The Department of Education announced on Friday that George Mason University (GMU) allegedly violated civil rights law by “illegally using race and other immutable characteristics in university practices and policies, including hiring and promotion.”
The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation into GMU in July after receiving complaints from several professors alleging that university leadership adopted DEI policies in 2020 to present, giving preferential treatment to potential and current faculty from “underrepresented groups” to advance “anti-racism,” the department said in a press release.
The Department of Education cited statements from GMU President Gregory Washington and school policies that appear to show support for racial preferencing. The department alleged that one high-level school administrator told OCR that Washington “created an atmosphere of surveillance pertaining to the University’s hiring decisions in relation to DEI objectives.”
“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,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement.
“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,” Trainor continued. “In the last seven months, this much is clear: The Trump-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.”
The OCR is giving GMU ten days to voluntarily resolve the alleged violations. As a part of the OCR’s proposed Resolution agreement, the department is requiring GMU’s president to personally apologize to the school’s community for promoting DEI policies.
The Department of Education noted that Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin as a condition of receiving federal funding.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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