The shocking ouster of the president of the University of Virginia (UVA) has shown the Trump administration is expanding its higher education battle to public universities and using local and state support to push its demands.

University President James Ryan announced Friday he would be leaving after an apparent pressure campaign from the Trump administration that went largely unreported until it reached its boiling point.

President Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) began a civil rights investigation into UVA months ago, according to The New York Times, with the administration particularly concerned about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the university.

The department specifically pushed for the ouster of Ryan to settle the civil rights investigation, according to The Times, after he built a reputation of embracing diversity initiatives and made enemies among the conservative bloc in the UVA community.

While UVA's Board of Visitors voted unanimously in March to shut down the........

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