Virginia governor-elect Abigail Spanberger urged the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors to pause its presidential search until she takes office in January and appoints new trustees. Spanberger says five board appointees lack confirmed status after recent state fights over gubernatorial selections, which she argues calls the board’s legitimacy into question. Her letter requests the board delay naming finalists or a new president until the board is “fully constituted” and in statutory compliance. The appeal escalates a months-long governance crisis at a flagship public university and raises the prospect of further legal and political entanglements around a high-stakes leadership hire.