Over a month has passed since Virginia State Police removed protestors from the UVA Campus. The Board of Visitors held a virtual closed session later in May to get a debriefing. On Wednesday, the full Board of Visitors began their three-day meeting in Charlottesville. (meeting schedule)
“The schedule this meeting is a little different due to some conflicts with meeting participants, but otherwise the meeting has the same basic structure it always does,” wrote UVA spokesperson Brian Coy in an email on June 3 after this edition of the newsletter was published.
The Board of Visitors holds four regular businesses a year and since February 2016, the Buildings and Grounds Committee has met on Thursdays roughly two-thirds of the time with the remainder on Friday. Some meetings during the pandemic featured no meeting of this committee at all.
This time around, the land use panel will meet on Friday because the full board will hold a “leadership discussion” at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday followed by a closed session at 3:45 p.m. This combination also occurred at the September 2023 and February 2024 meetings but had not been described in the agenda in previous years.
The public session this time around will feature three items:
- Something Great: Recruitment and Retention at the School of Medicine
- Something Challenging: FAFSA Delays
- Discussion: Pan-University Entrepreneurship Initiative
The Jefferson Council is a nonprofit group established to preserve “the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, the Lawn, the Honor Code, and the free exchange of competing ideas and intellectual diversity one would expect from Mr. Jefferson’s university.” Their website has articles that have been increasingly critical of the Ryan administration.
Ryan has a contract with UVA that lasts through July 31, 2028. There is a recent precedent for the Board of Visitors to terminate the president as happened in the summer of 2012 when Teresa Sullivan was let go and then reinstated after pressure from the UVA community.
Could there be a change in president this summer? If so, how would that affect relations with the city of Charlottesville?
“Strengthening the relationship between UVA and the surrounding Charlottesville/Albemarle community is one of my top priorities as president,” reads a section of the President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships. “The President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships and the affiliated working groups are helping us engage with our community partners to make our community as strong and equitable as possible.”
Would initiatives such as the affordable housing project continue, or will a new president seek a different path? A new president will likely have a very different opinion on programs related to equity. Take a look at the website of the Jefferson Council, an organization of alumni who have grown frustrated with diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is likely a new president appointed by the Board of Visitors will share their thoughts.
The Buildings and Grounds Committee will meet on Friday morning instead.
Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the June 3, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.
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