The governing body of the University of Virginia met on the morning of February 21 in an emergency session to provide direction on compliance with a federal executive order to end certain medical procedure an order that has been backed by Virginia’s Attorney General.
Kate Andrews with Virginia Business reports that the Board of Visitors voted today on a resolution to allow what’s defined as “gender-affirming” treatment to existing patients under the age of 19. However, the resolution also states that the policy will be to refer new patients to private providers.
Andrews reports that former Congressman L.F. Payne was the lone vote against the resolution and Dominion Energy President Bob Blue were absent from the meeting. Read the article here. For more background that I’ve written, take a look at this February 15 story on Information Charlottesville.
The resolution provides a history of recent events such as the January 28, 2025 Executive Order banning federal funding for gender affirming care as well as January 30 memo from Attorney General Jason Miyares ordering state agencies to comply.
“The leadership of the University of Virginia immediately suspended such care without consultation with the Board of Visitors,” reads the resolution.
A federal judge issued a stay while a legal challenge to presidential authority goes through the judicial process. The resolution points out that the Board of Visitors was not consulted but has sole authority to determine how to proceed.
“There remains significant legal uncertainty and institutional risk regarding the ability for recipients of federal funding to continue provision of the care described in such Presidential Executive Order,” the resolution continues. “The University receives significant federal funding each year and a loss of such federal funding would jeopardize the financial viability of the University.”
The resolution states that existing patients can continue to receive care for now, but should be encouraged to seek “alternative private providers” not subject to federal authority. New patients should not be accepted. The Health System Board should convene a task force to review provision of the service.
“The Board of Visitors shall directly advise on compliance with any Presidential Executive Orders in consultation with its legal counsel, including any further decisions related to the aforementioned Presidential Executive Orders,” the resolution continues.
The Board of Visitors will meet again on February 25 at 1 p.m. to continue the discussion in another closed session. As with the February 21 discussion, this meeting will not be live-streamed in any capacity.
Before you go: This post was originally published in the February 21, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter powered by Substack since July 2020. The idea is to get as many stories out as possible each day, and then some of the material ends up here. Sometimes stories are posted here first. All of this is an experiment powered by Town Crier Productions, currently a one-person company that seeks to be as prolific as possible.
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