Virginia’s public universities faced scrutiny from state senators Monday as lawmakers examined the University of Virginia’s settlement with federal investigators and the growing political battle over control of higher education institutions.

The Senate Finance Committee’s Education subcommittee questioned UVA Interim President Paul Mahoney about his decision to sign a Justice Department agreement ending discrimination probes into the school’s diversity policies — a move that has deepened the rift between Democratic legislators and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin over university governance.

“The University of Virginia has resolved federal government investigations through an agreement that will not cost Virginia taxpayers a single cent,” Mahoney said. “This is a great win for the Commonwealth and its flagship university.”

Mahoney assumed the role in August during investigations of the college by the DOJ for discrimination. Those investigations led to the resignation of former UVA President Jim Ryan and tension between Youngkin and state Democrats over his and the federal government’s influence on Virginia universities.

That tension, including litigation around new Board of Visitors members appointed by Youngkin for multiple universities but rejected by a Senate committee, has persisted throughout the year.

Democrats have promised to reassess the relationship between state leadership and college operations in 2026. 

While Republican Sen. Mark Obenshain noted Mahoney’s choice avoided a loss of federal funding, costly fines and external monitoring for UVA, his fellow Democratic Education Subcommittee members were more critical of the decision. 

“I find it disappointing that institutions have been bullied into capitulating to the Department of Justice,” Sen. Mamie Locke said, “and I find the word ‘justice’ oxymoronic in this day and age, because that department is certainly rogue these days.” 

Locke, Sen. Louise Lucas and Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi raised questions about whether UVA was violating federal law before the investigations, the potential for further DOJ investigations and how faculty concerns shape Mahoney’s decisions. 

They also noted the absence of Rector Rachel Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson, who were invited along with Mahoney, from the meeting and speculated on how the changes to UVA could impact the search for a permanent president. 

Subcommittee members also spoke with Virginia Military Institute Superintendent David Furness, who succeeded Cedric Wins in the role after VMI’s Board of Visitors voted not to renew his contract. 

Wins was VMI’s first African American superintendent, and his exit sparked heated criticism from Democratic officials as well as former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder. That controversy seemed to shape the discussion, as senators asked about Furness’ relationship with the Board of Visitors and alumni and his nonpartisan, “center-line” approach to leading VMI. 

The Education Subcommittee is set to reconvene in early January ahead of the 2026 General Assembly session.