As students prepare to start fall classes Thursday, Virginia Commonwealth University's administration faces a test of its own.

Eugene P. Trani's announcement last week that he will step down as president next summer for health reasons adds another dimension to decisions facing VCU's board of visitors.

The board will meet Wednesday and Thursday as it works to resolve the fallout from what Trani has termed "a summer of challenges."

The controversies erupted almost simultaneously. Research grants from Philip Morris USA brought negative national attention to the university. And the improper awarding of a degree to Richmond's then-police chief has put VCU under the scrutiny of the commission that accredits it.

Complaints about the board's investigation into the awarding of the degree opened another front in the turmoil.

The faculty senate will meet Sept. 2 and is expected to discuss concerns that the board's investigators were too harsh in their dealings with faculty members who may have had a role in awarding Rodney Monroe a bachelor's degree.

The next day, a task force appointed by Trani will hold a second town hall-style meeting to hear student and faculty views on whether the university has compromised its integrity as a public health institution by accepting research money from companies such as tobacco giant Philip Morris.

But for most faculty and students, it's just the start of another academic year.

Tomorrow, a "Ram Spirit Walk" will welcome about 3,750 freshmen to campus with a pep rally in Monroe Park. It will be followed by the new student convocation at the Landmark Theater. The keynote speaker will be Kenji Yoshino, author of "Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights," the university's summer reading program selection.

. . .

Trani had planned to spend much of this summer on sabbatical working on a book of his own. His topic: universities, their communities and economic development.

But Trani cut short his sabbatical at Harvard University to deal with troubles at home that could be a case study for his book.

What Trani refers to as challenges resulted from the entangling of alliances that VCU forged as it grew into the state's largest public university.

Critics say Trani forged too close a bond with Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder as the university expanded its boundaries into adjacent neighborhoods.

Wilder holds the title of distinguished professor, and the School of Government and Public Affairs is named for him.

Under Wilder's current one-year contract with VCU, which expires Dec. 24, he receives $50,000. According to the university, he has taught a class each fall in the political-science program and also lectures in other classes.

Trani will become a distinguished professor next July, earning about three-fourths of his presidential salary.

Robert D. Holsworth, who resigned as dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences in protest of how the board investigated the disputed degree, earns $206,856. His salary remains unchanged because he also serves as special assistant to the provost and as a political-science professor.

Holsworth is a longtime political ally of Wilder. The mayor has said he played no role in the awarding of the diploma to Monroe, whom he hired as police chief. The degree was a requirement for Monroe's new job as police chief in Charlotte, N.C.

While Monroe's bachelor of interdisciplinary studies degree was awarded through University College, his focus area was criminal justice, which falls under the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. That school is part of the College of Humanities and Sciences.

. . .

For longtime faculty members, the discord is a sad turn of events.

"We love VCU very much," said William Blake, who is retired but teaches a history course every semester. "We very much hate to see this kind of cloud come over it."

Blake, whose tenure dates to the 1960s when the school was known as Richmond Professional Institute, said he was especially sorry that the controversy erupted "at this stage in Trani's very highly regarded tenure." Trani has led the school since 1990.

But while some would prefer the negative publicity just go away, Blake thinks the university needs to sort out what happened, both in the awarding of the degree and the treatment of faculty.

"No one begrudges the chief of police getting a degree, but we certainly believe the degree should be legitimate," he said. "Everyone, high or low, famous or infamous, should be treated the same."

Bob Andrews, an associate professor who has been at VCU for 30 years, thinks it's time for VCU to move forward from this crisis.

He hopes the lesson for some at the university will be that "doing things the right way -- not just getting it done" -- is important. That message has sometimes been lost during the university's rapid growth, he said.

But Andrews said he fears Trani has been "getting unfairly tainted" as a result.

"Trani is big about getting things done," Andrews said. But he said Trani would not sanction breaking the rules to accomplish his objectives.

He points to VCU's expansion, such as its new engineering school, as evidence of Trani's leadership and how it has helped to revitalize Richmond.

"We've reshaped the downtown area under his initiative," Andrews said.
Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.