Delegate Hudson speaks out against Governor Youngkin’s pick for UVA Board of Visitors

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Governor Glenn Youngkin’s pick for a seat on the UVA Board of Visitors is getting shot down.

Some Democrats believe Bert Ellis should not take the seat, and he is being taken off the confirmation list.

Ellis caught heat in 2020 for trying to remove a vulgar sign from a door on the UVA Lawn. 57th District Delegate Sally Hudson (D), a professor at the university, says there is a better way to communicate.

“There’s nothing Jeffersonian about bringing a razor blade to speech you find offensive,” Del. Hudson said Wednesday, February 1. “What we try to do with UVA is cultivate everyone’s skills to engage with people with different view points so we can come together in civil debate.”

Del Hudson says she is against seeing businessmen and alum on UVA’s board.

“Right now, university board appointments are mostly a form of political patronage,” Del. Hudson said. “Spots typically go to the biggest donors, to whoever won the last governor’s race.”

She hopes people appointed to these positions in the future will have a background in education.

“Our public universities are cornerstone institutions for our states,” Del. Hudson said. “They are engines of upward mobility for students and their families, they drive innovation for employers and our workforce, and they’re home to Virginia’s top hospitals.”

The removal action on January 31 from the Senate committee is the first step in the process of approving the governor’s appointment.

“There are still several procedural steps through here. The measure will have to go before the full Senate, and there will be steps in the House, as well. We do appointments from the governor every year, but this is a sign that you’ll see a slowdown in that process,” Hudson said.

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