This is a developing story. Check back for future updates.
VPM News has confirmed University of Virginia President Jim Ryan resigned from his position — reportedly due to demands from President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice.
“To make a long story short, I am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University. But I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job,” Ryan stated Friday in a university-wide email.
In brief, unplanned remarks on the main campus in Charlottesville Friday afternoon, Ryan told a large crowd that he will continue to fight to make the public university the best place it can be.
“I love the University of Virginia deeply, and it's because of all of you,” Ryan told the crowd, many of whom carried signs supporting his work. “And regardless of my role, I will continue to do whatever I can to support this place and continue to make it the best place it can be.”
The New York Times first reported Friday that Ryan told UVA’s Board of Visitors that he would step down amid pressure from President Donald Trump's Justice Department.
DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was reportedly pressuring Ryan to resign as a condition for settling an ongoing investigation into the public university’s DEI practices — which it was already in the process of dissolving, per executive order.
VPM News reported last week that a group of UVA professors had sent a letter asking the board to halt the university's dismantling of DEI efforts amid the mounting pressure.
As previously reported, the university’s board voted in March to dismantle DEI initiatives following a January executive order from Trump. Since then, the DOJ has been publicly pressuring Ryan and UVA to produce a detailed progress report on its ongoing cancellation of all DEI-related programs.
In response to a public records request, UVA officials told VPM News on June 20 the federal government’s deadline for producing that report had been extended by DOJ.
However, the public demands for its release have continued — and as first reported by The New York Times on Thursday, came to a head when Ryan was asked to resign in order to resolve the ongoing dispute.
UVA said in a statement Friday that it was "committed to complying with all federal laws and has been cooperating with the Department of Justice in the ongoing inquiries. The federal government's support of the University is essential to continue the core mission of research, education, and clinical care."
Ryan’s resignation comes as four seats on the governor-appointed board — which will be responsible for selecting his successor — are set to turn over on July 1. The university announced four new appointments by Gov. Glenn Youngkin on June 20.
VPM News has reached out to members of the UVA Board of Visitors for comment; none have responded yet as of publication time.
In a statement, Youngkin said that he “thank[s] President Ryan for his service and his hard work on behalf of the University of Virginia.”
Youngkin added that the “Board of Visitors has my complete confidence as they swiftly appoint a strong interim steward, and undertake the national search for a transformational leader that can take Mr. Jefferson’s university into the next decade and beyond.”
Nine Virginia Senate Democrats sued the rectors of three universities, including UVA, earlier in June, seeking to block eight of Youngkin’s board appointments — including ex–Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli at UVA — after the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee voted against confirming them.
Senate Democrats said in a Friday statement that they would “carefully monitor and consider any Board’s reaction to federal interference in our state's higher education governance as we evaluate the more than 60 pending nominations to Boards of Visitors across Virginia's public colleges and universities” — including Youngkin’s June 20 appointees at UVA.
The governor and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares contend that the eight board members were lawfully appointed, and that only the full General Assembly has the authority to refuse a confirmation.
In a Friday media call, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said he was shocked and “extremely disturbed” by the level of federal micromanagement of UVA.
Kaine said he has not spoken to Ryan yet, but knew that two lawyers at the DOJ were repeatedly demanding and “essentially forced” the unprecedented resignation “by dangling over him severe financial consequences to the university in terms of lost research grants and continuing investigations.”
“This is a level of federal overreach and micromanagement of Virginia higher education — and in particular, this globally recognized university — that is completely unacceptable,” Kaine told reporters.
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