A bit more than two weeks after she was forced out, University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan was reinstated following an impromptu meeting of the school’s Board of Visitors. Sullivan, who is popular with faculty, administrators and students, was put back in power in a unanimous vote by the board, which convened just days after Gov. Bob McDonnell threatened to replace the entire 16-member body if the uproar over her temporary ouster was not quelled.

“This is your university,” Sullivan said to a thunderous crowd of about 2,500 students, faculty and staff assembled outside the historic rotunda at the center of the Charlottesville campus a few moments after the board meeting.

Sullivan’s dismissal, which had been scheduled to take effect August 15, was engineered by Rector Helen E. Dragas, who chairs the Board of Visitors, over an apparent disagreement with Sullivan over the fiscal direction of the university. Dragas had wanted to see cuts to a broad swath of academic programs; Sullivan resisted, calling herself more of an “incrementalist.”

But the reaction to Dragas’ move, which did not involve an actual vote seeking Sullivan’s departure, was swift and angry. After remaining largely silent on the issue for more than a week, McDonnell, who has the power to appoint and remove members of the board, said on Friday that he would dismiss all 15 remaining members. (One member, Vice Rector Mark Kington, resigned during the upheaval.)

Following Sullivan’s speech, the crowd outside Thomas Jefferson’s rotunda broke into a round of U.Va.’s fight song, “The Good Ole Song.”