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Senator Hashmi commends senate committee’s rejection of Governor’s appointments
The appointments follow narrow ideological agenda, undermining inclusion and integrity, she says.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Wed, 11, Jun 2025
- 03:48 EDT
- 29
Senator Hashmi labeled Governor Youngkin’s appointments as politically oriented. / X/@SenatorHashmi
Virginia State Senator and Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, Ghazala Hashmi, commended the rejection of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s appointments to Boards of Visitors by the Senate Privileges and Elections committee, on June 9.
The Hyderabad-born senator is the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate. Hashmi has claimed that the appointments by Youngkin “reflect a desire to reshape our public universities according to a narrow ideological agenda that undermines the foundational values of inquiry, inclusion, and integrity.”
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Gov. Youngkin had previously made multiple appointments to the Boards of Visitors that oversee Virginia’s public colleges and universities.
The boards are responsible for overseeing the long-term planning of the university, voting on items such as the university’s budget, major construction developments and tuition. Its 17 voting members are appointed by the governor and approved by the Virginia General Assembly, with each of their terms lasting four years.
The Board also includes a student and faculty representative, who serve as non-voting members and are appointed by the Board annually.
The appointments by Youngkin were rejected by the committee’s 8-4 party-line vote and framed as ‘a defense of Virginia’s higher education system’.
Hashmi stressed upon the need for the board having pluralistic values and said, “our Boards of Visitors should reflect the diversity, expertise, and civic responsibility that Virginia’s students and communities deserve,”
She added, “Instead, we are witnessing a coordinated attempt to erode that diversity, silence critical perspectives, and insert politics into the classroom. These actions are not only reckless — they are profoundly disrespectful to the thousands of faculty, staff, and students who make our institutions thrive.”
Hashmi argues that these appointments represent an attempt to impose political influence on Virginia’s public universities, potentially undermining academic freedom, diversity, and institutional integrity.
While Democrats claim that the rejections were effective immediately, Republicans and Governor Youngkin differ in their interpretation of the procedure.
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