Who We Are and What We Want
We are members of the UCWVA and faculty and organizers at the University of Virginia. We are organizing to defend ourselves, our work, and the people of this University against a powerful and coordinated attack on higher education, democracy, academic freedom, and truth.
We are building capacity for mass, unified action and cultivating faculty awareness that we are workers to make shared governance a reality at UVA. This is critical to our individual and collaborative scholarly activities to produce knowledge, technologies, medicines, art, and deepen our understanding of the universe. This is critical to our work as educators, informing, inspiring, and challenging students in our classrooms and labs, in studios and archives, and beyond the University’s grounds.
We are also envisioning a better university — we don’t just want more of the same. Instead, we want a future where UVA is part of a regional network of mutual aid, where workers are secure, our children have care, our communities thrive, and where UVA, as a public institution, truly serves the public good.
UVA works because we do — the faculty, staff, students, clinicians, practitioners, and community members connected to this University.
What's Happening at UVA?
UVA is under political attack. The Trump Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Board of Visitors are negotiating in secret to radically remake and resegregate the University. UVA workers, students, and community members have been left in the dark, only learning of President Ryan’s forced resignation from the New York Times. The Board has ignored calls from UVA faculty for information, forcing votes of no confidence by the UVA Faculty Senate and General Faculty Council in early July.
The UVA Board is a politicized body so extreme that Republican Governor Youngkin’s most recent nomination was of Ken Cuccinelli, a long-time executor of among the most xenophobic, homophobic, and anti-democratic aspects of the Republican agenda, with a demonstrated record of attacking academic freedom at UVA. The Virginia General Assembly refused to seat Cuccinelli, along with Youngkin’s nominees to other university boards. In violation of Virginia law, Cuccinelli and the Board refused to comply and are now being sued by multiple state senators. So far, a judge has agreed and ruled against seating Cuccinelli.
The law firm representing UVA in its negotiations with the DOJ, McGuireWoods, was selected by Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. AG Miyares has previously declined to challenge the Trump Administration in court to restore illegally cancelled grant funds to UVA. At least one McGuireWoods’ partner contributed to Project 2025, while another was selected by the Board to serve on the search committee for UVA’s next president. As said by State Senator Scott Surovell: “If you don’t have a lawyer to fight for you, how do you get the courts to help you?”
These activities and events must be considered in the broader context of attacks on higher education, expertise, free speech, multiculturalism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and truth. Under the pretext of investigating antisemitism and violations of Titles VI and IX, the Trump Administration is targeting UVA and a growing number of universities. The capitulation of Columbia University offers a glimpse into what could happen at UVA, with the government taking control over the questions we ask in our research, what we teach, who we teach, and imposing strict censorship rules enforced through public slander, intensified policing, and ICE terror.
Join Us!
We are in for a long, difficult fight. We can not win alone and we are not alone. Together — as workers — we can organize ourselves and communities to take collective action, to protect the people of this place, and to fight for truth and academic freedom. In so doing, we join a broader, historic fight for workers across academia and all people targeted by the corrupt, violent, authoritarian government of this country.
UVA faculty, join the UCWVA at UVA! You can reach out to the Faculty Committee to get involved, share your concerns, hopes, and ideas, and/or request more information. Faculty at other universities, we’d love to connect.
Actions and Events
Pack the BOV Meeting, September 12, 2025. The Board of Visitors does not want you to see as they radically remake and resegregate UVA — show them you are watching and that you say NO! Friday September 12th at 1:30–3:30 pm, join our mailing list to stay informed.
UVA Labor Day Teach-In — Defeat the Takeover 101, September 1, 2025. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni have all said NO to the takeover of UVA — with the Student Council, Faculty Senate, and General Faculty Council passing resolutions of “No Confidence” in the Board. What does all this mean? — What are the stakes? — How does this affect you? — How does this relate to what has happened in the past? — What can we do to protect ourselves and others in this community?
Want answers to these questions? Come to the UVA Labor Day Teach-In! Join us at 12–1 pm at Monroe Hill House.
WE are UVA Rally, Tuesday, August 26, 2025. The Faculty Senate and Student Council are co-hosting a rally to celebrate the UVA community as it struggles against attacks by the Board of Visitors. Meet at the the amphitheater at 4:30 pm. The organizers ask you to wear orange and white and bring a sign.
Community No Confidence, ongoing. UVA belongs to the people of Virginia — not to private political interests. The Board of Visitors has failed in its responsibility to protect the University’s independence, academic integrity, and democratic values, as well as its responsibility to ensure that UVA, a public university, serves the public.
While not always a good neighbor, UVA is part of the community of Charlottesville and surrounding counties, and what happens at the University has wide consequences for the people of Central Virginia.
As evidence of this, we are collecting statements of no confidence in the Board of Visitors from community organizations across the region. Are you a part of a local faith community, business or nonprofit, or a club or association? Would your group publicly declare no confidence in the Board of Visitors? Join the outcry by filling out this form and passing it on, or by writing your own statement. We have sample no-confidence language that your organization can take or leave.
Faculty Town Hall, July 2, 2025. Faculty came together to express serious concerns about the Board’s conduct and secrecy, ongoing negotiations with the DOJ, and the resignation of President Ryan under duress. There were almost 400 attendees, in person and online, showing us just how powerful we can be when we act together.
Our Work in the News
Student and staff organizations host Labor Day Teach-In protest, Lauren Seeliger, The Cavalier Daily, September 3, 2025
Labor Day at UVA, Sandy Hausman, Radio IQ, September 2, 2025
Students, faculty, unionized groups hold Labor Day teach-in on Grounds, Sarah Allen, CBS 19 News, September 1, 2025
Attend a ‘Labor Day teach-in’ to learn more about federal intervention at UVA and what’s at stake, Allie Pitchon, Charlottesville Tomorrow, August 28, 2025
University community leaders gather at the Rotunda to speak about interim President Mahoney, Xander Tilock, The Cavalier Daily, August 11, 2025
Frustrated by BOV, Broadcast segment, CBS 19 News, August 6, 2025
UVA student and faculty leaders speak out on interim president, Sarah Allen, CBS 19 News, August 6, 2025
Faculty discuss Ryan’s resignation at a United Campus Workers town hall, Grace Traxler, The Cavalier Daily, July 9, 2025
‘This is our university’: UVA faculty, lawmakers push back against Jim Ryan’s forced exit, Allie Pitchon, Charlottesville Tomorrow, July 3, 2025
‘This is not the Virginia way’: U.Va. alumni respond to President Ryan’s resignation, Brandon Kile, The Cavalier Daily, July 3, 2025
UVA faculty demand answers and transparency in wake of Ryan’s resignation, Kate Nuechterlein, 29 News, July 2, 2025