(The Center Square) – The University of Virginia Faculty Senate is calling for new leadership and a pause in the school’s presidential search after a series of letters renewed questions about former President Jim Ryan’s June resignation.
The Faculty Senate passed a resolution Friday in a 41–17 vote. The resolution says UVA “needs leadership that is transparent, accountable and brave,” and cites “ongoing and as yet unanswered questions” about the circumstances surrounding Ryan’s resignation.
The resolution follows several days of public statements from state leaders and university officials. On Nov. 12, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger asked the Board to halt the presidential search until all seats are filled and confirmed early next year. She said moving forward now could “impact the legitimacy of the current search.”
On Nov. 13, Gov. Glenn Youngkin wrote to the board and Spanberger, defending the search process and saying “there is one Governor of Virginia at any time.”
Later that same day, Rector Rachel Sheridan released an account of her involvement in meetings with federal civil rights officials as the Department of Justice investigated the university’s compliance with federal law. Sheridan wrote that Ryan’s resignation was not accompanied by any assurance from the DOJ and said any agreement would have had to be negotiated.
Ryan then sent a 12-page letter to the Faculty Senate on Nov. 14. He said he was sharing his own account of the events leading up to his June resignation, which he said differs in significant parts from the accounts provided by Rector Rachel Sheridan and Youngkin. Ryan wrote that the document was not intended as a direct response or a point-by-point rebuttal, but as a record he drafted over the summer while the details were fresh in his mind.
Ryan also listed six unresolved questions.
Those include:
• What Youngkin knew about the circumstances surrounding his resignation.
• How involved the Attorney General’s Office was in directing the university’s outside counsel.
• Why some Board members did not inform others of DOJ’s reported concerns.
• Conflicting statements about whether DOJ asked for his resignation.
• Whether it was appropriate for Sheridan to hire a lawyer to pressure him to resign.
• And whether a written agreement existed, as he says he was told.
The Faculty Senate resolution does not address the contents of the week’s letters individually. Instead, it says the university community still faces “ongoing and as yet unanswered questions” about the Board’s decisions and the events that led to Ryan’s departure.
The Senate also requested that UVA’s presidential search pause until the Board is “at full complement” with members confirmed by the General Assembly. The resolution also calls for both Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson to resign.
According to UVA’s most recent presidential search update, the search committee has been narrowing a field of more than 60 candidates and plans to conduct in-person interviews this fall.
