The public meetings of the University of Virginia’s governing Board of Visitors are typically restrained; officials prefer to air their differences out of view in closed-door meetings. But that was not the case earlier this month when the board was discussing the more than $500 million in capital projects the university has planned.
Board member Bert Ellis — an appointee of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin who has declared a "battle royale for the soul of the school" and developed a reputation for his candor — said he will no longer support any future development until the Board of Visitors makes cuts to its $2.3 billion academic operating budget.
At the board’s Dec. 5 Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting, Ellis decried "a lack of budgetary discipline by this board."
“I personally believe, we can take $200 million out of our budget, and in the process, we can eliminate a lot of duplicative and counterproductive programs and services that have crept into our organization,” he told his colleagues.
Ellis was the only member of the 17-strong board to vote against moving forward with three large-scale university developments, including a new arts center, parking garage and student dormitories.
He promised to remain a no vote until the budget can be cut enough to "significantly" reduce tuition — which sits around $23,000 for in-state students and $60,000 for out-of-state students — as well as fund the university’s Division I athletics program in the aftermath of reforms within the NCAA.
After a historic $2.78 billion settlement was reached this past May in the House v. NCAA lawsuit, universities are now allowed to directly compensate student-athletes. That decision will cost UVa alone about $20 million every year, according to remarks UVa President Jim Ryan made to the Faculty Senate back in November.
While he is an army of one, Ellis said he is not retreating from his position.
“I am a no on new spending for any new capital projects and I am a no on the next academic budget until we make major cuts in administrative expenses and can use these cuts to significantly cut tuition and to fund our athletic programs,” the Atlanta businessman and UVa alumnus told The Daily Progress via email after the Dec. 5 meeting. “Once we make these cuts, we can continue to look at and approve new capital projects.”
While no one directly addressed Ellis’ remarks at the Dec. 5 meeting, UVa Rector Robert Hardie, a UVa alumnus and hotelier who runs two private investment firms, told The Daily Progress afterward that while he did not vote with Ellis he appreciates that disagreements are inevitable and the conversations they spur can be constructive.
“Differing opinions are common on any governing board and help strengthen our deliberations and final decisions,” Hardie, who was first appointed by Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, told The Daily Progress in a prepared statement. “We should also be proud of the University’s long-record of sound financial management, which has enabled us to become the top institution in the country for financial aid, the third best value public institution in the country, and one of only 4 public universities in the nation to hold a AAA bond rating from all three major rating agencies.”
Parking meter
Ellis voiced his disapproval at the Dec. 5 meeting after UVa architect Alice Raucher presented plans for a new parking garage to the committee.
The 1,030-space North Grounds Parking Garage is planned for the corner of Massie and Copeley roads across from the surface lot outside John Paul Jones Arena, the home of the Cavaliers basketball team and one of Charlottesville’s premier entertainment venues. The garage is designed to offer much-needed parking not only for game-day spectators and concert-goers but also commuter students.
The current site plan has the garage set back from Massie Road, allowing for green space which the Office of the Architect says could be used as an “event lawn” for tailgating and other activities.
Following Raucher’s presentation, committee Chairman John Nau III opened the floor to questions. Hearing none, he called for a voice vote affirming the garage design.
All were in favor, until Ellis raised his hand.
“I am going to vote no on this project and all of the other projects that are presented at this committee meeting,” he said. “Furthermore, I’m going to vote no on any expenditures to be brought to this board until I have seen a ‘25-’26 budget for this university that includes significant cuts in administrative expense.”
No one directly addressed Ellis’ remarks, but those remarks did spark a discussion about the parking garage’s price tag.
“This is just to approve architecture and engineering for the drawings, correct?” inquired board member David Webb, a UVa alumnus, Washington real estate executive and Youngkin appointee.
“No, this approves the construction,” responded Colette Sheehy, UVa’s senior vice president for operations.
Sheehy’s response appeared to surprise Webb.
“This is the last time the board sees the project,” Sheehy continued. “It’s the last time the board sees the project before we finish the design and go into construction.”
“And the cost is …” Webb said, trailing off.
“Fifty million dollars,” Sheehy said.
To cover that cost, the university will have to take on some debt and use “some cash from the auxiliary reserves,” according to Sheehy, who pointed out those matters are the purview of the board’s Finance Committee and not Buildings and Grounds.
“This is not about financing,” said Nau, a Youngkin appointee, UVa alumnus and Texas businessman who runs one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the U.S. “It’s totally about design: Is it needed? Is it appropriate? And the location.”
A second home for second-years
True to his word, Ellis also voted against new student housing meant to accommodate UVa’s plans to one day have all second-year students reside on university Grounds.
UVa is planning to construct an 800-bed dormitory within its “Ivy Road Corridor.” Plans call for four-bedroom, apartment-style units in a complex that will partially surround the under-construction Karsh Institute for Democracy, replacing a shuttered BB&T bank branch on Ivy Road just west of Central Grounds. The housing is expected to cost anywhere from $150 million to $160 million.
UVa is engaging in its first public-private partnership to build the new dormitories, joining forces with Alabama-based Capstone Development Partners on the project.
That partnership is not the only thing that sets the project apart from the rest. Sheehy noted that the goal is to have the Ivy Corridor Student Housing occupied by the summer of 2027, meaning the school is working on an “expedited timeline.” The hope is that speeding the project along will alleviate some of the stress on newly arrived first-year students who often have to worry about signing off-Grounds leases for their second year at the school just weeks into arriving at UVa.
“We’ve never built this many buildings at one time before,” Sheehy acknowledged.
A center for the arts
By far the project with the heftiest price tag presented to the Buildings and Grounds Committee on Dec. 5 was the proposed $315 million Center for the Arts.
Last June, the Board of Visitors approved the design guidelines for the project, which officials hope will serve as a mecca for art and artists within the university community and greater Charlottesville. Designers plan for the center to consolidate the Fralin Museum of Art collection, currently housed in Old Cabell Hall, and the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, currently housed at Pantops Farm, an estate on the east side of Charlottesville once owned by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson and later Daily Progress publisher Eugene Worrell. The center is also designed to hold the future Richard and Tessa Ader Performing Arts Center, to include a 1,100-seat indoor concert venue and a 150-seat recital hall, made possible in part by a $50 million gift from enamellist and jewelry designer Tessa Ader — the largest ever donation to UVa’s arts program.
The project was presented to the board on Dec. 5 to solicit feedback and not approval.
Nevertheless, the $315 million cost was too much for some — not just Ellis — to swallow.
UVa Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis assured the committee that the university would be submitting a capital budget request to the commonwealth asking for $200 million to help fund the project and promised that the “project won’t move forward without that money.”
“This one, to me, is a little bit harder,” said Webb. “The other two are more ‘need to have,’ and this is more ‘nice to have.’”
Fellow board member and Youngkin appointee Dr. Stephen Long agreed, saying the $200 million from the commonwealth should not be taken for granted.
“I think we have some fiscal accountability on this board to also reduce expenses,” the Richmond-based anesthesiologist and Randolph-Macon College alumnus said, echoing Ellis. “I think we need to look closely at tuition, how we’re going to reduce tuition in the future, so I don’t think we can move very fast on this until we get a lot of those other question marks answered.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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