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Inside Higher Ed explores higher education legal experts’ three main takeaways from the seven letters the DOJ sent to UVA in April, which include: 1) The DOJ appears to be expanding the reach of the affirmative action ban that resulted from the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling; 2) The letters are “unprecedented in the breadth and urgency of their demands,” as opposed to typical oversight letters that would be narrowly focused on specific concerns; and 3) The administration is taking advantage of the fact that there is not a clear legal definition of DEI and what it extends to, so officials are acting on the president’s ideological definition.

Two days after Democratic state lawmakers cautioned the UVA Board of Visitors against starting the search for a new president, the BOV announced the formation of a special search committee. The committee “will be responsible for guiding the process of identifying and recommending candidates to the Board of Visitors,” the same format that is being used by the Virginia Military Institute after their president, the school’s first Black leader, was ousted under similar political circumstances.

Democratic state legislators in Virginia are calling on the UVA Board of Visitors to delay its search for a new president after Jim Ryan was forced out under pressure from the Trump administration. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) suggested that delay could give Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, the heavy favorite to win in November, the opportunity to name as many as “nine new members on a 16-member board.”

Since taking office in 2022, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has stocked the UVA Board of Visitors with former GOP lawmakers, Republican donors and members of the Jefferson Council. According to an Inside Higher Ed analysis, “boards at public institutions across [Virginia] are heavy with GOP donors, former lawmakers and Trump officials, and members with ties to conservative think tanks” who tend to clash with the institutions’ administration and faculty.

Clare Carter and Amy Reid write that the “ominous escalation of federal pressure of university leadership” in Virginia is undermining institutional autonomy. Without autonomy and academic freedom, universities could become “propaganda machines for their governments, given their extraordinary influence over knowledge, education, and the exchange of ideas.

Dr. Gregory Washington, President of George Mason University, is the latest Virginia university leader facing pressure over promoting campus diversity from conservative alumni groups and a Republican-appointed board. The campaign targeting Washington follows the ouster of VMI President Cedric Wins, who lost his contract in February following opposition from conservative alumni group the Spirit of VMI — and that of UVA President Jim Ryan.

Professor Bonnie Gordon, who has worked in the UVA Music Department for nearly two decades, discusses how President Jim Ryan was “pressured... into quitting” and draws a link to both the 2017 Unite the Right March in Charlottesville and the January 6, 2021, insurrection as reflecting an embrace of force to impose political outcomes. She concludes, “This administration will not stop with Jim Ryan, and they will not stop with UVA.”

The New York Times reports on Jim Ryan’s forced resignation, exploring the influence of the Jefferson Council and its ties to Gregory Brown, a Justice Department official and UVA alum tasked with rooting out DEI in higher education. Robert Holsworth, a longtime state political analyst and former Virginia Commonwealth University board member, said the Jefferson Council was pivotal in what he called a “coordinated” effort to unseat Ryan, and “wound up accumulating enough power in the Trump administration and the Department of Justice to be able to impact the university in a way that they could never have done without Trump’s victory.”

During an emergency Faculty Senate meeting, Professor Kim Acquaviva expressed disappointment with UVA’s Board of Visitors and Rector Rachel Sheridan, specifically noting the Justice Department’s involvement in pressuring the University to abandon its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and Jim Ryan’s resignation.

The Cavalier Daily covers the July 11 Faculty Senate meeting and no-confidence vote, quoting associate professor Ian Mullins on faculty concerns about the Board: “We're concerned that they're trying to circumvent a democratic process for selecting our next leader.”

University of Virginia faculty passed a vote of no confidence in the school’s governing body, citing its failure to protect against “outside interference” by the Trump administration that led to the eventual resignation of University President Jim Ryan, and demanded answers from the Board of Visitors on members’ interactions with the Justice Department.

In an op-ed, Wahoos4UVA Advisory Council Co-Chairs Ann Brown and Chris Ford discuss how Jim Ryan’s legacy of thoughtful leadership is “being muscled aside by a bad-faith act of stunning executive overreach” and call on leaders in Congress and Virginia to “stand up and speak.”

Thomas Jefferson’s stated preference to have a “group of light-touch governors” — the Board of Visitors — make governance decisions for UVA stemmed from his fear of “energetic central government.” After a politically charged DOJ investigation resulted in the ouster of President Jim Ryan, it is a “no-brainer” that the University’s founder would be displeased.

Higher-education experts and UVA professors weigh in on President Ryan’s forced resignation, the clear vulnerabilities higher education faces under the Trump administration, and the "extralegal way” the DOJ and conservative groups went after President Ryan.

Acting Head of Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges calls Ryan’s forced ouster an "escalating threat.” In a letter to the editor, Ross Mugler says "Boards must stand with their presidents in the face of politicization, external interference and efforts to erode public trust. Higher education’s mission to advance knowledge, opportunity and democracy depends on strong, principled leadership and the courage to resist undue political influence.”

Teresa Sullivan, former President at the University of Virginia, called President Ryan’s leaving under pressure “a watershed moment in the history of the University” and urged faculty members to fight to preserve UVA’s reputation on the national and international stage.

Dennis Proffitt, Chair of the University of Virginia Retired Faculty Board, lamented that President Ryan, who was always “chasing the great and the good,” is yet “another casualty in the political war against higher education.”

Virginia State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, is signaling that Ryan’s departure “will trigger a wider confrontation with Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin over board appointments, legislative action in the General Assembly — and potentially action from Spanberger if she is elected governor.”

President of the AAUP Todd Wolfson called the “forced resignation” of UVA President Jim Ryan “an assault on a higher education system accessible to all, and thus on democracy itself.”

Former UVA counsel Timothy Heaphy criticizes the University's capitulation to federal pressure, writing: "Instead of presenting facts and law, the board waved the white flag of surrender. Mr. Ryan's resignation is a victory for intimidation and fear over the rule of law."

Cardinal News analyzes the unprecedented federal overreach in Ryan's ouster, questioning: "Is it wise to have a system where midlevel federal appointees can do what a governor can't — or at least shouldn't?" and warning this "sets a precedent" for future political interference in university governance.”

The New York Times reports on President Ryan's forced resignation, with Wahoos4UVA co-chair Ann Brown warning: "It would be a symbolic surrender of the university's autonomy and commitment to free inquiry that would send a chilling message: that public universities in Virginia serve political agendas, not the commonwealth."

Chris Ford, co-chair of Wahoos4UVA, said: ``We need to really identify all of the positive things that are going on at the University, all the positive things that President Ryan has done and is doing and continues to do, as opposed to allowing this negative misinformation to continue to just permeate the ethos.’’

Tom Stenzel, Alexandria, UVA parent, writes in strong support of UVA leadership: “I heard Jim Ryan at the freshman orientation, I knew this was a man of integrity who would lead the university well. Over the past four years as parents, we have seen the leadership of President Ryan in multiple occasions and venues, only confirming our respect and admiration.”

Former federal prosecutor and Chief Legal Analyst Tim Heaphy weighed in on UVA’s current leadership, saying “The vast majority of the people that I speak to, faculty, students, parents, alum, are very pleased with the direction of the university. These voices of dissent, I just think that they’re a very small kind of fringe group.

Keoni Vega, UVA Class of 2026 president, says to the Board of Visitors: “I urge you to act with restraint when listening to the loudest voices — especially those generations removed from this University and, most importantly, its current culture. To the incoming members of the Board, I ask that you recognize how deeply loved President Ryan is by the overwhelming majority of the University's students, staff, faculty and alumni.”

Members of UVA’s Retired Faculty Association assert that, under President Ryan’s leadership, UVA “…continues to flourish, and remains a robust, forward-thinking institution dedicated to building on Thomas Jefferson’s vision as a place to educate citizen-leaders.”