University of Virginia’s president resigns under pressure from Justice Department

Geoff Bennett:

The president of the University of Virginia is resigning following a pressure campaign by the Trump administration, marking what appears to be the first time the White House has successfully forced out a university leader.

James Ryan announced his departure today amid a Justice Department investigation into UVA's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. In a statement, Ryan said he could not fight for his job in good conscience since that would knowingly and willingly risk federal funding, student aid, and jobs for the university.

For a closer look at the impact and President Trump's broader battle with higher education, we're joined by Peter McDonough, vice president of the American Council on Education. The group represents nearly 1,600 colleges and universities.

Thank you for joining us.

Peter McDonough, Vice President and General Counsel, American Council on Education: Thank you.

Geoff Bennett:

It appears James Ryan resigned earlier than planned amid this pressure from the Trump administration and a DOJ investigation into UVA's DEI policy. So what does this say to you about the Trump administration's influence over university governance?

Peter McDonough:

Well, first and foremost, I think we all can agree that universities should be receptive to thoughtful criticism. And they should be accountable when they fall short.

But Congress has mandated certain types of processes. We tend to call them due process that we're supposed to be imagining everybody follows. But in terms of control over a university by the executive branch of the federal government and using the purse strings that Congress is essentially holding in terms of federal funding, there are specific rules or specific requirements or specific types of due process that is supposed to be respected and utilized when there is a question about whether a college or a university, public or private, has complied with federal law.

There's nothing in our — the federal system of government that enables the executive branch to micromanage all aspects of a university. And there's certainly nothing that enables it to force out a leader of a college or university, public or private.

Geoff Bennett:

Does Mr. Ryan's resignation, does this represent a tipping point in higher ed autonomy?

Peter McDonough:

Well, I hope it doesn't. But we should all be concerned that it may.

I wouldn't have seen this coming. but, frankly, I should have and maybe more of us should have. Back in 2021, the vice president, appearing at a National Conservatism Conference, said we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country. He said it in a speech titled, "The Universities Are the Enemy."

That should worry us all. That should worry us on all ends of the political spectrum. It should worry us whether we are in statehouses or state legislatures, whether we are on the boards of public universities or whether we are on the boards or in leadership positions of private colleges and universities, because we don't have a federal system of higher education.

We have a mosaic that's made up of publics and privates, small and large, religious-based and not. And I think we can all agree that, over the decades, this mosaic of higher education has really, truly been the envy of the world. It's why people come here to go to college. And it's produced the economic vitality that we have experienced here. It's enabled us to have a level of national security and health benefits.

It allowed us to address some of the largest problems in medicine with a power that, frankly, starts in most instances in the research labs on our college campuses. And all of this is at risk.

Geoff Bennett:

There are those who argue that James Ryan's resignation was necessary because UVA didn't fully comply with efforts to dismantle its DEI programs.

Our team spoke with Ilya Shapiro with the Manhattan Institute, and he makes that point.

Ilya Shapiro, Manhattan Institute:

The school pledged to dismantle its DEI structures and programs, and there's some doubt about whether they did that. So the Justice Department was investigating and wanted to make sure that people weren't being treated differently based on race and ethnic background and all these other issues that this school, among others, had been having.

So it told them what needed to be done. And one of those things, I think, because President Ryan was deeply involved in DEI programming, including in his previous job at Harvard, that having new leadership made sense.

Geoff Bennett:

So do you believe the university was being transparent, or was this more a matter of rebranding, rather than real reform on its part?

Peter McDonough:

Well, let's start with the realization, which I believe is accurate, that there has been no outcome to any investigation of the University of Virginia at this stage.

The clip that you played sound as if there had been a verdict without a trial. If they have a branding of DEI or a branding of inclusion or a branding of equity or even — a branding of equity, that doesn't make them illegal. And it certainly shouldn't make it a mandate that the president of one of the major research universities in this country, one of the major universities in this country, part of that mosaic, must step down before there is a conclusion of an investigation.

Geoff Bennett:

Peter McDonough with the American Council on Education, thank you for joining us.

Peter McDonough:

Thank you.