We write to request your support for the reconstitution of the Special Committee on the nomination of a University President. We ask that you publicly pledge to resign from this committee unless it is reconstituted through an open, democratic and representative process worthy of the University’s traditions of shared governance.
This presidential search committee stands in opposition to overwhelming dissent expressed across the University’s constituencies, who have made specific demands for transparency and participatory decision-making that continue to go unacknowledged and unmet by the Board of Visitors. The Student Council, Faculty Senate and General Faculty Council passed resolutions of no confidence in the Board. University alumni and retired faculty have expressed their concerns en masse. As it stands, this committee will erode the University’s traditions of shared governance, legitimize the manufactured crisis leading to President Jim Ryan’s resignation and damage the University in the present and future.
The committee does not represent the University’s key constituencies. Students, faculty, staff and residents of Charlottesville have been excluded from any real decision-making authority. With the major University governing bodies — the Faculty Senate, General Faculty Council and Staff Senate — having had no hand in selecting their own representatives, this committee was formed in violation of principles of shared governance and student self-governance. The University’s single most important partner, the residents of Charlottesville, also lack any representation, despite the University’s repeated promises to be a good neighbor.
No number of “listening sessions” or other forms of outreach provide constituencies with the access, accountability and real influence that come with serving on the search committee. The Board has silenced the very people that the president of the University is selected to serve. This committee only exists because Ryan resigned under circumstances the Board has yet to explain. All we know is that Ryan’s resignation was an outcome of negotiations between the Department of Justice and the Board, led by Rector Rachel Sheridan, based on accusations for which no evidence has yet been shared with the University community.
The Board has advanced a false narrative of a University in crisis in order to create one. The reality is that the University is world-renowned, with faculty, staff and students producing innovative and life-saving research, technologies, art and therapies which deepen our collective knowledge and understanding of the world around us. Not only are University classrooms alive with learning and discourse, but also the University has the highest four-year graduation rate of any public university.
Moreover, the University is ranked first for financial aid among public universities — it is one of only two public universities that fully meet all demonstrated financial need. Ryan’s capital campaign, Honor the Future, exceeded its $5 billion goal with support from more than 250,000 individual donors. Does this sound like a University in crisis? History tells us that the Board has used a page from the old segregationist playbook — create a crisis, declare the institution to be unstable and then step in as a “steady hand” to “restore order.”
We recognize that you may not have known some or all of this context before agreeing to serve on this committee. We hope that this information allows you to more fully understand the significance of your continued participation in this illegitimate committee. We do not doubt that you chose to serve out of respect, affection and a sense of duty to this great University. However, by remaining a member of this committee, you not only condone the Board’s actions, but you are also an active participant in the suppression of student, faculty, staff and community voices, the erosion of University traditions of shared governance and the legitimization of a fake crisis that will damage the University while concentrating power in the Board.
We call for the reconstitution of the presidential search committee such that at least 75 percent of committee members are University workers, students and residents of Charlottesville. Of these 75 percent of seats, a majority of committee members must be held by elected representatives and not appointed by the Board or administration. Elected representatives must be vested with binding decision-making authority, including the power to veto finalists who fail to meet criteria agreed upon in advance by the full diversity of University constituencies. Non-Board or administrative committee members must receive stipends or course releases to compensate for the significant labor this process requires. The resident representatives, in particular, should be able to speak to the historical and contemporary harms done by the University to the residents of Charlottesville.
By supporting the reconstitution of the Special Committee on the Nomination of a President, you will affirm your commitment to the people, work and values of the University. You will assert your faith in the independence of this institution and help stop a series of events that have destabilized the University. As currently constituted, this presidential search committee will cause irreparable material, reputational and existential damage to the University. This damage would be the legacy of your participation on this committee.
This letter is signed by the Faculty Committee of the United Campus Workers of Virginia-UVA Chapter. They can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
The opinions expressed in this guest letter are not necessarily those of The Cavalier Daily. The letter represents the views of the signatories alone.
Read More
EDITORIAL: Honor lives on — with room for improvement
By Editorial Board | 4 days agoHonor is still a staple of the student vocabulary — just more often as a facetious justification for leaving one’s backpack unattended than as a true rationale for remaining academically honest.
CASTAGNO: U.Va. paved paradise, but we still need more parking lots
By Conall Castagno | August 18, 2025For better or worse, a substantial number of students bring their cars to school every year. The University can either choose to ignore this fact, or they can accommodate their students.
A statement of no confidence in the Board of Visitors by the U.Va. Chapter of the AAUP
By U.Va. Chapter of AAUP | August 17, 2025The Board’s actions and inactions as summarized above have generated a great deal of mistrust, widespread concern and indeed fear among our faculty
