We've joked about it before, but it really seems to be true: this town eats university presidents for lunch. Today comes word that the president of the University of the District of Columbia, William L. Pollard, resigned yesterday and will step down at the end of June after five years in at the public university.

The Post reports that he was asked to leave by the university's board of trustees when his contract ends at the end of this month. Some on campus were apparently surprised by the news, even though Pollard had recently come under fire from the board, which had stepped in to manage some day-to-day operations. The board had agreed to another five-year contract with Pollard in October, but began making noises they wanted him gone in the spring.

This news comes after a string of upheavals in top administration at area universities in the last year or so. At American University, President Ben Ladner was forced out after a campus-wide uprising over some $500,000 in personal expenses he charged to the university. Gallaudet University saw students shut in protest of president-designate Jane Fernandes, who they claimed wasn't right for the job. Howard university's president, H. Patrick Swygert, more recently came under attack for financial mismanagement, but he's still in his job.

The mayor's office and the D.C. Council have been asked to take part in the search for a new president of UDC.