The ninth President of the University of Virginia announced his resignation abruptly on the afternoon of June 27, 2025, confirming national reports that a top official in the U.S. Department of Justice demanded that outcome.
“I am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University,” wrote Jim Ryan in an email sent out to UVA affiliates at 4:11 p.m. that afternoon. “But I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job.”
Ryan said he resigned in order to try to preserve the jobs of hundreds of people who would lose their jobs if federal funding was withheld and hundreds of students who could not enroll if financial aid was removed.
Top photo: University of Virginia President Jim Ryan stands before the Class of 2025 at Final Exercises in May. Ryan announced his resignation Friday. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
The New York Times reported on Thursday, behind a paywall, that DOJ officials demanded Ryan’s resignation based on a claim that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices had not been sufficiently dismantled following a vote to do so by the Board of Visitors in March.
The Cavalier Daily and NBC29 both received a statement from an official in the Civil Rights Division explaining the pressure.
“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,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. “We welcome leadership changes in higher education that signal institutional commitment to our nation’s venerable federal civil rights laws.”
In his resignation, he said he planned for the 2025-2026 year to be his last anyway. He said the successful completion of the Honor the Future campaign as well as many of the major strategic initiatives in the Great and Good strategic plan.
“While there are very important principles at play here, I would at a very practical level be fighting to keep my job for one more year while knowingly and willingly sacrificing others in this community,” Ryan said, adding that the demand from the U.S. Department of Justice was targeted at him personally.
An hour before the email was sent, hundreds of people appeared at a rally at the Rotunda to express support for Ryan. The outgoing president appeared himself at the event.
The demand for the resignation comes at a time when one member of the Board of Visitors continues to serve despite failing to be approved by the Virginia Senate and Privileges Committee earlier this month. Governor Glenn Youngkin appointed Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to a vacancy created when he fired Bert Ellis.
Members of the committee have filed suit in Fairfax County Circuit Court demanding that Cuccinelli cease serving in the position. Current Attorney General Jason Miyares said Cuccinelli and other public university board members can serve because they did not get a vote in the full General Assembly. The case is known as Lucas v. Stimson. (read the story)
Before I go too far with this, I want to make sure you know that others have been working on this since the information broke yesterday. I was on deadline for other projects.
- DOJ officials call for UVa President Jim Ryan to resign, Caroline Kling, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), June 26, 2025
- U.Va. President Jim Ryan announces his resignation, Cecilia Mould and Naima Sawaya, Cavalier Daily, June 27, 2025
- Democrats call Trump administration’s role in UVa president’s resignation ‘outrageous;’ Republicans mostly silent, Cardinal News, June 27, 2025
- Response to Jim Ryan’s resignation, Brandon Jarvis, Virginia Political Newsletter, June 27, 2025
- UVA’s president’s resignation draws heated reactions, Kate Neuchterlein, WVIR 29News, June 27, 2025
- Trump’s Anti-Black Race Obsession Against Diversity Hits UVA; Newport New Adopts New FOIA Protocols; Women’s Summit, Black Virginia News, June 28, 2025
On Saturday morning at 7:17 a.m., UVA’s in-house news publication sent out a story that does not provide any context behind the demand from federal officials that Ryan resign his post. The story provides a list of accomplishments as well as a statement from outgoing rector Robert Hardie that was circulated at 5:26 p.m.
“Jim Ryan has been an extraordinary president of this great University,” Hardie said. “He has led our institution to unprecedented heights, always doing so with grace and humility. I know I speak for our students, alumni, faculty, and staff when I express my heartfelt gratitude for Jim’s 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.”
Hardie was originally appointed by Governor Terry McAulliffe in 2017 and reappointed by Governor Ralph Northam in 2021.
In Virginia, the rector is the chair of a Board of Visitors, which is the name assigned to a public university’s governing body. Members are appointed by the sitting Governor and as of July 1, Glenn Youngkin will have selected all of its members with four new members having been appointed earlier this year.
Local legislators reacted swiftly on social media. Senator Creigh Deeds (D-11) on Friday afternoon called Ryan a national leader on Facebook.
“The progress he has made to make higher education more affordable and accessible is remarkable and a model for our nation,” Deeds said. “I am angry and as committed as ever to protect our institutions of higher education from federal overreach.”
Delegate Amy Laufer (D-55) had similar concerns.
“This gross overreach by our [Make America Great Again] federal admin is unacceptable and appalling,” Laufer posted on Facebook.
Former Delegate David Toscano said the successful threat from the Justice Department means that intellectual freedom is under threat at public institutions across the United States of America.
“A University once defined by progress and excellence is now engulfed in the storm of nationalized politics,” Toscano wrote on Substack. “What’s at stake is far more than one presidency or one institution: it’s the role of our public universities as bastions of intellectual freedom, diversity of thought, and innovation in a democratic society.”
The resignation comes at a time when the Governor’s mansion is up for election in the fall. This time next year, either Democrat Abigail Spanberger or Republican Winsome Earle-Sears will appoint the next round of BOV members.
Spanberger, a graduate of UVA, said the federal pressure on Ryan to resign should be of concern to people in Virginia and across the country.
“I am deeply saddened to see our Governor, his Administration, and so many members of the Board of Visitors remain silent in the face of these attacks on the integrity and independence of the University of Virginia,” Spanberger said in a statement sent out Friday afternoon.
I’ve sent a message to the Earle-Sears campaign for a response and the campaign website is down for me as of Saturday afternoon.
Her running mate, radio talk show host John Reid, celebrated the resignation in a Facebook post.
“The great University of Virginia deserves leadership that will help it to regain its reputation as a place of high personal standards and robust intellectual curiosity and debate instead of a standard issue incubator of biased and emotional anti-American thought,” Reid said.
Reid also warned anyone at UVA who pursues “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” practices will lose their job.
DEI programs sprang up all around the country five years ago in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin during a criminal investigation on May 25, 2020. Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, asphyxiating him. The former police officer was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and is currently serving time.
Reid’s Democratic opponent, Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-15), had a different take.
“Donald Trump’s sweeping efforts against higher education have opened the floodgates for political interference in our colleges and universities,” Hashmi said. “President Ryan is a widely respected leader who has expanded access, supported first-generation students, and defended the university’s core values. He was pushed out not because of performance, but because of Politics.”
Today, the Editorial Board of the Cavalier Daily student newspaper warned that federal control of a state institution will continue.
“As the six students who make up this Editorial Board, we mourn the resignation of an iconic University leader and condemn the unprecedented circumstances which forced him into it,” reads their column. “We are also furious at the gross manipulation of federal power which has overstepped due process, invaded the most powerful corners of our institution and violated any semblance of institutional autonomy.”
It is unclear when Ryan will resign or when a new president will be selected. The decision will be made by a Board of Visitors with all of its members appointed by Youngkin.
Differing views about Ryan’s legacy
The first classes at the University of Virginia were held in March 1825 when Thomas Jefferson was still alive. His legacy and spirit remain divisive in a community that continues to have fierce debate over whether people who enslaved other people should continue to be honored.
One group co-founded by former Board of Visitor member Bert Ellis is called the Jefferson Council and has led a campaign this spring seeking Ryan’s ouster. The current president is celebrating that outcome.
“For too long, policies driven by ideology rather than merit, achievement, and character have eroded trust, divided the community, and betrayed the University’s founding ideals,” said Joel Gardner in a statement published on their website. “President Ryan’s administration refused to dismantle illegal and discriminatory DEI programs and failed to uphold the core educational mission of the University.”
Garner said they have the proof at the website DEIatUVA.com and ResetUVA.com.
The nonprofit Jefferson Council had revenues of $260,000 in 2023 and expenditures of $452,000 in 2023 according to ProPublica.
A group called Wahoos4UVA formed in response to counter the message of the Jefferson Council. They have taken out full-page newspaper ads listening the signatures of thousands of people who signed a letter of support for Ryan.
“Recent attacks on the University’s leadership are not grounded in fact,” reads a section of their website. “They misrepresent President Ryan’s record, exploit grief and division, and attempt to pressure UVA’s Board of Visitors into surrendering the University’s independence to partisan forces. That is not what Thomas Jefferson meant when he spoke of following truth wherever it may lead.”
The website points to a series of rankings of accolades for UVA as a defense of Ryan. In response, Jim Bacon of the Jefferson Council wrote an article on June 24 called “Wahoo Know-Nothings.”
What happens next locally?
The mission of Charlottesville Community Engagement is primarily to write about growth and development in localities of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. The University of Virginia is at the heart of the region.
In his resignation, Ryan pointed to the strategic document known as the Great and Good University: The 2030 Plan. The 17-page blueprint was adopted in August 2019 around the first year anniversary of Ryan’s tenure as president.
“For two hundred years, the University has served Virginia, the nation, and the world by educating responsible citizen-leaders; advancing, preserving, and disseminating knowledge; and providing world-class patient care,” reads the second page of the plan.
Many people in the Charlottesville have no direct connection to UVA but are nonetheless affected by its land use practices.’
Several goals and objectives in the plan seek to position UVA to become “a strong partner and a good neighbor to Charlottesville.”
“Our relationship with Charlottesville and the surrounding counties is critically and mutually important, “ reads the introduction to Goal 2. “Our success as a university depends in no small part on the strength of those communities, and on the strength of our relationship with them. We will reach our potential as a university only if we partner with our neighbors to ensure that the Charlottesville region is an attractive and equitable place to live.”
See also:
- UVA marks three years since adoption of “Good and Great” strategic plan, September 13, 2022
One of Ryan’s initiatives was the formation of the President’s Council on UVA – Community Partnerships. A total of six working groups were formed to address affordable housing, community safety, early childhood education, the local economy, workforce development, and public health.
Each group has produced periodic reports. As both the UVA community and the rest of us wait for next steps, these are worth reviewing but time only permits me to cover land use.
In December 2021, UVA announced the locations for three sites where land would be donated by either UVA or the University of Virginia Foundation for the purpose of building affordable housing.
One of the sites is at 1000 Wertland Street where the group Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) plans to build 180 units that will all be reserved for households or individuals who make less than 80 percent of the area median income. POAH submitted a low-income housing tax application to the entity known as Virginia Housing in March.
However, the project did not make the final cut for funding this year according to final rankings published on June 12. The developer also sought $823,000 from the City of Charlottesville to assist with financing but that was also not recommended for funding. The project also needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Board of Architectural Review.
For background, here are some stories I’ve written:
- BAR gets first look at UVA affordable housing project at 10th and Wertland, June 2, 2024
- BAR members suggest changes to planned affordable housing building on Wertland Street, January 10, 2025
- City Council declares 1000 Wertland Street as revitalization area to help secure tax credits, March 16, 2025
- Charlottesville City Council holds first reading of allocations for affordable housing projects, March 28, 2025
The Piedmont Housing Alliance was selected to develop 12 acres of land on the north side of Fontaine Avenue known as Piedmont.
“Significant site due diligence is ongoing including coordination of complex utility easements and historic resources,” reads a May 2025 update on the President’s Council website.
The third site is at the North Fork Discovery Park operated by the UVA Foundation. A request for qualifications for firm to build up to 600 units was issued last November and a shortlisted group of firms were asked to submit full proposals on April 30.
The May 2025 update indicates this project will be different.
“Project phasing and affordability mix will look different at North Fork compared to Piedmont and Wertland & 10th St,” reads the website. “Compared to the initial two properties, we anticipate more market rate and middle-income housing in addition to affordable at this site.”
Another ongoing initiative is the potential of a child care facility on 9th Street SW at the Oak Lawn property in Fifeville. Earlier this month, I wrote a recent story on this for C-Ville Weekly and plan to write a second version for this newsletter.
What will the future hold? I’m committed to writing out what I can, and welcome your feedback and thoughts.
Before you go: This post is almost the entirety of the June 28, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. I didn’t bother segmenting it out as it’s really one big story about something seismic that has happened in the Charlottesville area.
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