Another queen sacrifice might be in the works, this time in Virginia

How can a non-profit respond to financial stresses? In non-profit higher education one response is to cut back on services and staff.

When a college or university does this, I call it a “queen sacrifice.” That’s a term from chess, when a player gives up their most powerful piece — the queen — in a desperate move to win the game. On campuses, tenure-track faculty often play this role, given their governance power and the long-term protections tenure provides, compared with adjunct faculty and all staff members. I’ve…