Almost two weeks after the University of Virginia Board of Visitors issued a resolution dissolving the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, there are more questions than answers about what comes next—even for community partners.
The Center for Community Partnerships at UVA was created as part of the university’s effort to be a “good neighbor” to Charlottesville-area communities, a key initiative in UVA’s 2030 Plan. The CCP, which opened an office at 617 W. Main St. in 2020, is a program of the university’s Equity Center, established in 2019 under the Division for DEI.
Almost 40 organizations are currently listed as community partners on the UVA Equity Center website.
“In partnership with our neighbors in Charlottesville and surrounding counties, we will work toward being a just and sustainable community,” reads UVA’s 2030 Plan website. “We will work collaboratively, and with all due humility, with our community partners to address key challenges, including housing, living wages, local educational opportunities, and access to health care.”
At press time, none of the community partners C-VILLE contacted have received any communication from UVA regarding the BOV resolution. UVA Communications did not respond to C-VILLE’s request for comment by press time.
“I haven’t heard anything from UVA,” says Price Thomas, executive director of City of Promise, a local education nonprofit. The organization works with UVA in several capacities, including data gathering and interpretation through the School of Education and Human Development and the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Last month, City of Promise announced a partnership with Associate Professor Gretchen Martinet examining the correlation between economics and education outcomes.
“My hope is that it won’t impact the way that we work with university because it certainly won’t change our commitment to helping our kids and families,” says Thomas. “I’m confident in the dedication of the folks inside UVA to continue to pursue these goals. We may have to call it something different, we may have to restrategize, but the opportunities that we will continue to push for and work towards with our individuals and families remain steadfastly intact.”
Also among UVA’s community partners are Charlottesville City and Albemarle County schools.
“It’s too early to determine actual impact,” says CCS Superintendent Royal Gurley. UVA’s dissolution of its Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion comes at an already uncertain time for the district, with the future of the U.S. Department of Education and federal support for schools already up in the air. “It would be a shame for this work to lessen at a time when our youth need a village of support around them.”
ACPS also has not heard from UVA leadership, but the district has confirmed with the university’s Equity Center that the collaborative Starr Hill Pathways program, which offers career and education opportunities and mentoring for Charlottesville youth, will continue.
While the BOV resolution justifies its actions through “legal compliance,” the Legal Aid Justice Center, also a community partner, says the argument doesn’t hold up.
“UVA’s Board of Visitors can’t hide behind a veneer of compliance with a legal analysis that federal courts have already found is likely unconstitutional,” says Angela Ciolfi, executive director of LAJC. “Local organizations now face broken connections, uncertain funding, and no clear point of contact at the university. This isn’t about compliance with the law—it’s a choice that the Board of Visitors made that could set back years of trust-building work with communities that have historically been marginalized by the institution.”
Price Thomas, executive director of City of Promise, says nobody from UVA has told him how community partners will be impacted by the DEI office closure. Photo by Eze Amos.
