Dear Wahoos4UVA Supporters,
We want to share a few updates about the governance crisis at the University of Virginia.
We’re Still Waiting for Answers from the Rector and Vice Rector
On August 1st, Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds (whose district includes Charlottesville) sent UVA’s Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson a detailed letter with 46 questions about their conduct and decisions. Instead of answering themselves, they hired outside counsel from Debevoise & Plimpton, one of the top white collar criminal defense firms in the nation. Outside counsel requested (and was granted) a two-week extension to respond “in full,” which seemed to suggest that substantive answers would be forthcoming. Their answers were due August 29th. We’re eager to see the Rector and Vice Rector’s responses to Senator Deeds’ questions.
We’re equally eager to know why the Rector and Vice Rector believe they needed to hire a high-powered attorney to answer questions about their actions leading up to President Ryan’s forced resignation.
As soon as Senator Deeds publicly shares the Rector and Vice Rector’s responses to his questions, we’ll let you know. While we hope Rector Sheridan and Vice Rector Wilkinson have answered Senator Deeds’ questions honestly and completely, Sheridan and Wilkinson’s track record of stonewalling and obfuscation doesn’t fill us with confidence. Hope springs eternal, though. We’ll keep you posted.
The Rector and Vice Rector Won’t Speak to the Faculty Senate
In early August, Jeri Seidman, Chair of the Faculty Senate, told Faculty Senators that she had emailed Rector Sheridan and Vice Rector Wilkinson to invite them to address the Faculty Senate on September 5th to answer questions regarding the events leading up to President Ryan’s resignation. Seidman told Faculty Senators that the Vice Rector replied to her email, saying Interim President Mahoney would be best positioned to answer questions about the voluntary resolution agreement with the Department of Justice. Seidman told Faculty Senators that she attempted to clarify the intent behind the invitation to have the Rector and Vice Rector appear before the Faculty Senate, but to no avail: Interim President Mahoney communicated to Seidman that only he will be speaking to the Faculty Senate, and only he can speak for the University.
As a result, only Interim President Mahoney will be addressing the Faculty Senate on Friday, September 5th. He made it clear to Seidman and Faculty Senate Executive Council (ExCo) that he doesn’t have the information needed to answer questions about the events leading up to President Ryan’s resignation.
Since Interim President Mahoney doesn’t have the information needed to speak for the University or the BOV about these issues, how will the Rector and Vice Rector honor the verbal commitment they made to the Faculty Senate to provide that information? Until Rector Sheridan and Vice Rector Wilkinson answer the Faculty Senate’s questions about their involvement in the events leading up to the forced resignation of UVA’s 9th president, it’s tough to imagine the Faculty Senate will trust the Rector and Vice Rector to lead the search for his replacement.
Here are three questions we hope Faculty Senate members will ask Interim Mahoney on Friday:
- To assure faculty as well as potential candidates for the presidency that the search for a permanent president is legitimate, will you commit to refusing an offer to serve as the 10th president of UVA if such an offer were extended to you?
- Why didn’t the Rector and Vice Rector agree to appear before the Faculty Senate today to answer questions about the events — and their own actions — leading up to President Ryan’s forced resignation?
- Given the Harvard ruling, do you think it’s appropriate for UVA to enter into a voluntary resolution agreement to avoid loss of federal funding?
If you’re interested in watching Friday’s Faculty Senate meeting at 2:00 pm ET, you can register for the Zoom webinar here:
https://virginia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_64VuxtWcRbaFLt6_3gZ7eQ?os=ipad#/registration
Here’s What a Legitimate Presidential Search Looked Like (2017)
Given all the controversy surrounding the search for UVA’s 10th president, we were curious about how the search for UVA’s 9th president was carried out. So, we did a bit of research using the trusty Wayback Machine. Here’s what we learned:
Breadth & inclusion. During a four-month period spanning from February to June 2017, there were ~46 meaningful community engagement touchpoints targeting every major constituency: students across class years, faculty by school, staff (including Health System), parents, alumni (with tailored moments like Reunions and Black Alumni Weekend), former BOV members, UVA-Wise, and statewide civic leaders, plus an all-community forum and a standing public comment form. The 9th president was not named until September 2017, seven months after community engagement sessions began.
Transparency. Dates, times, and locations of sessions were posted; several Special Committee open sessions were explicitly listed; and contact routes (email to the committee and search firm) were public.
Geographic reach. Engagement extended off Grounds to Richmond, Washington, DC, and UVA Wise. Alumni events were tied to existing high-traffic moments (Reunions) to maximize turnout.
To see the depth, breadth, and timing of the 46 community engagement touchpoints in the 2017 presidential search, you can view the complete list here:
Below is the search process used by Isaacson Miller in 2017, the same firm hired to lead the search for UVA’s 10th president:
Comparing the 2017 and 2025 Presidential Searches
For the search for UVA’s 10th president, the search process looks notably different:
A side-by-side comparison of the 2017 and 2025 search process phases reveals that the search process in 2025:
- omits explicit commitments to open forums, interviews with deans/VPs, outreach beyond UVA, and luncheons with former BOV members.
- omits explicit steps to draft questions and to define a candidate assessment process.
- drops a public “consider nominations” meeting and jumps directly to a meeting to elect the next president
Instead of spending four months gathering input from every aspect of the UVA community, the Board of Visitors opted to post a survey on the presidential search website. The survey offers no indication as to who the survey responses are going to, and we’ve already heard through the grapevine that faculty and staff are scared to fill it out for fear that their responses will be traced back to them. Regarding community engagement opportunities, the presidential search website says only, “Work is underway to solicit input from a broad range of constituent groups, and will include virtual and in-person opportunities.”
The rigorous national search conducted in 2017 resulted in Jim Ryan being hired as UVA’s 9th president. There needs to be an equally rigorous search in 2025-26 if UVA wants to find a qualified candidate to fill President Ryan’s shoes.
What You Can Do This Week
Isaacson Miller, the firm hired to lead the search for UVA’s 10th president, did an exceptional job when they led our last presidential search. The approach they undertook in 2017 is the baseline for what the University community should expect from them now. The firm has a stellar national reputation for adhering to high standards in their executive search practices.
Click here to urge John Isaacson, Chair of Isaacson Miller, to take immediate action to ensure this will be a legitimate search.
Thank you for standing with us and for taking action when it counts!
Ann Brown (College ‘74, Law ‘77) and Chris Ford (Engineering ‘87)
Co-Chairs, Wahoos4UVA
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Text of email to John Isaacson:
Dear Mr. Isaacson,
First, thank you. Isaacson, Miller’s stewardship of UVA’s 2017 presidential search is widely remembered on Grounds for its professionalism, breadth of listening, and trust-building. The community engagement you led — with close to fifty thoughtful touchpoints that informed a clear, credible leadership profile — set a best-in-class standard for transparency and buy-in. Because your firm earned that trust, I’m asking you to help UVA meet that same standard now.
To protect the legitimacy and reputation of the current search, it would be helpful if your firm would publicly commit to holding 40–50 community engagement sessions/touchpoints across key constituencies over a minimum period of four months, mirroring the scope and transparency that made the 2017 search so successful.
This would help to ensure broad buy-in and set the next president up for success. I’m grateful for your past leadership and respectfully ask you to adopt these measures now.
Sincerely,
[Your name goes here]
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