Former University of Virginia President James Ryan has released a letter describing why he resigned over the summer, saying the Department of Justice threatened to cut off federal funding unless he stepped down.
The Hill reported that he said the pressure came during the larger Trump administration push targeting colleges and universities.
The DOJ has denied calling for his removal.
Ryan wrote that he believed he was the only university leader pushed out as part of what he described as a deal with the administration. He also suggested some UVA board members were more willing to go along with federal demands than officials at other schools.
UVA Rector Rachel Sheridan, in a separate note, said the board never pressured Ryan to resign and received no promise from the federal government that its investigations would end if he left.
She said the university faced serious risk if it rejected his resignation and continued to clash with the DOJ, adding that federal officials lost confidence in Ryan's ability to bring the school into compliance and were prepared to use their full leverage.
Ryan said he stayed quiet about the situation because he believed speaking out would cost the university its federal support and still result in his departure.
He likened the situation to being warned not to disclose the demands and said he was repeatedly told to keep the threat confidential.
He attributed the push to two DOJ lawyers who previously attended UVA, including Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division.
He said the pressure from the DOJ and some board members intensified in June, especially after a media report described alleged federal efforts to force him out.
According to Ryan, he was told DOJ would "rain hell" on the university if he did not agree to leave by the end of the day.
He said that around the same time, federal officials offered what he described as a sweeping deal that would halt all investigations and avert any loss of funding if he resigned.
He said the university was told that federal agencies would suspend inquiries, avoid penalties, and not move to cut research money.
A few months later, UVA and the federal government reached an agreement that imposed no financial penalties and allowed the Trump administration access to university admissions data.
The letter was released as Democrat Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger called for UVA to wait on selecting a new president until she takes office, a suggestion that current Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has criticized.
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