Former College of William and Mary President Gene R. Nichol uncharacteristically sidestepped controversy yesterday, declining to return fire at his critics or the college's governing board of visitors that decided not to rehire him.

In a 30-minute interview broadcast on Hampton Roads public television station WHRO-TV 15 -- Nichol's first public remarks since his abrupt resignation Feb. 12 -- Nichol said he was focused on his positive memories of William and Mary and the challenges awaiting him at his next job, teaching law at the University of North Carolina.

Asked to revisit the reasons behind his resignation, Nichol replied: "There has been a lot of discussion about it, God knows, from many, many different directions. I don't have, frankly, a lot to add to that."

Nichol wrote in a farewell e-mail to the campus that the board of visitors had sacrificed him to conservative critics of his social stands, including his removal of a cross from a historic chapel on campus. Board members responded that they let Nichol go because of his job performance, not his ideology.

Pressed to fire back yesterday, Nichol said he had not changed his earlier views, "so I likely don't agree with the versions as presented" by the board.

"Thinking now about leaving the college and thinking also about what a singular place it is, those are the largest matters on my mind right now."

In reply to another question, Nichol said some of his critics had crossed the line of fair debate with personal attacks on his family. But he said the support he received from students, faculty, staff and most alumni "was among the most touching experiences of my life."

"The night of my resignation, there were a couple thousand students on the doorstep" of the president's house on campus. "William and Mary is not a large place, so that's a pretty remarkable scene."

Nichol said he and his wife were heading to UNC law school to teach and write starting in the fall. He said he was not a candidate for the open UNC chancellor's position.

A First Amendment scholar, Nichol said he was eager "to work on issues that I care about that I've been working on for a long time under my own pace, with my own desired depth and attention, and without having to worry so much about what the fellow next door may be thinking about what I'm thinking."

Asked whether he had any advice for aspiring college presidents, Nichol said he thinks an effective leader should stand for principles rather than "administering by never annoying anyone [and] never taking a discernible position on any vital matter."

But he added, "I would advise anyone who is considering a university presidency to talk to a whole lot of people before they talk to me."

Nichol served as William and Mary president for 2½ years, presiding over a series of controversies before the board decided not to renew his contract. In the week before the decision, four board members were summoned before a General Assembly committee and grilled about Nichol's future. Board members said the decision already had been made by that point.

Nichol was asked yesterday if he found the legislature's involvement in the issue worrisome. He said universities are "not well-served by political interference of this sort, but your support comes from legislators, and legislators are political folks and they always will be, and that's no great surprise to anyone."
Contact Bill Geroux at (757) 498-2820 or wgeroux@timesdispatch.com.