Over the past few days, the University’s Board of Visitors experienced its largest shakeup in years. As reported by the New York Times, shortly before assuming office, governor-elect Abigail Spanberger asked multiple members of the Board to resign, five of whom have so far complied with her request. Immediately after assuming office on January 17th, Governor Spanberger announced the appointment of ten new members to the Board—five to fill the spaces left open from the members who had recently resigned, and five to fill the spaces that had been left open during the latter half of former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s term, when the majority-Democratic General Assembly refused to approve to approve his appointments.
The five members who have so far resigned from the Board of Visitors are, as follows:
Rachel Sheridan: Sheridan served as rector of the Board of Visitors from July 1st, 2025 until her resignation on Friday. Sheridan, who was appointed to the Board in 2023, faced controversy earlier in her term regarding her role in the resignation of former University President Jim Ryan in June, resulting in a call for her own resignation from the Faculty Senate in November. Sheridan has defended her conduct in the period leading up to Ryan’s resignation, stating that she had not supported initial Board efforts to remove him…