Gregory Washington, George Mason University’s first Black president, will not be apologizing over diversity initiatives he’s pursued since his hiring in 2020, according to a 10-page letter delivered to the university’s Board of Visitors on Monday.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) last week concluded that Washington and the university engaged in unlawful race-based hiring and violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. As part of a proposed resolution agreement, OCR demanded that Washington personally apologize to the university community over diversity efforts he oversaw and supported.
That’s not going to happen, his lawyer, Douglas F. Gansler, made clear in Monday’s letter, which was obtained by The Chronicle.
“It is glaringly apparent that the OCR investigation process has been cut short, and ‘findings’ have been made in spite of a very incomplete fact-finding process, including only two interviews with university academic deans,” Gansler wrote. Gansler is a former attorney general of Maryland who defends clients facing government investigation.
The letter accused the government of making “gross mischaracterizations” of statements made by Washington about efforts to create a more welcoming climate and racially balanced faculty at the state’s most racially diverse public university.
“For OCR to single out GMU for alleged discriminatory conduct — when it admits more than 90% of its student applicants, has no record of selectively denying faculty opportunities, and in fact boasts a faculty community nationally respected for its viewpoint diversity — borders on the absurd,” Gansler wrote.
George Mason’s Board of Visitors did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is expected to call a meeting this week.
The letter from Gansler also emphasized that Washington was not directly involved in the evaluation of faculty candidates.
OCR last week gave George Mason leaders 10 days to agree to revise policies, train employees annually, and assign someone to ensure compliance. Its proposed resolution agreement would require the university to review its hiring practices and policies to remove “any provisions that require or encourage the use of race to favor or disfavor any candidate.”
Washington apologizing to the Mason community for promoting unlawful discriminatory hiring practices “would be falsely admitting to conduct that did not occur and would open GMU to further legal risk in concurrent and future investigations by other agencies,” the letter stated.
James H. Finkelstein, a professor emeritus of public policy at George Mason, had also strongly urged the president not to apologize.
“What the government is really wanting to do here is to humiliate the president, and not only that, but expose him, and the university, to future legal action not only by the government but also potentially thousands of people who have applied for positions at George Mason since 2020,” Finkelstein said. If a white male applicant was passed over for a position that went to a minority or female candidate, “would they have a claim?”
That’s the kind of legal dilemma that puts the president, Finkelstein said, in “an untenable position.”
Earlier this month, the Justice Department initiated two similar investigations into the university for alleged race- and gender-based discrimination in hiring and admissions. The Justice Department in a letter said that it would investigate whether Washington’s policies violated Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act by illegally discriminating against white male faculty and job applicants.
At a time when other college leaders have remained silent to dodge the Trump administration’s attention, Washington has routinely vigorously defended his diversity efforts, claiming that his policies as president did not discriminate against anyone. He has refused to resign. At a recent board meeting, Washington received a pay raise.
Outside observers said that an apology from Washington would have dire implications for higher education’s leaders.
Royel M. Johnson, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California and a director with its Race and Equity Center, applauded Washington’s refusal. An apology, he said, could be seen as an agreement with the Trump administration’s framing that all race-conscious initiatives are discriminatory.
“There’s a really interesting irony, in that Washington, who is Mason’s first Black president, is being asked to apologize for championing diversity mechanisms that have long been recognized as viable tools for pursuing equity,” he said. “There’s something racially symbolic about how Black leaders are penalized for pursuing equity and presumed to be acting out of ideology rather than justice.”
Khalil Gibran Mohammad, a professor of African American studies and public affairs at Princeton University, likened the government’s attack on Washington to that on Claudine Gay, Harvard University’s first Black president. Gay, who resigned from Harvard in 2023 amid plagiarism allegations, was also criticized for her support of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“I don’t think it’s a stretch to see this demand for an apology as a particular effort to humiliate a Black president,” Mohammad said.
Mohammad added that Washington’s defiance could encourage a sector that has struggled to find defensive footing against the Trump administration’s attacks on diversity initiatives.
“Any show of resistance to the administration’s illegal actions,” he said, “give some hope and inspiration to other university leaders.”
Dan Morenoff, executive director of the American Civil Rights Project and adjunct fellow at the conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute, said that he wasn’t surprised that Washington did not agree to publish an apology. “I hope for the school’s sake that it is because he is trying to negotiate a better resolution,” he said.
Morenoff said the best route for the university would be to engage with the department and broaden the discussion.
“They may not want to do that, but it would strike me as a better approach for a university or official to take if they found themselves in this position where their problem is not otherwise going away,” Morenoff said. Despite Washington’s statements to the contrary, he said, “they’ve been violating one or both of these laws for years.”
President Washington’s Defense (PDF)
