UVA’s Faculty Senate and Student Council have called on the Board of Visitors to hold off on finding and hiring a new president, and last week 181 professors signed a letter making that same request.
"They are some of our most prominent faculty, and they span the political spectrum," says Manuel Lerdau, a professor of environmental science and biology.
He signed as did Senior Scholar Frank Dukes with the Institute for Engagement and Negotiation.
Dukes claims those who teach and do research at the university don’t trust its current leaders who agreed to a series of Justice Department demands and allowed former President Jim Ryan to resign.
"The actions that the University of Virginia have taken are premature capitulation – that we gave up without any guarantees of anything, and nobody that I know. believes that the Department of Justice is done with the University of Virginia, despite the agreement that was signed," he explains.
Lerdau says the Interim President, Paul Mahoney, is holding down the fort.
"Meeting payroll, keeping everything going at the university – he’s been doing a fine job. We have a great staff underneath him to keep everything running, and he’s been managing that staff apparently effectively. The real challenge we face is how will we go forward, and what will we look like going forward?"
Right now, he says some of the best candidates for the presidency have probably not applied.
"UVA is in near crisis or actual crisis because of the leadership," Lerdau asserts. "Common sense just dictates that at least some very good potential applicants are saying to themselves, ‘Why would I walk into this?’ And we should be doing the search in a way and at a time when we get the very best applicants possible."
He and Dukes agree, there is no reason to rush in hiring UVA’s next president – a view shared by Abigail Spanberger who will appoint five new members to the board when she becomes governor in January.
"What is the harm that would be done by having a search delayed until you have a full complement of board members. We’re going to have a different administration and also presumably some board members who believe passionately that academic freedom is worth fighting for," Duke argues.
Lerdau adds that someone chosen during the last days of the Youngkin administration may find it difficult to fulfill one important requirement for a state university president.
"One of the most important things for a president to be able to do is to have good relations with the governor and the legislature."
Despite pressure from the faculty and students, the Board’s search committee says it recently finished its first round of interviews and must continue the search process as planned. Dukes is dismayed.
"The Titanic is moving ahead despite the fact that + so many people who are deeply embedded within the university know that the course that we’re pursuing is not going to be a good course," he says.
The full Board of Visitors will meet Thursday in Charlottesville and could take up the topic then.
