As U-Va. President Leaves, Faculty Say Board Failed to Protect University
The vote by the U-Va. faculty senate – which came on Ryan's last day in office – called on the board to provide faculty with an 'immediate and complete accounting' of its response to inquiries by the Justice Department in recent months.
'I hope the board of visitors feels the real energy and angst there is right now about how things unfolded around President Ryan's resignation, and the anxiety about how things are going to be handled in the future,' Faculty Senate Chair Jeri K. Seidman said in an interview after the vote.
The move follows a tumultuous few weeks at the flagship university in Charlottesville.
Justice officials sent seven letters to U-Va. over two months alleging possible racial discrimination, a failure to address antisemitism on campus and a failure to cut university DEI initiatives. As the pressure escalated, a Justice department official demanded in late June that Ryan step down as president, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ryan resigned, saying in a June 27 note to the community that, if he didn't, the school risked losing federal funding and more. He plans to take a sabbatical then rejoin U-Va.'s faculty.
The Trump administration also is increasing its scrutiny in the state beyond U-Va. This week, Education Department officials opened its second investigation in as many weeks into Virginia's largest public university, George Mason University. The focus by the federal agency has some worrying an effort to oust that university's president could soon follow.
Public universities in Virginia are governed by boards of visitors appointed by the governor. The boards, which are now run fully by appointees of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, hire presidents and oversee decisions about tuition and other university operations.
Hours before the faculty senate vote, Ryan published a nearly four-minute video thanking the campus community for its support and making U-Va. a special place.
'This is obviously a challenging moment for higher education and for the University of Virginia,' he said, adding that he would have more to say on that later. 'If you continue to support and rely on each other, there's no obstacle too large for this community to overcome, and no goal too ambitious to reach.'
Board of Visitors rector Rachel W. Sheridan and vice rector Porter N. Wilkinson addressed the full faculty senate on Friday afternoon for the first time since Ryan announced he would step down. They thanked Ryan for his tenure and acknowledged what he has meant to the university.
The board leaders also said the Justice Department investigations were ongoing and that they would work hard to reach a voluntary settlement with the Trump administration as soon as they could.
'I know you have a lot of questions about what's transpired over the previous weeks and months,' Sheridan said. 'You are understandably frustrated by the lack of information to date. I'm telling you that I, too, share your frustration. We have been on the receiving end of some very inflammatory communications that are inaccurate. And I wish we could share more information with you to correct the record.'
Sheridan said the board leaders would not be able to answer any questions about the probes or the school's response, on the advice of their legal counsel, but said they would share what they could once an agreement was made.
The faculty senate then debated the no-confidence resolution, before passing a measure calling on the governing board to provide faculty with the 'specific series of events, and actions taken by the Board that resulted' in Ryan's resignation.
It also called on the rector and vice rector to ensure faculty were part of the decision-making for finding the university's interim and 10th presidents, urging the leaders to ensure U-Va. employees comprise at least 75 percent of the search committees.
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The Mainichi
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- The Mainichi
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