\n<\/p>\n
Former University of Virginia president Jim Ryan has broken his silence concerning his abrupt resignation, accusing the Board of Visitors of dishonesty and complicity in his ouster, which came amid federal government scrutiny over the university\u2019s diversity, equity and inclusion practices.<\/p>\n
In a 12-page letter to the UVA Faculty Senate on Friday, Ryan wrote that he was \u201cstunned and angry\u201d over the board\u2019s lack of honesty as it faced pressure from the federal government to force him out due to an alleged failure to dismantle DEI initiatives. Ryan also wrote that recent letters by UVA rector Rachel Sheridan and Governor Glenn Youngkin do not \u201cpresent an accurate accounting of my resignation,\u201d which prompted him to release his own statement.<\/p>\n
Ryan accused Youngkin of playing a significant part in attracting scrutiny from the Department of Justice, first by handing down a resolution to the board drafted by his office that \u201cwas quite sweeping and filled with inflammatory rhetoric criticizing DEI.\u201d Ryan wrote that the board passed a modified, \u201cfairly mild\u201d version of the resolution, which required UVA to dissolve its DEI office and \u201cmove all permissible programs to another institutional home.\u201d <\/p>\n
But after its passage, Youngkin declared on Fox News that \u201cDEI is dead\u201d at UVA. That statement, Ryan wrote, created confusion and overstated the reach of the resolution. As UVA began efforts to implement the resolution, Ryan wrote that Sheridan told him not to publicly announce any DEI changes, which he alleged created the perception of inaction and attracted the DOJ\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
Ryan wrote that UVA soon received an inquiry about why it was slow to dismantle DEI.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter asked us to explain why we hadn\u2019t complied with the Board\u2019s resolution, though it exaggerated the scope and nature of that resolution, suggesting\u2014as had Governor Youngkin on television\u2014that we were supposed to eliminate the entirety of DEI,\u201d Ryan wrote. \u201cIt was unclear, and still is, why the United States Department of Justice would have the interest or authority to enforce a resolution of the Board of a state university as opposed to enforcing federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan also questioned whether the board was truthful about the DOJ seeking his resignation or if it was a scheme concocted by members who wanted to remove him as their relationship soured.<\/p>\n
In closing his letter, Ryan argued that he was committed to following the law and revising policies and practices that were flawed or \u201cif there were persuasive, principled reasons to change course.\u201d But he would not sacrifice UVA\u2019s core values or his principles in doing so\u2014especially if those changes were due to \u201cprevailing political winds\u201d or \u201cthe political ambitions of some,\u201d he wrote. He added that both the board members and governor\u2019s office had accused him of being stubborn, which was perhaps true and may have been the real reason for his exit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut stubborn and principled often look the same, especially to those who are unprincipled,\u201d Ryan wrote.<\/p>\n
Inside Higher Ed<\/em> has uploaded Ryan\u2019s full letter below.<\/p>\n Ryan\u2019s letter follows a message Sheridan sent to the UVA Faculty Senate on Thursday. In that letter, Sheridan downplayed the pressure from the federal government to force Ryan out. While she acknowledged that the Department of Justice \u201clacked confidence in President Ryan to make the changes that the Trump Administration believed were necessary to ensure compliance,\u201d she disputed the notion that his resignation was part of the agreement that the university recently reached with the federal government to pause investigations into DEI practices.<\/p>\n While Sheridan did not elaborate on specific threats from the Department of Justice, as Ryan alleged, she wrote that Trump administration officials \u201cmade clear that if the University did not chart a different course, the DOJ could and would expand its investigations into additional issues, subject other personnel to scrutiny, and pursue the cutoff of federal funding.\u201d<\/p>\n The full text of that letter is available below.<\/p>\n Also on Thursday, Youngkin sent a letter related to Ryan\u2019s departure to Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, who has called for UVA to halt its ongoing presidential search until her board picks are in place. The Republican governor pushed back on his Democratic successor\u2019s claims that Ryan was ousted as a result of federal overreach and accused her of interfering in the search. Youngkin also accused Ryan of \u201cnot being committed to following federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n That letter has been uploaded in full below.<\/p>\n Ryan\u2019s letter prompted a flurry of criticism of the board from faculty, lawmakers and others.<\/p>\n The UVA Faculty Senate passed a resolution Friday calling for greater transparency, a pause in the presidential search until the board \u201cis at full complement with members confirmed by the general assembly,\u201d and the immediate resignation of Sheridan and Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson. <\/p>\n Faculty members accused the board of making UVA a target.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rector, the vice rector, and others on the board conspired to oust Jim Ryan, and they made the decision to leverage pressure from the Department of Justice in order to enact that ouster,\u201d Matthew Hedstrom, a religious studies professor, said in Friday\u2019s Faculty Senate meeting.<\/p>\n Democratic state lawmakers also blasted the board in the aftermath of Ryan\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n \u201cFormer UVA President Jim Ryan\u2019s letter details a shocking abuse of power by the UVA Board of Visitors and collaboration between a Governor & [attorney general] who betrayed the state and schools they swore to protect so they could curry favor with MAGA extremists\u2014this is far from over,\u201d Virginia state senator Scott Surovell, the Democratic majority leader, wrote on X. <\/p>\n Surovell is among a group of Democratic lawmakers who have recently amplified pressure on UVA over Ryan\u2019s resignation and the subsequent agreement it reached with the DOJ. Democrats, who have blocked multiple Youngkin board appointments this year\u2014many of them GOP donors and conservative political figures\u2014have accused UVA of a lack of transparency around Ryan\u2019s exit and of giving in to \u201cextortionate tactics\u201d in striking a deal with the DOJ.<\/p>\n Ross Mugler, interim president and CEO of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, released a statement in which he argued, \u201cWhat happened at UVA shows how deeply damaging it is when governing boards become extensions of political actors rather than independent fiduciaries.\u201d Mugler also warned of potential harms to academic freedom, community trust and the long-term health of the university due to external political pressures.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Ryan\u2019s detailed account of the pressures leading to his resignation reveals an alarming example of political and ideological interference in university governance,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Neither UVA nor Youngkin\u2019s office responded to requests for comment from Inside Higher Ed<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former University of Virginia president Jim Ryan has broken his silence concerning his abrupt resignation, accusing the Board of Visitors of dishonesty and complicity in his ouster, which came amid federal government scrutiny over the university\u2019s diversity, equity and inclusion practices. In a 12-page letter to the UVA Faculty Senate on Friday, Ryan wrote that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[2579,8362,9613,3225,2597,3576],"class_list":{"0":"post-33627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-breaks","9":"tag-jim","10":"tag-resignation","11":"tag-ryan","12":"tag-silence","13":"tag-uva"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Board Under Fire<\/h2>\n