University of Virginia (UVA) president James E. Ryan has reportedly decided to step down from his role after pressure from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Ryan reportedly told the university’s board of visitors on Friday that he will submit his resignation after the DOJ demanded he step aside in order to resolve an investigation into UVA’s supposed illegal use of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, according to the New York Times (NYT) citing three sources. The university has been under investigation since April after a federal civil rights complaint alleged the university had only rebranded its DEI framework rather than entirely dismantling it as required by law.
Three people briefed on the matter told the NYT Ryan had decided “with deep sadness” to resign immediately “given the circumstances and today’s conversations.” In a letter to the board, Ryan stated he had already decided to resign by the end of the year, according to the outlet, but pressure from the Trump administration had moved up the timeline.
“The United States Department of Justice has a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal discrimination in publicly-funded universities,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We have made this clear in many ways to the nation’s most prominent institutions of higher education, including the University of Virginia. When university leaders lack commitment to ending illegal discrimination in hiring, admissions, and student benefits – they expose the institutions they lead to legal and financial peril. We welcome leadership changes in higher education that signal institutional commitment to our nation’s venerable federal civil rights laws.”
UVA and UVA’s Board of Visitors did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
“Rather than comply with its legal obligations, UVA appears to have deliberately rebranded its discriminatory DEI infrastructure to evade accountability,” America First Legal alleged in a May letter to the DOJ. “Terms such as ‘Inclusive Excellence,’ ‘Advocacy and Opportunity,’ ‘Community Engagement,’ ‘Strategic Wellness and Opportunity,’ ‘Inclusion and Belonging,’ and ‘Viewpoint Diversity’—some of which were already embedded within its DEI framework—now serve as euphemistic labels across the University’s schools, departments, administrative divisions, and official communications. What is unfolding is not bureaucratic oversight but a deliberate strategy to rebrand, relabel, and obscure DEI infrastructure, preserving its unlawful substance while shielding it from legal scrutiny.”
Doubling down on President Donald Trump’s goal of ending discriminatory DEI practices, the Department of Education (ED) in February reminded schools that they are bound by civil rights laws and cannot make admission or hiring decisions or host exclusionary programs based on race. Noncompliance, ED warned, would earn schools funding cuts and a referral to the DOJ.
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