The Story
House of Delegates Hears Testimony of Four BOV Members
The House of Delegates held a confirmation hearing for four members of the BOV Thursday in Richmond. Photo by James Evans
“I’m sorry that we had to have a little talk this morning,” Del. John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) said in closing at Thursday’s meeting of the Virginia House of Delegates’ Privileges and Elections Committee.
Nearly 90 minutes earlier, Chairman Mark Cole (R-Spotsylvania) greeted Henry Wolf, Vice Rector of the College’s Board of Visitors, BOV members Anita Poston and John Gerdelman and appointee Kathy Hornsby for the “little talk.” Hornsby’s appointment is pending confirmation by the General Assembly, while Wolf, Poston and Gerdelman are all pending re-confirmation.
Although standard for many state and federal appointments, confirmation hearings are uncommon for Virginia college boards of visitors, according to Del. James Scott (D-Fairfax). “I’ve never heard of such a session,” Scott said.
According to Cole, however, the Committee had good reasons. “We all want to do what’s in the best interest of one of our Commonwealths’ most treasured institutions of higher learning, the College of William and Mary,” he said.
“We believe that a set of recent events warrant a more thorough review of those responsible for its oversight,” Cole said. He cited President Gene Nichol’s 2006 decision to remove a cross from the Wren Chapel, the subsequent loss of a $12 million gift, the 3rd Annual Sex Workers’ Art Show and the Bias Incident Reporting Website as such events.
“Quite frankly, members of this Committee and others in the House are unsure of what to make of these events,” Cole said to a full room of spectators, including at least a dozen current students and recent alumni.
When explaining the BOV’s role, Wolf said the board functions like a corporate board of directors.
“That is a role where it is the principle responsibility of those boards to ensure that there are strategic objectives for the institution,” Wolf said, adding that the board oversees College objectives and ensures it operates within Virginia law.
While some delegates sought information on finances, tuition, in-state and out-of-state student ratios and matriculation of illegal immigrants, most of the discussion was a more-or-less veiled criticism of Nichol.
“If any university president in the Commonwealth has put a bad light on the Commonwealth… it’s Mr. Nichols,” said Del. Jeffrey Frederick (R-Prince William County). No one corrected Frederick’s misnomer.
Del. Clarence Phillips (D-Dickenson Co.) asked the appointees for a commitment to ensure the College is known for “all right and good things,” to “do what’s necessary through your leadership and through your good name.”
Del. Terrie Suit (R-Virginia Beach) asked the board members what they would do specifically to prevent the Sex Workers’ Art Show from returning to campus. Wolf replied that the Student Assembly, not by the BOV, allocates student activity fees. He said the board prevents allocations that flout state law, but he will pursue a review of policies regarding the use of public facilities.
Cosgrove pointed out that last year’s SA budget denied the Honor Council money for a mock trial and gave disproportionately to the Sex Workers’ Art Show. Wolf replied that the SA has a thorough process, “and they are largely in control of the allocation of those dollars.”
Scott cautioned that his colleagues sounded a great deal like authorities who barred civil rights speeches at the University of North Carolina when he was a student there in the 1960s.
One delegate, Joseph Morrissey (D-Charles City Co.), joked that he wished he had attended the Sex Workers’ Art Show. Another quoted Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in support of free speech.
On the occasion of the upcoming 315th anniversary of the College Charter, Del. Chris Jones (R-Suffolk) quoted it. Jones recited the historic purpose that the “youth may be piously educated in good letters and good manners,” asking if those words were still a guiding influence.
On the topic of the Wren Cross, Poston stated that she, as well as each of the other three appointees present, is comfortable with the current compromise.
Del. Robert Bell (R-Greene Co.) asked the appointees about why the College’s Bias Incident Reporting System was necessary suddenly, “after 314 years.” Wolf replied that the system is similar to those at many other colleges and universities, including Bell’s alma mater, the University of Virginia.
Cosgrove and Cole closed the hearing, urging the appointees to take a strong hand in College governance.
“Every taxpayer in the Commonwealth owns a little part of William and Mary,” Cole said, noting that the College is “not owned by the students, not owned by the residents of Williamsburg.”
“Everything that happens at William and Mary will rest on your shoulders,” he said.