Supporters of University of Virginia President Jim Ryan hold signs in front of the Rotunda at the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ryan resigned Friday amid a pressure campaign by the US Department of Justice.
Virginia Democrats — several of them UVA alums — publicly condemned the decision.
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan unexpectedly announced his resignation Friday, a day after The New York Times reported that the US Department of Justice was pressuring him to step down as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on college campuses nationwide.
DOJ’s Office of Civil Rights was reportedly seeking Ryan’s resignation as a condition for settling an ongoing investigation into the public university’s DEI practices — which it was already working to dissolve, following a January executive order by Trump.
The resignation sparked strong reactions across the commonwealth, many of them upset with the federal government exerting unprecedented pressure on Ryan and the school in Charlottesville. A crowd of supporters, several carrying signs in support of Ryan’s work, gathered at the UVA Rotunda and marched to the president’s residence on Carr’s Hill.
Shaban Athuman
/
VPM News
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan addresses supporters gathered at Carr's Hill at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Friday, June 27, 2025.
Many Virginia Democrats — several UVA alums among them — issued public condemnations of the decision.
“That the president of a top-ranked, thriving public university would be pressured to resign by the Department of Justice — in order to avoid further harm and harassment from the Trump Administration — is a clear infringement upon academic freedom and should concern every Virginian and American,” said Abigail Spanberger (UVA ‘01), the Democratic candidate for governor, in a statement.
Spanberger added: “As an alumna of the University of Virginia, 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.”
US Sen. Tim Kaine, also a former governor of Virginia, said in a Friday media call that the pressure campaign was a “completely unacceptable” federal overreach.
“I'm deeply offended that it happened,” Kaine said, “and I'm deeply disturbed that the UVA board and Virginia leadership apparently allowed it to happen without being publicly supportive of the university and telling the feds, ‘We manage our universities just fine. Take a look at the outcomes. We can do this; you can’t. Stay out of our business.’”
Jeri Seidman, chair-elect of the UVA Faculty Senate, told VPM News Friday afternoon that she was shocked by Ryan’s exit.
“They went for Columbia, and they went for Harvard, and then they came for us,” Seidman told VPM News. “I think every university should now be worried about the DOJ believing that they can have a say in the administration of a university.”
Shaban Athuman
/
VPM News
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan leaves after addressing supporters gathered at Carr's Hill at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Friday, June 27, 2025.
Carl Tobias (UVA Law ‘72), a University of Richmond law professor, told VPM News that it’s “outrageous” to see federal officials intervene the way media reports say they did, adding that it was “complete overreach by the Department of Justice in this situation, in my opinion.”
Tobias said he’s embarrassed as an alumnus of UVA’s law school, because the two federal officials reportedly involved in pressuring Ryan are also UVA law grads: “It’s absurd. It’s a huge mess that they’ve created.”
The Jefferson Council — an organization “composed of UVA alumni, donors, students, and faculty who are committed to preserving Thomas Jefferson’s legacy of freedom and excellence at the University of Virginia” — released a statement calling Ryan’s resignation “a necessary and welcome step toward restoring intellectual diversity, depoliticizing the University, and commitment to equal treatment for all.”
“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 Council President Joel Gardner. “President Ryan’s administration refused to dismantle illegal and discriminatory DEI programs and failed to uphold the core educational mission of the University.”
Megan Pauly, Hannah Davis-Reid, Adrienne Hoar McGibbon, Meghin Moore and Shaban Athuman contributed reporting.
1 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
2 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
3 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
4 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
5 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
6 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
7 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
8 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
9 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
10 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
11 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
12 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
Professor Deborah McDowell gives remarks to people gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
13 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
14 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
Professor Deborah McDowell gives remarks to people gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
15 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
Eze Amos / for VPM News
16 of 16 — People gather to protest the Trump Administrations force resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan
People gather on the Rotunda on the grounds of the University of Virginia on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Charlottesville, Virginia. To protest after the Department of Justice pressured University of Virginia President Jim Ryan to resign.
