The University of Virginia’s (UVA) president has defended his decision to remain resolutely “apolitical”, arguing institutional neutrality is crucial for ensuring both viewpoint diversity and academic freedom on campus.
“In a world that’s political, I’m not political. I’m an apolitical person,” explained Scott Beardsley, who took over the public research university in January six months after it was targeted by Donald Trump’s crackdown on universities’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
That led to the forced resignation of former president Jim Ryan in June amid threats that federal funders would withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants and student aid from Virginia’s flagship public university unless Ryan quit.
The episode – the first time in US history that federal authorities explicitly tied funding to the resignation of a university president – was condemned by civil liberties groups and faculty unions as an “unprecedented government intrusion” in a state university’s operations.
Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 and long regarded as a bastion of free speech, the past year pushed Virginia into the centre of national debates over whether university leaders can still stand up to political pressure or ever speak freely about issues of national concern, using their platform as representatives of the academic community.
