Student leaders from the University and the College at Wise have been working together to enact legislation that is mutually beneficial for students at both schools. A joint statement released Nov. 20 between the two student organizations outlines a unified agenda for the upcoming 2026 Virginia General Assembly legislative session.
The statement calls for a commitment to depoliticize institutional decision-making at the University, expand voting power for student representatives on the University’s Board of Visitors and prioritize affordability initiatives for both the Wise and Charlottesville communities.
The joint statement marked the first coordinated initiative under the memorandum of cooperation adopted Oct. 20 between Student Council and the College at Wise Student Government Association. The memorandum established a formal partnership intended to promote an active relationship between the two student governments.
The College at Wise is an independent public college located in southwestern Virginia. Although the school has its own advisory board, major policy decisions must be approved by the Board of Visitors, which serves as the final governing authority for both the College at Wise and the University.
As part of the memorandum, representatives meet monthly to identify shared priorities and determine where advocacy and legislation can amplify student interests. According to Clay Dickerson, Student Council president and fourth-year College student, and William Rudeseal, SGA president and fourth-year Wise student, both organizations benefit from this collaboration given their overlapping concerns.
They said these concerns include rising costs of attendance, governance reform and the need for further student representation.
“Many of the issues we struggle with … are shared issues that we can work together to alleviate, both through our organizational functionality and legislative advocacy,” Dickerson said. “There is only good to come from this partnership.”
Rudeseal wrote in a statement to The Cavalier Daily that the partnership with Student Council reflects a long-term commitment that opens doors for students from both institutions to access academic and student life resources across Grounds and at the College at Wise. Both Dickerson and Rudeaseal said that they have plans to expand opportunities to serve their respective student body populations.
“I envision the future partnership with U.Va. Student Council as one that is constantly growing and looking for ways to help resolve problems on both of our individual campuses,” Rudeseal wrote.
The joint statement argues in its first clause that Virginia’s higher education institutions are facing “unprecedented challenges,” including rising politicization and declining public trust. According to the statement, addressing these issues will require governance reforms and coordinated advocacy between Student Council and the College at Wise SGA to strengthen student influence on institutional decision-making.
“Now is the time to bolster our commitment to the student experience and ensure that a student representative with no partisan loyalty is empowered with a vote on the Board of Visitors and U.Va. Wise College Board,” the statement said. “This, along with the inclusion of faculty and staff voting members is necessary to … [develop] responsible and engaged citizen leaders.”
Fourth-year College student Gregory Perryman currently serves as the Board’s only student representative. He is a non-voting advisory member, and while Board members do not formally hold political affiliations, the gubernatorial administration appoints them. According to the statement, the addition of non-partisan voting members would depoliticize and refocus the University’s governing bodies.
Dickerson said that the student representative lacks the authority to truly ensure student perspectives are represented in final decisions without voting power. The proposal would legitimize the role of the student representative beyond its current capacity as a liaison for student concerns and grant full privileges of Board membership to the representative.
“The impact will be that the [student representative] is given a tool — a metaphorical anchor. No longer are they informational liaisons, but proper representatives with an actionable anchor to hold down the student voice in the room where it happens,” Dickerson said. “In times of institutional strife and instability, this is our insurance.”
Del. Amy Laufer, D-Albemarle, sponsored a bill during the 2025 Virginia General Assembly legislative session to require public universities to elect nonvoting faculty and staff representatives to their boards. Her bill was vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and currently, she has not prefiled a similar bill for the 2026 session. The deadline to prefile bills is Jan. 14.
Student Council and the College at Wise SGA also identified affordability as a second central issue within their legislative agenda. The joint statement pledged to advocate for flat tuition and fees at the College at Wise, regardless of the number of credits a student is enrolled in.
The representative bodies at the University and College at Wise plan to pursue a policy at the University capping annual increases in mandatory fees for health, library and academic services at three percent. According to the statement, these measures would prevent future unexpected increases in the cost of attendance.
“With the University’s high tuition, high aid model, it’s already difficult enough to attend if you don’t meet the financial aid threshold,” Dickerson said. “This protects those who would shoulder the burden of future excessive fee increases.”
Alongside affordability initiatives, the statement outlined expectations for the University’s next president. As the presidential search continues, the statement called for the next president to advocate for the expansion of training for education and healthcare professionals, to be responsive to advances in artificial intelligence and to strengthen relations with southwestern Virginia.
The joint statement also called for the next president to address affordable housing, support fair wages for employees and guarantee access to accessible, high-quality healthcare for all community members through the University’s medical system. Student Council and the College at Wise SGA emphasized that the next president must commit to fostering economic growth and maintaining affordability for the University and Wise communities.
Student Council and the College at Wise SGA plan to continue expanding their pledge of collaboration by working with student governments across the Commonwealth and presenting their agenda to bipartisan lawmakers in the Virginia General Assembly. Rudeseal asserted that this collaboration is intended to serve the shared goals of both institutions and strengthen public higher education statewide.
“By working together to address these issues through the same agenda, … we can work together to make changes not only for U.Va. and U.Va. Wise but for students across the Commonwealth,” Rudeseal wrote.
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