Photo by Kevin Harber

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who had maintained a very noticeable radio silence on the sudden ouster of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan, is finally speaking up on the matter.

The Post reports that McDonnell, in agreement with just about everyone who’s looked at the unexpected decision last week by U.Va.’s Board of Visitors to dump Sullivan after barely two years on the job, thinks that the board bungled the announcement:

“The board…made the decision that they felt were in the best longterm interest of the university,’’ McDonnell said in a conference call with reporters. “I would have liked to see things happen a little differently — a little more promptly, a little bit more communication with people in the community so there was a much clearer understanding about the reasons for their decision.’’

But yesterday the Board of Visitors did meet McDonnell’s previous request that they name an interim president to take over when Sullivan’s resignation takes effect August 15. After a marathon session that stretched into the early hours of Tuesday morning, the board named Carl Zeithami, the dean of U.Va.’s McIntire School of Commerce, to take over in an interim capacity.

The dismissal of Sullivan, who was tremendously popular with donors, students and especially faculty, has caused a wave of uproar on the Charlottesville campus. Earlier this week, one of the school’s biggest financial backers said that she would hold back any future donations until she sees a change in leadership on the Board of Visitors. Namely, donors are upset with the board’s leader, Helen E. Dragas, who was appointed to the position in 2008 by McDonnell’s predecessor, Tim Kaine. McDonnell and Kaine each named eight of the 16 members of the board.

Dragas, who is up for reappointment, convinced Sullivan to resign after saying there were enough votes on the board to force her out. (An actual vote was never taken.)

Reaction to Sullivan’s removal has also manifested itself in vandalism in what is perhaps U.Va.’s most treasured building, Thomas Jefferson’s rotunda at the heart of campus. Yesterday, the columns on the structure’s front portico were spray-painted with the word “Greed” in an apparent protest to the forced change in leadership.

Sullivan addressed the Board of Visitors meeting inside the rotunda yesterday. Before her resignation was elicited, Sullivan had been resisting the board’s demands that she make significant cuts to academic programs.

“I have been described as an incrementalist,” Sullivan said, according to a U.Va. news release. “It is true. Sweeping action may be gratifying and may create the aura of strong leadership, but its unintended consequences may lead to costs that are too high to bear.”

Shortly before addressing the university’s overseers, Sullivan walked across the rotunda’s lawn to rapturous applause.