Thank you, Rector Sheridan. I’m glad to be with you here today. I was also glad to hear today’s commending resolutions for Susan Harris, previous Board members, and especially for Jim Ryan – for their outstanding contributions to the University.
I would like to thank this Board for the trust that you have placed in me as interim president. My first month in this role has been a whirlwind, as you can imagine, but it has also been tremendously inspiring.
I have set three priorities for my time as interim President.
The first is to send a clear signal to our community that while political winds may shift around us, the University’s core values, mission, and activities remain unchanged. This is a sturdy ship that can handle rough weather. I am grateful to everyone in this community who has helped me signal stability and continuity through their dedication to teaching, research, and patient care.
It has been a joy to welcome our students back to Grounds and to celebrate the incoming Class of 2029. Along with other University leaders, I had the privilege of helping some of these students move into their new dormitories. I also spoke to our new students at Opening Convocation and traveled to UVA Wise for Convocation there with Chancellor Henry. It has been wonderful to begin my 36th academic year on Grounds and to see faculty and students deeply engaged in the classroom and in their research. I have also been fortunate to meet with many University leaders over the past month, including our 12 deans, student leaders, and leaders among our faculty and staff.
Each meeting and event has reminded me of an essential truth: UVA is full of talented, remarkable, and compassionate people who are eager to serve our community and who work incredibly hard every day to carry out the University’s mission. It has been that way for generations and will be so long after we are gone.
We must as leaders remember that we are merely stewards of the offices we hold. We have an obligation to leave the University better than we found it, ready for the next generation to carry our mission forward.
My second goal is to work to bring the investigations opened by the Department of Justice to a satisfactory conclusion. The Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard made illegal certain race-conscious admissions practices that were the norm among highly selective colleges and universities.
The DOJ’s investigatory letters have been focused significantly, although not exclusively, on our compliance with Students for Fair Admissions and with this Board’s March 7 resolution regarding illegal discrimination.
I have been personally engaged in discussions with the Department’s officials. I can report some initial progress:
This week, we received two letters from the Department of Justice. The first closed an investigation into admissions at the McIntire School and the Batten School. The second closed an investigation into the University’s response to allegations of antisemitic discrimination at UVA. These investigations were closed based on the information we provided the Department about our policies and actions. We will continue to work to resolve the remaining investigations.
I also want to begin work on longer-term priorities. I can only, of course, tee these up for the University’s tenth president, who might choose to adopt them or to pursue other priorities.
However, I intend to keep several big ideas in mind. One of those is free and open inquiry. I believe we have a duty to expose our students to a wide range of ideas and viewpoints and to always seek the truth while having the humility to recognize that we can be mistaken. UVA can and should be a model for robust but respectful debate.
You may have heard that in this year’s College Free Speech rankings by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, UVA fell from #1 in the nation to #21 out of 257 schools. I note this not out of concern for the ranking itself, but for the feedback it gives us about what we are doing or failing to do to create an atmosphere conducive to open discussion.
FIRE said our lower ranking was a result of unease and skepticism toward the school’s leadership over the last year despite strong written free-speech policies. Students also expressed low confidence that they could freely express their views and that the administration would back them if they did.
FIRE recommended that UVA begin robust First Amendment orientation for first-year students. I am personally committed to making free speech a priority this year – from creating more student-facing events that promote civil discourse and open inquiry to improving next year’s new student orientation – because free expression and constructive disagreement must be the hallmark of a UVA education.
Earlier this week a young man, Charlie Kirk, an advocate for viewpoint diversity and free expression, was tragically murdered on a college campus. We must and will work to ensure the physical safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors to our University at all times.
It is never acceptable to silence a speaker because of his or her views. We make it easy for members of our community to report interference with speech rights through our Just Report It system.
More broadly, the pursuit of truth in higher education depends on viewpoint diversity, constructive disagreement, and open inquiry. Those are key to the academic freedom that lies at the heart of this University and its mission. The right to peacefully assemble, openly disagree, and humbly learn from each other is central to the American project. And it is central to everything we do in higher education, and everything we do here at UVA.
Next, I am focused on preserving affordability. We are working hard to control costs and rein in spending. As you may know, we are the #2 public university in the most recent Princeton Review ranking of the best values in higher education. The ranking is based on an outstanding return on educational investment, which includes academic excellence, affordability, and strong career outcomes for graduates. Moving forward, our management team has committed to keeping requests for tuition raises either below inflation or at 3% -- whichever is lower -- so that families know what to expect.
I was a first-generation student from a blue collar family and understand how difficult it can be to afford college. I also have been in the position of paying college tuition for two sons at the same time and understand how challenging that can be. This is very personal to me, and I will make it a priority.
Finally, as a university founded by the author of the Declaration of Independence, we should join in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of one of the most inspirational and consequential documents in human history. It is worth celebrating that here on Grounds, in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, are multiple original printings of America’s founding document.
I also believe the founding of our University is an important chapter in the story of the founding of our Nation. I look forward to working with VA250, the Virginia American Revolution Commission, to make sure the University helps lead the celebration this coming year.
With those goals in mind, and most importantly with the well-being of our students, faculty, and staff as my top priority, I look forward to the year ahead. I am grateful for the Board’s leadership and look forward to working together with you in the months to come.