Latest news with #Charlottesville
CBS News
16 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
University of Virginia president resigns amid Trump administration investigation
The University of Virginia's president, James E. Ryan, has resigned amid the Trump administration's efforts to pressure several prestigious universities over claims they tolerated campus antisemitism and their efforts related to campus diversity, threatening their budgets, tax-exempt status and the enrollment of foreign students. Ryan announced his resignation in a letter to the UVA community Friday. "I am writing, with a very heavy heart, to let you know that I have submitted my resignation as President of the University of Virginia," he said. Ryan did not directly address the details of the government's investigation but took note of the potential impacts. File: University of Virginia President James Ryan attends press conference related to overnight shooting at university on Nov. 14, 2022, Charlottesville, Virginia. Win McNamee / Getty Images "I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job," he wrote. "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." "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," he continued. "If this were not so distinctly tied to me personally, I may have pursued a different path." The move marks the latest university resignation tied to President Trump's monthslong intense national effort to scrutinize and scale back diversity efforts at universities. A spokesperson for the school said "UVA is committed to complying with all federal laws and has been cooperating with the Department of Justice in the ongoing inquiries." "The federal government's support of the University is essential to continue the core mission of research, education and, clinical care," said the spokesperson, Brian Coy. The New York Times first reported Ryan's intention to resign. Ryan is known for his efforts to advance diversity both at the University of Virginia and in his previous role as dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Harvard has also been a focus of Trump administration scrutiny, recently suing the federal government over its effort to bar it from admitting international students. The Trump administration's efforts have resulted in colleges nationwide, including Columbia University and the University of Michigan dramatically scaling back their diversity, equity and inclusion messaging and programs.
Medscape
a day ago
- Health
- Medscape
Sclerosing Mesenteritis: Update on Rare GI Disease
The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has issued an updated pragmatic review on sclerosing mesenteritis (SM). Published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the update evaluates available evidence for diagnosis and treatment and examines opportunities for future research in SM, previously known by such names as misty mesentery, mesenteric panniculitis, and inflammatory pseudotumor. Led by Mark T. Worthington, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, an expert AGA panel described SM as an uncommon benign idiopathic autoimmune disease of the mesenteric fat. Although of poorly understood etiology, gastroenterologists need to be prepared to diagnose it. 'CT radiologists increasingly are reporting SM and related lesions, such as misty mesentery,' Worthington told Medscape Medical News . 'We are also seeing new SM cases caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment, and the oncologists ask us to manage this because it interferes with the treatment of the underlying malignancy. Those are often readily treated because we catch them so early.' Metabolic syndrome and associated conditions increase the risk for SM, as does aging. The recent changes are intended to help clinicians predict disease activity and the need for other testing or treatment. 'For instance, most cases are indolent and do not require aggressive treatment — often no treatment at all — but for those that are aggressive, we want the clinician to be able to identify those and make sure the treatment is appropriate. The aggressive cases may warrant tertiary referral,' Worthington said. 'A secondary cancer is a possibility in this condition, so drawing from the SM radiology studies, we try to help the clinician decide who needs other testing, such as PET-CT or biopsy, and who can be monitored.' As many as 60% of cases are asymptomatic, requiring no treatment. Abdominal pain is the most frequent symptom and its location on clinical examination should correspond to the SM lesion on imaging. Treatment involves anti-inflammatory medications tailored to disease severity and clinical response. No biopsy is not necessary if the lesion meets three of the five CT criteria reported by B. Coulier and has no features of more aggressive disease or malignancy. Although some have suggested that SM may be a paraneoplastic syndrome, current evidence does not support this. SM needs to be differentiated from other diagnoses such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, peritoneal carcinomatosis, and mesenteric fibromatosis. 'There are now CT guidelines for who actually has SM, who needs a biopsy or a PET-CT to rule-out malignancy, and who doesn't,' said Worthington. 'Radiologists do not always use the Coulier criteria for diagnosis, but often they will with encouragement. From this review, a GI clinician should be able to identify SM on CT.' Epidemiologically, retrospective CT studies have reported a frequency of 0.6%-1.1%, the panelists noted. And while demographic data are limited, a large early case series reported that SM patients had a mean age of 55 years and more likely to be men and of White race. Patients with SM do not have a higher prevalence of autoimmunity in general, but may have increased rates of metabolic syndrome, obesity, coronary artery disease, and urolithiasis, the panelists noted. The update allows room for differences in clinical judgment. 'For instance, a longer or more frequent CT surveillance interval can be justified depending on the patient's findings, and no one should feel locked in by these recommendations,' Worthington said. Medical Therapy Although there is no surgical cure, pharmacologic options are many. These include prednisone, tamoxifen, colchicine, azathioprine, thalidomide, cyclophosphamide, and methotrexate, as well as the biologics rituximab, infliximab and ustekinumab. Current corticosteroid-based therapies often require months to achieve a clinical response, however. Bowel obstruction is managed nonoperatively when feasible, but medically refractory disease may require surgical bypass. Offering his perspective on the guidance but not involved in its formulation, Gastroenterologist Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, a professor of medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said, 'The most useful component of the practical review is the algorithm for diagnosis and determination when biopsy or follow-up imaging is reasonable in the absence of evidence.' He stressed that the recommendations are pragmatic rather than evidence-based 'as there are no controlled trials and the presentation is heterogeneous.' Hanauer added that none of the recommended treatments have been shown to impact reduction on imaging. 'Hence, all of the treatments are empiric without biological or imaging endpoints.' In his experience, patients with inflammatory features are the best candidates for immune-directed therapies as reduction in inflammatory markers is a potential endpoint, although no therapies have demonstrated an effect on imaging or progression. 'As an IBD doctor, I favor steroids and azathioprine or anti-TNF directed therapy, but again, there is no evidence beyond reports of symptomatic improvement.' Worthington and colleagues agreed that treatment protocols have developed empirically. 'Future investigation for symptomatic SM should focus on the nature of the inflammatory response, including causative cytokines and other proinflammatory mediators, the goal being targeted therapy with fewer side effects and a more rapid clinical response,' they wrote. Currently, said Worthington, the biggest gaps remain in treatment. 'Even the best studies are small and anecdotal, and we do not know the cytokine or other proinflammatory mediators.' In other comments, Gastroenterologist Eli D. Ehrenpreis, MD, research director, Internal Medicine Residency, at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, and not involved in the update, found it fell short in several ways, including nomenclature. 'The appropriate term for this condition is mesenteric panniculitis, meaning inflammation of the mesenteric fat, seen histologically on biopsy. The term sclerosing mesenteritis introduces the idea of fibrosis, which is seen in a smaller number of patients, not all,' he told Medscape Medical News . Ehrenpreis also took issue with the inclusion of the cancer drug tamoxifen as the most common treatment used. 'Mesenteric panniculitis, when it does not represent a malignancy, is a benign disease,' he said. 'However, many patients on tamoxifen will experience hormone-related adverse effects such as breast tenderness and hot flashes.' He noted the drug has an FDA Black Box warning for uterine malignancies, pulmonary embolism, and other thromboembolic events, including stroke. Another significant gap, in his view, is the lack of recognition of the psychological effects on patients of the diagnosis. According to Ehrenpreis, more prospective analyses of treatments are needed with objective measures of success including symptom scoring and laboratory testing with erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. 'And as with many rare diseases, a better understanding of the psychological effects of having a poorly understood disease and management of this challenge is vital to the comprehensive care of the patient with mesenteric panniculitis.' This guidance was supported by the AGA. Worthington reported renumeration from TriCity Surgery Center, Prescott, Ariz. The coauthor Wolf has received renumeration from AbbVie, Align Technology, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, CVS Health ORP, Dexcom, Exact Sciences, HCA Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, McKesson, Moderna, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sarepta Therapeutics, Seagen, Stryker, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Crockett has served as a consultant for IngenioRx. Pardi has served as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim and received research support from Atlantic, ExeGI Pharma, Rise Therapeutics, Janssen, Pfizer, Seres, Applied Molecular Transport, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and Vedanta Biosciences. Hanauer and Ehrenpreis had no conflicts of interest relevant to their comments.
New York Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Right-Wing Violence Is Not a Fringe Issue
It is simply a fact that the far right has been responsible for most of the political violence committed in the United States since the start of the 21st century, with particular emphasis on the past 10 years of American political life. There was the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a far-right extremist killed a counterdemonstrator. There was the 2018 Tree of Life attack in Pittsburgh, where a shooter killed 11 people (all of whom were Jewish) and wounded six others at a synagogue. Echoing the so-called great replacement conspiracy theory, the perpetrator blamed Jewish people for bringing migrant 'invaders' into the United States. 'I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,' he posted on the social media website Gab, a haven for online white supremacists. 'Screw your optics, I'm going in.' There was also the 2019 slaughter in El Paso, where a shooter targeted Latinos — killing 23 people and injuring 22 others — after posting a manifesto in which he condemned 'cultural and ethnic replacement' and a 'Hispanic invasion' of the United States. Nor should we forget the 2022 Buffalo supermarket attack, in which still another shooter citing the great replacement conspiracy theory targeted members of a minority group, killing 10 people (all of whom were Black) and wounding three others. In a piece written just after the Buffalo shooting, my colleague David Leonhardt, citing data from the Anti-Defamation League, observed that out of 450 killings committed by political extremists from 2012 to 2022, about 75 percent were committed by right-wing extremists, with more than half connected to white supremacists. 'As this data shows,' he concluded, 'the American political right has a violence problem that has no equivalent on the left.' What's critical for us to understand that this isn't a problem of the fringe. Not only was President Trump permissive of right-wing violence throughout his first term — consider his reaction to the violence in Charlottesville — but after losing his bid for re-election, he also led an organized effort to overturn the results, culminating in a riot in the Capitol. And what was one of his first acts back in office? He pardoned the rioters, in as clear an endorsement of violence on his behalf as one can imagine. In the years since the Jan. 6 attack, supporters of Trump, honoring his demands to 'stop the steal,' engaged in a campaign of intimidation and harassment toward election workers. Trump himself used one of the attacks — the assault on Paul Pelosi, the husband of a former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi — as fodder for jokes and entertainment. Speaking of entertainment: There is also much to be said about the right-wing media ecosystem, where prominent voices indulge and even endorse violence against their political opponents. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Washington Post
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Hot at the right time, Tuscarora rolls to its first Virginia softball title
Even after the Tuscarora softball team jumped back onto the bus and started the hours-long trip back to Leesburg, its win didn't feel real. The Huskies had just claimed their first state championship, toppling Jefferson Forest in a program-defining 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Monticello High School in Charlottesville. 'It was a good bus ride, I think they're in shock,' Kemp said with a laugh. 'Honestly, nobody would've thought… even the people in our own county.'
Washington Post
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Heritage's turnaround ends with a Virginia Class 4 baseball championship
Heritage baseball coach Nolan Potts will admit it: in early May, his team just wasn't very good. Its record was 6-11, a far cry from the lofty expectations set at the season's outset. Time was running out. So the Pride gathered for a meeting, where a parent offered the players a motto. He told them to 'burn the ships' — meaning they should leave their prior struggles in the past. They knew they had the talent to turn things around. They just needed to prove it. 'We just found the positives throughout the negativity and focused on that to build for future games,' junior Mark Van Tuyle said. Suddenly, a switch flipped. The wins started coming and the Pride kept knocking down hurdles. They won the program's first region championship and eventually earned a shot at the ultimate prize. On Saturday in Charlottesville, Heritage found its final form in a 12-2 victory over Woodgrove – a 12th straight win that earned it the Virginia Class 4 championship. When the game ended in the fifth inning by way of mercy rule, it secured the first state title for a Heritage boys' program in any sport. 'A lot of people, based on our overall record, didn't think we could do this,' Potts said. 'But these guys believed the entire time that if we hit a hot streak and got healthy, this wasn't out of the question. Just to cap it off the way we did yesterday, it was a perfect. Storybook ending to the season.' Recovering from early-season injuries helped the Pride (18-11) power back into contention. Brothers Aaron and Mark Van Tuyle missed the start of the season, but when they returned, Heritage had a dynamic one-two punch on the mound. Once the offense picked up, everything was in place. 'It all just clicked. Everyone started thinking that we could make a run, and the coaches never gave up on us,' said Cooper Miskelly, a junior who hit .647 in the final 12 games of the season. The Pride treated Saturday's contest like any other game, coming up against a Woodgrove (22-5) team it had split two prior games with this season. They played loose, presenting solid defense behind a one-hit pitching performance from Mark Van Tuyle one day removed from his brother's complete-game shutout in the semifinals. A three-run first inning set the tone before a six-run second put Heritage in complete control. 'We knew we had to be aggressive and treat every play as if it were a 0-0 game,' said Aaron Van Tuyle, a Richmond signee who played left field. 'So every inning we continued to tack on runs, and it worked out for us.' Even as the result creeped toward definite, Potts remained nervous. But this evolved version of his team looked unbothered by the stage, even with it being the program's first time even qualifying for the state tournament. The past wasn't a concern. The players kept their focus forward and finished the job.
