UVA Faculty Senate wants top university officials to step down, says leadership is ‘tainted’
VENN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) -- University of Virginia's (UVA) Faculty Senate is asking for multiple top officials to step down amid heated debate about the truth behind former president Jim Ryan's resignation.
In late June, Ryan announced his intention to resign after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) called on him to do so. At the time, Ryan said he would not put UVA in jeopardy "by fight[ing] the federal government in order to save [his] own job."
This federal pressure reportedly stemmed from an investigation into "the school's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts."
Ryan's departure had Virginia Democrats sounding the alarm, describing the DOJ's actions as a "coordinated effort" by President Donald Trump's administration to weaponize Virginia boards like UVA's own Board of Visitors -- which has since dissolved UVA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices.
This controversy returned to the forefront of conversation in mid-November after Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger asked UVA's Board of Visitors to pause in their search for the university's next president until after her inauguration, saying such a delay would help rebuild public trust in the board and its intentions.
Spanberger's request sent sparks flying, with outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) penning a letter full of heated allegations against his soon-to-be-successor. He accused her not only of sharing false claims about UVA's Board of Visitors and Ryan's resignation, but of unprecedented overreach.
Then, on Friday, Nov. 14, Ryan sent a letter to the UVA Faculty Senate in which he detailed the events he says led to his resignation. In that letter, he makes a variety of accusations, including that two of the Board of Visitors' members -- Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson -- took a leading role in negotiating his resignation with the DOJ without his knowledge.
That same day, by an overwhelming majority, the UVA Faculty Senate passed a resolution wherein they requested that the presidential search be paused until the Board of Visitors "is at full complement with members confirmed by the General Assembly," which will happen after Spanberger's inauguration on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.
The resolution also calls for the resignations of both Sheridan and Wilkinson, whom faculty senators claim have not been forthcoming about the details of Ryan's resignation since the start -- despite several attempts from the Faculty Senate to get the full story.
They further claim that Sheridan and Wilkinson have "refused" to meet with the Faculty Senate on multiple occasions, instead saying they would "return to 'ordinary practice'" and "only speak directly 'with the interim President, the future President and the faculty representative on the [Board of Visitors] regarding matters of concern for the faculty.'"
"This refusal demonstrates a lack of courage, leadership and accountability in times that are anything but ordinary," the resolution reads. "The faculty, staff, students and alumni of the University of Virginia need leadership that is transparent, accountable and brave and that is not tainted by the ongoing and as yet unanswered questions surrounding the decisions and actions of the BOV in the forced resignation of President Ryan."
The Board of Visitors has not responded to this resolution publicly as of the time of reporting.
