University President Jim Ryan shared updates on an external review of allegations of misconduct by administrators in the School of Medicine at the full Faculty Senate meeting Oct. 18, where senators made amendments to a Senate resolution on the subject to be voted on next week. Senators also heard updates on a review of events related to the May 4 police clearing of a pro-Palestine encampment on Grounds, as well as the delayed release of an investigation into the Nov. 13, 2022 campus shooting.
The Faculty Senate discussed the ongoing independent review of allegations made in a letter of no confidence that was signed by 128 U.Va. Physicians Group employees and delivered to Ryan and the University’s Board of Visitors Sept. 5. The letter demanded the removal of Craig Kent, chief executive officer of U.Va. Health, and Melina Kibbe — dean of the School of Medicine, Medicine professor and chief health affairs officer — for alleged administrative misconduct.
In response, the Board’s Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee has hired litigation firm Williams & Connolly to conduct an independent review of the allegations of misconduct made in the letter. Two members of the Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee — Chair Rachel Sheridan and Vice Chair Porter Wilkinson — will lead the investigation, and Ryan said he will be completely uninvolved in the process.
Senators expressed concerns that during the independent review of the Medical School and health system, participating faculty may face retaliation for speaking out against their superiors, as alleged in the letter of no confidence. Senators asked whether legal counsel would be provided for these faculty members to protect them and their jobs.
Ryan stated that all outside counsel hired by the University must be approved by Attorney General of Virginia Jason Miyares and that the University has proposed that groups of faculty participating in the review be allowed to speak to legal counsel. However, legal counsel may not be able to be with them in individual interviews.
Ryan also said that anyone concerned about retaliation can address those concerns with Sheridan or Wilkinson, who do not report to Ryan or his administration because they sit on the Board of Visitors.
In light of some faculty uneasiness over the review, Sheridan and Wilkinson are currently working to assuage concerns. The two sent a written statement that the Faculty Senate reviewed at the meeting, in which they assured faculty that the investigation is a priority for the University and the concerns addressed by faculty members are being taken seriously.
While some Senators said they were concerned about Sheridan and Wilkinson interfering in the review, Faculty Senate Chair-Elect Jeri Seidman stated that the Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee defined the initial scope of the investigation, but will not explicitly direct the firm in conducting the review.
Ryan also said that himself and other University administrators had been aware of some of the concerns referenced in the letter of no confidence and had already been in the process of addressing those concerns when they received the letter of no confidence.
After providing updates to the Senate on the external review of misconduct allegations within U.Va. Health, Ryan apologized to any faculty members upset by a letter he wrote in response to the letter of no confidence. In this response letter, Ryan said he would not fire Kent or Kibbe without an investigation into the allegations.
“The point of the letter was to make it clear that we were not going to summarily fire Craig [Kent] and Melina [Kibbe] based on [the letter of no confidence],” Ryan said. “Maybe I became too aggressive, sometimes the lawyer in me comes out. It’s much easier for me to deal with criticisms that are aimed at me than aimed at my colleagues.”
The Senate also made amendments to the wording of its resolution on the “institutional climate within the U.Va. School of Medicine and Medical Center.” In this resolution, the Senate affirms its support of Medical School faculty and calls for the external review to include an investigation into attempts to silence faculty complaints. The resolution also calls for the investigation to address concerns brought to University administration before the matter was made public by the letter of no confidence.
Faculty Senators will vote on this resolution virtually from Monday to Wednesday.
Ryan also gave updates on the possibility of a review of events that occurred at a protest last semester in which state and University police forcibly cleared a pro-Palestine encampment near the University Chapel May 4, arresting 27 people. In the days following the encampment’s clearing, the Faculty Senate called for an external review of the clearing and the events precipitating it.
Ryan said that a review of the events will take place, but that no concrete plans for this review have been made yet. According to Ryan, while he could not get into specific details, disagreements over how to structure the review have slowed the process.
Despite this, Ryan said the University administration is close to announcing when the review will begin and who will be conducting it, although he did not give an exact timeline for this announcement.
In response to confusion over University policy during the encampment, University updated protest policies at the beginning of the fall semester, adding new restrictions to protests on Grounds, including requiring individuals wearing masks to identify themselves if asked by a University official.
Amy Ogden, associate professor in the French Department, expressed concern over the possibility that these new policies could make another forceful clearing more likely by clearing ambiguities in the University’s protest policies.
“From one perspective, [the policy changes] made it less likely that there would be [a] need to bring in soldiers pointing guns at our colleagues and students,” Ogden said. “On the other hand, it made it a lot more likely because now it’s very clear there’s no ambiguity. There’s no place for the administration to hesitate about ‘Well, do they know what the policy is?’”
While Ian Baucom, executive vice president and provost, said that individuals in violation of these rules now will receive three warnings, about five to 10 minutes apart, before facing any action by the University, Ogden followed up, saying that the University has not addressed the real issue from May 4 — that the University brought in police in riot gear against its own community.
“When people are angry enough to protest and to break violations, some universities have seen that as a teaching moment, and other universities have seen it as a moment to double down,” Ogden said. “It's very clear [what U.Va. chose], and I am really disturbed by it.”
Ryan also announced that the external review of the Nov. 13, 2022 shooting — which left three students dead and two injured — was completed Oct. 20, 2023 but the University is holding off on releasing it to the public.
While the review was initially promised to be released before the end of 2023, Ryan said it has not yet been made available to the public to avoid interfering with ongoing criminal prosecution. Charlottesville-based newspaper The Daily Progress sued the University in May for withholding the report, a case that remains ongoing.
Ryan also discussed the University’s push in the Virginia General Assembly for a change to legislation that prohibits possession of firearms in any building owned by the Commonwealth.
Currently this legislation has an exception that still allows possession of firearms in public University buildings, which Ryan said he has hoped to change since the shooting. The legislation has failed to be passed twice now, but Ryan said he still hopes that it will eventually pass.
“We'll keep going as long as I am president,” Ryan said. “Who knows how long it will take, but [passing this legislation] doesn't seem hard to me.”
The full Faculty Senate will meet again Nov. 15.
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