At 11:20 a.m. Monday, the fire alarm in the Chi Omega sorority house, located in sorority court, was set off by smoke, according to a College press release.

p. Many students are away on spring break, so only one student was in the house; she safely exited when the alarm went off.

p. According to Campus Police, the fire was contained inside a kitchen wall. Fire fighters responded and contained the fire. The police officer who first responded was treated Monday afternoon for smoke inhalation and was released promptly.

p. College officials said they do not yet know what caused the fire, and that they hope to have the damage repaired before students return next this weekend.

At a special meeting Thursday afternoon, the College’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted down a motion to express a vote of no confidence in the College’s Board of Visitors.

p. The ballot vote count was 93-76.

p. The resolution was introduced by anthropology Professor Brad Weiss at the faculty’s special meeting on Feb. 15, but was delayed until after last Friday’s BOV forum with staff, faculty and students.

p. Weiss argued in Thursday’s meeting that a vote of no confidence would make a strong, dissenting statement to the BOV after their Feb. 10 decision to not renew former College President Gene Nichol’s contract.

p. “The claim of no confidence is meant to register that dissent very clearly,” Weiss said.

p. Weiss also said a vote of no confidence would hold the board responsible for their promises to continue Nichol’s initiatives regarding diversity and greater access to public education.

p. Several faculty members said that they were not satisfied with last Friday’s BOV forum, which was attended by seven board members, including board Rector Michael Powell ’85, and meant to answer questions regarding the non-renewal decision.

p. “They came, but we are still not satisfied” English Professor Suzanne Hagedorn said, referring to the BOV. “Things right now are broke, badly. We have no faith in this board given their actions right now. They need to do something strong to restore our faith.”

p. Chemistry Professor Gary Defotis argued against the “no confidence” motion.

p. “This is quite unjustified,” he said. “The notion that faculty did not have input [in Nichol’s renewal decision] is absurd.”

p. Defotis said that many faculty members “don’t seem to recognize that the job of a president is an extremely complicated one.”

p. He also said that Interim President Taylor Reveley has already done a better job than Nichol in lobbying for the College in Richmond.

p. Government Professor Paul Manna questioned the usefulness of the no confidence vote, saying that it would “accomplish nothing.”

p. Manna asked the faculty if a no confidence vote would help the College move on since the non-renewal decision, and if it would harm faculty relations with the BOV and with Reveley.

p. After the motion was voted down, the faculty passed a resolution drafted by English Professor Terry Myers, which thanked Nichol for his service, acknowledged the authority of the BOV, expressed dismay that the BOV’s presidential review process did not consult more the views of faculty and expressed concern over how the College is now perceived as “susceptible to ideological and political pressure.”

p. “The Faculty calls on the Board to take action that will dissipate that perception and it requests that the search for the next President (and future evaluation procedures) involve significant representation from the students, staff, and faculty of the College,” the statement said.

p. The resolution also expressed support for Reveley.

Interim College President Taylor Reveley answered questions and discussed his plans for the College with students Wednesday night in an open meeting at the University Center’s Commonwealth Auditorium.

p. After former president Gene Nichol’s unexpected resignation Feb. 12, Reveley became the new, interim president of the College, leaving many to wonder what type of the leadership the College can expect as the BOV searches for a permanent replacement.

p. According to Reveley, who refers to himself as “Ip” (for interim president), the past three weeks have gone better than expected.

p. “There is really a need for healing, really a need for continuity, and really a need for making some progress again,” he said “We’ve been in crisis management mode for the past couple weeks.”

p. At the top of his priorities is finding the College funding for the College’s Gateway Program —which offers financial aid to low-income Virginia residents — and try to keep the Virginia General Assembly from cutting more the College’s budget.

p. According to Reveley, his efforts to expand the College’s coffers have only been met with “soothing words” from the General Assembly, who cut funding to the College by 6.25 percent last year.

p. Approximately 16.5 percent of the College’s budget comes from the commonwealth, and there is potential for further cutbacks as Virginia tries to relieve its debt, which exceeds $200 million.

p. Reveley said that he has received no financial pressure from the GA to direct the College in any particular direction over the next year, and that — although the budget may be tight — funding will go forward for the new School of Education building.

p. One student expressed her concern that Reveley he may be focusing too heavily on fundraising.

p. “No president worth his spit is just a fundraiser,” Reveley said, “Funds are really important… but I think an effective president in addition to … raising money … must be interested in every other aspect of the College.”

p. Reveley also said that universities with effective fundraising strategies do not adhere to a corporate model, as some on campus have feared.

p. At the beginning of the meeting, Reveley said the BOV’s visit to campus last week provided an important step in the healing of ties between the campus community and the board. He added that having a voting student, staff or faculty member on the BOV would be highly unlikely.

p. Throughout the meeting, Reveley consistently returned to the theme of rebuilding and re-unifying the campus.

p. “We’ve been caught up in [the media and] the national culture wars for 18 months,” he said, “It’ll happen, it’s just going to take awhile.”

College Chancellor Sandra Day O’Connor will receive the Virginia Military Institute’s Harry F. Byrd Jr. Class of 1935 Public Service Award today — her 78th birthday.

p. The award, which has been presented three times since its inception in 2002, is given to a public servant whose career mirrors Byrd’s and VMI’s commitment to selflessness, integrity, patriotism and courage.

p. “Justice O’Connor has given much of her life to public service,” G. Gilmer Minor III, president of the VMI Board of Visitors and chairman of the selection committee for the Byrd Award, said in the release. “She exemplifies the spirit of the [award].”

p. O’Connor will address VMI at 10:30 a.m., followed by a parade in her honor at noon.

Less than a week before former College President Gene Nichol’s resignation, Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s office implemented a new policy changing the way that state universities negotiate the selection of presidents and their contracts, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

p. Formerly, the policy of the attorney general’s office was that school-specific assistants to the attorney general would dispense legal advice regarding the selection of presidents and their contracts. Now, all advice will be handled by Ronald Forehand, chief of the education section.

p. The reason for this change is said to foster better relations between a college president and each school’s Board of Visitors and, in Forehand’s words, to “[provide] consistent legal advice to all universities.”

p. Forehand intends to sit in on board meetings and meetings involving presidential searches. He wants to be provided with access to all “relevant” e-mail correspondence.

The University of Colorado’s Board of Regents elected multi-millionaire oil and gas executive Bruce Benson as the institution’s 22nd president. The university’s nine regents held a vote Feb. 20th that determined the election amid many protests by students and teachers at the university.

p. The Board of Regents voted along party lines, with the three Democratic members against Benson’s candidacy, and the six other members, all Republican, voting in favor of Benson, who is aa prominent Republican donor.

p. Benson’s election comes after current CU president, Hank Brown, announced his plans to step down one year ago. Brown states that he expects to remain in office between two days and six weeks while the transition between presidents is made. As president, Benson will head all three CU campuses at Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs.

p. CU Regent Stephen Ludwig, a Democrat, explains some of the apprehension surrounding Benson’s candidacy, stating that there is concern over Benson’s partisan past and his ability to repair relationships with the state legislature. Benson is the former chairman of the state Republican party and ran for governor in 1994.

p. Ludwig also mentions that CU is attempting to regain public trust after several recent scandals. President Brown has introduced several reforms in order to implement greater transparency in university affairs, reforms that Ludwig fears could be undone by Benson’s presence as president.

p. “Another controversial figure sucks all of the oxygen out of the room,” Ludwig said.
Many individuals have criticized CU’s presidential search process, saying that it failed to be transparent. After four search processes, only Benson has been presented.

p. Since being named the sole finalist nearly a month ago, Benson has participated in approximately 40 meetings and forums with administrators, students, faculty members, employees and others affiliated with CU.

p. However, the only manner in which students were allowed to participate in the process was a forum. Both students and faculty voiced opposition to Benson, while several high-profile leaders appeared at the forum to support his candidacy.

p. CU student Veronica Lingo told regents that the selection process should have been slowed in order to allow greater student involvement.

p. “The process has been shrouded by mystery,” she said.
Among the many arguments against Benson’s appointment are that of his ties to the oil industry and his political past. Critics have also pointed out that Benson only possesses a bachelor’s degree, and have made references to past arrests and divorces.

p. Regent Tom Lucero said that he’s disappointed with the campus resistance facing Benson.

p. “[Benson] has been subjected to a process that has not been fair to him,” Lucero said, “Never before have we subjected a candidate as we have Bruce Benson.”

More than four out of five students at the College say they would pay an extra $15 per semester in fees if it meant that the College would be greener, according to a survey conducted by the Student Environmental Action Coalition and sent out randomly by Information Technology to 1,000 students.

p. Of the 355 students who responded, 86 percent said they would be willing to pay what SEAC refers to as green fees, or a small tuition increase that would go directly toward environmental sustainability initiatives such as upgrading facilities and creating an office of sustainability.

p. Now, SEAC leaders are trying to get the 250 signatures needed to add a referendum question about the potential tuition increase to the March 20 Student Assembly election ballots. If passed, the Board of Visitors would then have to sign off on the program for it to take effect.

p. “The idea got its start last semester as a response to the frustration we were all feeling from a lack of response from the administration on climate reform — most notably not signing the President’s Climate Commitment,” SEAC member Phil Zapfel ’09 said.

p. “We know we’re not going to get any help from Richmond or the administration, and these changes are pressing enough that they should happen regardless.”

p. In all, the fee would generate about $225,000 per year, about half of which would go toward facilities upgrades like better insulation and occupancy sensors that can turn lights off automatically. The remainder would pay for an office of sustainability, fund student projects and create an endowment for the program.

p. SEAC members gave a presentation about the idea at the December BOV meeting, and many board members were surprised when told that the College received a D-minus for its energy policies on the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s 2008 report card.

p. “The movement toward environmental sustainability is inevitable and is completely necessary for William and Mary to be recognized as a top university,” Zapfel said. “We are falling behind our peers, and in order to stay in the forefront, we must commit to environmentally sustainable initiatives as soon as possible.”

p. But some feel that tuition increases are not appropriate.
“I’m always against the idea that the administration needs to use the students as a piggy bank,” SA Sen. Joe Luppino-Esposito ’08 said. “More should be done at the state level before we start taxing students on these things.”

p. SEAC members, though, say this is their only option after two years of trying unsuccessfully to convince former College President Gene Nichol to sign the PCC.

p. “This is a last resort,” Zapfel said.