Virginia college students began to mobilize Monday in response to a legal opinion from Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II. declaring Virginia’s public colleges have no authority to ban discrimination against gay employees.

General Cuccinelli sent a letter to all of Virginia’s public universities and colleges asking them to eliminate campus policies that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Earlier this month, His Excellency Bob McDonnell rolled back protections for gay and lesbians in Virginia government, thanks to a little-noticed change made by the new Republican Governor in an executive order. (previous story)

Both the Governor and the Attorney General have been praised by the American Family Association and other anti-gay groups.

General Cuccinelli, also a Republican who took office in January, wrote that only the General Assembly can extend legal protection to gay state employees,  The Washington Post reported on Friday.  However, a spokeswoman at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia said the state’s public colleges have historically had the autonomy to make policy decisions like this one.  The council makes recommendations to the governor and General Assembly on public-policy issues related to higher education.

In the letter, dated Thursday, General Cuccinelli wrote: “It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including ‘sexual orientation,’ ‘gender identity,’ ‘gender expression,’ or like classification as a protected class within its nondiscrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly.”

More than 3,000 people have joined a Facebook page titled, “WE DON’T WANT DISCRIMINATION IN OUR STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES!” Nearly 900 people have joined another Facebook page started by activists at the College of William and Mary.

Some students contend General Cuccinelli released the letter late last week on purpose, because it caught many students leaving for break.

“I’ve never gotten so many e-mails from students wanting to do something,” said Brandon Carroll, 21, student government president at Virginia Tech. In his view, any erosion in gay rights at state universities is “going to make us lose top students. It’s going to make us lose top faculty.”

Students at Virginia Commonwealth University, one of the few not on break, planned a rally for noon Wednesday, with several hundred students committed. At Christopher Newport University, student Republican and Democratic leaders will discuss their next steps at a bipartisan meeting Friday.

Virginia’s ownership of public colleges and universities is unique; every public college has a different code outlining its relationship with the Commonwealth concerning governance. Because the codes are vague, the institutions are generally granted much autonomy, said Kirsten Nelson, the spokeswoman for the higher-education council. Only the governor and the General Assembly can change the codes, and “without changes, it is assumed that it is the will of the General Assembly that the institutions retain control of their governance,” Ms. Nelson wrote in an e-mail message to The Chronicle.

Democrats in the Virginia Senate denounced General Cuccinelli letter on Friday and called his actions “unconscionable” in a written statement.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has suggested the state will not move against public colleges and universities that do not rescind anti-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

The governor issued his statement after General Cuccinelli sent notice to the schools and he advised the schools should “take appropriate actions to bring their policies in conformance with the law and public policy of Virginia.”

While Governor McDonnell’s Office called General Cuccinelli advice “consistent with all prior opinions from the office of the attorney general over the last 25 years on the subject,” spokesman J. Tucker Martin added, “The governor will appoint board members based solely on their ability and on their strong commitment to educational excellence in Virginia. The governor expects that no Virginia college or University, or any other state agency, will engage in discrimination of any kind.”

State college and university board members are appointed by the Governor.

The issue of gay protections has been a hot topic at the Virginia Statehouse since Republican Governor Bob McDonnell assumed office.

Lawmakers attempted to restore the protections with three slightly-varied measures, but members of a Republican-controlled House of Delegates subcommittee killed the bills. Last month, Democratic senators, with the aid of one Republican, Senator Fred Quayle, approved a bill that would have protected gay state employees from discrimination, but the bill was quashed in the House of Delegates.

All of Virginia’s leading schools provide such protections.

Equality Virginia, the state’s largest gay advocate, called on public schools to ignore General Cuccinelli’s letter.

“They call it legal advice for a reason,” Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, general counsel for the group, said in a statement. “I urge the university boards to get a second opinion before they take action that will adversely affect their ability to attract and retain the best and the brightest students.”