It’s been 21 days and counting since Jim Ryan resigned as president of the University of Virginia, and the Board of Visitors hasn’t announced a search committee to look for a successor. Indeed, it’s still soliciting “input” on who should serve as interim president.

Meanwhile, UVA has vacancies in other top positions: the provost (the chief academic officer) and the top three executives in the health-care division.

For god’s sake, man, somebody do something!

It may be summer break for students and professors, but it shouldn’t be for the men and women appointed to govern the university.

The next key date to watch is this upcoming Monday: July 21.

Why’s that date important? Because the BoV manual requires the Board to provide at minimum one-week notice of a special meeting. The next critical date after July 21 is July 25, when a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge hears a lawsuit filed by General Assembly Democrats to knock Ken Cuccinelli off the board. (Governor Glenn Youngkin had appointed Cuccinelli to replace Bert Ellis, whom he fired, but Virginia Democrats hate the Cooch with the blazing-heat-from-a-thousand-suns normally reserved for President Trump.) The next business day after that hearing is July 28. And July 21 is seven days before July 28. Got it?

In public statements, Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares are hanging tough, saying that it takes a vote of the full General Assembly to nix a governor’s board nomination, not a vote of the state Senate Privileges and Elections Committee when, arguably, the General Assembly was not even in session. However, from what I hear, the reason for scheduling a board meeting after the hearing is to avoid any legal complications ensuing from seating the disputed Cuccinelli.

Whether that theory is right or wrong, time is slipping away.

What do we look for next Monday? A posting on the UVA Board of Visitors website announcing a special meeting in seven days: July 28.

If such a posting does occur, it suggests that the people in charge of such things — the rector and the acting president — are serious about moving forward with the presidential search with some sense of urgency. If the posting does not occur, it suggests that there’s no hurry. That logic would apply especially if you’re trying to run out the clock until Democrat Abigail Spanberger occupies the Governor’s Mansion and General Assembly Democrats bump a slew of Youngkin appointees from the Board so they can appoint a Ryan look-alike.

Another possible interpretation of the slow walking of the UVA presidential search is that it’s summer and key players are on vacation.

Such conjecture would not apply to Youngkin. He’s not on vacation. He’s in Iowa. Or at least he was yesterday. Writes The Virginia Mercury: “His trip to Iowa, as well as plans to headline the Silver Elephant Gala in South Carolina, the SC GOP’s biggest fundraiser — both events in early states during the GOP presidential nomination cycle — have fueled speculation that he may be considering a run.”

I have no idea what Youngkin’s political calculus is. But with UVA back in the national headlines, the fate of the state’s flagship university is undoubtedly part of the equation.

Update: Speaking on the John Fredericks Radio Show today, Youngkin forcefully reiterated his support for merit and free expression, the dismantling of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and support of the Trump administration’s review of racial preferences and DEI at UVA.

— JAB