Alumni want Wren Cross prez booted

[Soldier4Christ]

Alumni want Wren Cross prez booted 
Say even without chapel fiasco, Nichol's performance lacking

A coalition of alumni from the College of William & Mary, where President Gene Nichol's actions have been called "reminiscent of Richard Nixon," has organized a petition calling for the school's Board of Visitors to not renew his contract.

Nichol, whose short tenure on campus has been highlighted by his arbitrary decision to remove the Wren Cross from the historic Wren Chapel as well as feature a sex workers show on campus, has a contract that runs through June 2008.

However, the petition asks the school Board to notify Nichol by June 30, 2007, that his pact will not be renewed.

"Nichol has betrayed our trust by creating a call of silence, elevating personal pursuits above the good of the college and deceitful lawyerly posturing," said Nina Hartley, a 1975 graduate. "His claim of executive privilege and unresponsiveness are reminiscent of Richard Nixon."

The group is called Should Nichol be Renewed, and cites Nichol's "questionable performance" as well as declining academic and comparative rankings at the school.

The group said Nichol, who has not responded to any of WND's requests for comments, was accused of violating campaign finance rules when he ran for the U.S. Senate, and allowed a 1996 crisis at the University of Colorado School of Law when the organization was threatened with losing its accreditation.

"As president at William & Mary, Mr. Nichol has alienated many alumni, donors and residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia, particularly during the recent controversy surrounding the Wren Chapel," the group said. "More than 18,000 alumni and supporters signed a petition asking Mr. Nichol to reverse his policy banning the display of an Anglican cross in the school's historic 275-year-old chapel during exhibition tours.

"The group won their fight when the college's Religion Committee agreed to 'immediately' return the cross to prominent and permanent display in the Wren Chapel on March 6, 2007. However, the committee's recommendations have yet to be implemented," the petitioners group said.

The group also cited the school's student fees that were used to pay for a "sexually explicit event involving strippers, prostitutes and porn actors that was made mandatory for students in certain majors."

And, the revocation of a planned donation of $12 million, largely because of Nichol's handling of the Wren Cross situation, shows "Nichol is unwilling to work in the best interest of William & Mary," the group said.

WND broke the story last fall that Nichol had created a furor by arbitrarily ordering the cross – donated by Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in the 1930s – into storage so that the chapel would be less "faith-specific."

That argument hit even Gov. Tim Kaine as unusual. "I'm just struck by the fact that it is a chapel and has always been a chapel and that's a part of William and Mary and I think continuing in that way certainly wouldn't bother me," he asid.

Lawrence Eagleburger, a member of the school's board, noted earlier that if he had known about Nichol's "excessive views," he wouldn't have voted for him.

The Daily Press, in an editorial, said the issue now is no longer the sex show that was featured on campus, or the removal of the Christian artifact.

"It's about the quality of leadership at the college," the editorial in February said.

The protest group noted that the national standard for assessing endowments showed William and Mary's ranking dropped from 115th to 128th during Nichol's tenure, and now Louisiana State and Texas Tech rank higher than W&M, the nation's second-oldest college.

And the group noted the average application growth at the top 34 universities in 2006 was 6.2 percent, but William & Mary's was only 0.9 percent.

And the group noted that a recent pictorial history of the college, for which Nichol wrote the forward, had to be withdrawn from sales because of an estimated 100 "serious mistakes" were found.

WND also reported earlier that Lance Kyle, a 1989 graduate of the school, has suggested members of the Board, who are appointed by the state, might need to be replaced.

"I implore the BOV not to renew Nichols' $400k+ contract in June 2008 and to tell him now that 'it's not working out' so that both sides can make a smooth transition," he said.

In a letter to Katherine Hanley, in the office of appointments for the state, Kyle asked officials to withhold second term reappointment for John Gerdelman, Anita Poston and Henry Wolf "based on ethical considerations, poor judgment in the presidential selection process and failure to resolve the Wren Cross crisis…"

"Gene Nichol doesn't 'get it.' He doesn't understand how basic economic principles dictate which American universities are successful and which are not. Some schools 'trade' on their sports teams or successful alumni while others … 'build on their history.' Thing is, we don't have a major sports team, medical center or lots of successful, contemporary alumni which we can leverage to lure students and endowment dollars," Kyle said.

"What we do have, though, is unmatchable historic assets," he said. "You see, you can't just bulldoze the Wren Building and think nobody will notice. The place is sacred and is responsible directly or indirectly for every student, faculty member and endowment dollar we take in," he said.

When Nichol originally ordered the cross removed from the chapel, he said he'd gotten a complaint about it. But alumni and students launched a website campaign, called Save The Wren Cross, and collected names demanding the cross be restored.

As the number of names on the petition rose, Nichol at first admitted he "acted too quickly and should have consulted more broadly" and dictated that a plaque would be installed in the chapel.

The move failed to satisfy those who wanted the donated bronze cross restored to the historic chapel, and the university eventually assembled a special committee to deal with the crisis.

The college later confirmed the antique cross would be placed in a glass display case at the front of the chapel, a plan that has yet to be fulfilled.

[Soldier4Christ]

Cross-banishing college president quits
Departure from William & Mary follows board decision not to renew contract

Gene Nichol, the president of the historic College of William & Mary who ordered a cross removed from the campus chapel and approved presentation of a sex show, has quit after being told his contract would not be renewed this summer.

A report in the Virginian-Pilot said Nichol abandoned any responsibilities he would have had during the remaining few months of his contract when the rector of the Williamsburg, Va., college's governing Board of Visitors told him his contract would not be renewed on its expiration in June.

Nichol, who came under criticism from tens of thousands of students and alumni for his decision to remove the historic cross that had been on display in Wren Chapel for nearly a century, left still defending his actions.

The report said that in a letter to students and staff members he wrote that his decision to take the cross out of the chapel was governed by principles he found in the U.S. Constitution. He also credited the Constitution for his decision to allow the sex workers show on the publicly funded campus.

The school's board appointed Dean W. Taylor Reveley as interim president and announced  that a search for a replacement for Nichol would be launched immediately.

The rector, Michael Powell, praised Nichol in an interview with the newspaper, crediting him with increasing diversity at the school and acknowledging his connections with students.

He said the decision to dismiss Nichol was not based on ideology, but he refused to specify the "number of problems" that have caused the board to express concern.

He told the Virginian-Pilot the board weighed the president's duties concerning public and alumni relations, fundraising and other issues.

"There's a food fight going on, and there's a very objective review going on," he told the paper. "And we're participating in … the latter."

On the newspaper forum, comments ranged from a commitment that Nichol will "still be my president," to the other end of the spectrum.

"His anti-Christian bigotry was just too much and then forcing that perverted sex show on the students took it to the end," wrote one commenter." "What a horrible human being, he is really someone who needs to turn from his wicked sins. …"

The cross controversy developed first. WND broke the story in 2006 when one of Nichol's administrators ordered the donated brass cross removed from the chapel in order to make the structure "less faith-specific."

But nearly 20,000 alumni and students eventually signed a petition seeking its restoration to the historic structure on what is the second oldest university in America, and an institution that began as a Christian ministry.

What the Board of Visitors, however, likely found more compelling was the decision by a college supporter to withdraw a promised $12 million donation because of Nichol's actions.

A report in the Hampton Roads, Va., Daily Press said former Board of Visitors member James W. McGlothlin told another former board member Nichol's actions were "unbelievable."

"This has been so disturbing to me that I have decided to withhold any future contributions…," the note said.

Nichol confirmed, eventually, that he had gotten a single complaint about the Christian cross in the Christian chapel, but he didn't specify its source. He cited that complaint as the reason for the change.

When he realized the hornet's nest he had stirred up, he tried backtracking, first announcing he "acted too quickly and should have consulted more broadly" and dictating that a plaque would be put up in the chapel.

Eventually Nichol, a longtime activist with the American Civil Liberties Union in North Carolina and Colorado, allowed a special committee to be assembled to determine what would be done with the cross, which later was ordered put on permanent display in a case in the chapel.

The sex show controversy followed soon after, with a 2007 show that included a 200-pound-plus performer named Dirty Martini who did a striptease, finishing her routine in only a G-string and pasties.

Several professors objected, citing studies indicating pornography incites sexual violence. But Nichol defended the show in the name of free expression. He did the same for the event this year.