ANOTHER LAWPROF WEIGHS IN ON THE UVA DEBACLE: Scott Gerber: President Teresa Sullivan Needs To Focus On Fairness, No PR.

It was bad enough to read the multi-part stories in major news outlets during the summer of 2012 about the petty infighting that led to President Sullivan’s resignation and subsequent reinstatement. Embarrassment was all I felt about that episode, a reaction shared by Virginia’s governor at the time who ordered the Board of Visitors to resolve the dysfunction between the president and the Board immediately or face removal from office. But, by definition, allegations of sexual assault against students impact the health and safety of the young people a university is charged with educating, inspiring, and protecting. It is profoundly inappropriate that such allegations be treated as public relations problems to be managed by the university’s senior leadership and its lawyers.

The UVA administration’s approach to Jackie’s allegations is, regrettably, an unfortunate example of an all-too-predictable response by academic administrators across the country who seem to be concerned far less with doing the right thing than they are with keeping their own jobs. The result is almost always callousness, deceit, cover-ups and, far too infrequently, justice. Students deserve better, including the students at my beloved UVA. Mr. Jefferson would expect no less.

Alas, apparatchiks always tend to think of appearances, not honor.