Within the last two weeks, universities across Virginia have moved in the direction of abolishing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs — a chain reaction which began with the Dear Colleague letter released by officials at the U.S. Department of Education on Feb. 14, 2025. On March 18, this was briefly a topic of discussion at the Student Government Association (SGA), but has been excluded from the meeting materials for this Friday’s Longwood University Board of Visitors Meeting.
The Board of Visitors is Longwood’s governing body and has its quarterly meeting on March 20-22. In a letter sent by Virginia Sec. of Education Aimee Guidera on March 1 and reported first by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, she wrote to university and college presidents and board rectors instructing them to “review all policies and practices to determine potential violations of federal law” in reference to DEI programs. Furthermore, she wrote, “At your next board meeting, I ask you to make this your top priority.”
According to University Spokesperson and Deputy to the President Matt McWilliams via an email statement on March 18 to The Rotunda, issues surrounding DEI programs are not on Friday’s agenda. He wrote, “There is nothing in the Board materials focused on the issue of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but I expect the Board may bring up that issue.”
Longwood’s BOV meeting materials were published online Tuesday night, March 18, with no mention of DEI programs.
He added, “President Reveley is confident that the work we do at Longwood is in compliance with federal and state law on these matters.” McWilliams also noted university officials “continue to monitor these matters closely.”
McWilliams said plans for the meeting had been altered as board members wished to travel to Pittsburgh to watch the women’s basketball team play against Duquesne in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Thursday evening. Instead of meeting in Farmville, officials are planning an afternoon meeting in Richmond on Friday to discuss faculty promotions and tenure — which is typically a major topic of the board’s March meetings — among other issues.
DEI was also discussed at the SGA Meeting — held at 3:45 p.m. in the Wilson Chamber — at which The Rotunda posed a question during open forum to SGA President Neil Miller and SGA Advisers Vice President for Student Affairs Cam Patterson and Associate Vice President for Student Engagement and Initiatives Cheryl Steele.
Miller expressed frustration about the abbreviated meeting, as the alterations of this quarter’s meeting has severely limited his ability to share thoughts with the board during his planned report. The President of the SGA serves as the student representative to the Board of Visitors, and normally presents a report on student activities at each meeting during the academic year.
According to Miller, he will no longer be able to give his report.
“I had planned to make a lot of statements [on DEI] on Friday to the Board of Visitors, but I was notified today that they're not holding an in-person meeting so that their members can attend the basketball game in Pittsburgh on Thursday evening. So, they are going to have a closed session to talk about tenure and promotions at some point in Richmond on Friday, but all representatives were not invited,” Miller said.
He continued, “A lot of those things I planned to say I don't have the opportunity to say anymore. I am looking to pursue other options to get the important messaging out, because while these other institutions in Virginia are making these decisions, I don't think Longwood should be one of them, and I'm going to make it very clear that the students don't think that Longwood should be one of them.”
Miller, a Senior who graduates in May, also voiced concerns over the Board of Visitors and administration not factoring student opinion into their decision-making. He said he planned to make this a key point of his report on Friday, a meeting that was set to be his last as SGA President.
“A large part of the things I was going to say on Friday is, as the representative of the largest population on this campus, I, for one, don't feel heard. I know other students don't feel heard,” he said.
He concluded with, “That was kind of the messaging that I was going to try and bring is that they will need to start factoring student opinion more into the decisions that they're making, but basketball is more important, apparently.”
In response to the same question, [Cam] Patterson said, “I feel pretty confident that we are continuing to move forward with the things that we're doing. I would just say each school is making their own decisions, but the thing that I'm focused on is what we're doing here.”
Steele said, “As the person who oversees the Office of Multicultural Affairs, this has been very much on my mind and on the minds of the staff. My number one is protecting those staff members and the students here, and we’ve been in discussion.”
In response to a follow-up question from The Rotunda whether Patterson and Steele were concerned that university officials would abolish the Office of Multicultural Affairs, similarly to other Virginia universities, Patterson said, “I don’t have that concern,” and Steele agreed.
The Rotunda will continue to follow this developing story. Readers can find our coverage of the Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter and the subsequent reaction here.
