Open Letter to Michael Powell

Michael Powell is the Rector of the Board of Visitors, the highest governing body of my public university, the College of William and Mary.  Last spring, he led the BoV to the decision to dismiss President Gene Nichol based on reasons that the Board enumerated as being economic in nature.  Nichol was a great--if brusque and unapologetic--leader, and neither the student body nor the faculty were involved in the decision.  In fact, the meeting was held in silence.

This week, Taylor Reveley III was sworn in as president.  The BoV notified the student body two days before the decision was made that they would be searching for a new president in a "special meeting" to which no one was invited.  Two days later, he was sworn in.  Needless to say, I was furious.  This act of censorship will not go unnoticed, although apathy has once again set in as the primary source of reaction amongst students, leading our local newspaper to release this article:

Students and faculty react to Reveley’s appointment.  Bullshit.  I'm not going down without a fight.

Here is a form letter that I wrote, to be submitted to the newspaper and emailed directly to Powell.  I thought my fellow radicals might want to read it first:

Michael Powell:  Despicable.
    Michael Powell refuses to answer my emails.  I asked him to point me in the right direction of the "special meeting" whereby the Board of Visitors would subsequently confirming Taylor Reveley as the next President of the College, but he neglected to respond.  After the announcement that Reveley had been chosen, I emailed him again.  No dice.  So here we go, I'm back at the keyboard, addressing Michael Powell open-letter style:

    Mr. Powell,        

I would like to inquire as to the nature of the search for the new president.  How did you reach your conclusion, where are the documents regarding the proceedings, and why were visitors not allowed to the special meeting in which the decision was made?  The decision to confirm him in just two days reeks of SOMETHING, and you owe it to us, the students who you claim to represent, to make your decision clear.          

When the first email was sent, I thought my email was broken and listing your messages from last spring when President Nichol's contract was not renewed.  Your decision to ignore the requests for proper justification were as inappropriate then as now.  In what phase of your life did you learn that clandestine decision-making was acceptable or could possibly garner positive reactions from those most affected by the decision?          

Don't get me wrong, President Reveley will probably do a great job.  He weathered the storm last spring and managed to come out on top, so he is clearly resilient, but this isn't about him.  This is about you.  This is about a man who during his tenure at the FCC decided it would be appropriate to censor content that you personally disagreed with, completely disregarding the rights of free speech for those broadcasting material as well as the right of listeners to consume media they wish to hear.          

So.  What have you done?  You've given us a President under the guise of representation of our interests who we had no part in confirming.  You refused to search the country or to give us enough time to respond to your initial notice of inquiry.  You ignored us.  You took away our voice.  Michael "Censorship" Powell, you are despicable.

Signed,
SG