It is why, after a year at the helm, I remain as hopeful as ever about the future of U.Va.’s health system.
Much like Roebuck, Andrews recognizes the enormously important role Student Council can play during moments in which students safety is threatened — that of a megaphone which forces those in power to actually listen to students.
Scott C. Beardsley was named U.Va.’s 10th president Dec. 19, 2025. We would like to question this appointment on two grounds — that the process of selection was illegitimate and that Mr. Beardsley’s credentials are less than adequate to the position.
Even those critical of the process that appointed him have admitted Beardsley’s considerable fundraising ability, but does he check any other box?
While the faculty, alumni, students and multiple university organizations call for accountability and demand the resignation of the Board’s leaders, the remaining members of the Board — 11 persons in all — remain silent, unmoved, perhaps inactive.
This failure at the University lands in the middle of a larger, national reckoning over student agency and data privacy.
If you’re an out-of-state family, you could not afford to have your son or daughter attend the University unless your family income is at least $250,000, assuming you have a mortgage, desire to save for retirement or are not the beneficiaries of a large family trust fund.
Additionally, the 2025 U.S. Supreme Court decision Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services signals that proponents of DEI should stop pretending they are complying with the law.
The Board’s actions and inactions as summarized above have generated a great deal of mistrust, widespread concern and indeed fear among our faculty
Our University does not have legal counsel independent from the state government nor, in this case, from the Trump administration.
What follows are a few respectfully proffered suggestions that I think can help you try to restore the University to the greatness it enjoyed when I was a student decades ago.
Transparency is the foundation of trust, and without trust, the University community will not be able to unite and move forward towards the bright future it deserves.
As scholars and teachers, we know that dissent and debate strengthen our intellectual commitments and moral judgments rather than threaten them. We reject any attempt to deny these basic truths.
We call on the Board to collaborate closely with faculty in appointing an Interim President to guide the university through this perilous time.
This University belongs to the people of Virginia — not to Washington, not to unelected federal appointees and certainly not to political donors with an agenda. This is our University. And we will fight for it.
Should the raucous Jefferson Council and related conservative groups succeed in their effort to oust President Ryan, the University will enter a new phase that will be unrecognizable to most of its current students and staff.
This Year, The P.U.M.P.K.I.N. Society Has Chosen To Recognize 10 Fourth-Year Students Who Have Gone Above And Beyond For Their Communities.
Dialogue too often reframes conflict, normalizing rather than rectifying conditions of injustice.
Vandalism is not a protected form of political protest, but the University’s response erroneously classifies a political act as a statement of ethnic enmity.
In reality, rules are contextual, and enforcement is selective.
