The Trump administration launched an investigation into George Mason last month. On Friday, it told the university that its president, Gregory Washington, had violated the law “by illegally using race and other immutable characteristics in university practices and policies, including hiring and promotion.”
In a proposed resolution agreement, Washington was asked to issue an apology, revise the school’s policies, and conduct anti-DEI trainings. Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor outlined Washington’s violations in a notice to the school.
“In 2020, University President Gregory Washington called for expunging the so-called ‘racist vestiges’ from GMU’s campus. 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. You can’t make this up,” he said.
Trainor then extended an olive branch to the school, saying it could put that chapter behind it.
“Despite this unfortunate chapter in Mason’s history, the University now has the opportunity to come into compliance with federal civil rights laws by entering into a Resolution Agreement with the Office for Civil Rights. In the last seven months, this much is clear: The Trump-[Education Secretary Linda] McMahon Department of Education will not allow racially exclusionary practices—which violate the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Protection Clause, and Supreme Court precedent—to continue corrupting our nation’s educational institutions,” he said.
The quick resolution of the investigation and slap-on-the-wrist punishment took some by surprise. Solon Simmons, president of George Mason’s Faculty Senate, told the outlet that the punishment doesn’t seem satisfactory to remedy what is being alleged.
“Why would you demand an apology? It isn’t a remedy for the supposed harm of people who didn’t get a job,” Simmons said, adding that the agreement “doesn’t substantively change anything.”
The school had already eliminated most of its DEI policies after Trump began cracking down on discrimination in higher education, he alleged.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY OVER RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
The Trump administration alleged in July that Washington had practiced “pernicious and widespread discrimination” through the school’s DEI policies.
“This kind of pernicious and widespread discrimination, packaged as ‘anti-racism,’ was allowed to flourish under the Biden administration, but will not be tolerated by this one,” Trainor said in a July press release.
