Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 21, 1993 TAG: 9303210083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COLLEGE PRESIDENT CHOICE STIRS PROTEST
If you think politics are vicious in city council chambers and the halls of Congress, try visiting Virginia State University, the nation's oldest publicly supported black college.Students and faculty at the school near Petersburg have been vehemently protesting the March 12 hiring of state Treasurer Eddie N. Moore Jr. as the university's new president. They claim that Moore, who acknowledges he has little experience in academia, got the job through cronyism.
When Moore was introduced at a campus news conference on the day of his appointment, about 75 students walked out in protest.
Florence Farley, chairwoman of the 180-member faculty council, said Moore's hiring sets a bad example for students.
"Part of the message we have always tried to instill in our students is that they have to be the most qualified people of all in order to get a job," she said. Moore, she added, "is no more qualified to be president than any man in the street."
The controversy has not sat well with Moore, a thoughtful, soft-spoken man hired to put Virginia State's messy financial house in order. At issue is whether a university president should be a scholar or, in an era of budget cuts and tough competition for students, a sound businessman.
Moore, 45, is foremost a number cruncher. He is a certified public accountant with a master's in business management from the University of Pittsburgh. He does not have a Ph.D. or a teaching background. His only experience in college administration came in two years as comptroller at William and Mary, beginning in 1988.
He is, however, a proven administrator. Gov. Douglas Wilder appointed him state treasurer in 1990. On any given day in that post, Moore is responsible for overseeing the flow of about $2 billion in state funds and directing a staff of 93. He also is well-connected with General Assembly leaders, who control the flow of state dollars to state colleges and universities.
Those qualifications impressed VSU's board when it unanimously selected Moore over three other finalists. In recent years, the 4,000-student college has been repeatedly embarrassed by poor fiscal management and critical audits. In 1991, a Chesterfield County special grand jury investigated alleged fiscal misconduct at the school. The findings were sealed under a court order.
"Eddie Moore is the right man at the right time for Virginia State," said Rector Glenn R. Mahone. "Finance and management are clearly his strong point. . . . Many universities across the country are starting to hire presidents with strong financial experience. The nature of the job is changing."
Moore is pledging to use his skills to raise money and "correct the perception of fiscal problems." He promises to give the provost wide latitude in directing academic affairs. "I believe in a team approach - empowering people to do their job and holding them responsible," he said.
Student and faculty leaders were hoping the presidency would go to Annie Wynn Neal, a VSU graduate who is assistant vice president for academic affairs at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
"Students have a vested interest in having the best educator that can be found leading them," said Farley, the VSU faculty council leader. "A university school is not a financial institution. . . . teaching is the heart of the institution."
Farley said Moore benefited from his close relationship with Wilder, who has appointed many members of the college's Board of Visitors.
Mahone, a former fraternity brother of Moore, said a screening committee that included students and faculty put Moore in the running for the job. "It would have been impossible for us to hire Eddie Moore if he had not survived that process," Mahone asserted.
State Education Secretary William Dyke said most professors and students support Moore. "What you're seeing is a few faculty members who have made it difficult for any president at Virginia State to get his job done. . . . They are stirring the students. They are fearful of anyone they can't control - not just Eddie."
Moore admits being shaken by the controversy but said he still intends to assume the presidency sometime later this year. In the meantime, he is trying to meet with students and faculty.
"All I ask is that people give me a chance," he said.
WARREN FISKE covers state politics from the Roanoke Times & World-News bureau in Richmond.