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Jim Ryan resigns: Who is Gregory W Brown, UVA alum behind president's ouster?
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan has resigned amid pressure from the Trump administration
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan has resigned amid pressure from the Trump administration, The New York Times reported on Friday. This comes days after the media outlet reported that the administration was pushing UVA to part ways with Ryan while the Justice Department investigates the school for its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Neither UVA nor Jim Ryan has issued a formal statement yet. Now, reports say that the demand for the executive's resignation came from a university alum - Gregory W Brown, who is a civil rights attorney and works in the Donald Trump administration under Harmeet K. Dhillon.
Who Is Gregory Brown?
Gregory W Brown, a 1989 UVA undergraduate alumnus, is a civil rights attorney and partner at Brown & Gavalier, a Charlottesville-based law firm. He holds a law degree, though the institution is not known yet.
Brown joined the Trump administration’s DOJ in 2025, serving under Harmeet K. Dhillon, another UVA Law alum (1993) and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.
Before his DOJ role, Brown represented two UVA students in high-profile lawsuits against the university, both settled out of court.
In 2024, he represented Matan Goldstein, an Israeli-American freshman, who alleged antisemitic harassment by UVA officials and pro-Palestinian groups, naming Ryan and others as defendants. He also represented Morgan Bettinger, a 2021 alumna accused of mocking a Black Women Matter protest, facing expulsion until UVA’s investigation found insufficient evidence.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration, via a February 2025 executive order, mandated universities to dismantle DEI programs, threatening federal funding cuts. UVA’s Board of Visitors voted in March 2025 to dissolve its DEI office, but the DOJ, led by Brown and Dhillon, accused Ryan of “slow-walking” compliance by rebranding programs.
According to NYT, Brown personally demanded Ryan’s resignation multiple times over the past month, telling UVA officials that the president's removal was a condition to resolve the DOJ’s investigation.
