UVa. Board Backtracks, Reinstates President

Thomas Jefferson's university has just wrapped up a two-week stretch that was as tumultuous as it gets in the realm of higher education: The University of Virginia's governing board today reinstated Teresa Sullivan as president 16 days after unceremoniously giving her the boot, reports the Daily Progress. Sullivan's firing set off a backlash on the Charlottesville campus whose scope reached the capital in Richmond, with Gov. Bob McDonnell ordering board members to resolve the crisis today or be fired. They resolved it by reinstating Sullivan.

“Thank you for renewing your confidence in me," Sullivan told the board. "I want to partner with you to bring about what’s best for the future of the university.” The board—and especially its leader and top Sullivan hunter Helen Dragas—never satisfactorily explained why the much-respected Sullivan should go after only two years. The controversy caused donors to shut their wallets and at least one top-notch professor to resign, notes the Washington Post. Now the question is whether Dragas will step down, though so far she shows no signs of doing so. (More University of Virginia stories.)