'Cowards': University draws boycott calls after agreeing to Trump's 'shakedown'
President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Marine One to depart for Quantico, Virginia, from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

Shocked reactions flooded in on Wednesday after a major university announced a deal with the Trump administration in what a college professor called "another shakedown."

The University of Virginia made a deal with the Trump administration to cease investigations — at least for now — after facing threats of a federal investigation over accusations of civil rights violations.

Social media users had reactions to the DOJ announcement:

"Another shakedown by these fascist goons," SUNY Oswego professor Dan Baldassarre wrote on X.

"What a bunch of cowards," former radio journalist Greg Hernandez wrote on Bluesky.

"Add the University of Virginia to the list willingly succumbing to Fascism," Joan Resnick Ehrlich wrote on Bluesky.

Several users voiced calls to avoid or boycott the university.

"Do not attend the University of Virginia. Any university that bends the knee doesn’t deserve your attendance," one wrote on Bluesky.

"Avoid the University of Virginia at all costs," another wrote on Bluesky.

"Now the University of Virginia has to live with their mediocrity in bowing down to Trump's authoritarianism," another person wrote on Bluesky.