A hearty round of self-congratulations. Scott Gerber, the law professor who was canceled by Ohio Northern University but vindicated in a recent legal settlement, is still cranking out op-eds. (We have republished a couple here on Bacon’s Rebellion.) In the Washington Times today, he offers some acute observations about the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. He questions Governor Glenn Youngkin’s expression of “complete confidence” in a board that for three months tolerated President Jim Ryan’s foot dragging in dismantling Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and stonewalling the Department of Justice investigation into racial preferences and DEI.

What does UVA’s board do? Seemingly little more than congratulating one another for what the members claim is their own terrific work. Indeed, at the June meeting, the board delivered no fewer than six standing ovations, all of which were in recognition of so-called jobs well done. For example, Mr. Hardie and Vice Rector Carlos Brown received separate standing ovations at the request of each other, with Mr. Brown going so far as to call Mr. Hardie “the hardest working rector in higher education.”

Ouch! One can argue that the mutual back-slapping was all in the spirit of collegiality. No need for hard feelings! After all, every board member did give generously of his or her time. But the camaraderie did seem pro forma and a bit forced for a bitterly divided board.

An outstanding job? On June 30, outgoing Rector Robert Hardie and incoming Rector Rachel Sheridan issued a joint statement praising the just-resigned President Ryan for his “outstanding record” as president. Stated the communique published in UVA Today:

We share the sentiments of so many members of the University community who have expressed their sorrow about President Ryan’s resignation and their appreciation for his remarkable service to the institution. Based on his outstanding record as president, it should come as no surprise that one of Jim’s last acts in office put the needs of the University ahead of his own.

Was Sheridan truly sorrowful at Ryan’s departure? Does Sheridan truly believe that Ryan had an “outstanding” record? Does she really believe that in stonewalling the Board and DOJ he put the University’s needs above his own? Or was the statement just an obligatory nicety for a man who, whatever else one might think of him, did preside over UVA for seven years and was widely liked by faculty and students?

Who knows? Details of the deliberations between the board and DOJ leading up to Ryan’s resignation have remained confidential. Sheridan is a sphynx, and we will be ever-watchful for signs of how she plans to govern.

And the new acting president is… Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis. Pursuant to UVA’s Continuity of Operations Plan, Davis will serve as “acting” president until an “interim” president can be selected. Davis is a competent administrator who, among other accomplishments, has safeguarded UVA’s AAA bond rating. She can be counted on to ensure that UVA operations continue to run smoothly through the leadership transition. However, she struck many as high-handed in her dealings with board members, refusing to respond to requests for information. In the last board meeting, she rebuked Doug Wetmore, reminding him that “there is a fine line between governance and management.”

The history re-write begins… In a New York Times article, former UVA university counsel Tim Heaphy charges that Ryan was “abandoned” by the same people who “were supposed to protect the university.” If he were still counsel, he wrote, he would have challenged the Justice Department inquiry into DEI and racial preferences. UVA had redesigned programs, not merely relabeled them, to adhere to last year’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Instead of asserting these valid defenses,” he wrote, “the University of Virginia opted to capitulate to the demand for Mr. Ryan’s resignation, tacitly agreeing with the notion that the university somehow engaged in illegal racial discrimination.”

Heaphy’s tagline after the column neglects to note that he and Ryan were law school chums, that Ryan circumvented normal procedure in getting him hand-picked for the university counsel job, and that Attorney General Jason Miyares relieved him of the position after a prolonged leave of absence to lead the congressional investigation into the January 6 riots.

Heaphy’s letter does give rise to an interesting question: What role did University Counsel Cliff Iler play in the run-up to Ryan’s resignation? What legal guidance did he provide the board? We’ll never know. All legal guidance is confidential and inaccessible through the Freedom of Information Act.

And so does the backlash… Many in the UVA community are secretly happy to see the dismantling of racial preferences and the DEI regime, but they keep their views to themselves. Many others are outraged by Ryan’s defenestration, and they’re going to let us know about it.

UPRISE, a Charlottesville “creative collective” that “brings street theatre, participatory singing, dance, and other creative expression to involve the community,” is organizing a July 4 rally at the Rotunda. The goal is to demonstrate “collective dismay” at Ryan’s forced resignation, which amounted to an “attempted hostile takeover of the University by the federal government.”

The media release says UPRISE will “reclaim” the Grounds “where torch-bearing white supremacists and antisemites converged in August 2017.”

Kudos to the Miller Center. Although the political culture at UVA is overwhelmingly leftist, there are pockets of intellectual diversity. The Miller Center, which is dedicated to the study of the U.S. presidency, has stood out for entertaining a range of viewpoints. Most recently, it has brought on Everett Eissenstat, a former deputy director of the National Economic Council under President Trump.

The last time, the Miller Center tried to hire a former Trump administration official, it got ugly. In 2018, the center hired Marc Short, Trump’s former director of legislative affairs. Lefties went ballistic. Two history professors severed their relations with the Center. Director William J. Antholis held firm and Ryan — in one of only two episodes that I can recall in which he upheld his professed commitment to intellectual diversity — backed up Antholis.

As the Board of Visitors presses forward in its efforts to promote intellectual diversity, the Miller Center could be an invaluable building block.

And this just in before I hit the “publish” button… a letter from Jefferson Council President Joel Gardner.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As we gather with family and friends this week to celebrate Independence Day and reflect on the enduring legacy of Thomas Jefferson as both the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Founder of our University, we are reminded of the timeless ideals upon which UVA was founded — the search for the truth wherever it may lead and the fearless pursuit of knowledge unfettered by institutional doctrine.

It is in that spirit that I write to you today. President Jim Ryan’s resignation under intense scrutiny from the Board of Visitors, the Governor, and the Department of Justice marks a necessary and welcome step toward restoring the University of Virginia’s integrity and commitment to the creation of a level playing field for the free and civil exchange of ideas. For too long, UVA has drifted from its foundational mission, burdened by ideological conformity and discriminatory practices that betrayed the promise of intellectual liberty and education rather than indoctrination.

The Jefferson Council consistently raised concerns about these failures. Through our investigative work, shared publicly at DEIatUVA.com and ResetUVA.com, we revealed how President Ryan’s policies encouraged illegal discrimination and violated the principles of fairness and decision making based on merit, achievement and character rather than other discriminatory factors.

The crisis came to a head when UVA’s BIPARTISAN Board of Visitors UNANIMOUSLY ordered President Ryan to dismantle DEI programs that were in violation of federal law — but he refused. This defiance triggered federal scrutiny under the 2023 Supreme Court Students for Fair Admissions case as well as Titles VI, VII, and IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Just as was the case after the Brown vs Board decision outlawing segregation, when President Eisenhower in 1957 utilized his federal authority to uphold the law outlawing racial discrimination against massive resistance in Little Rock,  Jim Ryan’s continued resistance to ending the illegal discriminatory practices as mandated by the BOV, the Governor and the Justice Department, required the federal government to step in and uphold the law.

When Mr.Jefferson founded The University it was one of only a few in America free from church control, and it was the only major university in the country without required chapel. Mr. Jefferson envisioned a place of open inquiry and intellectual freedom free from any prevailing ideology. Yet under the Ryan administration, required “chapel” was effectively replaced with required DEI programming, imposing a rigid ideological orthodoxy contrary to Jefferson’s vision of a university devoted to liberty and reason.

As Mr. Jefferson declared, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” He believed education was essential to a free society because only an informed and thoughtful citizenry can secure liberty and uphold justice. Now, as our country celebrates its independence and Mr. Jefferson’s enduring vision, UVA has an opportunity to return to its rightful place as a university committed to the ideals of free and open civil discourse, where being “good” means treating your colleagues with respect and friendship, not following a specific political/social agenda, and where all members of our community are treated the same by the powers that be.

Let us work together to ensure this turning point is not squandered. The Jefferson Council stands ready to support a new era of leadership that embodies transparency, accountability, and a true dedication to the principles upon which both our country and The University were founded.

With gratitude and resolve,

Joel Gardner
President, The Jefferson Council

James A. Bacon serves on the executive committee of the Jefferson Council. The views expressed on Bacon’s Rebellion are his own.