Virginia
ACTA Senior Program Officer Nick Down Testifies On Virginia Senate Bill 506
Thank you, Chairwoman Sewell, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee. My name is Nick Down, and I am a senior program officer with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, or ACTA for short. I am here before you today to urge you to vote against moving Senate Bill 506 forward to the full committee.
By way of background, ACTA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization committed to preserving academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability at four-year public and private colleges and universities across the U.S. Since 1995, ACTA has worked with over 23,000 higher education trustees across the country to ensure that students receive an intellectually rich, high- quality college education at an affordable price. We believe that governing boards are key to maintaining these core values, and thus we work with trustees to help them fulfill their fiduciary duties.
Senate Bill 506 seeks to alter fundamentally the nature of Virginia’s boards of visitors by calling on their members to “act at all times in accordance with the duty of loyalty owed primarily to such institution,” while removing existing references to board members’ “primary duty to the citizens of the Commonwealth.” For those on the boards of public institutions this includes a responsibility to serve the citizens of their state. Passage of SB 506 in its current form would significantly erode the capacity of Virginia’s boards of visitors to fulfill this primary duty.
ACTA understands the desire to protect Virginia’s boards of visitors from undue political interference, and we agree that for trustees to fulfill their fiduciary duties they MUST be independent actors. However, I urge you to consider an alternative way to secure trustees’ independence, as their duty to serve the Commonwealth should not be misconstrued as a duty to obey any political actor.
Visitors serve the public by looking to the common good rather than merely the immediate interests of their institutions. For example, when a college administration proposes a tuition increase, it is the responsibility of visitors to determine whether it’s appropriate for the citizens of Virginia. By removing the duty of visitors to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth first, you are removing the only internal check against the narrow interest of each college or university, which weakens the ability of these institutions to self-regulate. Given that our surveys of public higher education show that Virginia’s institutions rate in the bottom third of the nation on several measures of access and cost, this legislation is something that the people of Virginia can ill afford.
Again, I urge the Subcommittee to vote against SB 506 and I thank you for your time and the opportunity to appear before you today. I am happy to answer any questions.
Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer led fellow Democrats to major gains in November’s election. Now he’s turning his attention to the redistricting of the Commonwealth, and a run in the newly proposed 7th district. He joins Sydney Persing on The Final 5 to discuss.
FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — Virginia State Police have identified the man who was shot and killed by a trooper after a crash ended in a stabbing attack on Interstate 495 Sunday afternoon.
Jared Llamado, 32, of McLean, died at the hospital on Sunday after he was shot.
RELATED | 2 dead, dog killed after stabbing spree, trooper shooting on I-495 in Fairfax County
Investigators said Llamado was confronted by the trooper who opened fire around 1:17 p.m. The trooper was responding to a report of a road rage incident and found Llamado with a knife, according to a news release.
Four stabbing victims, all women, were also found at the scene, along with a dog that was also stabbed.
Michelle Adams, 39, died from her injuries. The dog also did not survive. The three other women were all taken to the hospital with serious injuries, according to VSP. 7News is not identifying the surviving victims.
Investigators said the stabbings stemmed from a crash in the southbound lanes of I-495.
The trooper who opened fire was not hurt and is on leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the use of force.
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Investigators said they do not believe the attack is connected to terrorism.
Virginia
Two dead after I-495 road rage incident leads to stabbing, Virginia State Police shooting – WTOP News
A road rage incident led to a shooting involving the Virginia State Police on Sunday on Interstate 495. Four individuals were also stabbed.
Two people are dead Sunday in Annandale, Virginia, after a road rage incident led to a shooting involving Virginia State Police on Interstate 495.
A release issued by the Virginia State Police said a trooper fatally shot a man after responding to a report of a road rage incident on the southbound lanes of I-495 just before 1:30 p.m. at exit 52, near the Little River Turnpike.
The man, transferred to a hospital with serious injuries, has been pronounced dead. VSP said the trooper shot in self-defense after the man confronted him with a knife.
The trooper did not suffer any injuries during the altercation.
Officials found four stabbing victims at the scene, but only identified a 39-year-old woman and a dog. Both the woman and the dog died.
Early findings suggest the stabbings took place after a crash on the Capital Beltway. The crash remains under investigation.
The VSP’s release comes after the main lanes of the Capital Beltway Outer Loop, before Little River Turnpike, were closed to traffic for several hours, only recently opening the express lanes. Main lanes between Arlington Boulevard and the Little River Turnpike remain closed.
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