This story was reported and written by our media partner the Virginia Mercury.
A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday granted a temporary injunction suspending eight gubernatorial appointees from serving on governing boards at the University of Virginia, Virginia Military Institute and George Mason, the latest development to rock Virginia’s higher education landscape this summer.
The case stemmed from eight of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees continuing to serve on three university boards after the Virginia Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections rejected them. Democratic lawmakers said it represented a break from state law and reflected a pattern of politicizing Virginia’s institutions of higher learning.
Simultaneously, the governing boards at the three institutions are using their authority to remove and consider new school leadership amid pushback by Democrats and federal investigations into DEI practices at GMU. The case comes weeks after UVA’s president resigned after President Donald Trump’s administration pressured the school to end its DEI efforts.
The court found that the lawsuit, brought by nine Democratic Senators including Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, and Committee Chair Aaron Rouse, Virginia Beach, can proceed. Circuit Court judge Jonathan D. Frieden opined that the Senate committee’s rejection of the appointees served as a signal that the legislature wasn’t willing to confirm the new additions to the boards. Frieden issued his opinion Tuesday morning, following a two-hour hearing on Friday.
“Because confirmation of a gubernatorial appointee requires the majority vote of a quorum of each chamber of the General Assembly, the action of the Senate committee manifested the General Assembly’s ‘positive unwillingness’ to make the requested confirmations and constituted a refusal to confirm under the Constitution of Virginia,” wrote Frieden. “Accordingly, the Constitution of Virginia required the rejected appointees to immediately cease their participation on their respective boards. They have not done so.”
The court affirmed that, following the legal advice of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, the rectors of the institutions have continued to recognize the rejected appointees as members of their respective governing boards and intend to continue doing so.
“Defendants’ actions, past, present, and promised, demonstrate plaintiffs’ injury, which is particularized, distinct, traceable to defendants’ actions, and redressable by the court,” Frieden wrote. “Therefore, plaintiffs have standing to pursue their claims.”
Frieden determined that the case is not a “political question” that courts should avoid. The main issue is interpreting what the Virginia Constitution and law means. Additionally, he wrote that the senators have the right to sue, as they have a direct stake in the outcome and have suffered “substantial” harm, considering their votes were nullified.
Lucas said in a statement on Tuesday that the “Trump-Youngkin administration” failed in an attempt to “break the law” to force university leaders to submit to their ideas.
“The Code of Virginia makes it crystal clear that appointees to Virginia’s public colleges and universities are under the constitutional authority of the General Assembly. Therefore, we are prepared to fight them every step of the way because the stakes are too high for students across the commonwealth,” Lucas said. “This isn’t just about who sits on a board. It’s about whether the future of Virginia’s colleges and universities will be guided by educators and experts, or hijacked by Trump, Youngkin, and their MAGA allies.”
Rouse added that the court affirmed what Democrats have maintained throughout the process, that the Senate has the constitutional authority to confirm or reject board nominees and it cannot be bypassed.
“The ruling is a victory for the rule of law and the people of Virginia,” Rouse said in a statement. “We will use every tool available to fight back against the attacks on our university system. We will continue to stand up for transparency, accountability, and the democratic process for Virginia, students, educators, and families.”
The defendants are likely to request that the preliminary injunction be suspended, with a judge’s decision expected by Friday morning.
“Although we are disappointed in the ruling, we were prepared for this possibility,” said Shaun Kenney, a spokesman for the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, to the Associated Press. “This case is straightforward. The Constitution is clear that it is the General Assembly, not a fraction of a Senate Committee, that is authorized to act. We will quickly file an appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia and are confident in our position.”
