ISTANBUL

Former University of Virginia (UVA) President Jim Ryan has accused the US Department of Justice (DOJ) of orchestrating a pressure campaign that forced him from office, claiming federal officials warned the university would face severe penalties if he did not step down.

In a 12-page letter released Friday, Ryan said he was told to resign by 5 pm on June 26 or “the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA.”

He also alleged a colleague relayed that investigators threatened to “bleed UVA white” unless he left the presidency, according to NOTUS news outlet.

Ryan resigned earlier this year while UVA was under federal investigation for allegedly maintaining race-based diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices under different terminology and for refusing to hand over requested documents. Several months after his departure, the university reached an agreement with the DOJ to end the probes.

Describing what he called an “ever expanding” inquiry, Ryan wrote that the timing of investigators’ letters “made me wonder more than once if the DOJ was not actually interested in our response… because they showed — from what I saw — that we were complying with the law.”

He also said he was barred from attending key negotiations in Washington and instead relied on secondhand updates from intermediaries, including board members he claims were acting without formal authority.

'Without devastating consequences is pure fantasy': UVA interim president

The probe unfolded under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who has led the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI initiatives.

After Ryan resigned, Dhillon told CNN she had “no confidence that he was going to be willing and able to preside over the dismantling of DEI,” adding: “I think it is time for new leadership that’s willing to comply with federal law.”

Ryan’s letter also raised concerns about political influence in the process, noting the involvement of a McGuireWoods attorney who worked on Project 2025, and pointing to comments by Virginia’s Republican governor.

In March, Gov. Glenn Youngkin told Fox News that “DEI is done at the University of Virginia.” On Friday, State Delegate Katrina Callsen described Youngkin’s conduct as “an atrocious betrayal of his duty.”

Addressing faculty the same afternoon, UVA interim President Paul Mahoney defended the decision to settle with the DOJ, saying the alternative – risking the loss of $1.3 billion in federal funds – would have forced the university to shut down labs, halt medical trials and dismiss postdoctoral researchers.

The idea that UVA could fight the DOJ in court “without devastating consequences is, I think, pure fantasy,” he said.

Scholars across the country reacted sharply as Ryan’s account circulated, calling the allegations “troubling,” “extremely alarming,” and examples of “mafia governance in action.”

Dominique Baker of the University of Delaware said the letter suggests the DOJ sought “to pressure institutions to align them with the Trump administration,” calling it “some of the greatest political overreach we’ve seen since McCarthyism.”

NOTUS said the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.