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A house divided cannot standAs students and as leaders of our respective campus organizations, we are disappointed by the manner in which the Board of Visitors chose not to renew Gene Nichol as president of the College. I am joined by Council of Fraternity Affairs chairman Joseph Andrews, Inter-Sorority Council president Laura Sauvain, Class of 2008 president Nick Faulkner, Student Assembly Senate Public Affairs Committee chair Sarah Rojas, VA21 representative of the SA Jesse Woods and Miss Teen Virginia USA 2006 Samantha Casey. For many students who interacted with Nichol on a daily basis, he stood as a voice representative of our campus, our needs and our progress. He is a man loved by many and criticized by few. On the day of his resignation, thousands packed the Wren Courtyard in honor of his service. Today, more than 2,000 members belong to a pro-Nichol Facebook group. These examples of resounding student opinion highlight the BOV’s utter disconnect with the community it represents. Nichol was always the students’ champion. From his first day on campus, he captivated our community with his charisma, inspiration and unparallelled ability to instill hope and motivation in our student body. A prominent figure on campus, Nichol could often be found pacing the sidelines at athletic contests, hosting lunches and dinners with students and faculty, teaching seminars on constitutional law, delivering acceptance letters to Gateway Program students and leading the pep band in the Alma Mater. His presidency was one of openness and, for that, he was admired. We urge future decisions to be transparent and all-inclusive — qualities extolled by Nichol. We call upon students to demand their inclusion in the decision-making process. We look to our own leadership to remember and reinforce why the College is a wonderful place. Our house has been divided and we must work to bring it back together. As current students, tomorrow’s alumni and future donors to the College, we ask for this inclusiveness from our BOV. We look forward to the BOV’s visit to campus as one of the first of many, ensuring an open and constant dialogue between every member of the College community. Together, we can continue to work toward a successful future for our beloved institution. Nichol was more than a figurehead, he was the drumbeat of this Tribe. We were proud to follow his leadership and are committed to carrying out his legacy, together. Though the loss of Nichol as our president is painful, we welcome Interim President Taylor Reveley with open arms and with great anticipation. His courage in taking on this job at this time is a testament to both his character and that of this institution. In this time of uncertainty, we will look to him and ourselves for stability and stand by him to preserve the College as “great and public.” Go Tribe! And continue to hark upon the gale! Brett Phillips, co-founder of the Student Chamber of Commerce, is a senior at the College. |
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“These examples of resounding student opinion highlight the BOV’s utter disconnect with the community it represents.”
The BOV does not represent the students. The Student Assembly represents the students. The students elect an SA president who has an advisory, non-voting role in the BOV. The BOV represents the state of Virginia.
Also, I didn’t know that the role of the 2006 Miss Teen Virginia qualified the young lady to such a place of influence among the student body. Or perhaps it is because she is Phillips’ girlfriend that she received the “honor” of being counted among the opposition…Haha!
The BOV’s decision was completely essential to the college’s future.
— William Carlos Williams Feb 23, 10:39 PM #
WCW – he said it all. However, I think Mr Philips’s decision to include his girlfriend shows wisdom beyond his years. PC college presidents come and go, but landing a former Miss Teen Virginia doesn’t happen every day. He should throw her back into the water for politics? Get real. There may be a lot of fish in the sea, but come on…the ocean is only so big. I’m glad at least one Nicholite has his priorities straight.
— bob owens bobs Feb 24, 02:42 PM #
Now, now, I’ll bet Miss Teen Virginia,if asked, is 100% in favor of that elusive objective: “world peace”. Nichol was/is a charismatic person who duped dozens, if not hundreds, of gullible w&m students into his personality cult. There may be no other university in the country where the President spends as much of his time helping Freshmen move into their dorm or by “leading” volunteer “medical missions” to third world countries. There may be a reason for that; University Presidents are supposed to be responsible and accountable for the mission and success of the university. Nichol was an abject failure at both.
— Jeff '62 Feb 24, 06:52 PM #
Interesting title: “a house divided” is the reason that Nichol’s presidency collapsed. During his short tenure at William and Mary, Gene Nichol polarized the student body, the faculty, the alumni, and Virginia’s taxpayers and lawmakers. His needless controversies subjected the College to a barrage of bad press, fostered an arrogant ‘keep your wallets open and your mouths shut’ attitude towards alumni, and ultimately forced the Board of Visitors to remove him. Nichol’s self-serving letter of resignation was the final demonstration of his disturbing pattern of putting his own interests above the welfare of the College.
— '06 Alum Feb 24, 06:55 PM #
Jeff ’62 – The “medical missions” are legitimate and quite amazing. A person’s (e.g., Nichol’s) perceived failure in one area does not necessitate failures in all areas. The medical missions have existed long before Nichol came to W&M. That part of your argument was specious.
— Legal scholar Feb 24, 07:17 PM #
This is the academic prowess of which W&M is so proud? The students who believe the entire school exists for them and them alone? The BOV, the alumni, the taxpayers – we all exist to give them what they want, and if we fail the tantrums fly? I’m not sure a half-time Beauty Queen is enough to sway my opinion.
— WJS Feb 26, 04:05 PM #
What’s wrong with being in favor of whirrled peas?
— Joe Towney Feb 26, 04:41 PM #
I think we all ought to lay off Samantha, for Pete’s sake. Also, Nichol may well have been sincere in his participation in the medical missions, and they are worthwhile and predated his arrival, so perhaps we could avoid castigating him for that. There are many valid issues to discuss without this.
If all of you who have joined together on this editorial REALLY want openness, then you are going to have to ask Nichol to allow the Board to share the results of his review with the College community, because the Board cannot do so, whether they want to or not.
Perhaps those of you who were close to Nichol, and who may be in contact with him, could simply ask him to let the information be shared. At the moment, the Board is muzzled, and the only person who can unmuzzle them is Nichol himself.
I would be willing to bet that Nichol won’t allow any such openness in this matter. He gets to claim martyrdom and the Board cannot release any evidence they have that might prove otherwise. The Board has Nichol right where he wants them on the issue of “openness.”
Before you ascribe bad motives to the Board for their lack of openness, at least realize that they are bound by the rules concerning personnel matters, which only Nichol can waive.
— 86 Alum Feb 29, 10:56 PM #
Hi everyone. My name is Samantha Casey and I am the Miss Virginia Teen USA that you all speak of. I think it’s important that I state my piece, just so the story is set straight. First off, yes, Brett is my boyfriend, but more than that he is my friend and asked me to join in support of this article as a student leader, not a girlfriend, because he knows I deeply I care about President Nichol and how upsetting the recent news was to me. Also, I want to share with you all why I chose to use my pageant title instead of Vice-President of Student Chamber of Commerce or my leadership role in Greek Impact. After I read Brett’s beautifully-written article, I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to display the diverse support behind Gene Nichol and thus I chose to use a leadership title outside of The College of William & Mary, Miss Virginia Teen USA 2006. I apologize if that does not mean anything to some of you, but I think it is important that we not focus on a beauty pageant title, but instead the unfortunate loss of our beloved friend and President, Gene Nichol.
— Miss Virginia Teen Mar 5, 02:37 PM #
Legal Scholar –
All of this so-called “volunteerism” is a bunch of B…S… Student “volunteerism” of the “Medical Mission” sort makes the students feel good and virtuous but what do they really accomplish? Please tell me what is, or what can be, truly accomplished in a one week trip to a third world country over Spring Break by a group of people [even with a desire to help – someone/anyone] – but with little or no medically relevant skills. I know the students mean well but they are being duped into thinking they are making a real contribution. They could make a far better contribution by foregoing the trip and sending the money they would have spent for travel and expenses directly to whatever foreign relief organization they want to help.
“Volunteerism” is a “feel good” Politically Correct construct that has pervaded Higher Education over the last few decades like some kind of plague. A “committment” to volunteering is almost a requirement for admission to PC schools like W&M – thus parents with means are even purchasing “volunteer” opportunities for their High School age children to provide an admissions anvantage.
I think volunteering is great, especially if you are good at what you volunteer for. However, for the most part, in order to be effective, volunteer efforts need to be continuous and sustained and, of course, that is most easily accomplished in the local community. There are hundreds of agencies and thousands of people within 30 miles of the W&M campus who could be helped by bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, eager and compassionate W&M students.
For example, W&M could implement a program to assist 500 “at risk” students at high schools in the surrounding area the area beginning with the freshman year and continuing until the senior year. At the fourth year, W&M students could be providing real assistance to 2000 kids in the local community. The tutoring, support, role modeling and preparation for college the W&M students could provide would be invaluable to the these local students.
Of course, such a program would require dedication and hard work and would not be near as sexy as a spring break trip to Costa Rica, but, if successfully implemented could make a world changing difference in the lives of the local HS students – and probably the W&M students as well.
— Jeff '62 Mar 5, 04:33 PM #
Jeff ’62, I do not disagree with you one bit. There are local causes where more meaningful, more tangible differences could be made – from the high school students you mention to the 2% of WM students or so (7% under $40,000, I think 2% under 20,000 – I was in this group) whose household makes under $20,000 and can barely afford the required health insurance to the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program where there are kids without father or mother figures (in this group too) who need substantial, consistent role models, to the significant homeless, destitute, and disabled local populations in Williamsburg that cannot fend for themselves despite their available employment.
I, perhaps, was not clear in my original post. I do not mean to state that those short-term medical missions overseas can have long-term tangible effects, merely that they are not donor-funded vacations where the students do not have any tangible impact. The impact they have is indeed short-term, as you point out, but I feel it is meaningful nonetheless. However, I – as you – would rather see our money directed at the domestic, local level first. After all (as the saying roughly goes), love begins by taking care of those closest to home first. We all know it’s difficult to help a neighbor repair his kitchen floor if yours is rotting too.
The medical missions are great insofar as they encourage us to help others and for their short-term impacts. If sustained on a larger scale, each individual medical mission could (theoretically) be part of an ongoing chain whereby long-term effects are produced. However, we are not there yet, and you are correct that currently, there is little long-term impact.
Hope that helps clear things up.
I don’t know if I agree with you on volunteerism – although it has become the institutionalized, de facto impersonal requirement for gaining admittance to higher education. (I don’t tend to believe in people; everybody lies.) All I know is that any volunteer work I’ve done has been for the primary purpose of intervening in a situation that made me even more disgusted with the human race than I already am.
— Legal scholar Mar 5, 04:56 PM #