Abigail Spanberger Bullies UVa Board
Someone needs to remind Abigail Spanberger that Virginia has just one governor. And until January 17th it ain’t her.
Take a seat, lady.
Spanberger may have had an impressive win on November 4th, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin gets to carry out the duties of the office HE was elected free from her meddling for another two months.
Earlier this week Spanberger decided to poke her nose into affairs at the University of Virginia. She’s worried the Board of Visitors is about to appoint a president who will insist on merit-based admissions for students and color-blind promotions in the administration, so she wrote a letter urging them to hold off on selecting a new university president until she’s in office.
Spanberger’s WAY out of line. I hope the board ignores her and finds a replacement for Jim Ryan quickly.
Spanberger, as we all know, is a fan of DEI. She supports advancing less-qualified candidates over qualified ones provided they check the proper boxes: female, racial minorities, extra points for being gay. Transgendered? Furry? Chef’s kiss!
Remember, in a June 2023 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use of race as a factor in college admissions, also known as affirmative action, is unconstitutional. Clever disciples of DEI have found ways of getting around the ruling. It would be refreshing if the president of Virginia’s flagship university actually followed the Constitution.
In his first week in office, President Trump issued a series of executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors. UVa had to be dragged kicking a screaming into compliance, which resulted in the departure of ultra-woke president Ryan a few months ago.
A search is now on for his replacement.
According to The New York Times., The school’s governing body, the Board of Visitors, has been seeking a permanent replacement for Mr. Ryan. But in a letter Wednesday, Ms. Spanberger, a Democrat and alumna of the university, asked the board to put off choosing a successor until after she takes office, and has a chance to fill five vacant seats on the board.
Ms. Spanberger said the ousting of Mr. Ryan involved “federal overreach,” and that she was “deeply concerned” about the board’s failure to challenge the Trump administration.
The nerve of this woman.
The Jefferson Council, a non-profit ‘dedicated to preserving Thomas Jefferson’s legacy” at the university he founded, delivered a sizzling retort to Spanberger:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA –In a striking act of political amnesia, Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger has demanded that the UVA Board of Visitors refrain from choosing a president until she can appoint new BOV members, when, in fact, the 100% Democrat appointed Board of Visitors exercised no such restraint following the election of Governor Youngkin four years ago.
At the March 2022 Board of Visitors meeting, Jim Ryan’s employment contract – still three years from expiring in 2025 – was quietly extended until 2028 by the Democrat appointed Board prior to Governor Youngkin having an opportunity to appoint one Board member. It was done within a closed session, with no foreknowledge or explanation, and only announced afterward. The Board’s action was clearly intended to ensure Ryan’s tenure beyond the period that Governor Youngkin would be in office and his Board appointees in control of the Board.
Moreover, at that very same March 2022 meeting, the Board affirmed Ian Baucom as Provost, thus confirming Jim Ryan’s unilateral selection of Mr. Baucom as Provost announced without any search committee or public discussion two days before Governor Youngkin’s inauguration.
Thus, merely four years ago the Democrat controlled Board acted multiple times to ensure its preferred candidates would be in place without giving newly elected Governor Youngkin an opportunity to select even one member of the UVA Board.
In addition, given the above actions of the prior Democrat controlled Board and then President Ryan done in secrecy, unilaterally, and without notice or debate, Governor-elect Spanberger’s criticism of the current Board for lack of transparency is suspect at best.
In contrast, the current UVA presidential search committee, the most extensive and diverse in University history, was lawfully formed by the Board and has been operating since July 2025, working diligently through meetings and interviews. To suddenly ask the BOV to wait to choose a president is a bold act of political legerdemain representing a total historical double-standard.
For his part, Gov. Glenn Youngkin wrote a polite but scathing letter to Spanberger, essentially telling her to back off. Furthermore, he implied that she deceived him during a meeting at the Governor’s Mansion. The governor said he was “shocked” by Spanberger’s ”inappropriate” intrusion and that her letter was “filled with errors.”
For all her talk of being a moderate and serving all Virginians Abigail Spanberger quickly showed her true colors as she attempted to bully a conscientious governor-appointed board into obedience to HER.
The board should act quickly and appoint - on merit - a smart, competent, fair-minded president who will not be beholden to woke ideology.
Get that contract signed prior to January 17th, please.
