Letters to the Editor: Spring 2026

I appreciate the clarity you were able to distill from the terrible assault on the school, and indeed all colleges. The funding hammer mill unleashed against academia is an appalling attack on freedom of speech and freedom of political thought.

The university has done a great job of weathering the storm.

This is a low point in our political and academic history.

My thanks to Ms. Lê and Mr. Miller, and of course to Interim President Paul Mahoney.

The election of Howard the Duck was not apathy. Think about what it takes for a write-in fictional candidate to be elected! That’s not apathy. As a person who wrote in Howard the Duck, I recall knowing more about this fictional cartoon character than I did about any of the live candidates who were running. Think of it as a bit more of a protest vote about how disconnected people involved in student governance had gotten from the body of students at the university as a whole. That’s how I thought of it, but I don’t recall knowing how others were considering it. Likely, some students just thought it was funny.

The section on University Guides in the article “The Future of Student Self-Governance” in the Winter 2025 edition of Virginia Magazine upset me. I joined the Guides in 1975. The primary selection criteria were GPA, other activities and—importantly—performance in giving a historical tour or an admissions tour to experienced Guides. I have no recollection of any events at which new Guides were coerced into overconsuming alcohol. I occasionally drank too much and saw others drink too much, particularly during my first year in an Old Dorm. But forcing a new Guide to drink is not something we would have done.

Moreover, I never failed to give a tour I signed up for and I do not recall ever hearing that another Guide had done so. We printed our names on a schedule, and we felt obligated to give that tour.

Finally, I was never told that any tour I gave was too positive or negative about UVA. On admissions tours, I felt obligated to tell prospective students what life as a UVA student was really like. I usually took them through one of the Old Dorms.

I enjoyed being a Guide. I am sorry that the university terminated its Special Status Agreement with the Guides. Shame on those responsible.

I thought the article on the future of self-governance was interesting and informative. It recapped well the various elements of self-governance, from the former Pep Band to the Honor Committee. I was left to wonder what the cover photo was intended to communicate. The five student leaders seemed to coordinate a slovenly appearance and a surly, almost defiant facial expression. The image left me puzzled.

I was first introduced to the university’s Honor System when the student Guide provided the basics of the system during the initial tour. But it really hit home when, soon after matriculating, I observed students leaving their books outside the entrance to Alderman Library while they were there for various reasons. It made a big impression on me.

It is only with responsibility of self to conduct of Honor that student governance endures. When this basic principle of behavior appears to require layers of management (although well-meaning) to be effective, the tradition erodes into a bureaucratic morass. Students who are unable or unwilling to commit to honorable behavior must be allowed to fail and depart the university. Blessed with the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, they may flourish elsewhere.

“We do not lie, cheat or steal nor allow among us those who do.” It was just that simple at the University of Virginia for most of us in the ’50s and early ’60s and hopefully for a great many today!

Mr. Mahoney is the perfect person for president of the University of Virginia.

I was disappointed and dismayed to learn of the university’s agreement with the Justice Department. An agreement requires trust as a keystone, and any individual or organization that places trust in today’s Pam Bondi-led Justice Department demonstrates naivete and foolishness. Deals made with the devil are bound to eventuate in a severe burn, and perhaps a conflagration. I sadly and ruefully await the dropping of the next shoe.

This sounds like the school is caving to Trump. If UVA can’t or won’t stand up and resist the king, many students and graduates are being disrespected—as is founder Thomas Jefferson. The Constitution is being ripped apart and needs to be defended, not ignored.

As a longtime financial supporter and alum, I implore UVA to not agree to the demands of this corrupt Justice Department. It will destroy the integrity and reputation of UVA.

I sincerely hope that the university will refuse to sign the compact proposed by the Trump administration. It would lead to a lack of academic freedom for everyone in the community and would allow federal oversight of curriculum, which belongs to the faculty and the administration of the university. For 50 years I have been proud to be an alumna of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. As a teacher for 40 years, I sent a number of students to the university because I believed it to be one of the finest institutions in the United States. I hope that my trust is not misplaced. When I was a student, “What would Mr. Jefferson think or do?” seemed to be asked before any major decision. I am convinced that Mr. Jefferson would be telling the university to refuse to sign. After all, he helped found this country, wrote the Declaration of Independence, and was opposed to tyranny of despots and would-be despots.

Thank you for providing thorough background detailing tensions between President Ryan and the Trump administration. Context is everything. When I entered UVA in 1965, I wore a coat and tie to class; and in 1969, I wore a coat and tie to join others on Grounds to call for civil rights, specifically urging the university to admit women and people of color. Over many years, I’ve celebrated changes on Grounds, and whenever I visit, I’m pleased to see female students and students from many different racial and cultural backgrounds. Over decades, the university has made much-needed strides in diversity and inclusion, with UVA becoming stronger, not weaker, as a result. That is the most significant context underlying the tensions that resulted in President Ryan’s resignation. It is reprehensible to have a federal administration that places pressure on this university and others to undo the good things we’ve worked so hard to achieve. The attempt to use federal grants as rewards and punishments constitutes nothing less than bribery and extortion.

I was very upset that UVA folded to Trump. In essence, the university gave in to a threat to remove the federal government funding awarded to faculty. I would guess that the political appointees on the Board of Visitors saw their role as humoring Trump or, more believably, feared Trump. Well, humoring an autocrat is a deadly game.

It seems to me that the university, as Harvard has done, could sue the federal funders and provide some research funds out of the university endowment. Why sacrifice a good president? Why bow to an autocrat throwing his perceived weight around?

As a graduate student and then faculty member at UVA, I know the Honor Code and the place it holds for all students and faculty. The BOV should have reread it and decided that education obstructed by a would-be autocrat is not a UVA value and decided to fight for educational freedom. Harvard has set a fine example for higher education in the United States. I hope other institutions of higher education follow its lead. I also hope that fellow alumni recognize the inappropriateness of the current federal administration’s actions against institutions of higher education.

The whole purpose of attending a top-tier school is to gain knowledge that will prepare a student for life as a person who will contribute to the growth of society. The whole process of overpaying a coaching staff, paying students to participate in sports and attempting to gain revenue through media seems to me contrary to the reason for operating an institution of higher learning. Many renowned institutions of higher learning reduce the emphasis on sports, except those played on the intramural level, and still maintain their status—think of MIT, Caltech and others. Maybe UVA should follow that example and not attempt to ride the popular wave of sports enthusiasm. Alumni can be proud of the accomplishments of UVA setting sports aside.