What’s New
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has found that George Mason University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by adopting race-based hiring practices in the wake of the George Floyd protests that were discriminatory.
“In 2020, University President Gregory Washington called for expunging the so-called ‘racist vestiges’ from GMU’s campus,” Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for OCR, said in a letter announcing the finding on Friday. “Without a hint of self awareness, President Washington then waged a university-wide campaign to implement unlawful DEI policies that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race.”
In its findings, one administrator told the agency that Washington had created an “atmosphere of surveillance” in order to meet the university’s faculty-diversity goals.
OCR also cited a policy posted on the university’s website that allowed departments to bypass steps in the competitive search process — like posting a job opening publicly — “when there is an opportunity to hire a candidate who strategically advances the institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
As part of a proposed resolution agreement, OCR has requested that the university review its hiring practices and policies to comply with Title VI and remove “any provisions that require or encourage the use of race to favor or disfavor any candidate.”
It requested that Washington issue a widely shared personal apology for “promoting unlawful discriminatory practices,” and ordered that any contrary statements be deleted.
George Mason will have 10 days to decide whether to enter into the resolution agreement and resolve the findings of the investigation.
“We will continue to respond fully and cooperatively to all inquiries from the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the U.S. House of Representatives and evaluate the evidence that comes to light,” the university’s Board of Visitors wrote in a statement. “Our sole focus is our fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of the University and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
The Details
Washington, the university’s first Black president, joined the university shortly after the George Floyd protests in 2020. Board members, alumni, faculty, and students at the time were forcefully advocating for administrators to hire more faculty of color.
“The differences in ethnic diversity among our students as compared to our faculty are drastic,” Washington wrote in 2021.
George Mason is a federally designated minority-serving institution. Minority students made up more than half of George Mason’s student population in 2023, while faculty of color accounted for less than 30 percent.
OCR initiated its investigation on July 10 after receiving one complaint from multiple George Mason faculty members.
The Backdrop
The Education Department has also opened an investigation into alleged antisemitism on campus and the Justice Department launched two investigations regarding alleged race- and sex-based hiring and student admissions.
Washington previously maintained that the university has not violated federal antidiscrimination laws and that the Trump administration’s investigations are part of a larger attempt to get him fired.
George Mason faculty and students packed a Board of Visitors meeting last month to express their support for Washington. The board that day passed a resolution to end all race-conscious initiates at the university and gave Washington a pay raise.
The Justice Department has also targeted the George Mason Faculty Senate for praising Washington in a resolution issued last month for attempting to match faculty demographics to that of the student body. The agency has asked to review the Faculty Senate’s resolution and requested all communication between the senate and Washington.
