After firing Bert Ellis from the Board of Visitors, Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed Class of 1991 alumnus Ken Cuccinelli to fill the vacancy. The former Virginia attorney general and former senior official in the first Trump administration will soon be one of 17 members who oversees the University’s finances, personnel and strategic direction. And while Ellis was removed for recent controversies, Cuccinelli is not without his own polarizing stances.
Cuccinelli’s political career includes serving in the Virginia State Senate for the 37th District from 2002 to 2010. Later, he served as Virginia’s 46th attorney general from 2010 to 2014 under Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, where he challenged the Affordable Care Act and opposed climate change regulations. During this tenure, he investigated a University climate scientist to determine whether he had defrauded taxpayers in his research.
While attorney general, Cuccinelli took action in opposition to LGBTQ+ rights. In 2010, he advised Virginia's public colleges and universities to remove protections for sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression from their nondiscrimination policies, unless the General Assembly were to pass a law enforcing those protections.
Additionally, he defended Virginia's anti-sodomy law, which criminalized homosexual acts, by petitioning courts to uphold it even after it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. As a state senator, Cuccinelli described homosexual acts as "against nature" and "harmful to society," and has consistently opposed same-sex marriage, expressing concerns about its implications for societal norms.
In 2013, Cuccinelli ran for governor, but lost to Democrat Terry McAuliffe. His next major role in politics was during the first Trump administration, when he was involved in the original COVID-19 task force and also served as the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security during the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection in 2021. DHS, responsible for mitigating homeland threats, played a key role in the aftermath of Jan. 6.
During the years between Trump’s terms, Cuccinelli contributed to Project 2025, a conservative policy roadmap coordinated by the Heritage Foundation to restructure the federal government under a Republican presidency.
Cuccinelli authored the DHS chapter of the Project 2025 agenda, advocating for a return to law and order, tighter border enforcement and significant restructuring of immigration services. He also wrote that there should be stronger executive control over federal agencies and supported the rollback of diversity and inclusion initiatives in government institutions.
In the plan, Cuccinelli laid out recommendations to dismantle and restructure DHS, calling DHS an inefficient agency and saying that its components would function better if divided. His proposal recommends consolidating all immigration and border enforcement agencies into a single, standalone entity while reallocating remaining DHS offices to other federal departments. Cuccinelli also said the Transportation Security Administration should be privatized — an idea currently under consideration by congressional Republicans.
More specifically on immigration, he recommended permanently removing some restrictions on Title 42-style powers — a public health measure under the Public Health Service Act of 1944 that allowed U.S. border officials to quickly expel migrants at the U.S. southern border, regardless of their asylum claims — to expedite migrant removals even outside of public health emergencies. Cuccinelli’s plan also calls for eliminating “sensitive zones” — areas such as churches and schools where ICE is currently restricted.
With Cuccinelli’s career in politics, some students say Board members should not be outwardly political. Second-year College student Jack Wallace said that appointing someone politically involved to the Board sets a bad precedent, as it could limit students' exposure to diverse perspectives and hinder their learning.
“I think it sets a bad precedent to have someone who is so politically involved be a member of the Board of Visitors,” Wallace said. “The University is a place where people can learn and be engaging with diverse perspectives, and if we have someone who is fully committed to only one perspective … I think it limits the learning that students can do.”
While other Board members are also politically-aligned, including contributing large sums to GOP political campaigns, Wallace expressed concern that Cuccinelli’s stance on immigration might not align with the Board’s stated purpose.
“Ken Cuccinelli’s political stance I don't believe aligns with the stated purpose of the Board of Visitors, which is to welcome students from all walks of life,” Wallace said.
But fourth-year College student Stephen Wiecek says that people are inherently political, and a history of partisan affiliation does not bother him when it comes to Cuccinelli’s Board appointment.
“I don't think inherently, because people are political actors and … because they have a political past that this should disqualify them from being on the Board of Visitors,” Wiecek said.
And though Wallace believes Cuccinelli’s political affiliation is an issue, he said that having a Board appointee who attended the University is important because Cuccinelli could be better positioned to understand student self-governance. Wallace is part of this self-governance system, serving as a representative for the College of Arts and Sciences on the Honor Committee. The University recently reaffirmed its commitment to the student self-governance system after one of the reports on the Nov. 13, 2022 shooting was critical toward student disciplinary bodies at the University.
Cuccenilli’s appointment was announced in a brief, non-specific statement that revealed Ellis was removed for violating the Commonwealth’s Code of Conduct. Prior to his removal, Ellis made sternly-worded comments about diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the University, which he had voted to eliminate in compliance with the Trump administration.
Ellis’ removal is the first instance in recorded history of a Virginia governor dismissing a University Board member before the end of their term, as his term was not set to expire until June 2026.
The Cavalier Daily reached out to the Jefferson Council — a conservative publication which Ellis was formerly president of — for comment on Cuccinelli's appointment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
In a joint public statement with Cuccinelli released March 26, Youngkin said that Cuccinelli will make a great addition to the Board.
“Ken’s legal and policy expertise will be incredibly valuable to ensure swift action with the ongoing changes and challenges in higher education,” Youngkin said. “I have full confidence he will help ensure Mr. Jefferson’s University remains a place of opportunity, merit and academic freedom.”
In the same statement, Cuccinelli also articulated his goals as a future Board member.
“It is an honor to return to public service in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a member of the U.Va. Board of Visitors,” Cuccinelli said. “As an alumnus who loves this University deeply, I’m committed to aggressively advancing plans to restore a culture of merit and end all forms of discrimination.”
Cucinelli added that he looks forward to reducing spending by the University administration to ensure affordability and to defend free speech.
Both Wallace and Wiecek, on the other hand, would like to see the new appointee prioritize interaction with students and make efforts to understand the different perspectives they may have.
“I think when Board members engage with students, it’s a great thing,” Wallace said. “I'd love to see Mr. Cuccinelli engage with students, go out to lunch with them and understand the full picture of student life at the University — even more than he does already as an alumnus.”
Wiecek said that he hopes Cuccinelli will work to encourage diverse viewpoints within the student body and work for the betterment of the University.
“I think what Cuccinelli could do to improve student life would be to help improve viewpoint diversity, to be respectful and lend an ear to the student body,” Wiecek said. “But also to take actions that he believes to be in the common interest of the University and the Commonwealth.”
As for how to best serve students, Wiecek agreed with Wallace that Board members could be more present in the community, interacting with students to gauge their opinions.
Cuccinelli is able to begin his term immediately without confirmation because it is an interim appointment. He will later need to be confirmed by the Senate for a full term, and the Senate will be under Democratic control until at least 2028. By the end of Youngkin’s term, all 17 Board members will have been appointed by him.
Wallace looks forward to the gubernatorial election later this year, which could bring political change to the Board should Democrat Abigail Spanberger win, as she could begin to appoint her own members as Youngkin’s appointees reach the end of their terms.
“I [don’t] believe that his appointment will be impactful” Wallace said. “U.Va. is more than its Board, and I think the students and the faculty are what people think of when they think of U.Va.”
And despite disagreeing on politics, Wallace said that even with Cuccinelli’s appointment, the Board should continue to serve students, regardless of politics.
“I believe the Board of Visitors members are just that — they're visitors,” Wallace said. “We don't have a board of trustees at U.Va., we have a Board of Visitors, and it's important to remember that these people are here to help us in our mission of learning and growing as a research institution, not here to espouse their own political views.”
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