In the wake of University of Maryland President C. D. Mote, Jr.'s controversial remarks about the University of Virginia, some state legislators asked for a clarification while others downplayed the import of the statement.
The Oct. 20 issue of The Diamondback, the Maryland student newspaper, reported that Mote said during a Board of Regents meeting that the University is "highly overrated these days, but U.S. News & World Report places them at the top of the pile with Berkeley, which is ridiculous."
Before becoming president of the University of Maryland in 1998, Mote served on the Berkeley faculty for 31 years and held various administrative positions there.
Virginia legislators did not call for Mote to apologize, but expressed confusion over what prompted Mote's remarks.
"I think it's kind of a foolish thing for a person in his position to say that," said William Howell, speaker of the House of Delegates. "I have trouble believing he would say something like that."
Virginia Sen. John Edwards, D-21st, also expressed confusion over Mote's comments.
"It really comes as a surprise that anyone would say that," Edwards said. "It's an uninformed, unfortunate comment."
Del. David Albo, R-42, on the other hand, expressed a lack of concern over the remarks.
"He can say what he wants," Albo said. "That's what I expect from a guy from Maryland. If I go to Burger King, I don't expect them to say that McDonalds' hamburgers are any good."
Neither Howell nor Edwards said they would ask Mote to apologize, but Edwards expressed a desire for further comment from Mote.
"I think it would be highly appropriate for him to clarify his comments," Edwards said.
Mote was out of town and could not be reached for comment yesterday.
George Cathcart, director of university communications at Maryland, said he already had asked Mote for clarification regarding his remarks but had not received a reply.
The remarks came at the end of an article that reported a recent tuition increase at Maryland and growing pressure on Maryland's Board of Regents during a period of decreased state funding. Cathcart cited a recent proposal to increase Maryland tuition even further in an effort to raise its reputation.
"Dr. Mote has looked at other campuses, including U.Va. and Berkeley, who have lower tuitions and are ranked higher by the U.S. News and World Report and [the comments] may be related to that," Cathcart said.
Virginia legislators emphasized the University's status as a highly rated public school.
"[U.Va.] is such a great school," Edwards said. "It has great educational opportunities."
Edwards cited the University's placement among the top public universities in the U.S. News and World Report, increased endowment and alumni funds and the University's competitiveness among both in-state and out-of-state students as support for its reputation.
Howell praised both the University and other Virginia public colleges.
"We've got a great stable of public state universities that I don't think any other state in the country can match," Howell said.
In their 2004 rankings, U.S. News & World Report listed the University as the top public school in the nation, 21st overall, in a tie with the University of California, Berkeley. University of Maryland, College Park was ranked 53rd overall, the 17th ranked public university.
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