In response to a FOIA request Sept. 18 from State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, the University Freedom of Information Act Office produced 284 pages of documents related to former University President Jim Ryan’s resignation and Justice Department investigations into the University.
The Cavalier Daily reviewed Deeds’ original request and all the documents he received — here is what was included and what was left out.
In a statement to The Cavalier Daily, Deeds acknowledged that the University’s FOIA release did not include all of the materials that he requested.
“The documents [in the release] refer to communications that were not included,” Deeds wrote. “The response did not include any communications from the Governor's office.”
University Spokesperson Bethanie Glover wrote in a statement to The Cavalier Daily that Deeds only requested records from current members of the Board of Visitors, which may explain why some of the records were not given to him.
“If records were not produced, and were not expressly claimed as withheld, then they did not exist in the possession of the relevant custodians,” Glover wrote. “This was explained in the University's response to Senator Deeds.”
Deeds specifically requested “all emails, text messages, letters, memoranda and other written communication between any Board of Visitors member” and Gov. Glenn Youngkin or his staff, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares or his staff, the Virginia Department of Education, the Justice Department, or any outside legal counsel or the General Assembly.
Written Communications
A recurring figure in the release documents was Board of Visitors Rector Rachel Sheridan. In the aftermath of Ryan’s resignation, Sheridan coordinated a response to faculty outrage through email with Vice Rector Porter Wilkinson and Jennifer Wagner Davis, executive vice president and chief operating officer. Overall, there were very few communications, whether through text or email, between members of the Board of Visitors in the University’s release.
No communications between members of the Board of Visitors and Youngkin or his staff were included in the release. Further, there was also no communication between Miyares or his staff and any member of the Board of Visitors. Records from neither the Virginia Department of Education nor outside counsel were provided to Deeds. It is not clear if any such written communications occurred.
Meetings and Call Records
In addition to his requests for written communications, Deeds requested records of interactions between members of the Board of Visitors and various parties involved with the resignation of Ryan or the Justice Department investigations. In particular, Deeds requested “all records of meetings, calls, conferences or other communications” including meeting and call minutes, agendas and follow-up communications.
No call records or meeting information were included in the University’s release. Only four emails regarding meetings were included. A scheduled July 2 meeting of the full Board and an Aug. 29 meeting of the special committee for the nomination of a president were discussed.
In an email July 2, only one day after assuming the rectorship, Sheridan abruptly canceled the special Board of Visitors’ meeting scheduled for the same day. According to the Board of Visitors website, the July 2 meeting was intended to discuss a “faculty resignation personnel matter.”
On the decision to cancel the July 2 meeting, Sheridan wrote that “I am happy to report that there is no need for a meeting now.” In the same email, Sheridan also noted that Ryan’s resignation had been accepted and the “relevant parties” had agreed to the terms of his departure.
Legal Counsel Records
Deeds requested “all engagement letters and contracts … bills, invoices and payment records … [and] communications” made between the University and outside counsel. Deeds particularly referenced the law firm McGuireWoods and records regarding Ryan’s resignation or the Justice Department investigation.
McGuireWoods has been representing the University in negotiations with the Justice Department since the summer. Conflicting letters sent by former president Ryan and Rector Sheridan to the Faculty Senate have confirmed that the University has hired outside counsel.
No direct communications between University officials and attorneys at McGuireWoods were released, including the firm’s retainer or bills. The Cavalier Daily obtained an engagement letter and invoices for payments made to McGuireWoods, although the engagement letter was sent prior to the time period for which Deeds requested records.
DOJ Investigation Materials
The University’s response to Deeds’ FOIA request included seven letters sent by the Justice Department to several different high-ranking University officials between April 11 and June 17. The letters were made public July 1, just a few days after Ryan announced his resignation, but were included again in responding to Deeds.
Although Deeds requested “all materials sent to or received from the U.S. DOJ,” the released documents do not include any drafts or final copies of communications between University officials and the Justice Department. Similarly, Ryan’s April 7 report to the Board of Visitors on efforts to dissolve diversity, equity and inclusion at the University, which was confirmed to exist by Ryan, is absent from the release.
The Cavalier Daily has previously requested this report and was denied the four-page document under the FOIA exemption of “presidential correspondence.” The Cavalier Daily was also denied Ryan’s resignation letter to Hardie under this same exemption July 25 — that letter was released to Deeds in the 284 pages.
Governance and Transparency Records
In his request, Deeds asked for all records pertaining to “the Faculty Senate and General Faculty Council no-confidence resolutions,” “the presidential search process announced July 25, 2025” and “communications with media representatives regarding President Ryan’s resignation.” The University’s FOIA release did include internal discussions that the Faculty Senate’s leaders had in the immediate aftermath of Ryan’s resignation announcement, but it did not include conversations with media representatives.
Michael Kennedy, then the past-senate chair and faculty representative to the Board, sent a draft resolution to senators June 27. The resolution called on the Board to condemn the Justice Department’s role in Ryan’s resignation and requested that the Board meet with the Senate by July 14. The Faculty Senate’s incoming chair, Jeri Seidman, followed up on Kennedy’s request June 30 by reaching out to the Board of Visitors directly requesting a meeting for either July 10 or July 11.
The Faculty Senate meeting, held July 11, resulted in an overwhelming vote of no confidence in the Board, which Seidman conveyed in an email to Sheridan and Wilkinson that evening. Seidman told Sheridan and Wilkinson that she was surprised by the resolution's passage and that the Board had lost the faculty’s trust but could take steps to win it back.
“This is a surprising outcome to me, as I expect it is to you,” Seidman wrote. “However, both resolutions passed with a large majority so there was consensus. I hope you continue to see that the angst is both around the past (which cannot be addressed now) and the future, and that you begin to address the future by scheduling listening sessions as soon as possible.”
Financial Records
The last set of items Deeds requested concerned the University’s possible loss of federal funding and the financial impact of the Justice Department investigation. The most explicit mentions of any of the University’s federal funding being terminated came from two documents that have both been publicly available since July.
The first document was the Justice Department’s final letter to the University, dated June 17. The second document was Ryan’s June 27 letter to the University community announcing his resignation, in which he raised the possibility of hundreds of University employees losing their jobs, researchers losing funding and students having their financial aid or visas withheld.
The draft of Ryan’s resignation letter — which was never sent to the University community — was even more explicit about the monetary threats made by the federal government if he did not resign. Ryan originally planned to tell the University community that the Justice Department “threatened to cause hundreds of millions of federal dollars that flow to the University to be frozen or taken away altogether.” However, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, has since denied that the Department demanded Ryan’s resignation.
Going Forward
Deeds says that he intends to make another FOIA request to the University, but only when he has the time to make a “comprehensive” one.
Glover said that the University abides by Virginia’s open records laws, including FOIA and expects the Board of Visitors and University officials to do the same.
“The Board and University leadership are committed to transparency and shared governance and appreciate Senator Deeds’ interest and commitment to U.Va.,” Glover said.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misattributed the author of the resolution and incorrectly stated their title. Michael Kennedy did not author the resolution and was not the Faculty Senate Chair at the time. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
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