Yesterday, at a meeting of 100 members of the Virginia Commonwealth University community, Dr. Francis Macrina admitted that his school was wrong for the secrecy agreements it has entered into with Philip Morris USA.
Other speakers among the 100 or so attending the meeting of a task force tasked with exploring corporate research addressed a variety of concerns related to the propriety of the tobacco contracts and whether VCU should be doing tobacco-funded research at all.
Since I have been writing against the contracts for Bacons Rebellion and have researched the issue extensively on Richmond.com, all I can say is “Bravo!”
The meeting is restoring my faith in VCU although I am disappointed they still believe they need to take baby steps in dealing with issues that plenty of other schools would have absolutely no problem in addressing. VCU administrators, for example, refused to allow news cameras to film any of the meeting. A small step backwards.
A few other points. This meeting and Macrina’s honesty shoots down some folks on this blog. One is a Virginia State Chamber of Commerce lobbyist who saw absolutely no problem with the tobacco contracts. Well, fella, VCU sees a problem with those contracts so maybe you ought to enter the 21st Century.
And, our beloved Blogmeister, Jim Bacon, needs to wake up and smell the coffee, too. After all this, he doesn’t need to step back, all-knowing, and complain that he can’t find enough to “condemn” VCU about. Well, Jimbo, mark Macrina’s words. Next time, no knee jerk defense of the “Richmond” you so proclaim to love. Think it over, first. Okay?
The danger, however, is that this issue may die ove the summer. VCU President Eugene Trani seems to be recovering part of his and his school’s reputation by holding these public meetings and encouraging debate. Funny that there’s still an element of fear.
Unfortunately, Trani, 68, has been ill with heart troubles and has undergone a bypass. This and his age raise the question about his succession. One wonders if VCU has started looking.
Peter Galuszka