After former University President James Ryan’s abrupt dismissal in late June, concerned University faculty expressed a lack of confidence in the Board of Visitors. We called on the Board to take steps to earn back our trust. It has failed to do so. On multiple occasions over the last three months, the Board has had opportunities to explain the circumstances of Ryan’s departure, to operate in an open and transparent manner and to consult widely and deeply about how the University community can move forward from this debacle. It has refused to do any of these things.
The appointment of an interim president has done nothing to correct the impression that the Board intends to proceed without reestablishing trust within the University community. Launching a search for a provost before a new president has been appointed fuels concerns that the Board is acting with undue haste. After all, what candidate for president would step into such a volatile situation without input into who will serve as the University’s chief academic officer?
The committee to choose the new president excludes many who most directly advance the University’s fundamental mission of teaching and research. Other than the at-large member of the faculty who sits on the Board, there are only three current faculty members — two from the College of Arts and Sciences and one from the McIntire School of Commerce — on a committee of 28. This is a sharp departure from earlier committees and signals disregard for faculty input.
We further note that the Board is out of compliance with state laws, as the recent letter from Wahoos4UVA makes clear. Decisions by the Board under these circumstances lack proper authority and legitimacy. Continuing the process while operating under these legal impediments will only prolong and exacerbate the confusion into which the Board’s actions since early summer have plunged the University.
As members of the faculty, we remind the Board that, at the end of the day, an academic community is an exercise in shared governance for the good of the whole. This project is governed by the willing cooperation between colleagues who act in goodwill and share responsibility for the institution they serve. This requires that the Board act honestly and in the best interests of the University. It is doing neither. The University cannot advance its core missions without a relationship of trust between faculty and those who serve the university in administration. That trust is broken.
We join Wahoos4UVA and other University stakeholders who have called on the Board not to rush the process of seeking a new president and provost. Until the circumstances of Ryan’s dismissal have been clarified and the Board’s own legal issues have been resolved, care and deliberation rather than speed should be the order of the day. Any president or provost who takes the job under current circumstances will do so under a cloud of suspicion and mistrust that will hobble efforts to recover from, and may even compound, the Board’s ill-considered actions to date.
The signatories of this letter are listed below and number 211. 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.
Kimberly Acquaviva, School of Nursing
Gabrielle Adams, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Nate Adams, College of Arts and Sciences
Michael Allen, College of Arts and Sciences
Jacqueline Arthur-Montagne, College of Arts and Sciences
David Auble, School of Medicine
Lawrie Balfour, College of Arts and Sciences
Brian Balogh, College of Arts and Sciences
Shannon Barker, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Adam Barnes, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Elizabeth Barnes, College of Arts and Sciences
Paul Barolsky, College of Arts and Sciences
Ruth Barolsky, College of Arts and Sciences
Ira Bashkow, College of Arts and Sciences
Timothy Beatley, School of Architecture
Colin Bird, College of Arts and Sciences
Aniko Bodroghkozy, College of Arts and Sciences
Trey Boone, College of Arts and Sciences
Alison Booth, College of Arts and Sciences
Larry Bouchard, College of Arts and Sciences
Erik Braun, College of Arts and Sciences
Herbert Braun, College of Arts and Sciences
Talbot Brewer, College of Arts and Sciences
Butch Brodie, College of Arts and Sciences
Emily Burrill, College of Arts and Sciences
John Bushweller, School of Medicine
Francesca Calamita, College of Arts and Sciences
Ross Cameron, College of Arts and Sciences
James Cargile, College of Arts and Sciences
John Castle, School of Medicine
Sumita Chakraborty, College of Arts and Sciences
Griffith Chaussee, College of Arts and Sciences
Jack Chen, College of Arts and Sciences
Erin Clabaugh, College of Arts and Sciences
Jenny Clay, College of Arts and Sciences
Linda Columbus, School of Medicine
Anthony Corbeill, College of Arts and Sciences
Robert Cox, College of Arts and Sciences
Sheila Crane, School of Architecture
Frederick Damon, College of Arts and Sciences
Shilpa Dave, College of Arts and Sciences
Erin Dickey, Librarian for the Arts
Dudley Doane, International Studies Office
Lise Dobrin, College of Arts and Sciences
Chad Dodson, College of Arts and Sciences
Kandioura Drame, College of Arts and Sciences
Kevin Driscoll, College of Arts and Sciences
Keith Driver, College of Arts and Sciences
Kateri DuBay, School of Medicine
Edward Egelman, School of Medicine
Mark Edmundson, College of Arts and Sciences
Daniel Ehnbom, College of Arts and Sciences
Elizabeth Ellcessor, College of Arts and Sciences
Howard Epstein, College of Arts and Sciences
Ukpong Eyo, College of Arts and Sciences
Maria Esparza Rodriguez, College of Arts and Sciences
Paulina Ochoa Espejo, College of Arts and Sciences
Sarah Ewald, School of Medicine
Robert Fatton, College of Arts and Sciences
Corinne Field, College of Arts and Sciences
Francesca Fiorani, College of Arts and Sciences
Nichole Flores, College of Arts and Sciences
Douglas Fordham, College of Arts and Sciences
Brian Foster, College of Arts and Sciences
T. Kenny Fountain, College of Arts and Sciences
Susan Fraiman, College of Arts and Sciences
Peter Furia, College of Arts and Sciences
Kevin Gaines, College of Arts and Sciences
James Galloway, School of Medicine
Jennifer Geddes, College of Arts and Sciences
Amanda Gibson, College of Arts and Sciences
David Gies, School of Law
Lawrence Goedde, Fralin Museum of Art
Greg Goering, College of Arts and Sciences
Lisa Goff, College of Arts and Sciences
Bonnie Gordon, College of Arts and Sciences
Robert Grainger, College of Arts and Sciences
Jeffrey Grossman, College of Arts and Sciences
Grace Hale, College of Arts and Sciences
Paul Halliday, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Law
Martien Halvorson-Taylor, College of Arts and Sciences
Jack Hamilton, College of Arts and Sciences
Richard Handler, College of Arts and Sciences
Gregory Hayes, College of Arts and Sciences
Matthew Hedstrom, College of Arts and Sciences
Natasha Heller, College of Arts and Sciences
James Henry, College of Arts and Sciences
Ira Herbst, College of Arts and Sciences
Janet Herman, College of Arts and Sciences
Scott Heysell, School of Medicine
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton, College of Arts and Sciences
Stephen Hopkins, College of Arts and Sciences
Paige Hornsby, College of Arts and Sciences
Robert Hueckstedt, College of Arts and Sciences
Noelle Hurd, College of Arts and Sciences
Ashley Hurst, School of Nursing
Vikram Jaswal, College of Arts and Sciences
Paul Jones, College of Arts and Sciences
Andrew Kahrl, College of Arts and Sciences
Mona Khafif, School of Architecture
Clare Kinney, College of Arts and Sciences
James Kinney, College of Arts and Sciences
Michelle Kisliuk, College of Arts and Sciences
George Klosko, College of Arts and Sciences
Thomas Klubock, College of Arts and Sciences
Jonathan Kropko, School of Data Science
Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner, College of Arts and Sciences
Kyrill Kunakhovich, College of Arts and Sciences
James La Fleur, College of Arts and Sciences
Nana Last, School of Architecture
Gordon Laurie, School of Medicine
Adria Laviolette, College of Arts and Sciences
Deborah Lawrence, College of Arts and Sciences
Melvyn Leffler, College of Arts and Sciences
Phyllis Leffler, College of Arts and Sciences
Manuel Lerdau, School of Medicine
Erik Linstrum, College of Arts and Sciences
Victor Luftig, College of Arts and Sciences
Claire Lyu, College of Arts and Sciences
Yi-Hsuan Ma, College of Arts and Sciences
Laurie Maffly-Kipp, College of Arts and Sciences
Anne Mahler, College of Arts and Sciences
Christine Mahoney, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Ekaterina Makarova, College of Arts and Sciences
Charles Mathewes, College of Arts and Sciences
Karen Maughan, School of Medicine
Fred Maus, College of Arts and Sciences
Cliff Maxwell, College of Arts and Sciences
Kara McClurken, University of Virginia Library
Jerome McGann, College of Arts and Sciences
Deborah McGrady, College of Arts and Sciences
Mary McKinley, College of Arts and Sciences
Susan McKinnon, College of Arts and Sciences
Elizaeth Meyer, School of Architecture
Erik Midelfort, College of Arts and Sciences
Sarah Milov, College of Arts and Sciences
Andrew Mondschein, School of Architecture
K. Sara Myers, College of Arts and Sciences
Shankar Nair, College of Arts and Sciences
John Nemec, College of Arts and Sciences
Amy Ogden, College of Arts and Sciences
Peter Onuf, College of Arts and Sciences
Walter Ott, College of Arts and Sciences
Brian Owensby, College of Arts and Sciences
Ricardo Padron, College of Arts and Sciences
Deborah Parker, College of Arts and Sciences
John Parker, College of Arts and Sciences
Karen Parshall, College of Arts and Sciences
Brad Pasanek, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Dee Payton, College of Arts and Sciences
Lisa Peterson, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Gina Petroni, School of Medicine
Leonid Petrov, College of Arts and Sciences
Andrej Petrovic, College of Arts and Sciences
Ivana Petrovic, College of Arts and Sciences
Amanda Phillips, College of Arts and Sciences
Stephen Plog, College of Arts and Sciences
Simone Polillo, College of Arts and Sciences
Dennis Proffitt, College of Arts and Sciences
Jahan Ramazani, College of Arts and Sciences
Erik Ramirez-Weaver, College of Arts and Sciences
Aakrosh Ratan, School of Medicine
Isaac Reed, College of Arts and Sciences
Lisa Reilly, School of Architecture
Deborah Roach, College of Arts and Sciences
Caroline Rody, College of Arts and Sciences
Charlotte Rogers, College of Arts and Sciences
Gillet Rosenblith, College of Arts and Sciences
James Rovnyak, College of Arts and Sciences
Jennifer Rubenstein, College of Arts and Sciences
Noah Salomon, College of Arts and Sciences
Cora Schenberg, College of Arts and Sciences
Taylor Schey, College of Arts and Sciences
Len Schoppa, College of Arts and Sciences
Richard Schragger, School of Law
James Seitz, College of Arts and Sciences
Shelby Sender, College of Arts and Sciences
Jennifer Sessions, College of Arts and Sciences
John Shepherd, College of Arts and Sciences
Gloria Sheynkman, School of Medicine
Sandhya Shukla, College of Arts and Sciences
Karl Shuve, College of Arts and Sciences
David Singerman, College of Arts and Sciences
Kevin Skadron, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Michael J. Smith, College of Arts and Sciences
Mary Lou Soffa, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Avril Somlyo, School of Medicine
Janet Spittler, College of Arts and Sciences
Daniel Stewart, University of Virginia Library
Lean Sweeney, College of Arts and Sciences
Bethany Teachman, College of Arts and Sciences
Brian Teare, College of Arts and Sciences
Judith Thomas, University of Virginia Library
Baris Unlu, College of Arts and Sciences
Siva Vaidhyanathan, College of Arts and Sciences
Karen Van Lengen, School of Architecture
Rip Verkerke, School of Law
Penny Von Eschen, College of Arts and Sciences
Peter Waldman, School of Architecture
Rachel Wahl, School of Education and Human Development
Cynthia Wall, College of Arts and Sciences
Denise Walsh, College of Arts and Sciences
Heather Warren, College of Arts and Sciences
Lindsay Wheeler, Center for Teaching Excellence
Judith White, School of Medicine
Stephen White, College of Arts and Sciences
Bruce Williams, College of Arts and Sciences
Richard Wilson, School of Architecture
Timothy Wilson, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Elizabeth Wittner, Center for American English Language & Culture
Adrienne Wood, College of Arts and Sciences
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