The Board of Visitors will soon begin the process of selecting an interim president and conducting a national search for a new president in the wake of former University President Jim Ryan’s resignation which came under pressure from the Department of Justice. As the Board searches for a new president, viewpoint diversity is likely to be a topic on their mind.
As the University’s corporate governing body, the Board is composed of 17 voting members, most of which are alumni of the University, appointed by the governor of Virginia for four-year terms. As of July 1, all voting Board members were appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R).
In the past few months, the Board has frequently discussed viewpoint diversity, passing a resolution in April which asked Ryan’s administration to make efforts to advance viewpoint diversity. This resolution came more than a month after the Board dissolved the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Partnerships.
Board member Doug Wetmore suggested in a June Board meeting that professors’ political donation histories are sufficient evidence to track viewpoint diversity at the University. He claimed that there is an inadequate balance of ideologies at the University with 95 per cent of faculty donations going to Democratic candidates and campaigns — though Sarah Turner, University professor of economics and education, noted that 84 percent of University faculty do not make political donations.
Here is a look at Board members’ political donations — all but one of whom has records of political donations which are overwhelmingly to Republican candidates and campaigns.
Stephen Long (appointed in 2022) donated $20,000 to the Youngkin Inaugural Committee 2022, $15,191 to former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s (R) unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2005 and $8,966 to former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s (R) 2009 campaign. He has also donated $2,200 to Democratic campaigns and candidates.
Amanda Pillion (appointed in 2022) donated $300 to the Youngkin Inaugural Committee 2022.
Doug Wetmore (appointed in 2022) donated a total of $40,150 to Republican candidates and committees over the past several decades. Donation causes include A Safer Virginia PAC, Spirit of Virginia — a contributor to Youngkin’s financial campaign, Youngkin’s campaign for governor in 2021 and Jason Miyares’ (R) campaigns for attorney general in 2021 and 2024.
Paul Harris (appointed in 2023) donated $7,580 to his own campaign for delegate of Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Delegates as a Republican.
Paul Manning (appointed in 2023) donated $185,000 to Youngkin’s campaign for governor, $101,396 to Gubernatorial Candidate Winsome Earle-Sears’ (R) ongoing campaign and $73,000 to Virginia Delegate Rob Bell’s (R) campaign. Collectively, he has donated $552,119 to Republican candidates and committees and $500 to Democratic candidates and committees.
John Nau III (appointed in 2023) has collectively donated nearly $1.09 million to Republican candidates and committees. Among these, he donated $333,000 to Spirit of Virginia, $100,000 to Youngkin’s gubernatorial campaign, and $37,500 to Board member Ken Cuccinelli’s (R) unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2013. He has also donated $30,500 to causes that are categorized as neither Democrat nor Republican, including $23,500 to the Virginia Preservation PAC, which supports historical preservation efforts of endangered sites throughout the state.
Rachel Sheridan (appointed in 2023) and is the newly elected Rector of the Board, having begun her term Tuesday. She donated $25,000 to Youngkin’s gubernatorial campaign and $10,000 to the Winsome PAC in 2023 — a campaign initiative for Earle-Sears. Collectively, she has donated $36,700 to Republican causes.
Daniel Brody (appointed in 2024) has collectively donated $233,690 to Republican causes, $4,500 to Democratic causes and $7,500 to causes categorized as “other.” Notably, he gave $50,000 to Spirit of Virginia, $41,000 to Bell’s campaign, $25,000 to Youngkin’s campaign and $25,000 to the Youngkin Inaugural Committee 2022.
Marvin Gilliam (appointed in 2024) donated $200,000 to the Spirit of Virginia, $130,000 to Kilgore’s gubernatorial campaign, $120,000 to Youngkin’s gubernatorial campaign and gifts to many other Republican candidates and committees totalling over $1.5 million to Republican campaigns. Donations to Democratic campaigns are estimated around $3,000.
David Okonkwo (appointed in 2024) has no traceable political donation history found by The Cavalier Daily.
David Webb (appointed in 2024) donated $35,000 to Spirit of Virginia, $25,000 to Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign and $20,000 to A Safer Virginia PAC. In total, he has donated $115,000 to Republican candidates and committees.
Porter Wilkinson (appointed in 2024) is the newly elected vice rector and began her term Tuesday. She has donated $4,650 to Republican candidates, including former United States Senators Mitt Romney (R) and George Allen (R). She has also donated $150 to Democratic causes.
Ken Cuccinelli (appointed in 2025) replaced former Board member Bert Ellis. His position on the Board is currently uncertain after the Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee voted not to confirm his appointment June 10. Cuccinelli has financially contributed to various Republican candidates and committees, and his support totals over $3,100. He has also donated $5 to the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus.
James Donovan (appointed in June 2025) has donated over $950,000 to Republican candidates and committees, including two donations totaling nearly $200,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2016 and over $10,000 to President Donald Trump. He has also financially contributed to Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Eugene Lockhart (appointed in June 2025) has donated $65,000 to Republican candidates and causes, including $40,000 to Opportunity Virginia PAC — a Republican leadership committee — and $25,000 to Kilgore’s unsuccessful 2005 campaign. He has also donated $1,000 to causes categorized as "other."
Calvert Saunders Moore (appointed in June 2025) has donated a total of more than $130,000 to Republican candidates and committees over the past several decades, including donations to the Republican National Committee and former Associate Attorney General Rudolph Giuliani (R).
In total, the Board members have donated over $4.8 million to Republican campaigns and candidates, approximately $10,000 to Democratic campaigns and candidates and approximately $39,000 to causes categorized as “other.”
The General Assembly has not yet confirmed the Board’s most recent appointees — Cuccinelli, Donovan, Harris, Lockhart and Saunders Moore.
The Cavalier Daily obtained data on the Board members’ political donation history from OpenSecrets, which provides data on American political donations, and the Virginia Public Access Project, a resource for information on Virginia elections, campaign finance and news. The two resources sometimes report different information on Board members, with OpenSecrets typically offering a more complete history that includes smaller contributions.
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