DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710030044

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   48 lines

THE DAVIES COUP

The decision of Gordon Davies to assume the directorship of Virginia Wesleyan's Center for the Study of Religious Freedom is a boon for the college, the region and the state.

The former director of the State Council of Higher Education will begin fulltime responsibilities at Wesleyan next fall. His hiring is a welcome sign that Davies' deep understanding of higher education and his impressive talents as a thinker and communicator will not be lost to Virginians.

Some may find it curious that a man who led government oversight of the university system for 20 years would wind up at a small private school. But the 59-year-old Davies, a member of the Religious Society of Friends, says he is less interested in career-building than in the challenge of fostering and developing a powerful idea.

His presence will add focus and clout to Wesleyan's year-old center. With a budget last year of just $25,000, the center clearly is on the ground floor of becoming the recognized think tank - capable of attracting researchers and students - that Wesleyan envisions.

But Davies' enthusiasm could be transforming. ``It is beyond question that there is in this country today a rising tide of intolerance,'' he said in a speech as his appointment was announced. ``It is my hope that a center of this sort will provide some antidote to that phenomenon. . . .''

That Wesleyan might play an important regional role in highlighting and addressing intolerance is an exciting prospect. It also is encouraging that Davies will be positioned to remain an effective commentator on higher education issues in the state.

Is it too much to hope that he again might help direct the course of Virginia, as well?

For instance, there has been talk in legislative circles and elsewhere of the need for an intensive review of Virginia's financial needs. Davies might be willing to join in such an effort.

Nor is it far-fetched to think, particularly if Democrat Don Beyer is elected governor, that Davies might wind up on the same state board that recently ousted him. The higher education panel, dominated of late by appointees of Gov. George F. Allen, voted in April to dismiss Davies. The action was attributed to differences in ``chemistry.''

That board is now struggling to regain the lost confidence of legislative leaders and others. By contrast, the connections that Davies helped forge among competing interests during his tenure is laudatory.

If he can create a similar chemistry in his new role, Virginia Wesleyan, Hampton Roads and Virginia will be better off for it.

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