THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609060033
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 82 lines
The higher-education council that hired Gordon Davies to oversee Virginia's colleges and universities back in 1977 included some of the brightest stars in the state's Main Street constellation.
There was J. Harvie Wilkinson Jr., a banking titan; H. Merrill Pasco, who helped build Hunton & Williams into one of the South's premier law firms; Roy Smith, an executive with A. H. Robins and former chair of the House Appropriations Committee; and Frank Batten Sr., the owner of Landmark Communications.
As a lot, they were less linked with partisan politics than with a steady, quality-oriented, cautious-but-enlightened way of doing business. Davies fit their bill.
Twenty years later, higher-education-council members, governors, legislators and dozens of state agency heads have come and gone. Davies has remained. With a trademark blend of intelligence and suavity, he has straddled three worlds in which the politics can be savage and frequently at odds: the legislature, the governor's office and academe.
These days, however, rumors abound that the jig is up. By whispered report, the long knives of the Allen administration are out for Davies. Virginians should hope the rumors are wrong.
A Davies ouster would be one of the clearest signals yet that yesteryear's largely bipartisan approach to higher education has been replaced by a no-frills, bottom-line-oriented, distinctly partisan calculus.
While cost-cutting matters and is worth applauding in an era of limited resources, it is not the thrust that has made Virginia's public universities great. There is a strong argument - and some prominent Republican businessmen are making it - that retrenchment begun under Democratic Gov. Doug Wilder and continued in the first two years of Gov. George Allen's tenure has jeopardized quality in the 39-school system.
Moreover, to either abruptly or subtly show Davies the door would send an abysmal message to other state managers. He has been at the forefront of many of the most-creative ideas shaping Virginia colleges, from technological advancement to restructuring to focus on the University of the 21st Century.
That's an example of public service to be celebrated, not ditched.
Sources both inside and outside the administration see at least three differences between Davies and some of the Allen-appointees who now dominate the council.
First, he's not on the governor's bandwagon, even though he has some powerful GOP allies, including former Gov. Mills Godwin and Northern Virginia businessman Til Hazel.
Second, he's viewed (not without reason) as having been a force in marshaling opposition to Allen's proposed cuts in higher-education funding two years ago.
And third, despite occasional battles with presidents including the University of Virginia's John Casteen, Davies is seen as too protective of the higher-education establishment.
``I don't think that he's necessarily reflective of the direction we need to be moving in to bring accountability,'' said one Allen ally, acknowledging strong opposition to Davies in some quarters on the board.
Yes, waste, greed and arrogance exist within the ivy walls. But the commonwealth is within the bottom fifth of the states in per-capita spending for higher education. That suggests abuse in Virginia is not widespread.
Elizabeth McClanahan, the Abingdon attorney who became chair of the state council in a surprise coup earlier this summer, denies that a move is afoot to unseat Davies.
``This is a $3.5 billion industry in the commonwealth,'' she said, explaining why she and five allies on the 11-member council voted to set up several committees to monitor the staff's work.
``Because we are demanding more of ourselves does not in any way diminish our confidence in Dr. Davies to lead the council,'' she said.
Even so, there are less-than-subtle signs of eroded trust. Recently, the new council authorized the Department of Planning and Budget to review the council's method of predicting future enrollments.
The resulting report seemed unnecessarily harsh in tone. Nor was staff given a chance to review its conclusions before they were publically presented, leaving Davies tight-lipped and shaken.
With just under a year remaining on Davies' contract, council opponents may not have the two-thirds vote needed to send him packing. But undercutting authority could produce the same result.
That would be a huge mistake. Dollars matter. But quality, in people and ideas, matters more. MEMO: Ms. Edds is an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot. by CNB