resigns

The president of the University of Virginia has resigned his position under pressure from the United States Department of Justice, which pushed for his departure amid scrutiny of the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.

In an email sent to the university community on Friday and circulated on social media, university president James Ryan said he was resigning to protect the institution from facing the ire of the government.

“I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job,” he wrote.

“To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld.”

Ryan’s resignation has been accepted by the board, two sources told The New York Times, which first broke the story. It remains unclear exactly when he will leave his post.

His departure is the latest indication of ongoing tensions between the administration of President Donald Trump and the academic community.

During his second term, President Trump has increasingly sought to reshape higher education by attacking diversity initiatives, pushing for crackdowns on pro-Palestinian student protesters, and seeking reviews of hiring and enrollment practices.

Ryan’s departure marks a new frontier in a campaign that has almost exclusively targeted Ivy League schools. Critics also say it shows a shift in the government’s rationale, away from allegations of rampant anti-Semitism on campus and towards more aggressive policing of diversity initiatives.

Just a day prior, the Justice Department announced it would investigate another public school, the University of California, for its use of diversity standards.

Ryan, who has led the University of Virginia since 2018, faced criticism that he failed to heed federal orders to eliminate DEI policies.

An anonymous source told The Associated Press news agency that his removal was pushed by the Justice Department as a way to help resolve an inquiry targeting the school.

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, called Ryan’s ouster an example of the Trump administration using “thuggery instead of rational discourse”.

“This is a dark day for the University of Virginia, a dark day for higher education, and it promises more of the same,” Mitchell said. “It’s clear the administration is not done and will use every tool that it can make or invent to exert its will over higher education.”

Virginia’s Democratic senators react

In a joint statement, Virginia’s senators, both Democrats, said it was outrageous that the Trump administration would demand Ryan’s resignation over “‘culture war’ traps”.

“This is a mistake that hurts Virginia’s future,” Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said.

After campaigning on a promise to end “wokeness” in education, Trump signed an executive order in January calling for an end to federal funding that would support educational institutions with DEI programming.

He accused schools of indoctrinating “children in radical, anti-American ideologies” without the permission of their parents.

The Department of Education has since opened investigations into dozens of colleges, arguing that diversity initiatives discriminate against white and Asian American students.

The response from schools has been scattered. Some have closed DEI offices, ended diversity scholarships and no longer require diversity statements as part of the hiring process. Still, others have held firm on diversity policies.

The University of Virginia became a flashpoint after conservative critics accused it of simply renaming its DEI initiatives. The school’s governing body voted to shutter the DEI office in March and end diversity policies in admissions, hiring, financial aid and other areas.

Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin celebrated the action, declaring that “DEI is done at the University of Virginia”.

But America First Legal, a conservative group founded by Trump aide Stephen Miller, said that DEI had simply taken another form at the school. In a May letter to the Justice Department, the group said the university chose to “rename, repackage, and redeploy the same unlawful infrastructure under a lexicon of euphemisms”.

The group directly took aim at Ryan, noting that he joined hundreds of other college presidents in signing a public statement condemning the “overreach and political interference” of the Trump administration.

On Friday, the group said it will continue to use every available tool to root out what it has called discriminatory systems.

“This week’s developments make clear: public universities that accept federal funds do not have a license to violate the Constitution,” Megan Redshaw, a lawyer with the group, said in a statement. “They do not get to impose ideological loyalty tests, enforce race and sex-based preferences, or defy lawful executive authority.”

Until now, the White House had directed most of its attention at Harvard University and other elite institutions that Trump sees as bastions of liberalism.

Harvard has lost more than $2.6bn in federal research grants amid its battle with the government, which also attempted to block the school from hosting foreign students and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status.

Harvard and its $53bn endowment are uniquely positioned to weather the government’s financial pressure.

Public universities, however, are far more dependent on taxpayer money and could be more vulnerable. The University of Virginia’s $10bn endowment is among the largest for public universities, while the vast majority have far less.

The recently elected leader of Warwickshire County Council has resigned, leaving his 18-year-old deputy in charge.

Reform UK councillor Rob Howard released a short statement in which he said he had made the decision with “much regret”.

Howard was elected in May, when Reform made unprecedented gains in the local elections, becoming the largest party in Warwickshire and forming a minority administration.

The outgoing leader cited his health as the reason for his decision, adding: “The role of leader is an extremely demanding role and regretfully my health challenges now prevent me from carrying out the role to the level and standard that I would wish.”

He also confirmed that his current deputy, George Finch, would serve as interim leader until the council confirmed a new leader in due course.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this month, Howard said he was “not intimidated” by the challenge of running a local authority with £1.5bn of assets and a revenue budget of about £500m.

Despite resigning the top job with immediate effect, Howard confirmed he would be staying on as a county councillor.

“I am honoured and privileged to have held the role, even if only for a short time. I remain committed to my continued role working as a county councillor for the benefit of Warwickshire residents,” he said.

Mr Finch, councillor for Bedworth Central, was a member of the Conservative Party for three months before switching to Reform on the grounds that it would better tackle illegal immigration.

On the New Reformer website, he said his politics could be summed up as “Brexit, sovereignty and a strong and united family unit”.

The BBC has contacted the interim council leader for comment.

President Trump got his way Friday, just not on his terms.

Two weeks after Trump said he fired the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery director, Kim Sajet, she stepped down of her own accord.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to lead the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one,” Sajet wrote in a note to staff shared in an email by the Smithsonian Institution’s leader, Lonnie Bunch. “From the very beginning, my guiding principle has been to put the museum first. Today, I believe that stepping aside is the best way to serve the institution I hold so deeply in my heart. The role of a museum director has never been about one individual — it is a shared mission, driven by the passion, creativity, and dedication of an extraordinary team.”

The news follows Trump’s May 30 post on Truth Social that he was firing Sajet, the first woman to hold her post at the National Portrait Gallery, for being “a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI.”

Trump’s authority to fire Sajet immediately came under question. The Smithsonian is not part of the executive branch, and the president does not choose its Board of Regents. Reports soon surfaced that Sajet continued to show up at work each day.

On Monday the Board of Regents held a lengthy meeting and then issued a statement that said Secretary Bunch had the board’s support “in his authority and management of the Smithsonian.” The statement declared the institution’s full independence, including in personnel decisions. The statement said Bunch had been directed to “articulate specific expectations to museum directors and staff regarding content in Smithsonian museums, give directors reasonable time to make any needed changes to ensure unbiased content, and to report back to the Board on progress and any needed personnel changes based on success or lack thereof in making the needed changes.”

It is unclear if Sajet, who served as the museum’s director for 12 years, made her decision prior to the Board of Regents meeting. The Smithsonian did not respond to a question about that.

“Once again, we thank Kim for her service. Her decision to put the museum first is to be applauded and appreciated,” Bunch wrote in his email to staff. “I know this was not an easy decision. She put the needs of the Institution above her own, and for that we thank her.”

Kevin Gover, the undersecretary for museums and culture, will serve as acting director, Bunch said.

The Smithsonian has a delicate task ahead as it moves forward following Trump’s March 27 executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” It directs Vice President JD Vance to remove “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian’s 21 museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and threatens to end federal funding for exhibitions and programs based on racial themes that “divide Americans.”

Bunch’s email to staff stressed that the organization has an imperative to remain nonpartisan.

May 21 (UPI) — Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, or Farms Taki Eto resigned Wednesday after his comments over the price of rice led to a national backlash.

Eto wrote on his website that he submitted his resignation to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who accepted.

“My remarks were extremely inappropriate at a time when the public is suffering greatly from the rising prices of rice, and for that I offer my sincere apologies,” Eto.

Eto made the comments Sunday a weekend fundraising event, where during a speech he said he had never bought rice, as he receives so much from his supporters.

“I have enough rice at home I could open up a store and sell it,” he said.

He later said the comment was made in jest, but retracted it and admitted that the joke was “too far.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service reported in March that rice “prices have continued to spike and are almost 80% higher in January 2025 than one year ago.”

The Farm Ministry responded to the price of rice with the release of 300,000 tons of reserved rice through July. The government had already released 321,000 tons of rice between March and April as rice prices have risen dramatically in 2025.

Ishiba reportedly chastised Eto on Monday, but on Tuesday the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan made an agreement with four other opposition parties to insist Eto resign, and to together submit a no-confidence motion against him.

Representative Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the CDP, said Wednesday that Eto’s comments “showed no consideration for the people’s lives, who are suffering as rice prices soar, and they rubbed the public the wrong way,” and that Eto in his opinion “shows no sense of crisis about the current situation,” and is “not fit to be a minister.”

Wendy McMahon is stepping down as from her role as president of CBS News and Stations, indicating her disagreement with the parent company’s handling of President Trump’s lawsuit against “60 Minutes.”

“It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,” McMahon said in a note sent to CBS News staff Monday. “It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.”

McMahon has been firm in her position that CBS News parent Paramount Global should not settle the $20-billion suit from Trump, which claims an October interview with his 2024 opponent Vice President Kamala Harris was deceptively edited to help her presidential campaign.

The lawsuit is an obstacle to Paramount Global’s proposed $8-billion sale to Skydance Media. The case has gone to a mediator.

McMahon’s departure is a sign that a settlement may be close.

With McMahon’s exit, CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and CBS Stations President Jennifer Mitchell will each report directly to CBS Chief Executive George Cheeks.

McMahon joined CBS in 2021. She oversaw the company’s syndication division and TV stations as well as CBS News.

Cheeks brought McMahon to the company from Walt Disney Co., where she led the ABC station group. At the time, Cheeks was trying to clean up its stations division, which was plagued by management issues and the firing of its former head, Peter Dunn.

Since then, McMahon rose to be one of Cheeks’ most trusted lieutenants, taking over CBS News. But she irked Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, over CBS News coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.