I posted this yesterday at one of my other forums and now I am just spreading the word around the net.



Before you read this I just want to say this. Even if you agree that the policies that have been removed/added/changed should have been changed I would hope that most people can agree that they way their changed was fundamentaly wrong.




I am going to try and sum up the basics of what has happend here.

Last fall there was a big deal about this lesbian couple that were going to be hired on as professors. Virginia Tech has this policy that in order to attract more qualified faculty members they will do everything possible to hire the faculty members significant other.

This makes sense since it can be difficult to attract qualified faculty members if their significant other already has a established job that he/she does not want to leave. By trying to find a job for the other member of the couple they can attract faculty members easier.

Tech offers a professor position to one of the women in the english department. She asks if tech can find a position for her signifigant other who is a education professor. Tech writes up a contract to offer her a position as an primary education professor. Both women agree with the contract and the english professor takes her position and the other woman agrees to take the education professor position.

So all seemed well or so we all thought. The Board of Visitors still had to give the final approval to the woman'* education contract. The BOV denies approval of the contract supposebly because of budget cuts and tech could no longer afford to hire the other woman.

Now if it had just stopped here then nothing more would have come of this story besides a basic breach of contract dispute.

Too bad for the BOV that a few other things happend. The newly hired engineering dean had his wife hired for an administration position that paid about the same as the other woman'* education position.

An anonomys email was found to have been circulating between the BOV members saying not to hire the woman because she was a lesbian. This prompts a massive letter writing and petition campaign to force the BOV to the hire the woman. Just a little while ago she was finally hired for non-tenure track position that was nothing like the original position described in her contract.


Now you all have the foundation of what has been going on here so this is what has happend currently. The BOV has done several things at once that have managed to **** of just about everyone on campus.

1. The BOV has removed the language from Techs anti-discrimination policy that applies to sexual orientation. They did this on monday, right after spring break, when no one was here, in a closed session ,where no debate was allowed.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/inde...2-3-2003&ID=909

2. The BOV ended the affirmative action policy at tech before the Supreme Court has made a ruling on the pending affirmative action case.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=908

3. The BOV has given the president of the university the power to ban any extremist right or left wing groups from speaking on campus. Any group that the president labels as a "domestic violence" group or "terrorist" group could be banned from campus and not allowed to speak.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=927

So lets see there was this massive protest in front of our administration building Burruss hall. From what I have heard a thousand some people eventually got tired of protesting outside the building and rushed the presidents office.

Still don't know what happend with that yet I will have to wait till the 10 O'Clock news tonight to see. I am sure this will start getting more media attention nation wide as well.

Sheesh!!! Politics has gotten into everything, a person can't speak their mind anymore without getting all sorts of flak!

Politics is such an interesting and dynamic subject. Interesting; meaning it affects a lot of people and people get involved and its dynamic simply cuz it can branch off in infinite directions.

Its to bad that the ultimate freedom of speech is being supressed as well as the right to work, never mind the breach of contract. You're right, it should have stopped right there.

And this meddling dean and his wife...geez..**** disturbers eh?

I agree..spread the word!

American society really needs to change. The nation as a whole needs to become more liberal in understanding other people'* point of view and lifestyle. It'* not like homosexuals coming running after each person of the same sex they see and demand satisfaction...come on folks.

Yes your university is messed up. Doubt that makes you feel better, but.....

An update.

Not much new as of right now. Gov. Warner has denounced the actions by the BOV and has said this is very bad for the university overall.

Here is the article.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=963

Here is the front page of the CT

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=963

The guy holding the Virginia is for Haters sign is one of my coworkers next door neighbors.

If you have adobe acrobat you can read the print version of the CT here.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/linkedFiles/CTinPDF.pdf

I have been very impressed with the CT'* coverage of this event so far. Normally they are very far to the left and pretty biased but are trying to stay more to the middle now. Yesterday almost all the letters printed were against the decsions of the BOV and the large editoral printed was in favor of the BOV. Today almost all letters were in support of the BOV, mostly for the affirmative action decsion which makes sense considering the demographic of the area, and most of the editorals were against the BOV.

An article posted on my MINI forum

http://www.hrc.org/newsreleases/2003/030313vtech.asp

Here is my update for the day.

Here is the PDF version of the CT if you have acrobat.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/linkedFiles/CTinPDF.pdf

Here is the front news page http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?cat_id=

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=1008

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=1009

Both the SGA and the Faculty senate have voted on resolutions condeming the BOV.

I also must correct some previously stated info. The BOV met and voted on all of these issues this past friday in a completly closed session with no debate allowed at all. I had said before that I thought the non-voting faculty, grad and undergrad representatives were there or at least the faculty rep was there.


That was wrong none of the non-voting members were allowed at that this meeting at all.

Also the faculty representative to the BOV is the president of the faculty senate and the chair of the LGBTA congress and a member of several other gay/lesbian organizations.

I haven't decided yet if the BOV was just so stupid that they thought they could get away with this or if they just don't care anymore.

Mini update here.

here is the url of this article

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=1042
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOV members react to recent controversies

posted: March 20, 2003




by William Copsey
News Editor

Members of the Virginia Tech community should soon know whether the Board of Visitors will reconvene to revisit last week’* decisions, a board member said.

Elsewhere, Tech’* Black Alumni Network held a press conference to respond to the board’* decisions.

The board’* decisions, which came out of its March 10 meeting, effectively eliminated affirmative action, removed sexual orientation from the discrimination policy and set up barriers to free speech on campus.

Ben Davenport, a BOV member, said the whole board is very concerned about the issue.

Davenport said the board did not know when it passed the recent measures that reactions would attract such vehement opposition.

“We certainly had no idea that the reaction of the community would be what

it’* been,” said Davenport, who was appointed to the board by Gov. Mark Warner last year.

Although Davenport would not comment on whether the board will meet or not, he said it should soon be evident.

Board members have been talking with one another and are very aware of the passionate response with which the decisions were met, he said.

The BOV is a strong advocate of the university, he said, citing the passage of the new Commission on Equal Opportunity

and Diversity as an example.

In addition, the board approved the hire of Shelli Fowler, which Davenport said was a positive decision.

“At the end of the day, what I think we all want to do is act in the best interests of the university,” Davenport said.

The board often has to weigh what it would like to do against what it thinks it should do, he said. “A lot of times we are torn between our hearts and what we are told we should do to be legal,” he said.

BOV Rector John Rocovich said in an interview with local television station WSLS last night that the backlash is mostly created by people who do not understand the issue.

Rocovich also said he primarily wanted board members to be protected financially from any legal liabilities.

“What the resolution addressed was protecting the board from personal liability for supporting, knowingly supporting, unconstitutional, illegal discrimination provisions,” Rocovich said in the interview.

Brian Roberts, who spoke at the Washington, D.C. press conference and is the spokesman for Tech’* Black Alumni Network, said the board’* decisions send a confusing signal. “For black alumni, it’* almost like a slap in the face,” Roberts said.

At the same time as the university is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tech’* first black students, the board decided to revoke affirmative action, he said.

Roberts also faulted the board for coming to its decision behind closed doors.

“It’* almost as if they put the hoods on and went into a back room,” he said.

A massive number of alumni have decided to stop donating money to Tech until the university deals with the present situation, Roberts said.

The decision was one motivated by politics, he said, and one that did not have to be made until after the Supreme Court rules on affirmative action.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Basicly the BOV was just trying to cover its financial *** and then using Kilgores memo, he is VA'* AG, as cover to get away with it. I watched the interview refrenced in this article and I wonder if this guy is just stupid or flat out lying.

You can't claim that you are removing unconstitutional regulations from the University until the Supreme court rules on the particular regulation.

This article here sums up my position better then I could

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=996

The state and federal laws only provide a floor for discrimination regulations anyone can add additonal regulations if they choose.

Hmhh sorry about the funky symbols in there I dont know what happend I would just read it from the URL.

I have a feeling that in the end, several members of the board will be offered packages to leave quietly instead of getting fired, it sucks but thats the way it goes. Unfortunatly as long as society tolerates and accepts idiots like Jerry Falwell and his views homosexuals will be on the outside looking in :(

Ahhah a partial victory.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=1067

The VA AG Kilgore has overturned the BOV'* resolution that would give the president of Tech the power to ban extremist groups from campus.

Kilgore said that the resolution was blatantly unconstitutional.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/index.php?ID=1068

On April 6th all of the members of the BOV will meet again to revisit their previous resolutions.