Spanberger calls on U.Va. board to wait on hiring next president

Update: Read Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s response to Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger

Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger sent a letter to the University of Virginia‘s board leaders Wednesday calling on them to delay hiring a new university president or choosing final candidates until after she takes office in January 2026.

A U.Va. alumna, Democrat Spanberger’s letter to university Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter N. Wilkinson — both appointed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin — takes exception with the board’s actions over the past six months, a fraught period that included Jim Ryan’s resignation as president in June under pressure by the Trump administration and the university’s October agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that some faculty groups have criticized as capitulation to the White House.

“The actions of the Board of Visitors have severely undermined the public’s and the university community’s confidence in the board’s ability to govern productively, transparently and in the best interests of the university,” Spanberger wrote. “This loss of confidence is reflected in the numerous votes of no confidence from both the faculty senate and the student council — constituencies essential to the university’s success and those directly affected by the critical decisions before the board.”

In a statement issued Wednesday, U.Va. said, “University leaders and the Board of Visitors are reviewing the letter and are ready to engage with the governor-elect and to work alongside her and her team to advance the best interests of U.Va. and the commonwealth,” U.Va. said in a statement Wednesday.

Spanberger’s letter notes that five Youngkin U.Va. board appointees have been rejected this year by the Democratic-controlled state Senate Privileges & Elections Committee, a political squabble between the governor and Senate Democrats that’s now being considered by the Supreme Court of Virginia following a ruling this summer in the senators’ favor.

The state Senate committee refused along party lines to confirm 22 of Youngkin’s appointees to the boards of U.Va., George Mason University and Virginia Military Institute, as Democratic lawmakers  accused Youngkin of attempting to control state universities through political influence by their boards.

Currently, all of the state’s public universities and colleges’ boards are made up entirely of Youngkin appointees, some of whom have significant ties to the Trump administration. In October, the Supreme Court of Virginia heard the state attorney general’s appeal of a Fairfax County Circuit judge’s decision in July to issue a preliminary injunction that blocked GMU, VMI and U.Va.’s rectors from seating disputed board appointees. George Mason’s board currently does not have enough confirmed members for a quorum, required by law for it to meet.

Spanberger, whose transition team released the letter Wednesday afternoon after The New York Times reported on it earlier in the day, asks the U.Va. board “to refrain from rushing this search process and from selecting the finalists for the presidency or a president until the board is at full complement and in statutory compliance, meaning that I have appointed and the General Assembly has confirmed new board members.” She pledged to make appointments to university boards soon after her Jan. 17, 2026, inauguration.

Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach and chair of the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee, released a statement later Wednesday supporting Spanberger’s letter. “The legitimacy and transparency of the search for the university’s next president are critical not only to U.Va.’s success but also to maintaining public confidence in our commonwealth’s institutions of higher education,” he said.

U.Va.’s presidential search committee has met twice with job candidates in October and November closed sessions, and according to the public minutes for the Nov. 3 meeting, the committee will meet at an undisclosed location Nov. 17 to interview candidates. A Nov. 3 university news story said that the committee has begun narrowing the field of more than 60 candidates to a “handful” who will be invited for in-person interviews this month. According to Jason Isaacson, the chair of search firm Isaacson Miller, interest in the job has increased after U.Va. entered into the agreement with the Department of Justice.

Meanwhile, Paul G. Mahoney, a former U.Va. Law dean, is serving as U.Va.’s interim president.

The U.Va. chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which has been critical of the university’s board, wrote in July to Sheridan and other board members that it “strongly objects” to the process used to appoint an interim president and the permanent head of the university. The chapter “must object to the absence of formal and significant faculty consultation and role in decision making,” its letter reads. The same organization called this week for the university to rescind its agreement with the federal government.