UVa Dean Steps Away From Status as Interim President

The University of Virginia dean who was tapped to take the place of the ousted president, Teresa A. Sullivan, says he will decline the interim presidency until the controversy regarding her status is resolved. Carl P. Zeithaml, dean of the university’s McIntire School of Commerce, wrote in an e-mail to the campus that he is “suspending any further negotiations with the Board regarding my status as interim president, as well as any activities associated with this role.” Yesterday the university’s governing board announced that it would hold a meeting on Tuesday to consider the possibility of Ms. Sullivan’s reinstatement. In a statement released on Thursday evening, Helen E. Dragas, rector of the Board of Visitors and a central player in the controversy, pushed back against Ms. Sullivan’s preference for incremental change in higher education, writing, “The days of incremental decision-making in higher education are over, or should be.”