Bert Ellis decries UVa’s “lack of budgetary discipline” [Video]

The public meetings of the University of Virginia’s governing Board of Visitors are typically restrained; officials prefer to air their differences out of view in closed-door meetings. But that was not the case earlier this month when the board was discussing the more than $500 million in capital projects the university has planned. 

Board member Bert Ellis — an appointee of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin who has declared a “battle royale for the soul of the school” and developed a reputation for his candor — said he will no longer support any future development until the Board of Visitors makes cuts to its $2.3 billion academic operating budget.

At the board’s Dec. 5 Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting, Ellis decried “a lack of budgetary discipline by this board.”

“I personally believe, we can take $200 million out of our budget, and in the process, we can eliminate a lot of …