Bert Ellis has been the Board’s most consistent and vocal advocate for transparency, accountability, and responsible governance. Removing him now sends the wrong message to students, faculty, alumni, and the broader UVA community.

“UVA can once again be a beacon of excellence, the shining city on the hill, and a model for the nation. That is my mission. I have been steadfast in this fight, and I will remain so—regardless of the Governor’s decision.“

Governor Glenn Youngkin has fired Bert Ellis from the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, terminating the most outspoken member of the board supporting his goals of reining in tuition, promoting free speech and intellectual diversity, and eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the University’s policies and practices.

What might a meritocratic admissions system at the University of Virginia look like now that the Board of Visitors has banned racial preferences across the board?

At the direction of Board of Visitors Secretary Susan Harris, a compilation of nearly 50 letters and email messages to the Board and President Jim Ryan was distributed to Board members Tuesday. The letters were almost uniformly critical of the Board’s decision earlier this month to abolish the office of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement.

One might think that revamping a website would be an easy start to complying with the Board of Visitors’ order to dismantle the Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the University of Virginia. Retitle the home page. Put up an “Under Construction” logo. Post a statement indicating that changes are coming. Do something! But a full week after the Board’s unanimous vote, the website still stands, as if nothing had changed.

Decision-making at the University of Virginia is shrouded in secrecy — and leadership is just fine with that.

TJC urges the UVA Board of Visitors to take a strong stand for the Kalven Principles and to embrace this opportunity to return the University to its true mission: the pursuit of knowledge and truth without political interference.

The University of Virginia’s “Rising Scholars” program in the College of Arts and Sciences, which dispenses graduate fellowships exclusively to racial, ethnic, sexual and gender minority students, has ceased accepting applications, according to a posting on its website. The website provides no explanation, but…

Now comes the battle to replace the University of VIrginia’s provost Ian Baucom. The University has assembled a fourteen-person group to launch a national search, according to an announcement in the UVA house organ UVA Today.

The first time Acampora came to my attention was at the September 2023 Board of Visitors meeting. She didn’t sound like a political progressive at all but rather, as she described herself to the board, “a bottom-line, up-front kind of person.”

More than a third (35%) of tenured and tenure-track faculty at 55 of the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities say they have toned down their writing for fear of engendering controversy. How does this compare to the Red Scare of the ‘50s?

Explore the idea of what inclusion should look like. How do institutions, in particular universities, create a sense of belonging for students, faculty and staff from all walks of life? As it happens, there is an excellent positive example at UVA of how to foster a sense of belonging — the Hoos Connected program.