Univ of Virginia President resigns in the face of Trump's threats to financially ruin the school

[AverageOldGuy]

From NYT, behind a paywall.

The University of Virginia’s president, James E. Ryan, has told the board overseeing the school that he will resign in the face of demands by the Trump administration that he step aside to help resolve a Justice Department inquiry into the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to three people briefed on the matter.

For the leader of one of the nation’s most prominent public universities to take such an extraordinary step demonstrates President Trump’s success in harnessing the investigative powers of the federal government to accomplish his administration’s policy goals.

The New York Times reported on Thursday evening that the Justice Department had demanded Mr. Ryan’s resignation as a condition to settle a civil rights investigation into the school’s diversity practices.

In a letter sent on Thursday to the head of the board overseeing the university, Mr. Ryan said that he had planned to step down at the end of the next academic year but “given the circumstances and today’s conversations” he had decided, “with deep sadness,” to tender his resignation now, according to one of the people familiar with the matter who was briefed on the contents of the letter.

This is an important point by UVA Prof. Larry Sabato, well-known commentator on VA politics: "Note that he didn’t stay and fight because the Trump Administration would have cut UVA’s federal funding drastically, cutting hundreds of jobs, financial aid for students, even visas for international students."


THOMAS JEFFERSON -- FOUNDER OF UNIV OF VIRGINIA -- JUST ROLLED OVER IN HIS GRAVE TO SEE THE REPUBLIC HE ESTABLISHED TURNED INTO A FASCIST DICTATORSHIP.