President Donald Trump and his administration are serious about the effort to eliminate discriminatory "diversity, equity, and inclusion," or DEI, practices from not just the federal government but all of American society, including public and private institutions of higher education.

On Friday, the White House scored a major win in that regard as James Ryan, the president of the University of Virginia and an outspoken DEI proponent, announced that he would soon be resigning from his position, Fox News reported.

The resignation comes amid reports that Ryan was pressured to step down by the Justice Department, which was investigating complaints that Ryan was pushing forward with rebranded DEI initiatives at UVA in violation of Trump's executive actions and a subsequent vote by the school's board to end its DEI programs.

Resignation announced

Shortly after taking office in January, President Trump issued an executive order to end the widespread practices of DEI that constitute discriminatory violations of federal civil rights laws and tasked the Justice Department with ensuring that his order was adhered to, particularly by colleges and universities that accept federal funding.

According to The New York Times, that order led to a DOJ civil rights investigation of UVA and a reported proposed settlement that involved Ryan's resignation in exchange for an end to the probe that threatened to cut substantial federal funds to the university.

Per Fox News, Ryan announced on Friday that even though he'd already planned to end his tenure as UVA's president next year, a position he's held since 2018, he had decided to go ahead and resign now and not "fight the federal government in order to save my own job" for another year.

"To make a long story short, I am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University," Ryan wrote in the public announcement. "But I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job."

"To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld," he added.

Virginia Dems are furious

Virginia Mercury reported that there was fierce outrage from Democrats at the local and federal levels in the state at the news that UVA President Ryan was resigning under pressure from the Trump administration.

Some accused the administration of federal overreach, while others called for Ryan and the school to push back against the president and his allies, and still others fearmongered over what and whom Trump might target next.

Virginia's two U.S. senators, Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, said in a joint statement, "It is outrageous that officials in the Trump Department of Justice demanded the commonwealth’s globally recognized university remove President Ryan -- a strong leader who has served UVA honorably and moved the university forward -- over ridiculous 'culture war' traps."

DEI is no longer acceptable under Trump

According to Fox News, Ryan was accused of misleading the DOJ and others about supposedly dismantling and eliminating UVA's DEI programs when, in fact, he merely rebranded and continued to implement and enforce them, per allegations raised last month by the Trump-allied America First Legal organization.

"Rebranding discrimination does not make it legal, and changing a label doesn’t change the substance," AFL attorney Megan Redshaw said at the time. "UVA’s use of sanitized language and recycled job titles is a deliberate attempt to sidestep the law."

"That sham virtue signaling of DEI has no place in our country, and the Trump administration is working tirelessly to erase this divisive, backward, and unjust practice from our society," White House spokesman Harrison Fields told Fox News in reaction to Ryan's announced resignation. "Any university president willingly breaking federal civil rights laws will be met with the full force of the federal government, and it would behoove every school in America to prioritize the civil rights of every student and end DEI once and for all."