Former University of Virginia president James E. Ryan published a detailed 12-page account saying he was forced from his post after a short ultimatum tied to federal civil-rights investigations and political pressure. Ryan alleges that board members and outside political actors presented him with a four-hour choice to resign or face threats of lost federal research funding, describing the episode as a “hostage situation.” Ryan’s letter and subsequent media accounts name the Department of Justice and state political actors as central to the pressure campaign. The episode has prompted statements from university-governance groups warning that politicized boards and external interference threaten institutional autonomy and could destabilize research universities that rely on federal grants.