The firestorm surrounding the unexpected ousting of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan is only intensifying as more details—or lack thereof—emerge about how the decision was made.
The Post reported this morning that at least three board members were unaware of the campaign to oust Sullivan and only learned of it in the days before the announcement was made public.
This account seems to run contrary to that of board leader Rector Helen E. Dragas, who told Sullivan last week that 15 of the 16 voting members on the Board of Visitors voted in favor of removing her.
Today, in front of hundreds of students and faculty at UVA, the university’s former president, John Casteen, spoke out against the secrecy of the board’s actions.
"My interest simply is having the public's business done in public," he said. " In Virginia, you can't make secret plans for the allocation of public resource."
The executive council of the UVA faculty senate—who overwhelmingly passed a resolution of no-confidence in the board—met with Dragas this morning.
The Senate had hoped the board would reconsider its decision.
But, according to The RTD, the council learned nothing new from the meeting.
* NBC’s Julie Carey is tweeting about the activity at UVA today and wrote that Dragas said the UVA family deserves better from the board and regrets the pain and confusion caused by the ousting.
But Dragas said the Board plans to find a new president and move forward, seemingly rejecting the Senate’s call to reinstate Sullivan.
* The Post has details on Sullivan’s proposed settlement agreement:
In a proposed settlement agreement, Sullivan would receive her presidential salary for an additional year — $680,000 annually — while she is on sabbatical conducting research, consulting with the board and preparing to teach in the fall of 2013, according to a person who was briefed on the document. It would fall to $170,000 when she returns to teaching sociology. Sullivan also would receive about $360,000 in deferred compensation.
* Which ward has the most die-hard partisans? According to Loose Lips, that title can go to Ward 8.
The Washington City Paper blog reports that Ward 8 Democrats approved a resolution rebuking the D.C. Council for picking Council member Michael Brown—who, although a Democrat on the dais, is a registered independent—over Democrat Vincent Orange for the ceremonial pro tempore post on the council.
Brown changed his registration from Democrat to get elected on the council.
The resolution read: "RESOLVED, that if there are Democratic members of the Council of the District of Columbia who feel that supporting fellow Democrats is not an important consideration regarding its body leadership, then they should publicly state that being a registered Democrat is an unimportant proposition."
* Harry Thomas Jr. is heading to serve his 38 month sentence at a federal facility in Alabama on Wednesday. His church, Michigan Park Christian Church in Ward 5, had a reception and send-off for the former D.C. councilman on Sunday.
* Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and state House Speaker Michael E. Busch, both Democrats, are scheduled to co-host a fundraiser next week to benefit the campaign for same-sex marriage.
Under Busch’s leadership, O’Malley’s law to legalize same-sex marriage passed the House of Delegates and State Senate. An opposition group has been gathering petition signatures and will almost certainly trigger a referendum to get the issue on the ballot in November.
The event, according to The Post, will coincide with Maryland Municipal League’s four-day convention.
Tickets for next Tuesday’s event at the Galaxy 66 Bar and Grill in Ocean City start at $1,000.
* JR Hoeft of Bearing Drift—a conservative blog on Virgina politics—gave his preliminary predictions for Virginia’s general election.
In his predictions, most of the wins went to the GOP.
He has Mitt Romney beating Obama by one-point in Virginia. And in the highly anticipated Senate race between two former governors, George Allen wins over Tim Kaine by one point.
Read his full predictions here.
