William and Mary Ousts President

In a case that echoes former University President Lawrence H. Summers’ 2006 resignation, the College of William and Mary’s Board of Visitors ousted President Gene R. Nichol last week, ending a tenure that featured several free-speech controversies.

In response, Nichol announced his immediate resignation and accused the board of making a politically motivated decision and of offering him a bribe—allegations that the board expressly denied in a statement.

Similarly, Summers’ defenders characterized his ouster as a breach of academic freedom of speech, while his detractors often cited his adversarial leadership style and his increasingly contentious relations with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Critics of Nichol have been outspoken in their charges against his management of the William and Mary endowment and policies he championed while president of the public Virginia college.

“He has a record no other president would envy,” said Robert G. Marshall of the Virginia House of Delegates. “He should’ve resigned a long time ago.”

Marshall spearheaded the effort among members of the House of Delegates to strip Nichol of the state-funded portion of his salary.

In his letter of resignation, Nichol explicitly addressed the controversies of his tenure, including his removal in October 2006 of a Christian cross from the college’s Wren Chapel, which hosts secular events as well as Christian services.

“The decision was likely required by any effective notion of separation of church and state,” Nichol said in his statement.

William and Mary alumnus James McGlothlin rescinded his $12 million donation to the William and Mary endowment after the cross was removed from display, according to Marshall.

Marshall also alleged that Nichol misrepresented when he found out about McGlothlin’s pledge withdrawal for the purpose of “puffing up the endowment to convince the Board of Visitors.”

“He has denied more information to myself, newspapers, other delegates, other citizens, than any other person in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Marshall said.

H. Patrick Furman, a law professor at the University of Colorado who worked under Nichol when he served as the dean of Colorado’s law school, said the Board of Visitor’s decision sent a message of intolerance.

“If we don’t like your free speech, we’re going to cut it off,” said Furman of the Board’s message. “If we don’t like your religion, we’re not going to tolerate it the same way we tolerate ours.”

Nichol also drew fire when he allowed the Sex Workers’ Art Show to be held on the university’s Williamsburg campus both last week and in 2007.

The show, which also came to Harvard last Saturday, features performances and monologues by sex workers.

“Nichol parades himself as a First Amendment martyr,” Marshall said. “He goes out of his way to find a venue on campus for pimps, prostitutes, and dominatrixes to act out bizarre, grotesque behavior.”

“To stop the production because I found it offensive, or unappealing, would have violated both the First Amendment and traditions of openness that sustain great universities,” Nichol said in the statement.

Nichol’s ouster was met with protests by some students and faculty, according to Brian Whitson, a William and Mary spokesman.

“This is a very close-knit community,” Whitson said. “It is certainly understandable and a healthy process for folks to express their opinions and to have the opportunity to be heard.”

Summers also enjoyed widespread support from the student body even after he announced his resignation.

W. Taylor Reveley III has been appointed interim president of William and Mary, according to the Board of Visitors’ statement.

“He is trying to get out and talk to as many people as possible and beginning the process of building the community back together,” Whitson said of Reveley.