Abigail Spanberger Asks University of Virginia to Halt Search for President
Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) has requested that the University of Virginia (UVA) suspend the process of selecting a new president for the university until she is able to appoint five new members to the board of trustees.
In a letter to the UVA Board of Visitors, Spanberger asserted that the Board of Visitors’ “actions” over the past six months have undermined public and UVA community 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 following pressure from the Trump administration to eliminate the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Ryan’s resignation came after the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to the university, asking it to confirm that it had eliminated DEI from its campuses.
“I urge you to refrain from rushing this search process and selecting finalists for the presidency or a president until the Council is complete and in compliance with the law, which means I have nominated and the General Assembly has confirmed the new members of the Council,” Spanberger said.
In his letter, Spanberger explained that the public and university community’s loss of confidence in UVA’s Board of Visitors was also “reflected in the numerous votes of no confidence on the part of the Faculty Senate and Student Council.”
“This loss of confidence is reflected in the numerous votes of no confidence on the part of the Faculty Senate and Student Council – groups critical to the success of the University and those directly affected by critical decisions submitted to the Council,” Spanberger said in his letter. “Furthermore, as five appointees to the Board failed to obtain confirmation from 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 referred to Ryan’s resignation as the “result of federal overreach,” which was not challenged by the board of trustees, and she described the search for UVA’s next president as “the most consequential action” a university board of trustees can take.
In a statement, UVA spokesman Brian Coy said “university leadership and the Board of Visitors” were reviewing the letter and were prepared to work with Spanberger, the Washington Post reported.
“University leadership and the Board of Visitors are reviewing the letter and are prepared to engage with the governor-elect and work alongside him and his team to advance the best interests of U-VA and the Commonwealth,” Coy said.
