A Moment of Consequence — and What Comes Next

Dear Wahoos,

As the year draws to a close, UVA is facing decisions that will shape both its immediate leadership and its long-term governance. In this week’s message, we will briefly address recent developments in the presidential search and then look ahead to reform efforts expected when the General Assembly convenes next month.

Part I: The Presidential Search

This weekend, the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors proceeded with interviews of finalists for the presidency, despite widespread calls from faculty, students, alumni, and public leaders to pause all further search activities until the Board can be lawfully constituted.

The Board has also scheduled two additional meetings—December 19 andJanuary 6—at a moment when trust in its judgment remains deeply strained.

Faculty Senate Action: Courage and Clarity

The Faculty Senate passed a resolution on Friday, directly appealing to the presidential candidates themselves, urging them to recognize the harm that engagement with a rushed and contested search will cause to the University and to the legitimacy of the presidency they might inherit.

We commend the Faculty Senate for continuing to do what shared governance demands: engaging in open, public debate and adopting resolutions that clearly and courageously express the will of the faculty.

You can read coverage about the Faculty Senate resolution here: https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/12/faculty-senate-passes-resolution-calling-for-presidential-search-finalists-to-ask-for-pause

Winter Break and the Problem of Legitimacy

Electing a UVA president has historically been a public, celebratory act that unfolds in the open and affirms the confidence of the University community.

If this Board were to attempt to elect the next president during Winter Break or before the Board is lawfully constituted, it would represent a sharp departure from custom and would further erode confidence in the outcome. Even an informal “selection” made during that period would cast a long shadow over the presidency that follows.

Regardless of timing or terminology, a president chosen under these circumstances would begin their tenure without the confidence of the University community. We hope serious candidates are weighing that reality carefully.

Part II: Reform Opportunities Are Coming Next Month

As the year draws to a close, we also want to look forward.

Both the Governor-Elect and a number of Virginia Senate and House Leaders have clearly expressed the need to initiate, through statutory changes, reforms that might avoid a repeat of the governance crises that UVA has experienced both this year and in 2012. We expect that legislation will be introduced in the 2026 General Assembly Session on a number of topics of importance not only to our University, but also to the other public colleges and universities of the Commonwealth.  

We plan to keep our readership informed about major proposals so that you—especially our many Virginia voters—can engage thoughtfully andconstructively.

Two reform areas are especially significant:

1. How Members of the Board of Visitors Are Chosen

The process by which Visitors are chosen is one key area of reform.  We understand that forthcoming proposals may seek to reverse the modern drift toward politicization of Boards of Visitors, and instead reaffirm a culture of selecting Visitors based upon their expertise, judgment, and devotion to the institutions they serve. Ideological or political connections would not be the cornerstone criteria upon which they are selected. We will share details once draft legislation becomes available in January.

2. Independent University Legal Counsel

The second vital area for reform is establishing an independent in-house counsel whose duty of loyalty is to the University, and not to the Commonwealth’s incumbent Attorney General. Legislation to make that change will also be shared in January; but to inform your thinking about this topic, we attach a Substack piece recently written by Richard Marks (A&S ‘67). During a similar UVA governance crisis in 2012, Richard and others raised concerns about conflicts of interest that curtailed the ability of UVA’s in-house counsel to act in the best interest of the University, resulting in a group of lawyers conducting significant research on the topic. As the 2012 crisis abated, so did interest in pursuing statutory reforms. However, the events of 2025 have reignited the counsel conflict issue, as many watched with concern as UVA’s in-house counsel provided limited public responses—constraints that critics have long argued arise from the structural reality that the University’s counsel ultimately reports to the Commonwealth’s Attorney General. During the 2025 events, some observers believed this reporting relationship limited the University’s ability to respond independently to what they viewed as significant federal intrusion into university governance.

Here is the link to the Substack essay by Richard Marks (A&S ‘67): https://richardmarks66.substack.com/p/undoing-irresolvable-conflicts-of

We will share further information on legislative proposals in this area as the Session begins.

As the year draws to a close, we hope members of the UVA community are able to enjoy a peaceful and restorative holiday season with family and loved ones. Even in moments of deep institutional strain, this University has endured because its community members have continued to seek truth and find purpose in shared values. In times like these, it is often the quiet acts of care, reflection, and connection that sustain us and remind us why this place matters. That spirit gives us confidence that UVA will emerge from this moment stronger, guided not by haste or fear, but by the enduring principles that have shaped the University at its best.

Wahoos4UVA will be on hiatus from December 19 through January 5. We look forward to re-engaging with you in mid-January as the General Assembly convenes and the next chapter of this work begins.

Wishing you the happiest of holidays,

Ann Brown (College ‘74, Law ‘77) and Chris Ford (Engineering ‘87)

Co-Chairs, Wahoos4UVA

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