Kenyon Bonner, the University of Virginia's vice president and chief student affairs officer, used a May 2026 commencement ceremony to trash the man who literally founded the university. Bonner told graduates that Thomas Jefferson's "ethically corrosive claims about human capacity reflected his ignorance and his hubris." At Jefferson's university. During a ceremony that was supposed to be about the students.

You had one job, Kenyon. Congratulate the kids. Tell them the future is bright. Maybe throw in a quote about hard work. Instead, you hijacked the whole thing to lecture everyone about how terrible your employer's founder was. Bravo.

Bonner — who is himself a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, which is ironic on a level that writes itself — declared that Jefferson held "more than 600 in bondage during his 86 years of life" and that "ignorance precedes injustice." The remarks were supposed to be part of an inspiring send-off for graduates. Instead, they turned into a political grievance session that had nothing to do with the diplomas being handed out.

You can watch Bonner's speech here...

Thomas Neale, a UVA history graduate and president emeritus and co-founder of the Jefferson Council, wasn't having it. Neale fired off an email to Bonner on May 17 that didn't mince words: "Given that you seem to harbor such vile feelings about Mr. Jefferson, you should resign. Immediately. Or be fired."

That's the energy we need more of.

Neale pointed out the obvious — that Bonner's speech should have been "apolitical and uplifting." Instead, as Neale wrote, "Rather than extol the benefits of a UVA education and provide the graduates advice on how to utilize their lessons learned to lead a successful life, you chose the occasion to excoriate our founder, Thomas Jefferson."

Neale followed up on May 28 with an email to the UVA Board of Visitors. He's also launched a petition calling for public disciplinary action against Bonner, which had gathered 238 signatures as of June 10. The petition demands that UVA President Scott Beardsley and the Board address Bonner's "ignorant and historically intemperate remarks."

And how has UVA responded? About how you'd expect. UVA spokesperson Bethanie Glover replied that "the University's commitment to the free and collegial exchange of ideas applies to major events and speeches." Translation: we're not going to do anything.

Bonner himself? He didn't respond to requests for comment. Shocking. Only one Board member even replied to Neale's email, and that response cited free speech concerns. Because apparently "free speech" means a university administrator can use a captive audience of graduates and their families as a platform for his personal political views.

Neale also noted that this isn't new. UVA has been on a mission to "contextualize" Jefferson's statue on campus since 2020. He's been pushing back for six years, writing to former UVA President Jim Ryan about the same pattern of institutional hostility toward the university's own founder.

Here's the thing that kills me. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. He founded the University of Virginia. Neale made the perfect point — if Jefferson's character were truly as deficient as Bonner claims, why would the other Founding Fathers, including Washington, Adams, Monroe, Madison, and Franklin, have chosen him to write the document that launched a nation?

But none of that matters to people like Bonner. The whole point is to tear down, not to build up. And doing it at a graduation ceremony — a day that's supposed to celebrate achievement — tells you everything you need to know about where these people's priorities are.

They can't even let the kids have their day.