Virginia Politicians and the Slow Strangulation of Its Famous State University

Numerous American states, especially those with legislatures dominated by the Republican party, are causing havoc, and in some cases chaos, for their state universities.   Take the case of Virginia (where I happen to reside).

Helen Dragas, a property developer and alumna of the University of Virginia, is also a former member and rector of the UVA Board of Visitors (Virginia’s equivalent of the board of trustees).  She was appointed to the Board by Hillary Clinton’s neoliberal running mate, Tim Kaine, when he was governor of Virginia.  Dragas has embroiled UVA in two needless controversies which indicate clearly she has, among other things, little idea how a contemporary university functions.

In 2012, in her capacity as Rector of the Board of Visitors, Dragas orchestrated a coup which led to the resignation of the University president, Teresa Sullivan, on the grounds that Sullivan had mismanaged UVA’s finances by not imposing budgetary austerity and not investing in online courses.

MOOCs were the in-vogue bandwagon then, and online education was believed, mistakenly it turned out, to be a cheaper alternative to a traditional classroom-based curriculum.

Several Board members said they had not been consulted on Sullivan’s sacking (which is what it was), students and faculty fought back hard on behalf of the popular Sullivan, and the press started to delve into in the financial affairs of Board members– nearly all corporate fat cats like Dragas– most of whom,…

Read more