Below is a statement released by George Cohen, chair of the Faculty Senate, in the wake of Gov. Bob McDonnell's announcement of the latter's appointments to the Board of Visitors. The Faculty Senate had previously met with Rector Helen Dragas, who was reappointed Friday, and asked for her resignation in addition to Sullivan's reinstatement.
"This afternoon, Governor McDonnell appointed six people to serve on the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia. We are grateful to the Governor for his careful, thoughtful consideration of these appointments and for his eloquent statement explaining his decisions.
Together with President Sullivan, we look forward to working with all the new and returning Board members. With respect to Rector Dragas, as I stated and the Governor quoted, if President Sullivan can work with the Rector, we can as well.
We believe that the immediate challenge we face is one of restoring trust. We pledge to support President Sullivan in her efforts to work with the Board to rebuild a trusting and caring community. We agree with the Governor that full and open discussions about strategy and goals are crucial, even though they may lead to disagreement. So long as disagreements take place in the context of relationships in which trust is a given, meaningful and expeditious progress can be made toward solving the challenging problems we face.
Today we begin a new chapter in the University of Virginia's history. The Faculty Senate Executive Council and the Senate pledge to do all we possibly can do to ensure that the University of Virginia thrives in the years to come.
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