Popular U of Virginia President fired at behest of hedge fund billionaires & conservative rector

[brentspeak]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/2012/06/17/gJQA4ijrhV_story.html?tid=pm_local_pop

U-Va. Faculty Senate to meet in emergency session Sunday over Teresa Sullivan’s ouster

By Daniel de Vise and Anita Kumar, Updated: Sunday, June 17, 11:50 AM

Leaders of the university’s governing board ousted Sullivan last week largely because of her unwillingness to consider dramatic program cuts in the face of dwindling resources and for her perceived reluctance to approach the school with the bottom-line mentality of a corporate chief executive.

Sullivan’s resignation after less than two years has prompted an unprecedented backlash on the historic Grounds: a flurry of no-confidence votes and protest letters from groups of faculty, administrators and students; a 2,000-signature petition; and a Facebook protest page with more than 3,000 members. Many want the enormously popular president reinstated.

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But at least one key player did not agree: Helen Dragas, a savvy, fiscally conservative developer from Virginia Beach appointed to the board in 2008 by then-Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and promoted to rector of the 16-person board last summer. Her misgivings about Sullivan would pit the university’s first female rector against its first female president.

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Dragas laid the groundwork for Sullivan’s removal over several months, working in secret with a small team of collaborators. They included vice rector Mark Kington, a venture capitalist from Alexandria and former business partner to Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), and Peter Kiernan, a New York investor who led the foundation of the university’s business school.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/353005/20120616/teresa-sullivan-uva-university-virgina.htm

Teresa Sullivan Controversy Heats Up, Wealthy Donors Blamed

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McDonnell, though, stated he did want to meddle in the school's affairs. A critical Slate article, however, suggested that powerful Wall Street donors perhaps meddled more than they should have in the ouster of the popular president.

Slate reported that Peter Kiernan, a billionaire hedge funder, former Goldman Sachs partner and generous UVA donor, accidently leaked an email in which he claimed he and "two important Virginia alums" worked with University Rector Helen Dragas to remove Sullivan.

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The Hook, a Virginia-based publication, claims billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones also had a key role in Sullivan's ouster. It also pointed out that UVA founder Thomas Jefferson was himself wary of "the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations."

[woo me with science]

1. DU Rec. nt