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CNN
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Key lines from UVA president's resignation letter
Key lines from UVA president's resignation letter University of Virginia president James Ryan announced his resignation amid pressure from the US Department of Justice to dismantle the university's diversity, equity and inclusion programs. CNN's Betsy Klein reports. 01:09 - Source: CNN Automated CNN Shorts 11 videos Key lines from UVA president's resignation letter University of Virginia president James Ryan announced his resignation amid pressure from the US Department of Justice to dismantle the university's diversity, equity and inclusion programs. CNN's Betsy Klein reports. 01:09 - Source: CNN What biohacker Bryan Johnson says is the most powerful drug in existence CNN's Boris Sanchez spoke with controversial biohacker Bryan Johnson about the impact of the medical experiments he's done and what he thinks is the most underrated aspect of health. 01:08 - Source: CNN See Jonathan Anderson's highly anticipated Dior debut Jonathan Anderson, founder of JW Anderson, made his debut as creative director of Dior. His collection, Dior menswear Spring/Summer 2026, was showcased during Paris Fashion Week. 00:45 - Source: CNN Minnesota lawmaker and husband lie in state at State Capitol Mourners and lawmakers gather to pay tribute to former Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, who were killed in a targeted attack. The couple is joined by the family's golden retriever, Gilbert, who also died after being shot during the attacks. 00:41 - Source: CNN See where the Bezos-Sanchez wedding is taking place CNN's Melissa Bell gives a tour of where Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding ceremony is in Venice, Italy. 00:56 - Source: CNN Sean 'Diddy' Combs' son escorted out of courtroom A judge removed Sean Diddy Combs' son, Justin Combs, from the courtroom and apparently asked him to change his clothing after Combs' son arrived wearing a shirt that says 'Free Sean Combs' to the defense team's final closing arguments. The controversy comes nearly two weeks after Diddy's son Christian 'King' Combs was also removed and spoken to by the judge for wearing a similar slogan in sight of the jury. 01:28 - Source: CNN Will Sean 'Diddy' Combs be convicted? Sean 'Diddy' Combs is facing five charges in a blockbuster sex trafficking trial, but will he be found guilty? CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister asks former prosecutor Elie Honig to predict the outcome. 03:05 - Source: CNN The key testimony and evidence in the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial, explained CNN's Laura Coates goes over the five counts hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is charged with, the key evidence and testimony presented to jurors, and how the defense disputes the allegations. 03:13 - Source: CNN Celebrities dazzle in their wedding attire as they leave for the Bezos-Sanchez ceremony Corseting, feathers and plenty of diamonds adorn guests as they step into water taxis set to take them to the Friday evening festivities for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez. 00:56 - Source: CNN Trump says he'd consider bombing Iran again In a White House briefing with reporters President Donald Trump was asked if he would consider bombing Iran's nuclear sites again if future intelligence reports offered a concerning conclusion on Iranian enrichment of uranium. 00:51 - Source: CNN USNS Harvey Milk new name revealed US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the USNS Harvey Milk is being renamed to the USNS Oscar V. Peterson. During Pride Month in June, he ordered the stripping of the name Harvey Milk who was a gay rights activist and Navy veteran. 00:43 - Source: CNN
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
University of Virginia president resigns under US government pressure
The president of the University of Virginia has resigned his position under pressure from the United States Department of Justice, which pushed for his departure amid scrutiny of the school's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. In an email sent to the university community on Friday and circulated on social media, university president James Ryan said he was resigning to protect the institution from facing the ire of the government. '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.' Ryan's resignation has been accepted by the board, two sources told The New York Times, which first broke the story. It remains unclear exactly when he will leave his post. His departure is the latest indication of ongoing tensions between the administration of President Donald Trump and the academic community. During his second term, President Trump has increasingly sought to reshape higher education by attacking diversity initiatives, pushing for crackdowns on pro-Palestinian student protesters, and seeking reviews of hiring and enrollment practices. Ryan's departure marks a new frontier in a campaign that has almost exclusively targeted Ivy League schools. Critics also say it shows a shift in the government's rationale, away from allegations of rampant anti-Semitism on campus and towards more aggressive policing of diversity initiatives. Just a day prior, the Justice Department announced it would investigate another public school, the University of California, for its use of diversity standards. Ryan, who has led the University of Virginia since 2018, faced criticism that he failed to heed federal orders to eliminate DEI policies. An anonymous source told The Associated Press news agency that his removal was pushed by the Justice Department as a way to help resolve an inquiry targeting the school. Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, called Ryan's ouster an example of the Trump administration using 'thuggery instead of rational discourse'. 'This is a dark day for the University of Virginia, a dark day for higher education, and it promises more of the same,' Mitchell said. 'It's clear the administration is not done and will use every tool that it can make or invent to exert its will over higher education.' Virginia's Democratic senators react In a joint statement, Virginia's senators, both Democrats, said it was outrageous that the Trump administration would demand Ryan's resignation over ''culture war' traps'. 'This is a mistake that hurts Virginia's future,' Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said. After campaigning on a promise to end 'wokeness' in education, Trump signed an executive order in January calling for an end to federal funding that would support educational institutions with DEI programming. He accused schools of indoctrinating 'children in radical, anti-American ideologies' without the permission of their parents. The Department of Education has since opened investigations into dozens of colleges, arguing that diversity initiatives discriminate against white and Asian American students. The response from schools has been scattered. Some have closed DEI offices, ended diversity scholarships and no longer require diversity statements as part of the hiring process. Still, others have held firm on diversity policies. The University of Virginia became a flashpoint after conservative critics accused it of simply renaming its DEI initiatives. The school's governing body voted to shutter the DEI office in March and end diversity policies in admissions, hiring, financial aid and other areas. Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin celebrated the action, declaring that 'DEI is done at the University of Virginia'. But America First Legal, a conservative group founded by Trump aide Stephen Miller, said that DEI had simply taken another form at the school. In a May letter to the Justice Department, the group said the university chose to 'rename, repackage, and redeploy the same unlawful infrastructure under a lexicon of euphemisms'. The group directly took aim at Ryan, noting that he joined hundreds of other college presidents in signing a public statement condemning the 'overreach and political interference' of the Trump administration. On Friday, the group said it will continue to use every available tool to root out what it has called discriminatory systems. 'This week's developments make clear: public universities that accept federal funds do not have a license to violate the Constitution,' Megan Redshaw, a lawyer with the group, said in a statement. 'They do not get to impose ideological loyalty tests, enforce race and sex-based preferences, or defy lawful executive authority.' Until now, the White House had directed most of its attention at Harvard University and other elite institutions that Trump sees as bastions of liberalism. Harvard has lost more than $2.6bn in federal research grants amid its battle with the government, which also attempted to block the school from hosting foreign students and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status. Harvard and its $53bn endowment are uniquely positioned to weather the government's financial pressure. Public universities, however, are far more dependent on taxpayer money and could be more vulnerable. The University of Virginia's $10bn endowment is among the largest for public universities, while the vast majority have far less.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
UVA President Jim Ryan resigns amid federal ultimatum
Jim Ryan is the ninth president of the University of Virginia. He joined the institution in 2018. (Courtesy of the University of Virginia) In a stunning development that's igniting fierce political backlash, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan resigned Friday under pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which alleged the school had failed to fully dismantle its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs — a demand tied to a sweeping federal crackdown on higher education. The New York Times first reported Ryan's resignation, citing DOJ claims that the institution had merely rebranded its DEI efforts instead of eliminating them. The university's Board of Visitors accepted his resignation, with Ryan expected to officially step down by Aug. 15. Ryan said in a letter to the UVA community published late Friday that while he is motivated to fight for his beliefs and the university, he cannot oppose the federal government due to the potential impact on the institution. '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 said in the letter, released Friday afternoon. In a statement following Ryan's departure, a White House spokesperson didn't mention Ryan by name but said President Donald Trump's administration is working hard to eliminate DEI from society and put college leaders who oppose that mission on warning. 'That sham virtue signaling of DEI has no place in our country, and the Trump administration is working tirelessly to erase this divisive, backward, and unjust practice from our society,' said Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House. 'Any university president willingly breaking federal civil rights laws will be met with the full force of the federal government, and it would behoove every school in America to prioritize the civil rights of every student and end DEI once and for all.' Ryan's departure has sparked outrage on campus and across Virginia. A protest led by Wahoos4UVA, a group dedicated to defending the university from political influence, is scheduled at the Rotunda on Friday. 'This unprecedented political interference threatens the independence of our University and its fundamental values,' a letter from the chairs of Wahoos4UVA Advisory Council states. 'Whatever reason the Department of Justice gives for taking this action is only a pretext thinly masking a partisan agenda. What's happening is clear: the Trump administration has made UVA the next target in its escalating attack on higher education in America.' UVA became the first public university in Virginia to dissolve its DEI office on March 8 after Trump's executive order warned of federal funding cuts for noncompliance. Opponents of DEI argue hiring and promotions should be merit-based rather than consider race or gender. Supporters say DEI efforts are vital to addressing systematic inequities that have long blocked opportunities for women and people of color and women. The school has also been under scrutiny for its handling of antisemitism complaints. UVA was among 60 colleges flagged in a federal inquiry over whether it adequately protected Jewish students, prompting additional concerns over potential funding losses. Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, said during a call with reporters that he is disappointed with the decision. Deeds added that Ryan will not have a problem finding a job elsewhere, after creating a model for diversifying the student body at the university and for financial aid. 'You know, it does not surprise me that the Trump administration is so petty that they would go after a state that has rejected President Trump three times at the ballot box,' Deeds said. 'But it also does not surprise me that they'd go after a national leader at the University of Virginia, which is a national national leader as a school, but with Jim Ryan, who's also a national leader of higher education.' Deeds along with his colleagues from Charlottesville, which is home to the university, said they are concerned this move by the Trump administration will set a precedent. 'I am afraid of what this means to all of our schools,' said Del. Amy Laufer, D-Albemarle. Del. Katrina Callsen, D-Albemarle, added that while the news is currently focused on Ryan's departure, she expects the pressure to expand to the governing boards of Virginia's institutions, who are engaging in 'ideological battles' impacting colleges. 'If anyone needs to be submitting a resignation, I would urge them to look at themselves,' Callsen said. 'I would urge them to look at themselves and their role and what they are doing to our university and ask themselves that question.' Virginia Senate Democrats condemned what they called federal overreach, urging university boards to 'resist any efforts by the Trump Admin to dictate how Virginia runs its own taxpayer-funded schools.' Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that 'UVA is the envy of American public universities,' and called Ryan an 'incredible leader.' He added: 'Trump's interference in the operation of Virginia's universities and any cooperation by those sworn to protect them will not be tolerated by the Virginia Senate.' U.S. Democratic Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine also blasted the DOJ's involvement, underscoring that Virginia's economy and prosperity depend on the strength and integrity of the state's higher education system. 'It is outrageous that officials in the Trump Department of Justice demanded the commonwealth's globally recognized university remove President Ryan — a strong leader who has served UVA honorably and moved the university forward — over ridiculous 'culture war' traps,' the senators stated. 'Decisions about UVA's leadership belong solely to its Board of Visitors, in keeping with Virginia's well-established and respected system of higher education governance. This is a mistake that hurts Virginia's future.' The Virginia State Conference NAACP, one of the largest civil rights organizations in the state, weighed in on Ryan's resignation — and its impetus — Friday afternoon, saying it raises 'serious concerns about political interference in our educational institutions and the very principles of justice that they are meant to uphold.' 'President Ryan, known for his commitment to enhancing diversity on campus and fostering community engagement, should not face political coercion for championing inclusive policies,' the group said in a statement. The UVA Board of Visitors last met June 4-6. Its next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 11-12. Ryan confirmed in his letter on Friday to the UVA community that he had already planned to leave the school next year, after the institution concluded its capital campaign and implemented nearly all of its major initiatives in UVA's strategic plan. Still, he expressed regret after his abrupt departure. 'This was an excruciatingly difficult decision, and I am heartbroken to be leaving this way,' Ryan wrote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
University of Virginia president plans to resign amid pressure from the Trump Administration, source says
University of Virginia president James Ryan communicated to the school's Board of Visitors that he plans to resign, a member of the board told CNN. The move comes as the university is under pressure by the US Department of Justice to dismantle its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. It was not immediately clear when the resignation would take effect, the source said. CNN has reached out to the White House, the Justice Department, America First Legal and the University of Virginia for comment. The planned resignation, first reported by the New York Times, comes as the Times had reported Thursday evening that Ryan was facing significant pressure to resign from the Department of Justice, as well as conservative groups. The Justice Department had been reviewing UVA's compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bans any institution receiving federal funds from discriminating based on race, color and national origin, according to America First Legal. America First Legal, a Trump-aligned group started by Stephen Miller, now the president's deputy chief of staff and a powerful adviser to the president on higher education issues, had said that the university's DEI programs were 'rebranded,' and alleged that they were in violation of federal law. 'The University is operating programs based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, and other impermissible, immutable characteristics under the pretext of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' ('DEI') in open defiance of federal civil rights law, controlling Supreme Court precedent, and Executive Orders issued by President Donald Trump,' Megan Redshaw, America First Legal's counsel, wrote in a May 21 letter to the Department of Justice. Redshaw continued, 'UVA has failed to dismantle its discriminatory DEI programs as required—choosing instead to rename, repackage, and redeploy the same unlawful infrastructure under a lexicon of euphemisms.' This is a developing story and will be updated.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court gives Trump more power after ‘birthright citizenship' ruling curbs nationwide injunctions
The Supreme Court's conservative majority has stripped federal courts' authority to issue nationwide injunctions that have blocked key parts of Donald Trump's agenda. Friday's 6-3 ruling, written by Trump appointee Justice Amy Coney Barrett, states that federal judges went too far blocking his executive order that seeks to unilaterally redefine who gets to be a citizen. Those nationwide injunctions 'exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to the federal courts,' according to the ruling. The ruling opens the door for partial enforcement of Trump's executive order, putting thousands of American-born children at risk of being denied their constitutional rights. Trump's executive order will be blocked for another 30 days, however, allowing lower courts to revisit the scope of their injunctions and giving time for opponents to file new legal challenges. Department of Justice attorneys will now 'promptly file' legal challenges in cases where the president's executive actions were temporarily blocked, Trump told reporters at the White House. Moments after the ruling, plaintiffs filed a new lawsuit that would protect citizenship rights for all newborn Americans, not just in the states that initially sued. But the ruling does not definitively resolve challenges to birthright citizenship. A series of federal court rulings across the country earlier this year struck down the president's attempt to block citizenship from newborn Americans who are born to certain immigrant parents. The government argued those decisions should only impact the individual states — and the unborn children of pregnant mothers in them — who sued him and won. Opponents have warned that such a decision would open a backdoor to begin stripping away constitutional rights. In a blistering dissent, Justices Sonia Sotomayor called the court's ruling 'a travesty for the rule of law.' Allowing the president to unilaterally redefine who gets to be a U.S. citizen in states subject to Trump's rewriting of the 14th Amendment would create a patchwork system of constitutional rights and citizenship benefits — including voting rights. More than 150,000 newborns would be denied citizenship every year under Trump's order, according to the plaintiffs. 'Make no mistake: Today's ruling allows the Executive to deny people rights that the Founders plainly wrote into our Constitution, so long as those individuals have not found a lawyer or asked a court in a particular manner to have their rights protected,' Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent. The court's decision gifted Trump the 'prerogative of sometimes disregarding the law' that opens the door to 'put both our legal system, and our system of government, in grave jeopardy,' Jackson warned. 'It is not difficult to predict how this all ends,' she wrote. 'Eventually, executive power will become completely uncontainable, and our beloved constitutional Republic will be no more." In January, more than 20 states, immigrants' advocacy groups and pregnant plaintiffs sued the administration to block the president's executive order. Three federal judges and appellate court panels argued his order is unconstitutional and blocked the measure from taking effect nationwide while legal challenges continue. During oral arguments, the Supreme Court's liberal justices appeared shocked at the president's 'unlawful' measure. But the administration used the case not necessarily to argue over whether he can change the 14th Amendment but to target what has become a major obstacle to advancing Trump's agenda: federal judges blocking aggressive executive actions. The government asked the court to limit the authority of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, which have imperilled a bulk of the president's agenda. In cases across the country, plaintiffs have pushed for injunctions as a tool for critical checks and balances against an administration that critics warn is mounting an ongoing assault against the rule of law. More than half of the injunctions issued over the last 70 years were against the Trump administration, according to the Harvard Law Review, as Trump pushed the limits of his authority. In arguments to the Supreme Court, Trump's personal attorney John Sauer, who was appointed by the president to serve as U.S. solicitor general, called the 'cascade of universal injunctions' against the administration a 'bipartisan problem' that exceeds judicial authority. Trump's allies, however, have relied on nationwide injunctions to do the very same thing they commanded the Supreme Court to strike down. Critics have accused right-wing legal groups of 'judge shopping' for ideologically like-minded venues where they can sue to strike down — through nationwide injunctions — policies with which they disagree. After the government's arguments fell flat in front of a mostly skeptical Supreme Court last month, Trump accused his political opponents of 'playing the ref' through the courts to overturn his threat to the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment plainly states that 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.' For more than 100 years, the Supreme Court has upheld the definition to apply to all children born within the United States. But under the terms of Trump's order, children can be denied citizenship if a mother is undocumented or is temporarily legally in the country on a visa, and if the father isn't a citizen or a lawful permanent resident. The president's attempt to redefine citizenship is central to his administration's sweeping anti-immigration agenda. His administration has also effectively ended entry for asylum seekers; declared the United States under 'invasion' from foreign gangs to summarily remove alleged members; and stripped legal protections for more than 1 million people — radically expanding the pool of 'undocumented' people now vulnerable for arrest and removal. The administration 'de-legalised' tens of thousands of immigrants, and thousands of people with pending immigration cases are being ordered to court each week only to have those cases dismissed, with federal agents waiting to arrest them on the other side of the courtroom doors. The White House has also rolled back protections barring immigration arrests at sensitive locations like churches and bumped up the pace of immigration raids in the interior of the country. To carry out the arrests, the administration has tapped resources from other state and local agencies while moving officers from federal agencies like the FBI and DEA to focus on immigration. There are more people in immigration detention centers today than in any other point in modern history.
