An online petition is urging the University of Virginia to withhold its plans to hire Marc Short, President Donald J. Trump’s former legislative affairs director, to a position at the Miller Center and Darden.
On July 12, the Miller Center announced the appointment of Short as a senior fellow, effective August 1.
“Short, who previously served as chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence and president of Freedom Partners, will participate in Miller Center conferences and events, engage with faculty and students across the University of Virginia, and contribute to the millercenter.org website and other Miller Center publications,” reads the statement issued by center.
The petition points out that the university should not serve as a waystation for high-level members of an administration that has directly “harmed” the community and to this day “attacks” the institutions vital to a free society
“While we do not object to dialogue with members of this administration, we do object to the use of our university to clean up their tarnished reputations. No one should be serving at the highest levels of this administration, daily supporting and defending its actions one week, then representing UVA the next,” reads the petition drafted by the members of the UVA community.
The petition also makes reference to the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last summer where white supremacists attacked counter-demonstrators, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring at least 19 others.
“We approach the first anniversary of the white nationalist violence against this university, this town, and our friends, neighbors, students, faculty, and staff — all of whom are represented among the injured — it is unconscionable that we would add to our university a person who served in a high-level position for the administration that first empowered, then defended, those white nationalists,” reads the petition.
The petition which has garnered nearly 2,000 signatures as of Sunday evening further urged the university to revoke the appointment of Short to the Miller Center and Darden and do a full review to understand how this appointment was made.