2 Historians Quit UVa Center Over Appointment of Former Trump Administration Official

Two historians said on Monday that they have resigned from the University of Virginia’s public-policy center to oppose the appointment of a former top official in the Trump administration, a decision they say shows an “appalling indifference to the civility of our own city and university.”

 Marc Short, who was the White House legislative-affairs director, was appointed to a yearlong senior fellowship at the Miller Center, a nonpartisan affiliate of the university that specializes in political history, presidential history, and public policy. Short was also invited to be a guest lecturer.

The decision provoked widespread protest when it became public. Many faculty members have objected, including the history professors Melvyn P. Leffler and William I. Hitchcock, who left the center.

In response, William J. Antholis, the center’s director, has maintained that Short brings valuable expertise to the work of understanding the Trump presidency.

In their joint resignation letter, the historians said Short has long been “a partisan activist.” Recently, they wrote, he has associated himself with “rhetoric and policies that have empowered and emboldened white supremacists and that have led to spectacular increases in racist and misogynistic talk and behavior.”