Governor Tim Kaine offered warm words of support during a tour of the new Integrated Science Center Wednesday.
In front of a banner proclaiming “Thank You! Governor Kaine,” Interim College President W. Taylor Reveley introduced the governor and the “rest of the ruling elite from Richmond.”
The day was titled a cabinet community day. Kaine left Richmond at 7 a.m. with his cabinet members and stopped at Fort Monroe, an educational center in Hampton, Va. and an elderly public housing community in Newport News as well as the College.
Reveley introduced Kaine to a crowd of College administrators and a handful of professors, students and reporters. He told Kaine, “We’d love to hear from you, if you wish to share any major political insight.”
Kaine sidestepped the political innuendo, a common tactic recently, due to speculation that he may be one of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s top picks for the vice presidential spot. Instead, he focused on responding warmly to Reveley as the newest president of the College.
“We’re just thrilled to see the leadership and your steady hand. You and your leadership are an awful lot to be proud of. What a great thing to be associated with this college,” Kaine told Reveley at the news conference.
Kaine pointed out the Rector of the Board of Visitors Michael K. Powell in the audience, as well as Kaine’s new appointee to the BOV, Timothy P. Dunn (’83). Kaine appointed Dunn and Robert E. Scott (J.D. ’68) earlier this month and renewed the terms of two other members.
In February, during the controversy surrounding former President Gene R. Nichol, Jeff Tiller, deputy press secretary for the governor, released a statement to The DSJ concerning Kaine’s view on the Board of Visitors and Virginia schools.
“The governor believes that politicians shouldn’t micromanage college campuses,” the statement read. “He believes that the Board of Visitors is best equipped to make good decisions in the interest of the college, and is very confident in the ability of his appointees to the William and Mary Board of Visitors to help make those decisions.”
Nonetheless, Kaine said he was pleased to be able to help the College fiscally by supporting a higher education bond package in the General Assembly. The package, signed into law in May, will invest $2.6 billion in Virginia, including nearly $1.5 billion for construction projects at colleges and universities.
The money that will come to the College will be spent on the rest of the ISC, a new School of Education, an upgrade to heating and cooling systems and a renovation of Tucker Hall.
The governor and his cabinet saw only the first phase of completed construction on the ISC. The cost of the building reached nearly $65 million, $6.2 million of which went towards new equipment. The design features the most powerful ventilation on campus, with an automated system to monitor the quality of circulating air and exhaust.
The second phase of the ISC project is a renovation of Rogers Hall, scheduled to be completed by March 2009. Two new buildings will be constructed during the third phase, one connecting the ISC and Rogers in a triangle shape and the other on the current site of Millington Hall.
Kaine acknowledged that this has been a “challenging year, budget-wise,” to an audience all too aware of the impact of budget cuts on the College after last year’s speedy seven percent cut.
“Citizens and businesses are experiencing slower revenues,” Kaine said. “If they’re having to make painful choices, well, the government shouldn’t be immune to that. But it does mean that there will be painful choices.”
Though no state institution is exempt from the budget analysis, he said, investments in education are a priority, because they of their “immediate return in terms of economic growth.”
The audience toured the building in two separate groups and reconvened on the second floor to watch Associate Professor of Chemistry Lisa M. Landino and two students make ice cream with liquid nitrogen, a summertime ritual on Wednesdays. Kaine donned goggles and watched up close as the “experiment” overflowed out of the bowl.