Following the University’s Board of Visitors’ selection of Scott Beardsley as the University’s 10th president, students on Grounds are beginning to reflect on the decision and what it means for the future of the University. Beardsley, currently dean of the Darden School of Business, was chosen out of four finalists and will assume the presidency Jan. 1.
The appointment comes after a months-long search process amidst many calls from students, faculty and state leaders to delay the decision until Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger — who is set to take office mid-January — could appoint new members to the Board. Spanberger also called on the Board to delay the appointment of a president, expressing her concerns that the Board has undermined the University community’s confidence in the Board’s ability to govern.
For many students, the news of this appointment seemed surprising following the many pleas for the Board to pause their selection process. Fourth-year College student Noor Naser said she was shocked, and the moment felt eerily similar to the news of former University President Jim Ryan’s resignation. Naser said she believed that the Board deciding to announce this on the last day of finals was purposeful.
“I think I first saw a Washington Post article and my jaw dropped,” Naser said. “I think it felt all too familiar, like [when] Jim Ryan's resignation came over the summer when there weren’t students on Grounds to protest.”
Similarly, third-year College student PJ Duffy said that he thought the Board choosing to announce this right before break was a strategic move to allow people to have some time off Grounds to take in the news.
“I also think that it's convenient for them to make the announcement right before break and then have the temperature cool down a little bit before students come back on Grounds in January,” Duffy said.
Naser said she felt that politics were inextricably tied to the process since the search continued amidst protests to delay.
“I think they were just trying to get someone in place that could further their agendas or that wouldn't stand up to the current administration, and it feels like the [Board’s] last measure to try and secure their spot before Spanberger comes in,” Naser said.
Second-year College student Anant Gautam disagreed and said that despite the controversy surrounding whether the Board should have waited to appoint a president until Spanberger is in office, he does not think the Board acted out of its capacity. Gautam said he believes they didn’t break any bylaws and followed the correct procedural rules.
“Whether or not they should have waited, obviously, it’s a debate, but I don't think it was this egregious overreach of power,” Gautam said.
Law student Preston Bowden pointed out that he felt as though the presidential search process lacked transparency. He said he would have felt better if the Board provided students with updates regarding potential candidates prior to Beardsley’s appointment.
“I would like to know… who are the other people that were potentially at play… and what brought them to come to that decision,” Bowden said. “I know [the Board is] not going to give the meeting minutes, but stuff like that … trying to make sure that the community feels like they're being heard.”
Similarly, second-year Education student Brenton Meade said that he saw the announcement Friday as a bigger message from the Board — that they are content ignoring students and legislators.
“I feel like with all the votes of no confidence and with the questions around the Board’s legal legitimacy, they just went ahead and appointed somebody in house without really going through the exhaustive process of really soliciting feedback like they should have,” Meade said.
Other students felt that the Board did not lack transparency. Darden student Mikaela Krim said that she believed the Board handled the situation as best as they possibly could. According to Krim, while she knows it is important to strive for the most amount of transparency, it is also important to note the realities and that there are a lot of challenging negotiations that are happening behind the scenes.
“You're negotiating between so many different kinds of stakeholders … You've got politicians, you've got your academics, you've got little admin and students,” Krim said. “I was impressed by the level of transparency… It's definitely more than I've ever heard from other institutions I've been in.”
Duffy said that although he was concerned about the timing of the appointment, he felt excited after learning more about Beardsley’s background.
Other students, like first-year College student Teddy Madara, shared this same excitement. Madara said he felt that Beardsley’s experience in business at McKinsey & Company before entering higher education could hold promise for the future.
“Clearly, this is a guy who's at least professionally certified as good at problem solving,” Madara said. “It makes sense then that he would be put in the University… at a time of great managerial importance.”
Some students did not even think of Beardsley as a possible candidate for president because of his background. Bowden said he was most surprised by the fact that Beardsley was chosen because he does not have direct experience being an academic professor.
“He wasn't someone that I initially thought would be a potential candidate for the president of U.Va., but I didn’t initially think it was a bad or a good thing,” Bowden said. “I thought University presidents would usually be someone who has that type of, big A academic experience, who can understand the process of getting published and stuff like that.”
Duffy said that he felt the selection process was not different than anything it had been in the past, and there is always some level of operational secrecy around these matters. He said that he believed the Board did a good job soliciting student feedback by surveying students' opinions on what qualities they hoped to see in the next president, and that he is hopeful about what Beardsley can bring to the University.
“I'm hopeful that the Board in choosing this next president understand[s] [the general student sentiment on campus] and that he is going to be held to a high standard, because our last president was pretty exceptional,” Duffy said.
Similarly, fourth-year Batten student Sarah Karlen said that she hopes Beardsley can emulate some of the qualities Ryan had.
“I'm excited to see… if he kind of seizes that opportunity, really makes an effort to connect with students,” Karlen said. “I think that's one thing that Jim Ryan was so good at, making everyone feel heard, and being super involved in the community, whether it was through his runs or open houses and things like that.”
With Beardsley assuming office Jan. 1, third-year College student Peter McHugh said that he thinks most students will be skeptical at first because many students have recently expressed distrust towards the Board and its judgment. However, he believes that Beardsley can still enter and define himself despite the contention with the Board.
“If he interacts with students in a grounded and empathetic way, they will start to warm up to him,” McHugh said.
Despite differences in opinion about the appointment process and the Board’s transparency, several students from across the University see this new presidency as an opportunity for change on a number of levels. As chair of the Range, Bowden said that he hopes that the graduate community at the University is heard, and not cut out of the conversation. He said that he hopes the beginning of this new presidency will provide an opportunity to consider ways to bring graduate students into the conversation.
“I hope at least with respect to Scott Beardsley, that U.Va., or at least under his administration, there could potentially be some improvements … maybe getting grad students involved with undergrads a lot more, being able to find ways to build those bridges,” Bowden said.
Second-year College student Lei Pham said that she hopes that Beardsley not only has good moral character but is also open to growth and willing to use his leadership creatively to work with others. Pham said that she thinks the University needs a strong president, who is also humble.
“I would really like to see someone who can be a good leader, but also someone who I wouldn't describe as a follower, but a collaborator, in the sense that they can take criticism, and they can kind of see what other people are doing and see how they can improve themselves,” Pham said.
Gautam said he also believes that this news can be a positive thing for the community, but it is a matter of the community’s mindset.
“I think as a community we should be a little bit more charitable with certain steps that leaders take,” Gautam said. “Obviously, we should definitely be skeptical and not overly trusting, but… [we] should also have hope for something to be a positive implication, even if we don't necessarily agree with every single detail or step about how it came to be, and sort of put ourselves in the other person's perspective.”
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