{"id":90347,"date":"2025-11-14T17:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T22:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=90347"},"modified":"2025-11-14T17:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T22:57:07","slug":"is-dining-hall-matzah-dei-the-answer-isnt-clear-to-uvas-pushed-out-ex-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/is-dining-hall-matzah-dei-the-answer-isnt-clear-to-uvas-pushed-out-ex-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Is dining-hall matzah \u2018DEI\u2019? The answer isn\u2019t clear to UVA\u2019s pushed-out ex-president."},"content":{"rendered":"

By ANDREW LAPIN<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 Months after being forced out as president of the University of Virginia, Jim Ryan is still pondering Passover food.<\/p>\n

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(JTA illustration by Mollie Suss)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More specifically, Ryan, who was pushed out of the role over the summer amid mounting GOP pressure on the public university, cited the topic as an example of why he was confused about the \u201cDEI ban\u201d imposed earlier this year by the public school\u2019s board. The ban had been drafted by the office of the state\u2019s Republican governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not clear even today what it means to kill DEI,\u201d Ryan wrote in a letter Friday to the UVA faculty senate telling his side of the story. <\/p>\n

He went on: \u201cFor example, did it mean that we could no longer try to recruit qualified first-generation students from rural parts of Virginia, or offer financial aid, or even serve matzah in the dining halls during Passover, because each of those efforts would be advancing diversity, equity, and\/or inclusion?\u201d<\/p>\n

The candid look behind the curtain was a reflection of broader struggles on campuses to satisfy conservative demands on both antisemitism and DEI. As the Trump administration has taken up the mantle of campus antisemitism after the Oct. 7 attacks, it has strong-armed universities to make substantial changes in order to preserve their federal funding \u2014 not just to its dealings with Jewish students, but also to other conservative hobbyhorses like DEI initiatives. <\/p>\n

The first public university to strike a deal with Trump to end an antisemitism investigation, UVA was also quick to fall in behind a \u201cDEI ban.\u201d The school is now becoming a flashpoint as Glenn Youngkin, the outgoing Republican governor who pushed the DEI ban, and Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, elected as part of a broader \u201cblue wave\u201d opposing Trump, are warring over who gets to appoint Ryan\u2019s replacement. <\/p>\n

Ryan, who remains an emeritus professor at the school, wrote that he felt compelled to revisit his resignation because Youngkin\u2019s assertions about the state of affairs at UVA needed to be corrected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is time to set the record straight, which will hopefully enable UVA to make all necessary changes in order to end this chapter and begin a fresh, new chapter in the history of a remarkable university,\u201d Ryan wrote.<\/p>\n

The DEI ban was only part of UVA\u2019s turmoil this summer. A subsequent Justice Department investigation into the school\u2019s student admissions and hiring practices, Ryan wrote, soon expanded without warning into an antisemitism investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe assembled voluminous information related to admissions for one or more of our twelve schools, and a few days before the deadline for submission, we would receive another DOJ inquiry asking about another school,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThey also sent a letter asking about antisemitism and one alleged incident of antisemitism in particular. Each time the scope of the DOJ inquiry expanded, our lawyers asked for and received extensions for submission of material.\u201d<\/p>\n

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University of Virginia President Jim Ryan speaks at a memorial service in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. (Mike Kropf\/The Daily Progress)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ryan did not elaborate on the specifics of the \u201cone alleged incident of antisemitism\u201d in his letter but said that investigators\u2019 interest in antisemitism seemed to be \u201cpart of a pattern\u201d of the DOJ throwing more and more allegations against the school. He also speculated that the investigators were simply using such allegations as a leverage tactic against the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is impossible for me to know, but the timing of the DOJ letters, the ever expanding scope of their inquiries, and their willingness to give us extension after extension made me wonder more than once if the DOJ was not actually interested in our response,\u201d he wrote. He came to conclude that the government wouldn\u2019t drop its investigations, including on antisemitism, unless he stepped down.<\/p>\n

Ryan did so this June, after which UVA reached a settlement with the government to drop its antisemitism investigation and others. Unlike other university deals with Trump, this one did not require UVA to pay a fine. Instead, the school agreed to abide by Justice Department guidelines on other issues not related to antisemitism, including the school\u2019s existing general ban on DEI.<\/p>\n

As for matzah in the dining hall, no school has yet been criticized as excessively inclusive for offering kosher food. In fact, several universities facing allegations of antisemitism tied to their handling of anti-Israel protests have expanded their kosher dining-hall offerings as part of their overtures to Jewish students.<\/p>\n

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