Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Sunday that University of Virginia President James Ryan was given a direct ultimatum from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resign, with a firm deadline.
In an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, Warner criticized the Trump administration’s pressure campaign, which he said led Ryan to step down Friday to avoid severe federal funding cuts to the university.
According to Warner, the DOJ sent Ryan a letter last week stating he had until a specific day and time to resign, or else the university would face sweeping financial penalties.
“Jim Ryan had done a very good job; he just completed a major capital campaign,” Warner said. “For him to be threatened — and literally, there was a letter that said if he didn’t resign by 5 p.m. on a certain day, all these cuts would take place.”
When asked by host Margaret Brennan if the threat was explicitly laid out, Warner replied,
“It was that explicit.”
The New York Times reported Thursday that Ryan’s resignation was a condition in a DOJ civil rights investigation settlement, related to alleged violations of President Trump’s January executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices at federally funded institutions.
In a public letter released Friday, Ryan confirmed his resignation and explained his reasoning. While he said he was “inclined to fight for what I believe in,” he ultimately chose to step down to avoid harming the university and its community.
“To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld,” Ryan wrote.
