NEWS
Shoegate Miller Center of controversy By Lisa Provence lisa@c-ville.com
T
he usually staid UVA institution devoted to the study of the U.S. presidency has recently found itself mired in controversy, first with the hiring of Trump administrator Marc Short, and then with the August 31 resignation of Miller Center board member Fred Scott—and the revelation of resignations of two other unnamed board members because of inappropriate behavior. Politico broke the “shoegate” story that precipitated the resignation of Scott, whose family name is on Scott Stadium and who sold his Bundoran Farm, now a high-end preservation development, in 2005. Scott offered to take 10 female Miller Center staffers shopping at deluxe shoe boutique Scarpa, and some were offended by the shopping spree Scott said was in honor of his mother’s 102nd birthday, according to emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. In a May 2, 2017, email, Scott admits he’s been called “clueless” before and apologized for his misstep. But it was an email the next day that led to his resignation more than a year later.
In that missive to then-council chair Gene Fife with a subject line “What set them off,” Scott really stepped in it with observations such as, “There are no United White People College Funds or White Students’ Alliances or Men Against Drunk Driving. Even at a ‘tolerant university’... especially there! Women’s Initiative. We both support it. Is there a Men’s Initiative???” He speculated that some people “just like to stir up trouble” and may not be the best to promote and others “dislike/envy those who are more successful, privileged, or powerful.” As a result of Shoegate and the misbehavior of two unnamed Governing Council members at an October 17, 2017, dinner, the Miller Center adopted a code of conduct in January that instructs council members “not to discriminate against, harass, or exert authority or undue influence” on staff or faculty, according to a statement from the center. Scott declined to comment, but in his resignation letter, he professed puzzlement at the reaction to what was supposed to be a generous offer, and said he had “no interest in putting anyone in an awkward situation.”
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But she learned of her sister’s secret struggle with alcohol and other substances after Yowell-Rohm’s recent separation from her husband. “She, in my view, was a social drinker,” said Maynard. “I know differently now.” After what Maynard called “the football incident,” when Yowell-Rohm assaulted an EMT who was tending to a patient in critical care at the November 2017 UVA vs. Virginia Tech game at Scott Stadium and tried to get into the ambulance with the patient, Maynard said, “that was so crazily uncharacteristic of any rational person, we knew it had to be more than just alcohol.” Yowell-Rohm has since worked her way through every treatment program at the local jail and received treatment at the Farley Center in Williamsburg, according to her attorney, Rhonda Quagliana. Quagliana argued that felony convictions in the “very public” trial were punishment enough. Judge Humes Franklin sentenced Yowell-Rohm to five years with four suspended for felony cruelty or injury to a child, three years with two suspended for assaulting the EMT, and 12 months with all suspended for operating her home daycare without a license.—Samantha Baars
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A Forest Lakes woman who pleaded guilty to child cruelty in May for neglecting more than a dozen kids at an unlicensed daycare will serve two years in jail. “I would like to publicly apologize to all the parents,” said a tearful Kathy Yowell-Rohm, before a judge pronounced her sentence September 7 in Albemarle Circuit Court. “Please know that I have always, always loved your children.” When police were called to her home last December, they found approximately 16 infants and toddlers, some strapped in urine-soaked chairs and swings, and almost all of them with dirty diapers. About 10 parents of the children Yowell-Rohm cared for were present in the courtroom, and prosecutor Darby Lowe said one of them wrote in a victim impact statement that learning what happened at that daycare was “one of the hardest days of [their] life.” Friends and family of Yowell-Rohm, who wore a gray blazer and her blonde hair wound tightly in a bun, also packed the courthouse. Her sister, Kimberly Maynard, spoke about the “fabulous” marriage, “model family,” and “nice home” the defendant once had. “People were begging for her to watch their children because she had such a stellar reputation,” Maynard said.
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September 12 – 18 2018 c-ville.com
Daycare operator sentenced
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