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emgunter.bsky.social
Em Gunter 顧安 🍉
@emgunter.bsky.social
1.1K followers 220 following 2.1K posts
Aspiring anthropologist studying in Taiwan who always stands up for what is right. I care about immigration and queer life in the American South. I'm also a photographer and something of a journalist.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸 | 台灣加油 🇹🇼

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emgunter.bsky.social
Em Gunter 顧安 🍉 @emgunter.bsky.social · Oct 22
August 11, 2017 - white nationalists march the lawn with tiki torches, no police intervention

May 4, 2024 - students protest israel's ongoing genocide of palestine, riot police beat and arrest protesters

it's not about the protesting, it's what we're protesting
Hundreds of self-proclaimed white nationalists holding lit tiki torches gather around the statue of Thomas Jefferson in front of the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. August 11, 2017. Police in riot gear hold riot shields in formation between the Rotunda and Chapel at the University of Virginia as they prepare to push anti-genocide protesters into the street after University President Jim Ryan authorized the Virginia State Police to beat and arrest UVa students, faculty, and staff who were protesting Israel's ongoing genocide of Palestine in an encampment on the Grounds of the University of Virginia.
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alondra.bsky.social
“Many of the women say that they were pressured to have unwanted or unnecessary gynecological procedures while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement”
November 15, 2025 at 3:11 AM
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ash243x.bsky.social
"one day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this"
November 14, 2025 at 6:23 PM
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qasimrashid.com
Truly one of the most morally bankrupt people alive today. And this is someone Republicans hold as a moral icon.

I launched Islam Today to rebuke this hateful propaganda. No paywall. Invite y'all to subscribe and support as you can: islamtoday.substack.com/subscribe
November 14, 2025 at 1:51 AM
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tframpton.bsky.social
UVA Pres. Ryan's letter isn't just about the DOJ though. It credibly details dubious conduct from many people who were supposed to put UVA's interests first and didn't (likely because they agreed with DOJ's far-right pressure campaign): the Board, the AG, outside counsel, etc.
brendannyhan.bsky.social Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d
Mafia governance in action

"the only offer on the table was that I needed to resign by 5pm that day or the DOJ would basically rain hell on UVA... If I did not resign that day, I was told that the DOJ would extract/block hundreds of millions of dollars from UVA before they would even negotiate."
November 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
The ongoing search for the 10th President of UVA needs to be stopped until Spanberger is sworn in.

On January 17, 2026, Spanberger needs to fire the Board for being illegally constituted. If not the entire board then at minimum those members named in Jim Ryan's letter to the Faculty Senate today.
bluevirginia.bsky.social Blue Virginia @bluevirginia.bsky.social · 1d
What comes through clearly in this letter by Tim Heaphy is the relentless, WILD dishonesty (and reckless irresponsilibity) by pathological liar Glenn Youngkin on this...and really on EVERYTHING. Just two more months. bluevirginia.us/2025/11/in-r... h/t @TylerEnglander
Tyler Englander: "New: In a letter obtained by @8NEWS, former UVA University Council Timothy Heaphy criticizes @GovernorVA's letter to @SpanbergerForVA. He says former President Ryan always followed the law and accused Youngkin of perpetuating a 'false narrative.'" Page 1 of the Tim Heaphy letter, in which he rips Youngkin for misquoting him about UVA HISTORICALLY having had "some programs that crossed the legal line" ("as authority for [Youngkin's] misguided statement that the University 'repeatedly ignored the law'") Page 2 of Timothy Heaphy's letter to Glenn Youngkin, which concludes: "I urge you correct that irresponsible allegation, as it continues to divide our community"
November 14, 2025 at 9:56 PM
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anamariecox.bsky.social
From this minister's op-ed: "People wanting to experience God are more likely to meet the Divine trying to shut down the Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility than we ever were in church...God does not live in our houses of worship, but...with those who are bearing the brunt of cruelty in this moment."
jackjenkins.me Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d
Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:
November 14, 2025 at 9:38 PM
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gregggonsalves.bsky.social
Hey, hey, ho, ho, #LarrySummers has got to go. Sleazeball, bully, misogynist and purveyor of bad economic advice. Why does he always rise to the top no matter his failings?
November 14, 2025 at 9:26 PM
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tframpton.bsky.social
The DOJ told UVA’s former President, Jim Ryan, that if he didn’t resign, they would “bleed UVA white.”

An apt phrase. It seems the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has prioritized perceived discrimination against white people about all else. We should be clear-eyed about that. That’s their #1 priority.
November 14, 2025 at 2:04 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
Someone in the Faculty Senate meeting needs to bring this up in the meeting right now.
bakerdphd.bsky.social Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 1d
"The Cavalier Daily corresponded with former Rector Robert Hardie, whose term ended June 30, regarding the two accounts. He confirmed that he agreed with Ryan’s account.

'I concur fully with President Ryan’s recollection of events,' Hardie said."

Welp

www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
Ryan and Sheridan provide full accounts of Ryan’s resignation. They differ significantly
“I concur fully with President Ryan’s recollection of events,” former Board Rector Robert Hardie said.
www.cavalierdaily.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:58 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
The Cavalier Daily is DELIVERING time after time with their coverage of the continued clusterfuck at UVA. So proud of them.
bakerdphd.bsky.social Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 1d
"The Cavalier Daily corresponded with former Rector Robert Hardie, whose term ended June 30, regarding the two accounts. He confirmed that he agreed with Ryan’s account.

'I concur fully with President Ryan’s recollection of events,' Hardie said."

Welp

www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
Ryan and Sheridan provide full accounts of Ryan’s resignation. They differ significantly
“I concur fully with President Ryan’s recollection of events,” former Board Rector Robert Hardie said.
www.cavalierdaily.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:48 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
I'm too fucking angry to live-post this meeting but Paul Mahoney is a fucking puppet who can go fuck himself.
November 14, 2025 at 7:12 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
Oh look, the UVA faculty senate is meeting right now. virginia.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom ...
virginia.zoom.us
November 14, 2025 at 7:08 PM
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dennycarter.bsky.social
Jamelle was cooking.

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/o...
If they win, Democrats will have to use their newfound authority to rethink, even dismantle, agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They may need to walk back the Bush-era decision to consolidate those agencies and others under a single department, given the wild abuses perpetrated under this administration and its predecessors. It will need to give serious thought to major political and social reform, including D.C. statehood, a federal ban on partisan gerrymandering, a new voting rights act and federal protections for reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, including the rights of gender and sexual minorities. Democrats will also need to embrace the legislature’s constitutional authority to structure the executive branch and the judiciary, up to and including Supreme Court reform. If they win next year, Democrats will need to treat the next Congress not as a return to the status quo ante but as the beginning of a new era in which the principal task is to roll back the president’s effort to create and consolidate a personalist dictatorship. They’ll need to fortify the American political system against future attempts to play dictator and lay out a project of genuine democratic renewal. None of this is possible without a willingness to use power rather than just hold it. What we’ve seen this week is that there are still too many Democrats whose instinct is to retreat to normalcy rather than face the conflict at hand.
November 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
I meant to bring this up when I was reading through the letter but I'm really glad Jim waited to send this letter. Yesterday was really fucking hard for me (and so many others) so being able to have our annual reckoning with grief in peace was much appreciated.
thulcandrian.bsky.social uosdwis r dewoh @thulcandrian.bsky.social · 1d
It’s a small thing, but it’s striking that he delayed the release of the letter one day because of the anniversary of the deaths of three students. His focus seems to be on what’s best for the students and the university - I don’t think many of the other actors here would have done that.
November 14, 2025 at 6:40 PM
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jamellebouie.net
my takeaway from this letter is that glenn youngkin, rector sheridan and their flunkies on the board are deeply dishonest people who are engaged, with the trump administration, in a mob-style shakedown against the university of virginia
joefore.bsky.social Joe Fore @joefore.bsky.social · 1d
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.

It's a surreal--and troubling--read.

drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
@bakerdphd.bsky.social thought I should call your attention to this thread from the emergency Faculty Senate meeting back in July. It really highlights Sheridan's contempt and disdain for the entire university community.

(reposting due to link error, sorry)

bsky.app/profile/emgu...
emgunter.bsky.social Em Gunter 顧安 🍉 @emgunter.bsky.social · Jul 11
I'm now in CHEM 402 just 10 minutes before today's emergency faculty Senate meeting is scheduled it start. It appears as of right now that a number of Senators have arrived but there are a fair few faces I know that haven't quite yet arrived.
emgunter.bsky.social Em Gunter 顧安 🍉 @emgunter.bsky.social · Jul 11
I'll be attending and reporting on the Emergency Faculty Senate meeting today at UVA at 1PM in CHEM 402.
November 14, 2025 at 6:21 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
Holy fuck I am so fucking angry right now.
November 14, 2025 at 6:16 PM
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bakerdphd.bsky.social
Jim leaves us with these questions. I will note that there appear to be several points that the Virginia State Bar, DC Bar, 2026 Virginia General Assembly, 2026 Governor of Virginia, and 2026 Attorney General of Virginia need to investigate.
Screenshot of text broken apart over two pages. Full text reads: 1. According to Paul Manning, the Governor knew what was happening and suggested I needed toresign. What did the Governor know, when did he know it, and what—if anything—did he do totry to either secure my resignation or prevent it? 2. How involved was the Attorney General’s office in directing the legal representation offered by McGuire Woods? 3. Why did Rachel, Porter, and later Paul not inform the rest of the Board about the DOJ’s apparentinsistence that I resign? 4. Harmeet Dhillon, one of the DOJ lawyers, publicly and unequivocally stated—twice—thatneither she nor her colleagues asked for my resignation or offered some sort of quid pro quo.That is not what Rachel, Porter, and Paul conveyed to me. Who is telling the truth? 5. Was it appropriate that Rachel Sheridan hired a lawyer to persuade me to resign, withoutinforming me or the rest of the Board? 6. Was there a written agreement before my resignation, as I was told? If so, what did it say? Ifnot, why was I told there was one?
November 14, 2025 at 5:08 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
I already believed that Spanberger has the authority to fire the entire BOV for cause due to continuing to operate while Ken Cuccinelli had been rejected by the State Senate but this is even clearer. Get all these fucking fools out of the Board of Visitors on day fucking 1.
bakerdphd.bsky.social Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 1d
So the current Rector and Vice Rector were (allegedly) very instrumental in the DOJ overreach at UVA. For no reason, I will now share the Code of Virginia § 23.1-1300 sections C and D.
Screenshot of text broken across 2 pages. The text reads: Fast forward to the June Board meeting, which was held during the first week of that month. Several days before the meeting, Board member Rachel Sheridan reached out to let me know that she and fellow Board member Porter Wilkison were invited to a meeting with the DOJ lawyers who had been submitting all of the inquiries, namely Harmeet and Gregory. Rachel and Porter were not yet Rector andVice Rector, respectively, nor were they yet voted into those positions—that happened at the June meeting. Why they alone were asked to meet with the DOJ remains unclear to me; it also remains unclear whether Rachel and Porter suggested that the current Rector and Vice Rector should join them at the meeting. I offered to join that meeting but was told I was not invited. I offered at a later time to go meet with theDOJ lawyers but was told by Rachel and Porter that that would be supremely unpleasant and would likely lead to a bad outcome. All of which means that I never once spoke directly with the DOJ lawyers; everything was communicated through Rachel, Porter, and later another board member, Paul Manning. Screenshot from the code of Virginia which reads: C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E or any other provision of law, the Governor may remove from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetence, or gross neglect of duty any member of the board of any public institution of higher education and fill the vacancy resulting from the removal. D. The Governor shall set forth in a written public statement his reasons for removing any member pursuant to subsection C at the time the removal occurs. The Governor is the sole judge of the sufficiency of the cause for removal as set forth in subsection C.
November 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM
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bakerdphd.bsky.social
So the current Rector and Vice Rector were (allegedly) very instrumental in the DOJ overreach at UVA. For no reason, I will now share the Code of Virginia § 23.1-1300 sections C and D.
Screenshot of text broken across 2 pages. The text reads: Fast forward to the June Board meeting, which was held during the first week of that month. Several days before the meeting, Board member Rachel Sheridan reached out to let me know that she and fellow Board member Porter Wilkison were invited to a meeting with the DOJ lawyers who had been submitting all of the inquiries, namely Harmeet and Gregory. Rachel and Porter were not yet Rector andVice Rector, respectively, nor were they yet voted into those positions—that happened at the June meeting. Why they alone were asked to meet with the DOJ remains unclear to me; it also remains unclear whether Rachel and Porter suggested that the current Rector and Vice Rector should join them at the meeting. I offered to join that meeting but was told I was not invited. I offered at a later time to go meet with theDOJ lawyers but was told by Rachel and Porter that that would be supremely unpleasant and would likely lead to a bad outcome. All of which means that I never once spoke directly with the DOJ lawyers; everything was communicated through Rachel, Porter, and later another board member, Paul Manning. Screenshot from the code of Virginia which reads: C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E or any other provision of law, the Governor may remove from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetence, or gross neglect of duty any member of the board of any public institution of higher education and fill the vacancy resulting from the removal. D. The Governor shall set forth in a written public statement his reasons for removing any member pursuant to subsection C at the time the removal occurs. The Governor is the sole judge of the sufficiency of the cause for removal as set forth in subsection C.
November 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
emgunter.bsky.social
Thank you for this thread. I was on the ground in cville at the time and after reading this letter I am seething in anger. Agree with all of your points, especially your comments in consideration of your reservations wrt Ryan.
bakerdphd.bsky.social Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 1d
Jim Ryan wrote a letter to UVA detailing his "resignation" and I'm gonna get some fresh tea before I read it because I feel pretty certain I'm gonna be filled with righteous anger by the end

I'll do a thread but here's the full letter provided by the chronicle

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Jim Ryan letter
www.documentcloud.org
November 14, 2025 at 6:03 PM
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bakerdphd.bsky.social
Jim alleges that the US DOJ told a UVA Board of Visitors member that, if the president did not resign, they would "bleed UVA white." I want to reiterate that, regardless of my issues with Jim Ryan as president, he is a respected professor of the law so I believe his contemporaneous notes.
Screenshot of the letter which reads: During the ten-day period before I resigned, I also reached out to a former Board member, who has extensive connections in DC, to see if there was some way to stop this from happening. We spent several days trying to understand if this was a bluff and/or if there were some way to forestall thelooming threat to UVA and to me. In the meantime, Paul Manning reached out directly to the DOJ lawyers to make sure he was not missing anything, and he said that they told him that if I didn’t resign, they would “bleed UVA white.”
November 14, 2025 at 4:44 PM
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kleinman.bsky.social
And there need to be hearings on what Youngkin did with the DOJ. Get that tall shitass under oath.
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
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jamellebouie.net
youngkin serving the commonwealth by conspiring with the white house to destroy one of its flagship educational institutions
kleinman.bsky.social Bobby Big Wheel @kleinman.bsky.social · 1d
And there need to be hearings on what Youngkin did with the DOJ. Get that tall shitass under oath.
November 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
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joefore.bsky.social
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.

It's a surreal--and troubling--read.

drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM