George,

Ahhh. The arrogance of power. Apparently Delegate Bob Marshall believes that because the Republican Party has the majority in the Virginia House of Delegates he can run around the state demanding that our colleges and universities bend to his will. Recently he threatened to reduce the University of Virginia's funding because they didn't respond to one of his letters quickly enough. This came after he bullied James Madison University into discontinuing the distribution of emergency contraceptives on their campus.

To make matters worse, JMU Board member Mark Obenshain, who is running for the Virginia Senate, appears to have used his position to further his political goals by vigorously promoting Marshall's agenda. If this is a display of the opportunism of Republican leaders, then I fear for the future of Virginia.

Marshall is acting like a rogue legislator. He's gone too far. I don't remember the people of Virginia voting to put Del. Marshall in charge. My constituents didn't.

It is not our job as members of the General Assembly to micro-manage boards and commissions. The nationally recognized strength of Virginia's higher education system is the autonomy of the individual institutions. Even the Governor does not dictate their decisions. Delegate Marshall's attempts to intimidate and politicize our universities and their Boards of Visitors is wrong.

No Republican leader has made any public effort to reign in Marshall. Do they support his behavior or are they afraid of him? Their silence is deafening -- and telling.

Sincerely,

Mitch Van Yahres(electronic mail, June 20, 2003)