Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) has requested that the University of Virginia (UVA) pause the process of picking a new president for the university until she is able to appoint five new board members.
In a letter addressed to UVA’s Board of Visitors, Spanberger claimed that the “actions of the Board of Visitors” over the past six months have undermined the public and the UVA community’s confidence in the Board’s “ability to govern productively” and transparently.
Spanberger’s letter comes after former UVA President James E. Ryan resigned from his position over pressure from the Trump administration to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from the university. The resignation of Ryan came after the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to the university, directing it to confirm that it had eliminated DEI from its campuses.
“I urge you to refrain from rushing this search process and from selecting the finalists for the presidency or a president until the Board is at full complement and in statutory compliance, meaning that I have appointed and the General Assembly has confirmed new Board members,” Spanberger said.
In her letter, Spanberger explained that the loss of confidence in UVA’s Board of Visitors from the public and university community was also “reflected in the numerous votes of no confidence from both the faculty senate and the student council.”
“This loss of confidence is reflected in the numerous votes of no confidence from both the faculty senate and the student council — constituencies essential to the University’s success and those directly affected by the critical decisions before the Board,” Spanberger said in her letter. “In addition, as five Board appointees have failed to achieve confirmation by the General Assembly, the Board is not fully constituted and its composition is now in violation of statutory requirements in crucial respects, further calling into question the legitimacy of the Board and its actions.”
Spanberger referenced Ryan’s resignation as being the “result of federal overreach,” which was “unchallenged by the Board,” and she described the search for UVA’s next president as “the most consequential action” a university board could take on.
In a statement, Brian Coy, a spokesperson for UVA, explained that “university leaders and the Board of Visitors” were looking at the letter and that they were prepared to work with Spanberger, the Washington Post reported.
“University leaders and the Board of Visitors are reviewing the letter and are ready to engage with the Governor-elect and to work alongside her and her team to advance the best interests of U-VA. and the Commonwealth,” Coy said.
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