Request to BOV - William and Mary deserves better

The following letter is posted at the request and with the permission of the author. Perhaps we can take heed and do our part to support her so eloquent request.


April 11, 2007

Michael Powell
Rector, Board of Visitors,
College of William and Mary
7921 Bracksford Court
Fairfax Station, VA 22039

Dear Mr. Powell:

As the Board of Visitors prepares to meet for the last time this school year on April 19-20th, I am compelled to write you with regard to Gene Nichol.

With his contract expiring in July 2008 and the one-year-notice clause coming due shortly, I assume that contract renewal or non-renewal will be on the agenda for this last BOV meeting. Please consider the following list as abundantly ample cause for non-renewal of this president’s contract:

1. With the Wren Cross decisions of October and December 2006, Nichol created a problem of such magnitude that it took five months and a committee to reach some sort of agreement. As of this date, the decision made by the Committee on Religion has yet to be implemented and the cross remains in the closet. There is no indication from the Committee as to when the topic will be discussed again.

2. The Committee’s decision to put the Wren Cross in a glass case was based, in part at least, on the University of Virginia’s practice. In truth, UVA has not implemented any kind of glass case for its cross; indeed their cross sits as it ever was, on the altar. When queried about a timeline for implementing a decision made last October, the public relations person avoided answering the question. I could not get a sense of when their glass case would be made much less where it would end up. The only conclusion to draw is that UVA’s president has no intention of changing anything with regard to its cross, but said they were fixin’ to do something so that Gene Nichol might hang his hat on it. Thus Nichol’s Committee decision is based on false data.

3. Admissions growth to the College has decreased by 80% since he came into office.

4. The loss of millions in alumni donations during Nichol’s tenure is a public disgrace and entirely Nichol’s fault.

5. The loss of our good name and reputation as a top tier school through the negative publicity on the Wren Cross decisions, as well as the Sex Show and the obscene photograph in the Flat Hat, both of which Nichol supports, is a loss that will take years to overcome.

I am deeply disturbed by the lack of understanding Mr. Nichol reveals by his actions and his own pen. He seems to be a man with charisma but with little understanding of our College’s great and noble history and the role alumni play in keeping it so. He also seems to be without a moral compass of any kind; a great leader he is not. Surely the Board can find a better man or woman to serve as president who will not only revere and protect our college’s traditions and history, but one who has the maturity and wisdom to avoid rash and petty actions that result in a downward spiral of our reputation.

Great leaders must rise to the challenge of making tough decisions. Your job now as Rector is to guide the Board in deciding the future of our beloved College. The College can neither withstand nor afford three more years of Gene Nichol’s brand of leadership. Please release him so that he may find a job that better suits his temperament, his goals, and his politics. William and Mary will be better off by far.

Yours sincerely,

Karla K. Bruno
Class of 1981 and 1992

cc: BOV members
Gene Nichol

Cross-linked letter to the Board of Visitors

I have cross-linked a letter I wrote to the William and Mary Board of Visitors. This will be sent to them using my read name as an alum of The College - Letter to William and Mary BOV - Let Gene Nichol go!

William and Mary - On Good Friday, Nichol's "cold and cruel" insult

Frequently, comments left at posts "get lost" to the general reader. Here are the comments left at William and Mary - Numero Uno. Some of the links are no longer available and one was not complete. My apologies.

Anonymous said...

Do you think when Nichol finally crashes and burns we might get a real grown-up next time? It's getting to the point where you try to avoid admitting you have a degree from W&M.

6:27 PM

Anonymous said...

Here's a website that gives Paul Harvey's view of the efforts of the politically correct thugs to remake America by bullying and lawyering the rest of us into submission:
In God We Trust [link no longer active]

It's time we said we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!

12:58 PM

Mike '80 mikerkba2001@yahoo.com said...

No Nickels for Nichol. Hopefully, we all withhold funds to express distrust in this man. He is a cultural terrorist, and we should never negotiate with terrorists. Our BOV should see to it that this is this intellectual terrorist's last graduation day at W&M.

Mike '80

6:40 PM

Anonymous said...

Perhaps we need to use our own petition system, like the University of Richmond did when they recently ousted their errant president. See below:

He was chided for comments in a "state of the university" address to staff members in which he discussed efforts to attract more talented students to the private liberal arts school.

"The entering quality of our student body needs to be much higher if we are going to transform bright minds into great achievers instead of transforming mush into mush, and I mean it," he said. He later apologized and said his comments were misinterpreted.

That did not appease many graduates of the 3,000-student school, who called for his ouster and threatened to withhold contributions. Thousands of alumni put their names on an online petition demanding new leadership.

In December, trustees expressed disappointment in Cooper but voted to allow him to continue as president.

His resignation takes effect June 30, 2007. After a yearlong sabbatical, he will return to the faculty, spokesman Dan Kalmanson said.

Richmond University President to step down

12:39 AM

Del said...

Just thought I would share the following with you, especially those who somehow think we have achieved any victory in this matter.

I was crossing the William and Mary campus this beautiful Good Friday afternoon and decided to stop in and spend a few minutes in the Wren Chapel. On entering the chapel I couldn't believe my eyes. The Millington Cross was not on the altar table.

Gene Nichol has said he took his recent actions to be inclusive -- that obviously doesn't include Christians. This act on Easter weekend which includes the two most important days in history for all Christians when we remember the crucifixion and death of Christ for our sins, and the Resurrection of Christ to our eternal salvation. There is no way this could have been an act of omission, but was clearly a deliberate act.

Gene Nichol could not have committed a greater insult. It is unbelievably cold and evil. His actions scream volumes about his intent to make Christians the most unwelcome of all other groups of people.

On my way off the campus I stopped in front of his house, knelt and prayed for him and the college.

In defense of the Cross of Christ

1:42 PM

William and Mary - Numero Uno

Yes, we beat the West Coast and I'm sure this is publicity that the BOV would not like. Not at all, not at all. But we did manage to win an award, topping the University of California at Berkeley. Now that takes some doing. For those of you who may miss this info, I have included two links for your here.

De-feathered and with our Wren Cross under glass, we still managed to win the coveted $1,000 top prize. That will no doubt go to off-set the millions President Nichol's managed to toss away all by himself due to his "insentitive" behavior.

Here are the links:

The first to Karen of We're #1.

Second is the awards described at Campus Magazine Online, 2007 Campus Outrage Awards.

I added my tiny bit as well with William and Mary - no feathers but still Numero Uno!.

Hats off to the men and women - students, alumni, concerned citizens, all - who said "enough" to tyranny!