This week, Governor Glenn Youngkin and Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger stoked a public disagreement over the selection of the University of Virginia’s next president. Youngkin issued a sharp, three-page letter criticizing Spanberger following her formal request that the UVA Board of Visitors halt the search for the University’s tenth president. Youngkin characterized the move as “unprecedented,” claiming it interfered with University governance.
On November 12th, Spanberger sent a letter to the Youngkin-appointed Board of Visitors (“BOV”), urging them to suspend the presidential search until she is inaugurated in January 2026. She seeks to appoint new members to a “fully constituted” Board, filling the five open seats and potentially replacing current members.
Youngkin countered by strongly defending the legitimacy and integrity of the current process, dismissing Spanberger’s claims and directing the Board to proceed without delay. After the resignation of former UVA President Jim Ryan, a 28-person search committee — made up of administrators, professors, alumni, and UVA Rector Rachel Sheridan — has met on four announced occasions, conducting dozens of listening sessions, open to students, faculty, and members of the community.
In his message, Youngkin speaks directly to the Governor-elect, expressing disappointment in her procedure surrounding the BOV request. During a private meeting between the two parties, Spanberger “briefly mentioned” the letter yet shared it with the New York Times and other outlets only “minutes after [their] meeting started.”
“Your letter was riddled with hyperbole and factual errors,” wrote Youngkin, “and impugns both the Board of Visitors and the presidential search underway.”
His letter defended the BOV and its recent decisions, saying that the presidential search “has followed national best practices and been a model of transparency,” and noting that it used the same process that selected former President Ryan. He further described the University’s settlement with the US Department of Justice as “extraordinarily fair and favorable to the University and Commonwealth,” adding that, unlike other major universities, UVA was not required to pay “tens of millions of dollars as a penalty nor be subject to a federal monitor.”
“The evidence is compelling,” Youngkin wrote regarding DEI, “that the University had repeatedly ignored the law.”
Spanberger’s request to the BOV centered around legitimacy and public trust. Spanberger, a UVA alumna, argued that the current Board lacked the necessary confidence and questioned the Board’s legal standing. Arguing that the presence of five unconfirmed appointees left it “in violation of statutory requirements in crucial respects,” Spanberger wrote that the Board’s actions have “severely undermined the public’s and the University community’s confidence.” She pledged to make a number of swift appointments once in office.
Youngkin advised the Board in his letter, urging members to resist any delay.
“My guidance to the UVA Board is to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities,” he wrote, “and not waste the great pool of candidates by unnecessarily delaying the search and losing them to other schools.”
University spokesperson Bethanie Glover took a careful, non-committed position, confirming that leaders were reviewing Spanberger’s request.
“University leaders and the Board of Visitors [..] 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,” Glover said.
For now, the decision rests with the Youngkin-appointed Board of Visitors and their subsequent search committee. The political push and pull over the tenth president seems to exist beyond Charlottesville, becoming an extension of the rocky politics in Richmond.
“There is just one Governor of Virginia at any time,” Youngkin wrote.
Leave a Reply