An early sign of the impact of the summer’s violent white nationalist rallies on the future of the University of Virginia, the Darden School of Business announced in a recent email that it is “facing headwinds.”
In an email sent to alumni, Dean Scott Beardsley attributed a drop in first-round applications to the full-time MBA program to the violent rallies on Aug. 11 and 12 that brought torch-bearers to UVa’s Rotunda and ended in the death of a counter-protester in Charlottesville and, indirectly, the deaths of two state troopers in Albemarle County.
“As you might imagine, in the aftermath of the August rally that took place in Charlottesville, we are facing headwinds that we are actively addressing,” Beardsley wrote. “In a spirit of community and transparency, I want to let you know that we have experienced a decline in applications for the first of three rounds to the full-time MBA. We suspect that the alarming events in Charlottesville and the subsequent international press coverage are having an impact.”
