Statue of George Mason on campus of George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
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The Department of Education said Thursday that it has opened an investigation into George Mason University’s hiring and promotion practices, the second federal probe of the Fairfax, Virginia, school launched in the past month.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating a complaint filed by GMU professors who alleged that the university’s personnel decisions are skewed to favor some racial groups over others.
The department said in a statement that the alleged behavior “creates a racially hostile environment” and could violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
If the investigation concludes that the university did, in fact, violate faculty members’ civil rights, GMU could be at risk of losing its federal funding.
George Mason is the second major Virginia public institution to be targeted by the Trump administration in recent weeks.
Jim Ryan, the longtime president of the University of Virginia, stepped down in June after UVA was the target of a federal investigation into its DEI policies, and the Justice Department called for Ryan’s resignation.
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan speaks during a memorial service on November 19, 2022 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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According to the George Mason complaint, several professors alleged that the university has given “preferential treatment” to people from “underrepresented groups” starting in 2020.
This was the same year that university president Gregory Washington began his tenure as GMU’s first Black president.
“The Trump-McMahon Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights will investigate this matter fully to ensure that individuals are judged based on their merit and accomplishment, not the color of their skin,” said Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the department, in a statement.
The Department of Education highlighted five central allegations outlined in the complaint. They include a claim that the school has “Equity Advisors” focused on equity in recruitment, and that GMU has a Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence.
The complaint also alleges that Washington provided guidance to faculty that a prospective candidate who surpassed certain requirements for a position would be hired based on his or her “diversity… even if that candidate may not have better credentials than the other candidate,” according to the education department.
George Mason says it only received notice of the investigation Thursday, at the same time that news organizations did.
“George Mason University again affirms its commitment to comply with all federal and state mandates,” the school said in a statement. “The university consistently reviews its policies and practices to ensure compliance with federal laws, updated executive orders, and on-going agency directives.”
In March, following a directive from President Donald Trump to comply with federal DEI policies, Washington announced the university was renaming its DEI office the “Office of Access, Compliance, and Community.”
“I am pleased to confirm that, after an initial review of our policies and practices, George Mason meets all of these federal mandates,” Washington wrote at the time, adding that the review found “no evidence” of any discriminatory practices.
Thursday’s probe marks the second this month for GMU, which was notified last week by the OCR that it was being investigated for allegedly failing to “respond effectively to a pervasively hostile environment” for Jewish community members.
That investigation mirrors similar ones launched into Harvard University and Columbia University, amid an intensifying Trump attack on higher education.
Some of the schools that have been targeted by the Trump administration, such as the University of California, Berkeley, have long traditions of nurturing progressive ideas and fostering a diverse, inclusive campus.
But George Mason is not one of these schools.
In 2016, its law school was named after the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after politically conservative donors gave tens of millions of dollars for the naming rights.
It has also received millions of dollars in donations from foundations affiliated with, and funded by, Charles H. Koch, the reclusive billionaire known for bankrolling conservative think tanks and libertarian causes.
