CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WTVR) – The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors will meet Tuesday afternoon to reconsider the forced resignation of the University President Teresa Sullivan.
Members of the Faculty Senate have planned a gathering for 2:30 p.m. on the Lawn.
“We intend to be a silent force of support for President Sullivan, as well as for members of the Board,” U.Va. Faculty Senate Chair George Cohen said in a statement.
Last week Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell sent a letter to the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors demanding it take action at today’s meeting.
“I want final action by the Board on Tuesday,” the governor said in a statement. “If you fail to do so, I will ask for the resignation of the entire Board on Wednesday. Regardless of your decision, I expect you to make a clear, detailed and unified statement on the future leadership of the University.” [BONUS: Click here to read McDonnell’s letter to the board]
On June 19, after nearly 11 hours of meeting behind closed doors, the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors appointed McIntire School of Commerce Dean Carl Zeithaml to lead the University as its interim president. A job Zeithaml stepped back from three days later amid campus protests from students and faculty.
Many of those protestors chided the Board of Visitors for ousting President Sullivan for reasons not made entirely clear to the University community.
“You would expect that everyone would be part of the process,” said a student you attended a protest rally. “For Sullivan to just be suddenly taken out like that…I feel like the U.Va. Board of Visitors has a lot to owe to students, and especially to Sullivan,” she said.
Former U.Va. President John Casteen III, was among the supporters in attendance. Casteen voiced dismay at the speedy and secretive way that the board made its decision.
