On March 14, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation to expand collective bargaining rights for more than half a million public service workers. While librarians, firefighters, and home-care professionals celebrated, there was one key group not invited to the party: Virginia’s higher education professors.

The exclusion of higher education professors is more than just a political snub; it reflects the growing identity crisis over the function of professors within a university. Over the past three years, the authority of Virginia faculty members has eroded. External pressures, including investigations by the United States Department of Justice, have expanded administrative power under the pretext of reforming the state’s public universities. The result? A wave of faculty dismissals, administrative overhauls, and program cuts that have left the ivory tower standing on shaky foundations.