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For months, the university has been under investigation by President Donald Trump's administration regarding its handling of the dissolution of DEI programs.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Justice Department was demanding Ryan step down, which he did on Friday, June 27.
Ten days earlier, the Justice Department reportedly issued a stern warning to the board overseeing the University of Virginia that the school needed to act quickly.
Millions of dollars in federal funding allocated to UVA was reportedly being threatened if Ryan did not leave the university.
Ryan, who hails from Midland Park, NJ, graduated from Yale and the University of Virginia School of Law. He replaced Teresa Sullivan as the ninth president of the University of Virginia in 2018 after his time as the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
“To make a long story short, I am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University," Ryan wrote in an email to the UVA community released to POLITICO. "But I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job."
Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine — both Democrats — issued a scathing statement condemning the Trump administration and praising Ryan on his way out.
“Virginia’s economy and prosperity depend on the strength and integrity of our higher education system," they wrote. "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."
It is unclear who will step in to fill Ryan's role at UVA.
"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," they added. "This is a mistake that hurts Virginia’s future.”
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