In July of this year, the UVA Faculty Senate passed a vote of no confidence in the school’s Board of Visitors (BoV). This happened following the resignation of President Jim Ryan, who vacated the position due to pressure from the Trump administration.
Then, when an interim president, Paul Mahoney, was selected, many students and faculty spoke out in protest due to the lack of transparency and representation in the decision. The UVA Student Council declared no confidence in the BoV after this, after weeks of no communication from the Board to the Student Council and a refusal to allow student representation to influence the Board’s decisions.
This, understandably, has made the BoV very sad.
“I don’t understand why this happened,” commented BoV member Shell Aut, “The Board has, and will continue, to work in the best interest of the school, the federal government, and our wallets.”
“This much division within the school is unprecedented,” said Fass Schist, another member of the BoV, “Luckily, we don’t care what the faculty or students have to say; otherwise, this would have really hindered our work.”
Most recently, on Friday, the 3rd of October, the Faculty Senate held an emergency meeting following extensive demands from the Trump administration in the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”. The Faculty Senate urged the interim president to reject the Compact and refuse to buckle under the government’s demands during a Q&A session. Despite the strong, united stance of the faculty, Mahoney did not give a concrete response.
“Just because I don’t value your opinion doesn’t mean I don’t have your best interests at heart,” Mahoney told the Senate, “I’ll decide what’s best for the school when it comes; we don’t need to make any hasty decisions for or against a fascist regime just yet.”
The Senate passed a resolution to deny the Compact at the end of the session, which faculty and students are hoping will give the president and the BoV a fucking clue.
