Aside from being one of the best schools in the nation, University of Virginia has just shocked the Obama administration by not dropping everything to accommodate an Obama visit. The local NBC affiliate reports that, due to logistical reasons--which included having to cancel nearly 200 classes on the second day of school--UVA denied the request.
From the NBC29 report:
UVA says the Obama campaign requested the use of one of two outdoor venues - the Amphitheater or the Harrison-Small Library plaza. The university declined the request for a number of reasons including class cancellations, which UVA estimates could be more than 186 classes on the second day of school. The other main reason is they would have to take on the full cost of security, and because of university policy and their federal and state tax exempt status, they would have to offer the same opportunity to the other candidate so as not to show favor for either candidate.
Huh. An establishment taking costs and the law seriously. Guess UVA has some lessons Obama needs to learn.
Not only that, but UVA offered the John Paul Jones Arena, but were told it "was not academic enough" for the campaign. Now, both venues requested are beautiful--and relatively small for a presidential appearance.
Perhaps the arena truly is not academic enough...or perhaps they're worried they don't have enough supporters to fill the larger venue.
Read the full story and statement here.
No comments:
Post a Comment