The current presidential search committee is easily the largest and most diverse in University history. Many past search committees were only Board of Visitors members. Faculty and student seats only appeared — three total — during the selection of John Casteen, and it wasn’t until Teresa Sullivan’s appointment process which began in 2009 that the committee significantly expanded to include a broader community mix. The current presidential search committee includes 28 members — Board members, students, administrators, alumni and faculty — with at least as many faculty as the previous two. Given its composition, concerns about representation are unfounded.
Notably, there was little faculty scrutiny or level of demand during the searches for either Teresa Sullivan or Jim Ryan. The Board for Sullivan’s search was entirely Democrat-appointed. For Ryan’s, the majority were as well. That fact didn’t raise any alarms across the University during those times. In contrast, the entirely Republican-appointed, current presidential search committee has been deemed “illegitimate” and sharply criticized.
There was also virtually no pushback in March 2022 when Ryan’s contract, still three years from expiring in 2025, was quietly extended at a quarterly Board meeting. It was done with no input from faculty or the wider University community, in closed session, and only announced afterward. The Democrat-appointed Board acted to ensure Ryan’s tenure through 2028 before the newly-elected Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, could appoint new members. There was no faculty concern about it because Ryan represented their political interests…