champion illegal racial preferencing in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This kind of pernicious and wide-spread discrimination—packaged as ‘anti-racism’—was allowed to flourish under the Biden Administration, but it will not be tolerated by this one” So the Civil Rights act is also turning over in its grave.