This is a developing story that will be updated.
University of Virginia President James Ryan said Friday that he resigned after the Justice Department requested his resignation.
“In short, I tend to fight for my faith, and I am convinced of the university,” Ryan wrote in a letter to the campus community. “But I cannot make a one-sided decision to fight the federal government to save my job. Not only will it be strange to do so, but it seems selfish and self-centered to hundreds of employees who have lost their jobs, researchers who will lose their money, and hundreds of students who may lose financial aid or sign up for it.”
The Justice Department has quietly investigated whether Virginia flagship stores are complying with President Donald Trump’s orders to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The university’s visitor committee voted to dissolve its DEI office in March, but multiple conservative alumni groups and legal persons complained that Ryan failed to eliminate Dei from all corners of the campus. In many cases, critics argue that the university simply changed the name of the program but maintained its core functionality.
this New York Times The resignation and the Justice Department’s demand for Thursday night was first reported.
Ryan wrote that he plans to resign next spring, with reasons separated from the investigation. He did not say when the resignation would take effect.
“While there are very important principles here, I will fight on a very practical level to keep my work for a year while deliberately and willingly sacrificing the rest of this community.”
Ryan took over the UVA in August 2018, turning the institution to the pandemic and racial estimates for 2020 after the deadly white supremacist rally in August 2017. He also cracked down on pro-Palestine protesters last spring, a move by Republicans in the state, but his support in the state was condemned by students and teachers. Ryan also advocates institutional neutrality and seeks to make UVA a leader in democratic research.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement Friday that the Justice Department welcomes “”The leadership changes in higher education demonstrate the agency’s commitment to the noble federal civil rights law of our nation. ”
The Justice Department has not publicly stated what laws the UVA allegedly violated, although Dhillon’s statement noted that the agency “There is a zero tolerance policy for illegal discrimination by publicly funded universities. ”
From the early days of his second term, Trump made the point of procrastinating elites, primarily with Ivy League institutions such as Columbia and Harvard entering the national spotlight and condemning them with their so-called liberal ideology and alleged anti-Semitism. But the investigation into UVA, a public institution in the Republican-led country, represents a new front for the administration’s war on higher education, and so far Trump has succeeded.
Brendan Cantwell, a professor of higher education at Michigan State University, said Ryan’s resignation was a “major blow” to the independence of American institutions.
“This shows that the major public research universities are basically controlled by a political party, with the main goal of further promoting their partisan agenda and will block the independence of higher education with nothing,” he told him. Internal Advanced ED. “This both undermines the integrity of the academic community because of the judgement of experts and the integrity of public universities to the traditional accountability that states bear on the state through formal and established governance mechanisms.”
The legal expert who talks to him era When the federal government asked the university board to fire the chief official, it worked to recall other circumstances, saying the official was only in the case of criminal cases in the company.
Robert Kelchen, a professor of educational policy at the University of Tennessee, noted that Ryan’s resignation heralds a future in which presidents of all public universities must conform to the political views of their state leaders or be kicked out of office.
“It’s important for Trump to push James Ryan to resign at UVA, but in part because VA’s governor is also a Republican,” Kelchin wrote on Bluesky.
Both Virginia senators, both Democrats, said in a joint statement that Ryan’s need to resign “is a mistake that hurts Virginia’s future.”
“Trump Justice Department officials asked the Commonwealth Globally Recognized University to remove Ryan President Ryan, a strong leader who is honored to serve and drive the university forward – with the ridiculous “cultural war” trap,” said Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. “The decision on UVA leadership belongs to its Visitors Committee only, aligning with Virginia’s system of higher education governance.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin thanked Ryan for his service to the UVA in a statement Friday afternoon. Republican Youngkin appointed a majority of the university board members.
“The board quickly appointed a powerful interim housekeeper, who were fully confident and conducted a nationwide search of the universities that could bring Jefferson University to the next decade and beyond,” he said in a statement.
A quiet inquiry
Although the government’s campaign against Harvard and Columbia is mainly conducted in public, the UVA investigation is quieter. The Justice Department did not send a press release about UVA to the press release, nor did it issue public hay on its request. Instead, it sent letters to the university about its inquiries and discoveries.
According to April 28, the DOJ cited complaints about how the university handles its DEI program. era and Charlottesville Daily progress. Initially, the letter set a compliance deadline for May 2. It was then extended until May 30.
Afterwards, the Justice Department received multiple complaint letters from legal advocacy groups such as legal advocacy groups founded by Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, which stated that the university has not complied.
In the last letter on June 17, the department again made a request, this time pointing out complaints it received from groups such as the AFL and said the university needs to change quickly or pay the price, era Report. Government lawyers, including several UVA alumni, found that UVA considered race in its admissions and determined other student benefits. era.
“Time is short and the department’s patience is weak,” the letter said.
Neither the White House nor the Justice Department issued a public statement regarding their request for UVA or Ryan’s resignation.
The university said in a statement Friday morning that it was “committed to comply with all federal laws and has been working with the Justice Department for ongoing inquiries.” But that has not been further said since Ryan announced his departure.
