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The DOJ faulted Ryan for not dismantling the diversity, equity and inclusion programs he established during America鈥檚 yearslong racial reckoning. Further, DOJ officials claimed Ryan misrepresented UVa鈥檚 efforts to eliminate DEI on Grounds 鈥� rebranding those initiatives instead of removing them.

The Trump administration has been explicit that universities that retain their DEI apparatus risk losing millions of dollars in federal support 鈥� in addition to the millions already lost due to unrelated cuts in Washington. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, estimated Friday that UVa has already lost $400 million in federal funding since President Donald Trump took office.

Ryan, a vocal proponent of DEI during his seven years at the helm of the university, said he still believes in those principles but has no intention of fighting the DOJ.

鈥淚 am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University,鈥� Ryan wrote in a statement the university circulated late Friday afternoon. 鈥淏ut I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job.鈥�

Ryan tendered his resignation in a letter to UVa鈥檚 governing Board of Visitors on Thursday after the New York Times broke the news that DOJ officials were actively campaigning against him. He said he had intended to step down at the end of the next academic year, but 鈥済iven the circumstances and today鈥檚 conversations,鈥� he had decided 鈥渨ith deep sadness鈥� to resign.

UVa Rector Robert Hardie accepted Ryan鈥檚 resignation Friday with 鈥減rofound sadness.鈥�

鈥淚 know I speak for our students, alumni, faculty, and staff when I express my heartfelt gratitude for Jim鈥檚 tireless service to our University, especially for the ways he has guided the institution steadily and with great purpose, even in the face of major challenges like a global pandemic,鈥� Hardie said in a prepared statement. 鈥淯VA has forever been changed for the better as a result of Jim鈥檚 exceptional leadership.鈥�

It is unclear when Ryan will depart the presidential estate at Carr鈥檚 Hill. His letter suggested he would leave no later than Aug. 15. The Board of Visitors is now responsible for appointing an interim president, a decision made more difficult at a university without a permanent provost, after the departure of Ian Baucom earlier this year.

Faculty and staff said they are concerned no matter who is chosen, given the majority-Republican board鈥檚 failure to defend Ryan against the DOJ.

鈥淚t could literally be anyone,鈥� Michael Kennedy, a professor of special education who is the faculty representative on the Board of Visitors, told The Daily Progress Friday. The next president could be someone who 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 even know about UVa,鈥� he said.

It is not the first time a university president has resigned under tremendous political pressure.

Former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who previously served as UVa鈥檚 provost under Ryan and was considered by many his prot茅g茅, stepped down in 2023 after a grueling congressional hearing regarding her response to an uptick in antisemitic attacks at UPenn.

Ryan鈥檚 resignation may be the first time in history, though, that the president of a major American university has stepped down because of direct interference from the federal government.

Explicit or implicit?

At least one Trump administration employee has pushed back on the New York Times鈥� claim that DOJ officials explicitly called for Ryan鈥檚 resignation.

The Times reported that two DOJ officials and UVa graduates 鈥� Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, and Gregory Brown, deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights 鈥� called on Ryan to resign on multiple occasions since the DOJ started investigating claims he was not dismantling DEI as instructed.

Brown, who graduated from UVa in 1989, also happens to be a partner at the Charlottesville law firm of Brown & Gavalier, which has taken UVa to court on multiple occasions, most recently over a Jewish Israeli student who claimed he was the target of virulent antisemitic attacks while on Grounds and a White alumna who faced expulsion after she was accused of mocking a Black Women Matter protest 鈥� an allegation the university鈥檚 own investigators decided lacked corroborating evidence. Both cases were settled out of court; the settlements were never disclosed to the public.

Dhillon graduated from UVa Law School in 1993, attending alongside Ryan.

Dhillon refutes the claim that she ever told Ryan he must resign. She told CNN anchor Jake Tapper Friday that she only expressed to UVa leadership that she 鈥渓acked confidence鈥� in Ryan鈥檚 willingness to eliminate DEI as instructed by both the Board of Visitors and the Trump administration.

Instead of complying, as other university leaders have, Dhillon said Ryan and his team continued to 鈥渘egotiate鈥� with the DOJ, requesting extensions to deadlines and providing little evidence that progress had been made eliminating DEI.

She told Tapper that she made clear to UVa leadership that millions of dollars in federal funding were on the line.

Dhillon said the DOJ received multiple complaints that UVa had not only failed to dismantle DEI but had rebranded DEI programs in order to camouflage them from the Trump administration.

One example is the UVa Equity Center, which has since become the Center for Community Partnerships. The Equity Center was established in 2019 鈥渢o tangibly redress the relationship between the University and the surrounding community鈥� after years of complaints UVa had ignored or outright hurt Black and low-income communities in surrounding Charlottesville.

Ryan was quoted by the university communications department at the time saying the Equity Center was 鈥渁n important step鈥� in remedying the university鈥檚 relationship with the community.

One of the groups that lodged complaints against UVa has been identified as America First Legal, an organization founded in 2021 by Trump administration adviser Stephen Miller to 鈥渟ave the country鈥� from 鈥渃orrupt special interests, big tech titans, the fake news media, and liberal Washington politicians.鈥�

The group sent a letter to the DOJ on May 21 outlining how it claimed UVa was violating the law.

鈥淭he University is operating programs based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, and other impermissible, immutable characteristics under the pretext of 鈥榙iversity, equity, and inclusion鈥� (鈥楧EI鈥�) in open defiance of federal civil rights law,鈥� reads the letter.

鈥淯VA has not dismantled its DEI framework 鈥� it has merely rebranded it to evade legal scrutiny. What the law prohibits, UVA simply renamed,鈥� Megan Redshaw, counsel at America First Legal, said in a May 29 statement.

America First Legal did not immediately respond to a Daily Progress inquiry.

Democratic lawmakers in Virginia called the federal government鈥檚 interference in UVa governance outrageous.

鈥淚t鈥檚 such a gross overreach and violation of the sanctity of higher education and a public institution at that; it鈥檚 just unprecedented and undemocratic to have done all of this,鈥� Del. Amy Laufer, D-Albemarle, said at a virtual press conference Friday afternoon. 鈥淥ur governance of our public institutions has completely been superseded by the federal administration and their, honestly, pettiness.鈥�

Del. Katrina Callsen and state Sen. Creigh Deeds, both Charlottesville Democrats, joined Laufer at the press conference, where all three thanked Ryan for his leadership and decried the Trump administration鈥檚 attack on the country鈥檚 longstanding tradition of academic freedom.

Callsen, in particular, raised concerns that UVa might only be the beginning of a 鈥渓ist of universities that are being targeted鈥� by the Trump administration. She said she鈥檚 heard rumors George Mason University in Fairfax 鈥渋s next.鈥�

鈥楴ot about Jim Ryan鈥�

A little more than an hour before that press conference, roughly 200 students, faculty, staff, alumni and Charlottesville residents gathered at the base of UVa鈥檚 iconic Rotunda at the heart of its historic Academical Village.

While some signs held aloft in the crowd read, 鈥淭hank you Ryan,鈥� multiple people in the crowd made clear, 鈥淭his is not about Jim Ryan.鈥� Rather, they said, it was about a violation of the school鈥檚 cherished value of self-governance, established by university founder Thomas Jefferson himself.

鈥淎s much as we love Jim, this is not about him,鈥� Jeri Seidman, a professor of commerce and chair of the UVa Faculty Senate, told the crowd. 鈥淭his is really about inappropriate interference in the process.鈥�

After news of Ryan鈥檚 resignation broke Friday morning, the Faculty Senate鈥檚 Executive Council convened and passed a resolution that Seidman read aloud from the steps of the Rotunda later that afternoon. The resolution called on the Board of Visitors to join the Faculty Senate in 鈥渃ondemning the demands of the U.S. Department of Justice that led to the resignation of President Ryan.鈥�

鈥淭he Faculty Senate calls on the Board of Visitors to meet with the Faculty Senate by July 14 to clarify the circumstances and negotiations that led to the resignation of President Ryan,鈥� read Seidman.

So far, Hardie is the only voting member of the 17-member board to comment publicly on Ryan鈥檚 resignation.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has now appointed 14 of those board members, a number that includes former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. A state Senate panel refused to confirm Cuccinelli鈥檚 appointment on party lines, and Democratic state lawmakers have sued to prevent him from taking a seat on the board.

Many among UVa鈥檚 faculty said they believe that board鈥檚 partisanship played a role in Ryan鈥檚 resignation.

鈥淐learly, the board is behind this,鈥� Peter Norton, a UVa history professor, told The Daily Progress outside the Rotunda Friday. 鈥淎lthough the headlines are talking about the Department of Justice, the people who really decide and the people that the president had to respond to, is the board.鈥�

鈥淚f the board supported the president, he would not be in this jam,鈥� added Norton.

Kennedy, the faculty representative on the board, agreed.

鈥淢y assumption is everyone is very risk-averse,鈥� he said. 鈥淕iven what has been reported that grant dollars were being threatened by the DOJ and the administration, knowing the members, as I do 鈥� small-C conservative, big-C conservative 鈥� I can see that they would make this call.鈥�

At the virtual press conference later, Callsen took it a step further, suggesting that members of the Board of Visitors should be the ones resigning.

鈥淚 really want to call out the Board of Visitors for not standing up for the freedom of UVa, for their academic independence,鈥� said Callsen. 鈥淭hey are instead engaging in ideological battles that are hurting our school, and they鈥檙e not fulfilling their role. So if anyone needs to be submitting a resignation, I would urge them to look at themselves.鈥�

Coming from both sides

But conservatives have not been the only ones criticizing Ryan鈥檚 leadership.

While a conservative alumni group, called the Jefferson Council, spearheaded a campaign this year to oust Ryan for his 鈥減oliticized and feckless leadership,鈥� there are many on the other side of the aisle who have used similar language to disparage the man.

Virginians of all stripes have faulted Ryan for his handling of the 2022 shooting on Grounds that left three students dead and two others injured. In the wake of that tragedy, Ryan has fought to prevent the release of two reports detailing what happened and why, which cost taxpayers $1.5 million. A version of the reports that was released earlier this year had so many redactions that the family of the victims said, 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing in there.鈥� The Daily Progress has taken Ryan and UVa to court to have the full, unredacted versions released to the public.

Many were similarly unimpressed with Ryan鈥檚 defense of Craig Kent, the former CEO of the UVa Health System who resigned earlier this year after an investigation into unethical and illegal practices within UVa hospitals. Ryan has since apologized to the UVa physicians and Medical School faculty members who called his attention to the matter, whom he had earlier called 鈥渄issatisfied鈥� employees making 鈥済eneralized and anonymous claims of wrongdoing.鈥�

While Ryan faced tremendous pushback from the right for his inability to stymie rising antisemitism on Grounds 鈥� the Anti-Defamation League gave UVa an F in its 鈥淐ampus Antisemitism Report Card鈥� last year 鈥� he faced equal if more pushback for his decision to call in state troopers to arrest students at a pro-Palestine protest in May 2024. Ryan was never on the scene of the protest and made the decision from a 鈥渃ommand post鈥� far away from the violence that ensued when police clashed with protesters.

Ryan acknowledged in his statement Friday that his critics had targeted him individually and not the broader UVa administration.

鈥淚f this were not so distinctly tied to me personally, I may have pursued a different path. But I could not in good conscience cause real and direct harm to my colleagues and our students in order to preserve my own position,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭his was an excruciatingly difficult decision, and I am heartbroken to be leaving this way.鈥�

Daily Progress reporter Caroline King contributed to this story.