(This photo courtesy of Leslie Wilcher)

Here is the provisional list of demands as outlined at the 2 PM Town Hall Meeting. Changes were discussed, updates pending.




Apparently, as well, there is only a vote to renew a contract, not to non-renew a contract. Therefore, the BOV did not vote on the matter, they only voiced their opinions and were then ignored.

M.B.: "We need to make sure there's no retaliation against faculty"

"Is there any way the student/faculty members of the BOV can be given full votes and full rights and take part in secret meetings in any way." (The answer is probably not) Later the suggestion was added that we need a staff position on the board, since one does not currently exist.

It was recently announced that another $1.4 billion budget cut is being made , which will undoubtedly affect William & Mary's programs. We need to protect Gateway and other diversity programs.

We should take this forward and demand disclosure and official votes for future BOV decisions.

M.B.(2) Go to The Board of Visitors' website and read their bylaws, since any action we take regarding them will need to follow these.

Take the bribe money and give it back to the school!

Should we demand Gene Nichol back? Answer: he resigned; obviously he was uncomfortable, which is the issue we need to address.

The preceding ideas will be incorporated into our demands. Expect updates. Moving on to what we can do next.

To talk to Tim Kaine, we need to schedule a time for him to come here. We want the most people possible to do this. Go to Citizen Services/The Governor's Scheduling Office. Request Friday at 2:00.(Kaine cannot come on Friday) For the sponsor, list the College of William and Mary. Do not call, as one person answers the phone and it doesn't help to flood them. Do contact the governor, though.

Working groups meeting next: academic freedom and the 1st amendment, contant Gov. Kaine, letters and phone calls to BOV, outreach to the press, search for the next president committee, Gateway funding, maintaining diversity, investigating offer to buy silence, and outreach to other universities for solidarity.

Tomorrow from 10-6 there will teach-in in the Sunken Gardens. please carry on momentum, "because this is what real education is." email afbrow@wm.edu

The president of WM NAACP asks us to please visit Tribe United and annouced that "If Nichol isn't welcome here..." shirts will be available again today at 5:30 in the UC.

A letter has been drafted to send to other universities to ask for solidarity. It explains what we are doing today and tomorrow and asks for help, as this action attacks the ideals of liberal education and our first amendment rights. We ask them to join our "solidarity" (since we cannot use the other s-word).

The petition asking for transparency is explained once again, emphasizing Gene Nichol's willingness to stand up for us and asking us to stand up for him. We need to fill up the petition sheets. We will ask BOV members to support us.

Somebody is organizing a conversation with Virginia Legislature delegates, especially the one from Williamsburg...we want to talk to them too, face-to-face.

(The following photos courtesy of Leslie Wilcher)




Feiss is done, the faculty are up now, including Professor Tangao-Aguas, Professor Leisa Meyer, and Professor J. Mendez.

Unknown (to me) Professor: "I am outraged by what has happened, and I think that we need to take a stand. We need to speak out. We need to be heard, because we clearly have not been heard. "

Professor Tangao-Aguas: "I am a professor on tenure track, and I lay that on the line for my students." (applause) "When something is destroyed.....it is a symbol that something must be created..... It is not the end, but a new beginning." "When someone strays further you don't release them and hurt them more, you hug tighter." "We believe in something, and yesterday it was taken from us without warning, without precedence, and without care....without care!" "All of us together are Gene Nichol"

(This photo courtesy of Leslie Wilcher)











Lynn Pelco, Professor of Education:



Unknown (to me) Prof: "We have had no explanation....we think we're owed one"







It's not a sit-in if you're not sitting!!!

(This photo courtesy of Leslie Wilcher)

Provost Feiss: "As an old lefty, this makes me feel pretty good..(applause)..I shouldn't have said that."

"The important thing, the critical thing, is that there's a legacy that Gene Nichol has left."

"This hurts so badly because we are a community. This hurts so much because it's a death in the family."

"[Interim President Reveley] supports this [protest]. ... He shares the same values we share, he cares about the same things we care about. He's not Gene Nichol. I'm not Gene Nichol. No one is Gene Nichol except Gene Nichol."

While you're waiting, here's some new video to watch. Here's a read-through of the petition going around concerning Michael Powell, the BOV, and our self-efficacy.

Video also courtesy J.S.

The Town Hall meeting will be starting shortly. Zach Pilchen is on stage, along with a few of the faculty and student leaders. We'll be here for you.

It has been requested, at 1:16PM, that if one were to call a BOV member, that one be respectful as possible. This is because the phone numbers are home phone numbers and it may be, say, the BOV members 3 year old daughter you're swearing at on the phone. Please, keep it classy.




Signs are posted in the UC where ever space can be claimed.

Red arm bands are being passed out to all those striking today, in spite of the fact that red armbands represent a hunger-strike and everyone here appears to be eating lunch. What a world.







As of 12noon on Feb 13th, a town-hall style meeting has been scheduled for 2PM in UC Commonwealth. We'll see you there. It IS happening. Tell everyone.







11:40AM. David Theurer, who requested to be named here, asks what happens after the sit-in. He wonders what more we can do and for how long. As if in response, another student announces that a petition is being passed around as well as a sheet on which to list questions we have for Rector Powell. Professor Mendez has gotten up on a table to encourage everybody, regardless of the fact that she has been told that we are a "fire-hazard." She tries to better help with organization, asks faculty to ask questions too. Sombody finally brings up the Virginia Legislature's involvement in the issue and their threats, which are unacceptable. He calls for questions to be asked of them as well. A news crew is here, interviewing several students. The crowd is quickly growing as it nears lunchtime. Around noon, the sit-in tries to consolidate to be respectful of others in the UC.










The Media is here!

At 11:30 on February 13th, at the UC sit-in, the group starts calling for transparency, demanding to know what happened leading up to the resignation. A format allowing the students to ask the BOV exactly what they want to know is preferred.




Professor Tanglao-Aguas explains, at 11:20 his reactions to the resignation. Originally, he felt that Nichol's departure put him and his family in a hostile environment, which he explained to other faculty members yesterday. He now calls for us to make our opinions known to those in power, as he is trying to do, since WE are the ones affected. He stresses that we are not trying to change the decision, but that we have to protect the progress of our institution.

On the ground here at the sit-in, at 11:15, the legitimacy of the interim President Reveley is being discussed. One student received quite a bit of applause when she said that the Reveley's post must be that of a puppet--but one in the hands of the students, not the BOV. One man (staff-member) suggested that it is too late to stop the interim, but that we should focus instead on continuing to be heard.




The Sit-In is now relocated to the UC. Let's fill it!







H.C. rewrote the lyrics to the Alma Mat(t?)er in honor of the situation:

Hark the House of Delegates telling
How to live our lives
End of civil rights they're spelling
So we all must rise!
William and Mary, loved of old
Hark upon the gale
Hear the thunder of our chorus,
Integrity's not for sale!

A brief note on Latin.

It's spelled "m-a-t-e-r," not "matter," as Rector Powell spelled it. It means "Mother." ("Alma" means "nurturing.")

Alumni, pronounced "al-um-knee" is the default plural for mixed-gendered groups. If you are talking about a group only composed of women(A sorority?), it's Alumnae, pronounced "al-um-ni".

Sorry, those are pet peeves.

Tonight, February 12th, at 10PM, roughly 12 hours after his e-mail, Gene Nichol received a final serenade from the students of William and Mary. It's tradition here for each incoming Freshman class to sing the Alma Mat(t?)er to the President on their first night on campus. Tonight we echoed that tradition and said a fond farewell to the man we love so much.

Candles were distributed, well-wishing cards were collected. Speeches were made by students and by a leader of the staff of W&M. Then Big Nick himself gave a speech (below!). Finally, we all sang the Alma Mat(t?)er while the Wren Bell tolled.

As for how many people showed up, I heard "fifteen hundred," and I heard "thousands." In my opinion, the yard was filled with more people last night than when we were oriented as a freshman class of 1,500.

Here are some pictures. Video of Nichol's last speech can be found here

Video from the rally, courtesy J.S.
Unfortunately, it is too dark to see much. More videos coming. I hope you can't hear my voice too loudly.
The Largest "Thank You!" note on record?
There was quite a crowd.
The Leadership
Speaking of Leadership, guess who I caught on camera?
Says it all.
A Motley Bunch
Favorite picture of the night.
The following pictures are courtesy of Leslie Wilcher. Thanks, bud
Student Assembly President and Vice President Zach Pilchen and Valerie Hopkins
Lamplight
(still my) President Gene Nichol
More than a few tears were shed. See the community here?
The candle-lit Tribe.

This morning, February 12th, at 9:43 AM, the students at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, the Alma Mater of a nation, received an e-mail from the President of their College, Gene R. Nichol, announcing his resignation. It was effective immediately.

The resignation comes in the wake of two scandals that now define his presidency, which I will overview here and go into further detail of later. Firstly, he removed the cross from the chapel wing of the Wren Building. Secondly, he did not prohibit the Sex Workers' Art Show from being performed at the College. Depending on who one asks, these two scandals are the reasons for which his presidency was not renewed by the College's Board of Visitors. Upon hearing that his term would not be renewed, Nichol opted to resign, rather than continue to hold the position which he felt he could no longer effectively execute. He informed the student body at 9:43 AM this morning, February 12th.

At 11:32, Rector Michael K. Powell sent his own e-mail to the student body. In it, he expressed his support of Gene Nichol and assured the students that the decision was not made on ideological grounds.

The initial student response was predictable: Facebook groups were formed. The faculty response was not predicted, but was not entirely surprising: many canceled class. Many of those professors canceled their 2:00 PM classes to have a rally/teach-in in the Sunken Gardens, the geographic center of the academic facilities at the College.

At the rally, various professors and students spoke of their love for Gene Nichol, gave inspiration to the students that had gathered, and gave advice on how to organize our opposition.

The following are pictures and videos from the 2:00 PM February 12th rally.

Early on in the rally,

faces are pretty somber.

She describes how Gene Nichol helped her move in on her very first day, an experience shared by many.

B.K. talks about why W&M and our values make America great.



These two got up to talk about the Gateway program, I believe, and to tear up the flier that was being passed around (which depicted Jesus fisting Gene Nichol--bad taste.)

I think this guy said he was another student who was here as a result of the Gateway program, though I may be mistaken.

A little blurry, sorry.

A.L. talks about how the regime change will make it very very difficult for those who are trying to accomplish things on campus, since they will have to start their convincing all over again with a new president. "I consider myself to be an activist on campus." He also said that the way in which Nichol frequently had to say 'no' to the proposals of his activist group (to avoid another bit of controversy) was "disgusting."

A Professor of Hispanic Studies, I believe, who talks about the notion of Culture and its application to the W&M community.

Professor Jennifer Bakeham Mendez, of the Sociology dept. She teaches Gender & Society and Social Problems. She spoke about reading the e-mail in front of her class.

Then the news helicopter showed up! Unfortunately, the noise from the helicopter made it difficult for us to hear the speakers. On the bright side, the press got our cause out, and that's always good news. Also, check out that shutter speed!!! The shutter speed is at 1/60th of a second. Making reasonable assumptions about blade size, how fast are the blades on the helicopter spinning, do you think?

On the left, behind the speaker, is Francis Tanglao-Aguas, the professor who will be conducting his classes outside the Brafferton, his office hours outside PBK, and his pissing god-knows-where (he assures us that it won't be inside a W&M building!).

K.R. preaches it.

E.C. outlines our responsibilities and how we should go about what we are doing.

M.B. encourages us to work both within and outside of the established channels of communication with the authority.
Z.C. tells us about getting our voices back.
M.B. tells us about the variety of ways needed to get our message across.

Further events are scheduled for this evening and the coming days, including a sit-in located in the courtyard in the middle of ancient campus.