CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Former University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, who resigned under pressure from the Department of Justice last summer, leads the list of speakers for the May 15-17 2026 final exercises.
Ryan, who outlined in a November letter to the Faculty Senate his version of the circumstances around his resignation, will be the Valedictory Exercises speaker that is a student-led event Friday, May 15 at JPJ, UVA announced Wednesday.
That will be the third event of a weekend that starts with a 10 a.m. Friday Multicultural Recognition Ceremony, and a 1 p.m. Joint Commissioning Exercises for Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force candidates.
The Saturday, May 16 speaker for the Walking the Lawn for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, and the School of Education and Human Development will be Vice President and Chief of Student Affairs Kenyon Bonner.
“I’m humbled by the opportunity to address our fourth years at this defining moment – alongside their families, friends and our broader UVA community,” Bonner said in a UVA Today statement.
About 4200, according to the University, are expected to graduate that day.
Then Sunday, May 17, the keynote speaker will be McIntire School of Commerce associate professor Sherri Moore who “will address roughly 3,900 graduates from the schools of Architecture, Continuing and Professional Studies, Data Science, Engineering and Applied Science, Law, Medicine, Nursing, the Darden School of Business and the Commerce School”, according to the UVA publication.
The 2021 recipient of the All-University Teaching Award has been teaching at UVA for 15 years, and said, “I can only say that I am extremely honored.”
“I also feel a huge responsibility to deliver,” she said.
The Lawn opens 7 a.m. and ceremony starts at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, and tickets are required to access the Lawn.
Ryan, who became UVA’s President in August, 2018, resigned in June at the behest of the Trump Administration. The DOJ was investigating the university for, among other items, it’s continuation of diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Ryan resigned to allow the school to avoid losing federal research dollars and other penalties the federal government was threatening.
Then, in November, Ryan sent a letter to the Faculty Senate outlining his belief that his ouster was orchestrated by former Board of Visitor members, including former Rector Rachel Sheridan.
Sheridan and four other members resigned in January, under pressure from new Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Since his resignation, Ryan has remained a part of the university’s faculty.
