News

Governor Youngkin appoints four new members to the Board of Visitors

Two alumni are among the four appointees

By Ava MacBlane and Lexi Baker
July 1, 2022

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the appointment of four new members to the Board of Visitors Thursday — College and Darden alumnus Bert Ellis, previous Board member Stephen Long, Abingdon Town Council member and Education alumna Amanda Pillion and College and Law alumnus Doug Wetmore. The four new members will take their seats for the first time during the Board’s retreat in August. ... Composed of 17 voting members appointed by the governor, the Board meets four times per year and is responsible for the long-term planning of the University. The new members replace previous Board members Dr. L.D. Britt, Frank Conner, Barbara Fried and C. Evans Poston.

Ellis is a business executive who holds leadership positions in three Atlanta based companies, Ellis Capital, Johnson Energy Storage and Ellis Communications. Additionally, Ellis is one of 15 University graduates who co-own White Spot, a restaurant located on the Corner. ... Ellis spoke to Youngkin’s role in appointing new Board members in a year-end update for the Jefferson Council at the end of 2021. ... “This is our only opportunity to change/reverse the path to ‘wokeness’ that has overtaken our entire University,” Ellis said.

Ellis also serves as the president of The Jefferson Council, a conservative group of University alumni and other stakeholders “dedicated to preserving the legacy of Thomas Jefferson.” Most recently, The Jefferson Council co-sponsored an event with former vice president Mike Pence, along with the student organization Young Americans for Freedom.

Following controversy over signage on Lawn room doors in fall 2020 that used expletives to critique the University’s history of enslavement and inaccessibility, Ellis traveled to the University to visit the Lawn room of the resident who posted the original sign. Per a message written by Ellis himself, he “prepared to use a small razor blade” to remove the explicit part of the sign, but two University ambassadors explained that this would be considered malicious damage and asked him to leave. ... Ellis has also previously noted his disapproval of the presence of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the University — which he has characterized as “completely out of hand” — and is a fervent supporter of the University's Honor system, having previously expressed that “without Honor, there is no U.Va..”

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