LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The president of Virginia's flagship university deserved better.
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Jim Ryan Deserved Better
I showed up at UVA as an awkward first year longer ago than I care to divulge, got a degree in English and then came back for one in Education. More recently I showed up as a sweaty mom, moving my daughter into a dorm on a blazing hot day in the fall of 2020 and more recently, my son.
This is to say: I'm an alum, the mom of an alum and the mom of a current student. I am also a citizen, a taxpayer, and a believer in higher education, which is why I am beyond horrified at the all-but-forced resignation last week of UVA's president, Jim Ryan.
Like the man or not, agree with how he has handled federally-mandated policies or not, agree with those policies or not, most can agree that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has no business reaching into a university to dictate who stays and who goes. At the presidential level of a college or university, that job belongs to the Board of Visitors, not the DOJ. Never the DOJ.
I send my heartfelt support to the UVA community, to my fellow alumni and students home for the summer, to all who believe in education, critical thinking, and freedom of inquiry. Most of all, I send my support to Jim Ryan and his family. He, and they, deserved better.
Mary Becelia
Stafford
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Well said. Thank you.