The Trump administration has dramatically escalated its war on higher education, using the threat of withholding federal funding to force the resignation of Jim Ryan, the University of Virginia’s president of seven years.

The purported crime warranting this unprecedented demand? Not moving quickly enough to roll back the decades of progress the school has made in becoming a more diverse and welcoming environment to students, faculty and staff of all backgrounds.

The ninth president in the university’s history, Ryan has been an effective and highly regarded leader, shepherding the university through challenges and tragedies with a steady hand. Under his leadership, research funding and applications to the university have hit record highs, and it has maintained the highest graduation rates of any public university.

Today, UVA is ranked No.1 in the nation for free speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and........

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