University of Northern Virginia chancellor resigns
Lee cites discussion of personal life as reason for leaving
by Gregg MacDonald, Staff Writer
Monday, Aug. 22, 2011
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20110822/NEWS/708229938/university-of-northern-virginia-chancellor-resigns&template=fairfaxTimes
The chancellor of a Fairfax County university has resigned after details of his private life were made public around the same time the school was raided by immigration authorities last month.
In a letter posted on the school’s website Friday, University of Northern Virginia Chancellor David Lee, 64, wrote he resign, effective immediately.
“Discussions of my personal life have become a distraction for students and friends of UNVA at a time when we need to focus on much more significant issues,” the letter stated.
Officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the university’s Annandale campus July 28, seizing computer equipment, hardware and paper documents.
The raid corresponded with multiple published reports of texts and photos of Lee, which had been posted in personal ads aimed at recruiting female sexual partners on a sexually-themed website.
The university, which has campuses in Annandale, Centreville and Manassas and the countries of Cyprus, Hong Kong, England and the Czech Republic, serves a total of about 2,000 students.
The school has a high number of foreign students who entered the U.S. on education visas to attend the university, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
ICE threatened to withdraw the school’s authorization to admit foreign students and has made allegations that the school might be in violation of ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program guidelines, said Cori Bassett, an ICE spokeswoman.
“Officials from ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program served UNVA with a notice of intent to withdraw UNVA’s authorization to admit foreign students,” she said, adding she could not elaborate because the investigation is ongoing.
Bassett would not comment as to whether the federal raid and the sexually-themed posts were related. A Freedom of Information Act request, made by the Fairfax County Times seeking details of the raid, was denied by ICE.
Repeated calls and emails seeking comment from Lee have gone unanswered.
“UNVA would like to remind everyone that rumors have been circulating since last year, but they are just rumors,” Lee wrote in a published statement posted on the school’s website July 29. “Regarding this incident, students should give the most credulity to communication from government authorities and from UNVA administration.”
The school remains open and classes continue to be conducted as scheduled according to the school’s website, but faculty and staff do not have full access to all computer systems as equipment and hardware were seized by ICE.
In his Aug. 19 resignation letter, Lee named Dr. Habib Khan as his successor.
Phone messages for Habib have not been returned.
Bassett said ICE has set up a local hotline exclusively for UNVA students who might have questions about ICE’s involvement.
“UNVA students should call the SEVP Response Center at 703-603-3400 for guidance,” she said.
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