Virginia Union University (VUU) and I/Me Thus Far: I am Glad I Did Not Send That E-Mail

I am a Morehouse College Alumnus (a "maroon and white tiger"); my blood is maroon, and my sweat is white. But I have taught at VUU since 1969, and I have developed a deep love for Virginia Union. There is at least one book about my four decades at VUU.
Virginia Union is a major asset to the Richmond community, and it deserves a lot more support than it gets from the Richmond community. It deserves a lot more support than it gets from its prominent alumni--especially its most prominent alumnus Governor/Mayor L. Douglas Wilder.
However, like any institution, Union Has its faults and its positive and negative critics. When I criticize, I aim to be a positive critic.
One of the impromptu speaking assignment options for my speech classes at Union is "VUU and I Thus Far."
Every now and then, I start the session off talking about my almost 40 years at Union.
Since my wife teaches at VUU, Union is our livelihood. Only a fool would want to do anything to hurt her/his livelyhood. A lot of negative things have been said about me over the last 39+ years at Union, and some of them are/were true. But only liars or fools (or some combination thereof) have said that I was not forthright or that I was incompetent. I tell everyone what I think, and "I'm 'bout half smart."
ONLY A FOOL WOULD WANT TO HURT THE INSTITUTION THAT IS HIS LIVELIHOOD.
Last May, a senior administrator at VUU said in the presence of my wife that some faculty members seemed angry and demoralized.
I gave serious thought to sending a sarcastic E-mail entitled "You Mean We Are Not a Happy Camp? I Wonder Why?
In view of recent happenings at VUU, I am very glad I did not.
Sometimes procrastination has its rewards. I may write more about my perspectives on VUU later.

Drop the Suits Brother Mayor

Open Letter to Brother Mayor Dwight C. Jones:
Dear Brother Dwight,
Please tell Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's high priced team of lawyers to go away, and drop the appeals Mr. Wilder made to the Virginia State Supreme Court.

Mr. Wilder's first appeal was over the Richmond Circuit Court's ruling that Mr. Wilder cannot hire and fire city employees who report to City Council. Everywhere in the free world where there are executive and legislative branches of government, the legislative branch hires and fires employees who report to it.

Mr. Wilder exploited ambiguity in and half baked changes to the City Charter to make a power play. Please clarify the City Charter, and call off the costly and wrong headed litigation.

Mr. Wilder's second appeal was over the Circuit Court's ruling that he could not evict the Richmond School Board from City Hall. While Mr. Wilder claimed this would save the City money, he ignored repeated requests from City Council to document this claim. I strongly suspect that Mr. Wilder just wanted the School Board's offices for himself.

Mr. Wilder had a golden opportunity to unite the city; he blew it. You too have a golden opportunity to move us forward. I am confident that you are going to make positive change.

If I can help in any way, please let me know.

Your Brother,
Preston M. Yancy