The Board of Trustees voted to reelect Chair Grace Speights to serve an additional year in the role, the University announced in a release Wednesday.
Speights, who also works as a partner for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius law firm, has served as Board chair since 2019 and has overseen significant University decisions, including hiring former interim University President Mark Wrighton and now-University President Ellen Granberg, arming about 20 GW Police Department officers and retiring GW’s former Colonials moniker. The announcement came at what was expected to be the sunset of Speights’ term, given board chairs have historically left the role after helming the governing body for six years.
The Board of Trustees bylaws used to mandate that Board officers — the chair, vice chair and secretary — not serve more than six years in the role. In 2024, trustees updated Board bylaws to add a clause that allowed the term of an officer to be extended for an additional year by a two-thirds majority vote.
The clause also states that the “extraordinary extensions” may not exceed a maximum of two years per person. The University did not specify in the release why the Board chose to reelect Speights to a seventh year instead of electing a new chair.
Speights will serve as chair until May 2026, per the release. The board’s bylaws mandate that the board chair step down from the governing body after completing their service as chair.
Speights said in the release that she is “honored” to have the opportunity to continue serving as Board chair.
“As we work with President Granberg, the leadership, and our entire community of students, faculty, staff and alumni, I look forward to another year of accelerating progress,” Speights said in the release.
Trustees voted to reelect Board Vice Chair Mark Chichester to a one-year term ending in May 2026, the release states. Chichester has served as vice chair since May 2022, making him eligible to continue serving in the role for three more years, and an additional two if trustees decided to grant him an “extraordinary” extension.
Trustees also voted to elect Jeffrey Flaks to serve as secretary for a one-year term beginning in June, replacing current Secretary Ave Tucker who has held the role since June 2019. Speights said the Board is grateful for Tucker’s service and is “delighted” that he will continue to be an engaged and enthusiastic supporter of GW.
“Ave has served our board and the university with incredible distinction, giving back considerable time and talent to this institution,” Speights said in the release.
