(The Center Square) – As the University of Virginia begins accepting nominations for an interim president, a national academic group is calling the school’s recent leadership change a key opportunity to eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The National Association of Scholars, in a July 9 statement, said former President Jim Ryan’s resignation should mark the beginning of structural reform. The group described DEI as a “discriminatory ideology and political agenda” and said keeping Ryan in office had placed the university at risk of violating federal law and losing federal funding.
“Any reasonable observer would judge that he would be at best ineffective in overseeing the dismantlement of DEI from the University of Virginia,” the statement said. “His continued employment placed the University of Virginia at real risk both of violating federal law and of forfeiting federal aid.”
Ryan announced his resignation in a June 27 letter to the university community, writing that he could not in good conscience remain in office if it meant putting others at risk.
“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 is expected to take effect by mid-August. In the meantime, UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, Jennifer “J.J.” Wagner Davis, is serving as acting president.
The university opened a nomination process for interim candidates on July 19 and is accepting submissions through July 25. Officials said they will gather input from students, faculty and alumni before beginning a national search for UVA’s 10th president.
The National Association of Scholars urged the university to choose a successor “determined to uproot DEI from our colleges,” warning that many academic leaders are either unwilling or unable to carry out federal compliance reforms. The group said mission-aligned candidates must be identified to prevent existing bureaucracies from blocking change.
“A great many college presidents and deans will be ineffective, or positively sabotaging, when faced with the requirement to remove DEI from their institutions,” the group wrote. “We need people to serve as university presidents who we know need to remove DEI.”
In the spring, the university’s Board of Visitors had voted to dismantle the central DEI office and review related initiatives.
The board’s resolution cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Executive Order 14173, which was issued by President Donald Trump in January 2025 and directs federal agencies to terminate race-based mandates and preferences.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised the board’s vote as “common sense,” and said it marked a return to merit-based opportunity. The order requires compliance across all university programs and policies.
