Below is a letter sent to members of the Council of Foundations, "which comprises representatives from all schools and programs and their related foundations," according to the University's website, by its chair, Jeff Walker. In an email correspondence with University Rector Helen Dragas and former Vice Rector Mark Kington, Walker had written that "the on-line learning world has now reached the top of the line universities and they need to have strategies or will be left behind."
"June 20, 2012\n \nFellow Council of Foundation Members,\n \nI am truly worried for the University and am still very frustrated thinking about the damage one week has caused to a community I have worked to live in and support over the 35 years since I took my degree. I have many deep relationships with faculty, students, administration and alumni (including many of you) and it saddens me to think of us not working well together as a team. Since I retired five years ago to spend full-time in the non-profit world, I have studied models of collaborative leadership. We all have much to learn at UVA regarding how to work best together. Our community coming together is a powerful resource and I look forward to working with you to reunite our community. \n \nI want to thank each of you who, over the last week, got involved and worked to ensure that the best interests of the University are protected in this time of tumultuous change. The Board of Visitor's (BOV) decision process was not well managed. As I live life I ask myself, at times, "what would Mr. Jefferson do"? I am convinced that when he was Rector he would not have handled a transition like this. In fact, I cannot imagine a more poorly coordinated crisis management process. There are many learning points here and as we move ahead I am sure it will develop into a fascinating leadership and board management case at the Batten School.\n \nWith regard to Terry Sullivan, I consider Terry a friend and honored partner. She cared about the University and worked to ensure that people knew she wanted to have them as partners. There are many examples I can remember of her positive impact on the University: coming to the Council meetings (we had not seen a President at our meetings for a long time)
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