Andrew Kerley, Executive Editor
The Democrat-majority Virginia General Assembly voted last week to remove three members from VCU’s Board of Visitors — the school’s highest governing body.
Among the removed members were the final appointees of former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin: real estate developer Lara Tyler Chambers and tech employment firm founder Lori Jennings.
Also removed was CoStar CEO Andy Florance, a member initially appointed by former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and reappointed by Youngkin — and whom VCU’s new arts building is being named after.
The VCU Board of Visitors now has three vacant seats going into its first full meetings of the semester on Feb. 26 and 27.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger will be able to fill the vacancies, as well as make the four routine appointments the governor typically makes every summer — meaning seven members of the 16-member body could be Spanberger appointees before the 2026-27 academic year begins.
The Office of the Governor declined a request for comment by The CT to clarify if Spanberger will fill the vacancies and appoint new members to the VCU Board of Visitors this semester, or even before their upcoming meetings.
Virginia Senate Democrats, VCU and the VCU Faculty Senate leaders did not respond to requests for comment.
How does the board of visitors work?
Universities in Virginia are governed by boards of visitors made up of 16 members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the General Assembly. The boards hold the power to budget, hire and fire presidents, shape university policy and approve course curricula.
Board members serve four-year terms and tend to be community figureheads, business leaders and former elected officials with university ties. The governor typically appoints four new board members annually. By the end of a governor’s term, all members of the boards are their appointees.
Ellen Fitzsimmons, a former executive for Truist Bank and railway company CSX, was named the new rector, or leader, of the board in June. Steven DeLuca, the vice president and head of government affairs at Capital One Financial, is the vice rector of the board. Both were appointed by Youngkin. Both have made political donations to Republicans.
Controversial decisions under Youngkin
The board has made a number of contentious decisions in recent years. They voted in March 2025 to dismantle VCU’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies following an executive order from President Donald Trump, per a previous report by The CT. VCU could have risked losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding by not complying with the order.
The board voted in 2024 to cancel the implementation of a racial literacy course requirement, resulting in some students walking out during their graduation ceremony. The requirement — which covered topics such as systemic racism, gender studies and workplace inequality — was in development by students and faculty for years before getting cancelled.
Democrats debate reforms
Virginia’s university board appointment system came into question last year as Senate Democrats blocked 22 of Youngkin’s appointees to George Mason University, the University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute. They argued the members were too politically partisan for the roles.
Trump’s Department of Justice opened investigations into GMU over allegations of antisemitism and race-based hiring and admissions practices, which Democrats called an effort to oust GMU president Gregory Washington. Former UVA president Jim Ryan resigned under similar pressure from the Trump administration — without the backing of the Youngkin-appointed UVA board.
Those events led to Spanberger issuing an executive order in January directing the Virginia Department of Education to review and evaluate the process for appointing members to boards of visitors. She called for legislators to do the same during her State of the Commonwealth address.
Democrats introduced a number of bills this year to reform the appointment process and make-up of university boards of visitors, according to a previous report by The CT.
Proposed changes include expanding representation on boards to students, faculty and staff, clarifying the role of the General Assembly in confirming appointments and expanding the terms of appointees to reduce their dependence on individual governors.
A number of the bills did not make it to the second half of the legislative session. Some are still being debated in committee hearings.
The VCU NAACP chapter shared a statement with The CT calling reforms to the board of visitors at VCU — and other boards across the state — pivotal.
“In the interest of VCU, replacing many members will allow for dynamic changes to the board and may better reflect the students and staff of VCU, but we stand firm in advocating for widespread institutional reform to the Board of Visitors that reflects the student and staff of the university, as we acknowledge the dangers that BOV members only appointed by political figures may pose,” the chapter stated.
The General Assembly is expected to adjourn in March. The final deadline for the governor to sign or veto any legislation is May 25.