"Faculty Senate Passes Two Key Resolutions – Thank You for Showing Up"

Dear Wahoos4UVA Members,

We’re writing with gratitude, and with important news.

On Friday, July 11th, President Jim Ryan’s final day in office, more than a

thousand of you showed up in person and online for the emergency Faculty

Senate meeting. Your presence sent a powerful message: the UVA community

will not stand silently by when our University is under threat. (Read more: Our

op-ed in The Hill on the danger posed by this threat.)

Your support helped make history.

At that meeting, the UVA Faculty Senate passed two major resolutions by

overwhelming margins:

• Resolution of No Confidence in the Board of VisitorsRead the full resolutionVote: Yes: 46 | No: 6 | Abstain: 8This resolution formally expresses no confidence in the Board of Visitors for:
  • Failing to protect the President and University from improper outside interference
  • Violating UVA’s traditions of shared governance and transparency
  • Failing to inform or consult the Faculty Senate during a time of crisis
  It calls on the Board to:
  • Provide a full and immediate accounting of all DOJ correspondence and
  • actions leading to President Ryan’s resignation
  • Adhere to the Code of Virginia and the Board’s own Statement of Visitor
  • Responsibilities
  • Work with the Faculty Senate to safeguard UVA from future political
  • interference
• Resolution on the Selection of an Interim PresidentRead the full resolutionVote: Yes: 44 | No: 0 | Abstain: 3This resolution lays out expectations for the transparent, inclusive, andprincipled selection of UVA’s interim president. It urges the Board of Visitors to:
  • Work closely with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and Acting
  • President JJ Davis
  • Ensure faculty, staff, students, administrators, and alumni are full partners
  • in the process
  • Select a leader with strong academic credentials, proven public-minded
  • leadership, and a history of excellence
  • Assert the Board’s legal authority to choose University leadership free from
  • improper external influence

Why the No Confidence Vote Matters

You may be wondering: what’s the practical impact of a no confidence vote?

History gives us a clear answer.

When the Board of Visitors attempted to oust President Teresa Sullivan in

2012, the Faculty Senate issued a similar vote of no confidence. The response

from faculty, students, alumni, and national media was swift and overwhelming.

The 2012 no confidence vote had a ripple effect that led to significant negative

consequences to the University, including being placed on a year-long

“Warning” status from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), our accrediting body.

The reason? SACSCOC found serious concerns with governance integrity, the

faculty’s role in decision-making, and the Board’s respect for institutional

norms.

The Faculty Senate’s no-confidence resolution signals to accreditors,

lawmakers, alumni, and the public that UVA’s governance is once again in

crisis, and that the legitimacy of the Board’s actions must be scrutinized

immediately and thoroughly.

Living Honor

UVA’s Honor Code reminds us that “Honor is at once an injunction and an

aspiration.” It demands that we not only be honest in our actions, but that we

also value honesty above ambition and our community above ourselves.

On July 11th, the Faculty Senate lived out that commitment. Faced with

extraordinary pressure and unprecedented circumstances, they acted with

integrity, clarity, and moral courage. The Faculty Senate chose to do what was

right, not what was easy.

Action You Can Take This Week

Write to the members of the Board of Visitors.

Tell them plainly: they must take the Faculty Senate’s vote of no confidence

seriously. UVA is facing a crisis of governance that is inflicting deep

reputational harm on the institution. This is a moment of reckoning.

Urge the Board to:

• Insist upon a full and fair investigation by the Department of Justice
• before signing any resolution agreement. If there are areas where UVA
• needs to change its practices, UVA should be given the opportunity to do
• so.
• Refrain from signing any resolution agreement with the Department of
• Justice that would infringe upon academic freedom, constrain
• freedom of speech, or allow federal or state officials to have input into
• the selection of either the interim or 10th president of the University.
• Partner closely and transparently with the Faculty Senate in selecting
• an interim president. In Friday’s Faculty Senate meeting, the Rector
• asked the faculty to “take down the temperature.” One of the ways to do
• this is to appoint an interim president who is a well-respected member of
• the University community and not an ideologue.
• Publicly commit to leaving the interim president in place for at least
• six months before putting together a search committee and launching
• the search for UVA’s 10th president. The BOV needs to wait to initiate a
• search until some degree of stability and normalcy returns to university
• operations. A rushed search would yield few willing candidates in light of
• the lack of confidence in the Board and the lack of stability at the
• University.

Email the Board of Visitors

The decisions the Board makes now will determine whether the University

begins to heal, or whether it slides deeper into crisis.

With appreciation and resolve,

Ann Brown and Chris Ford, Co-Chairs

Wahoos4UVA

___________________________________________

Text of email to BOV members:

Dear Members of the Board of Visitors,

I write today as someone who loves the University of Virginia and is deeply alarmed by the current crisis of governance.

The Faculty Senate’s vote of no confidence is a serious rebuke. It reflects profound concerns about the Board’s recent actions, the breakdown of trust, and the reputational harm already inflicted upon the University. This is a moment of reckoning.

The decisions you make in the coming days will determine whether UVA begins to heal or slips further into crisis.

I urge you to take the following steps:

Insist on a full and fair investigation by the Department of Justice before signing any resolution agreement. If changes are needed, the University should be given a fair opportunity to address them directly.

Refrain from signing any resolution agreement that infringes upon academic freedom, constrains freedom of speech, or allows Federal or State officials to influence the selection of UVA’s next interim or permanent president. Any agreement must focus solely on legal compliance—not political directives or executive orders.

Partner transparently with the Faculty Senate in selecting an interim president. At the Faculty Senate meeting on Friday, the Rector asked the faculty to “take down the temperature.” One of the most effective ways to begin restoring trust is to appoint an interim president who is a respected, nonpartisan member of the University community.

Publicly commit to keeping the interim president in place for at least six months before launching the search for UVA’s 10th president. A rushed search process would only deepen instability and deter strong candidates from applying.

The path forward will not be easy, but it must begin with genuine accountability and collaboration. The future of the University—and the trust of its faculty, students, alumni, and staff—depends on it.

Sincerely,

[Your full name goes here]

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