Overview
- Abigail Spanberger named 10 new members to the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors shortly after her inauguration, filling an unusually large number of seats at once.
- The appointments followed her request a day earlier for five Youngkin-appointed trustees to step down, including the board’s chair and vice chair and a donor who had contributed $100 million.
- Rector Rachel Sheridan resigned and expressed concern in a public letter that political conflict had paralyzed the board’s work.
- Five additional vacancies already existed because Democrats in the legislature declined to confirm some of former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s nominees, giving Spanberger immediate leverage to fill 10 slots.
- Spanberger also named new members at George Mason University and the Virginia Military Institute, including 12 appointees at GMU and five at VMI.