Mr. Jefferson's University

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

I am a proud non-partisan. There is too much nuance and complexity, too many shades of gray in the land, for me to pledge fidelity to partisanship. I pledge allegiance to human dignity, creative expression, the individual. You may notice I never mention the name of the U.S. President or the previous U.S. President. I talk about the human condition.

One of my favorite readers, who will not permit me to run away from myself, once suggested I preferred the Switzerland of AI in my writing. And as I explained, I care not about activism of the day. I care about future Homer. The AI of Switzerland On this lovely weekend morning in San Diego, allow me the honor of writing as a graduate of the University of Virginia, not a mouthpiece for who’s right and who’s wrong down in Charlottesville. Grant me the serenity to write in freedom as a writer.

It came to my attention yesterday that our President James Edward Ryan resigned. There have been nine presidents of Mr. Jefferson’s University dating back to our first president Edwin A. Alderman (1905 - 1931). https://www.virginia.edu/uva-presidents/

President Edwin A. Alderman (1905 - 1931)

Every graduate of the University has an opinion this morning. I considered forbearance before writing this essay. The fault lines are clear. The opinions are polarized. And the whole drama comes perilously close to partisanship. Why pen an essay which will change no one’s mind? Because I am a proud graduate of Mr. Jefferson’s university. Because some of the happiest times of my life were spent on the Grounds. Because friends of a lifetime were made in Newcomb Hall. Because I discovered Race, Racism and American Law there. Because my emotional entanglement with Black History bloomed in the deepest book shelves of Alderman Library.

Because memory of Mr. Jefferson’s University renders me human. Inseparable

In recent years has my natural affection for the University been clouded by dogma and slogan words. My younger son just dropped by. A native of San Diego, he has no comparable memory of my native Virginia and what it meant to grow into manhood at Mr. Jefferson’s University in the early 1980s and to imbibe the wisdom of the Honor Code as a way of living life. Do Not Lie, Do Not Cheat, Do Not Steal

Just guardrails for living a good life, for being a good man.

I have never attended a college reunion. I have attended several college reunions with my wife at Yale (Go Pierson College!) but nary one at Mr. Jefferson’s University. Why, I wonder? Over the years, the continental trip from San Diego to Charlottesville seemed like a hike. I was always busy in this profession of mine. And then I noticed a heavy-duty emphasis on black alumni activities. The faces always appeared happy. And I’m sure their memories of Mr. Jefferson’s university lined up with blackness. That was not really my university memory. Sure, some of my closest friends in college were black. I am thinking of three to five people right now, the sort of people who attend your wedding as groomsmen, the kind of people who lusted for Harvard Law School, people who were there when one had one’s first beer, who celebrated one’s admission to Harvard Law School by skulking around in the morgue at the Medical School, who toasted one’s good fortune at the Top of the Hub restaurant in Boston, who know secrets one will take to the grave.

But home on the Grounds was 313 Watson, 83 Brandon Avenue — the Jewish bros for whom an empty classroom on Friday night at the Engineering School was a blessing, for whom the New Jersey Turnpike had as much spiritual meaning as the James River for me, for whom Yale Law School was the aim (I fell short/smile), for whom computer coding equaled down time. When the University started to reach out to me on racial grounds, I didn’t feel the vibe. That was not the 18 to 21 year old me at Mr. Jefferson’s University.

You know, it wasn’t even a double consciousness thing. I lived in a thirst for knowledge at UVA.

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In every close relationship, there is a breaking point. One is admitted to Harvard Law School and Dad says, let’s talk about Howard Law School. One loans a sibling money which is never repaid. One confesses one is not Black all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the vibe shifts. One is lied to and those are the last words ever spoken between cousins of the first degree. One avoids the truth with the closest of friends in life and the best things in life of friendship are forever gone. Things are never the same. One feels the ache in every text message. You don’t know, you should know but I can’t tell you and I am less as a friend in this lifetime. You don’t even know what you don’t know. It was twenty-five years ago, and you don’t remember, and it is all I can remember.

Those feelings I have this morning are feelings I have for my University. One day, I learned elements had conspired to change the name of my beloved Alderman Library. The news broke my heart. The American Soviet Mentality

During one of the Yale college reunions, my wife and I were this close from University President Jim Ryan. Ryan was on a panel of college leaders. It occurred to me how strange — I am in the presence of my university president far from home in New Haven, not Charlottesville but New Haven, Connecticut. I wanted to meet him and introduce myself. I identified with his life story but something kept me from approaching President Ryan:

“A first-generation college student, Ryan received his AB in American Studies, with distinction, from Yale University. He graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Ryan earned his JD from the University of Virginia, which he attended on a full scholarship and from which he graduated first in his class. While a law student, he was elected to the Raven Society and the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society. After law school, Ryan clerked for William H. Rehnquist, the late Chief Justice of the United States, and then worked in Newark, N.J., as a public interest lawyer before joining the law faculty at UVA.”

I wanted to like President Ryan but the whole emphasis on black alumni activities and the gut wrenching renaming of Alderman Library did not sit well with my soul. Peace at the center is my guiding light in life. If someone doesn’t bring me peace, I am skeptical. I may not be able to articulate the full reason but I am cautious.

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Yesterday, my college friend from the University sent me a text message. The New York Times was reporting that the Administration had pressured President Ryan to resign. Allegedly, Ryan had been two-faced with the Board of Visitors. While professing to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs and comply with federal law, Ryan masterminded and green lit rebranding schemes to subvert the law.

My human response at first was to question Ryan’s resignation. Resignation did not seem like a profile in courage. If you believe something, then stand for your position. My next reaction was to question why the federal government should have a role in deciding the appropriate President of a state university. Seems to undercut academic freedom. I am also a foe of dogma and slogan words. Diversity, equity and inclusion are strong-armed ways to impose a narrative on free thinking people. I don’t like imposed narratives as forced compliance.

As a native son of Virginia, resistance to the law always reminds me of Massive Resistance when U.S. Senator Harry Byrd developed a statewide strategy of non-compliance with the Brown decision. Non-compliance enabled the all-white school board members of Prince Edward County to close the public schools for five years from 1959 to 1964. That stain will always remain on our state’s history. Does Ryan want to be in the same philosophical camp as those white school board members in Prince Edward County? I hope not but dogma and slogan words can be a powerful drug.

Conclusion: My close friend from college and my wife were in an uproar about Ryan’s resignation. I didn’t say much. They were driven by ideology and partisanship. Those were not my drives. As a graduate of Mr. Jefferson’s University, I support the Board of Visitors. Presidents of the University should have moral courage at all times. The vibe has shifted from dogma and slogan words to human dignity, creative expression and the individual. If President Ryan in good faith is unable to lead the University in these new times, then I support the resignation for the Good of the University.

Mr. Jefferson’s university opened up the larger world to me as a small-town, southern kid. Dogma and slogan words close our world. Dario Amodei, the founder and CEO of Anthropic, once said if you have a vision, you should go off and do your vision. It is unproductive to get someone else’s vision to look like your vision. This is good advice for university leaders. If one’s vision is incompatible with the vibe shift, one should go off and do one’s own vision. The Fourth Turning

Good day!

President Jim Ryan at Inauguration of Yale President