James E. Ryan: “The call for my resignation, right until the end, seemed so outlandish as not to be entirely believable.”

If I did not resign that day, I was told that the D.O.J. would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from U.Va. before they would even negotiate.

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.

They were basically willing to grant U.Va. blanket immunity — all of the inquiries and investigations would be suspended, no financial penalties would be imposed and agencies would be told not to cut off our research funding.

Forcing university presidents to resign, moreover, has not been part of the playbook of the Trump administration; as far as I know, I am the only university president in the country who has been forced to resign as part of a supposed deal…