CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Rector Rachel Sheridan, vice-rector Porter Wilkinson and major donor Paul Manning have all resigned from the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors, at the behest of new Governor Abigail Spanberger, according to reports by the New York Times and Washington Post.

All three were central figures in the forced resignation of President Jim Ryan in June. Ryan accused them of working with the Trump administration and the Department of Justice to orchestrate his ouster.

Other members of the BOV were also asked to resign by Spanberger, but had not yet responded, according to the reports.

Spanberger, who will be sworn in Saturday as Virginia’s first female governor, had urged the BOV not to move ahead with the hiring of new president until she took office. The BOV already had five empty seats, raising questions about its legitimacy as it pushed forward with the presidential search.

The school’s Faculty Senate, Student Council and nine of 14 of the university’s deans had expressed no confidence in the BOV, but the body still went ahead and named business school dean Scott Beardsley as the institution’s 10th president on Dec. 19. It is unclear what a remade BOV will mean for Beardsley’s future with the school.

While Sheridan and Wilkinson’s removal were anticipated, largely due to their roles in the highly-politicized ouster of Ryan, Manning’s comes as a surprise. One of the school’s most significant financial boosters, Manning and his wife, Diane, donated $100 million in 2023 for the creation of a biotechnology institute, set to open in 2027.