William and Mary SDS Calls for Support in Wake of Fired University President
On Tuesday morning, February 12th, the widely-popular and progressive Gene R. Nichol, President of the College and William and Mary, tendered his resignation, following a decision by the Board of Visitors to not renew his contract (set to expire at the end of the academic year). President Nichol bravely denounced the Board of Visitors and their attempt to purchase his silence as to the true reasons for which he was fired: free speech and broad-minded change to a traditionally conservative institution. The Board of Visitors, the governing body of the College, is composed of the political appointees of the Governor of Virginia. The majority is otherwise not active members of the William & Mary community, and has in their decision-making process continuously silenced the voices of students, staff, faculty, and alumni, who are overwhelming in support of President Nichol and the substantive, progressive change he has made to this institution in three, short years.
In the wake of the shock of President Nichol’s sudden resignation, members of the Faculty of the College of Arts and Science issued a call for fellow faculty-members to join them in a “Strike”, refusing to hold regular classes on Wednesday (2/13) and Thursday (2/14), during a rally of over 500 students, staff, and faculty in support of the president. Following this announcement, members of the William & Mary Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) announced a student strike in solidarity with their professors. That night, over 1500 students expressed their grief for our community’s loss of a great man by congregating in front of the President’s House to intone to Gene Nichol the Alma Mater of our college. Students - stunned, grieved, incensed - are experiencing ‘the fierce urgency of now’.
Original post by SDS and reposted by Radical Blogs
