The University of Virginia‘s president, James Ryan, has stepped down from his position due to pressure from the Trump administration, specifically the Department of Justice, over the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. Ryan announced his resignation in an email to the university community, stating that he couldn’t unilaterally decide to fight the federal government to save his job.
“I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job,” Ryan wrote. “To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld.”
This move marks the latest development in the ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and the academic community. During his second term, President Trump has increasingly sought to reshape higher education by attacking diversity initiatives, pushing for crackdowns on pro-Palestinian student protesters, and seeking reviews of hiring and enrollment practices.
The Department of Justice’s investigation into the University of Virginia’s DEI practices was likely a key factor in Ryan’s resignation. The university’s governing body had voted to shutter the DEI office and end diversity policies in admissions, hiring, financial aid, and other areas. However, conservative critics argued that the university had simply renamed its DEI initiatives, and the Justice Department seemed to agree.
Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, condemned Ryan’s ouster, saying it was an example of the Trump administration using “thuggery instead of rational discourse”. “This is a dark day for the University of Virginia, a dark day for higher education, and it promises more of the same,” Mitchell said. “It’s clear the administration is not done and will use every tool that it can make or invent to exert its will over higher education.”
Virginia’s Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, also criticized the Trump administration’s actions, calling it a “mistake that hurts Virginia’s future”. They argued that the administration’s demands for Ryan’s resignation over “culture war traps” were outrageous.
The Trump administration has been cracking down on diversity initiatives in higher education, with the Department of Education opening investigations into dozens of colleges. Some schools have responded by closing DEI offices, ending diversity scholarships, and no longer requiring diversity statements as part of the hiring process. However, others have held firm on diversity policies.
This development is part of a broader trend of the Trump administration exerting its influence over higher education, with potential long-term implications for academic institutions and their students. The University of Virginia’s $10 billion endowment, one of the largest for public universities, may be affected by the administration’s actions, although the impact remains to be seen.