Same Agenda, Different Name: UVA’s DEI Committee Dodges Reform with a Cosmetic Rebrand

The University of Virginia’s Faculty Senate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee has quietly rebranded itself as the “Diversity and Inclusion Committee.” According to committee chair Eric M. Ramírez-Weaver, the change is designed “to reflect recent changes and best work with everyone in the administration in order to keep doing the work we've always been doing.”

Let that last part sink in.

Ramírez-Weaver’s comments make clear that the university is not adjusting course—it’s simply adjusting language. This is not surprising coming from a faculty member who has previously championed “workarounds” to bypass legal and executive constraints. Ramírez-Weaver’s past statements have raised red flags about the committee’s commitment to ideological compliance over legal compliance. And now, his latest remarks confirm what many suspected: the University’s DEI apparatus is not being dismantled or reformed—it's being preserved, just under a more palatable label. One that, perhaps intentionally, echoes the approach taken by Governor Glenn Youngkin who renamed Virginia’s DEI Office to the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) back in 2022 with his 10th Executive Order instead of just scrapping it. 

Changing “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” to “Diversity and Inclusion” is not a sign of progress. It’s sleight of hand—and a defiant one. In fact, this linguistic pivot appears to be a strategic move to sidestep scrutiny while keeping the ideological machinery intact. However, Ramírez-Weaver’s reference to continuing “the work we've always been doing” tells us exactly what we need to know: the goals haven’t changed, and neither have the methods.

Alumni, students, and citizens of the Commonwealth deserve transparency and accountability. They deserve to know whether public institutions are quietly undermining the law through semantic maneuvering and bureaucratic inertia. The rebranding of UVA’s DEI Committee is not a sign of institutional reflection—it’s a sign of institutional defiance. And as long as faculty leaders like Ramírez-Weaver remain committed to bypassing democratic oversight and judicial authority, the University’s credibility will continue to erode.

For those who hoped that recent legal developments, executive orders, and a resolution from the Board of Visitors might prompt real change at UVA, this latest move is a stark reminder: cosmetic edits are not reform. They’re camouflage.