Virginia Humanities to vacate Dairy Central, reduce staff by 25 percent

The second presidency of Donald Trump has ushered in a new age where the federal government has retreated from much of the role it has played for decades. This has resulted in many people losing their jobs including a quarter of the workforce of Virginia’s official state humanities council.

“Sweeping federal cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the NEH’s network of Congressionally-founded and mandated state and territorial humanities councils poses an existential threat to the work these councils do across the country,” said Matthew Gibson, executive director Virginia Humanities, in a May 27 letter to supporters.

In early April, the organization announced that an expected $1.7 million in previously appropriated federal funds were canceled by the administration. Gibson said that will mean cutbacks including six lay-offs and a decision not to fill vacant positions.

“This includes several open positions we will not be filling including our Virginia Indian Programming Coordinator and two Center for the Book positions,” Gibson said.

The agency will also move out of offices rented at Dairy Central to save money with another UVA department taking over the lease. The 2026 Virginia Festival of the Book will continue but the annual event will be smaller than in the past.

Gibson said the loss of funding has caused Virginia Humanities to focus on core questions and to make structural changes. One of these is the creation of a Programs and Education division to include the Encyclopedia Virginia project, the Virginia Center for the Book, and the agency’s educational programs.

To learn more about the changes, read Gibson’s letter on the Virginia Humanities’ website.

Before you go: This story was originally published in the May 28, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and posted here a day later. Why the gap? Staffing. There’s only one of me and zero percent of my research goes into cloning. One day there will be an expansion. To learn more about the business, take a look here!