By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced George Mason University violated federal law by hiring and promoting staff based on race and other characteristics.

In July, OCR launched an investigation into GMU due to multiple complaints filed by professors alleging that university leadership had adopted unlawful diversity, equity and inclusion policies from 2020 that give preferential treatment to prospective and current faculty, the department said in a press release.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding. Institutions that are found in violation of Title VI can lose federal funds.”

OCR notified GMU President Gregory Washington that under his leadership, the Fairfax, Virginia-based university violated Title VI by supporting DEI practices and policies.

“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,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “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.”

OCR has issued a proposed Resolution Agreement to GMU to resolve the civil rights laws violations.

The department’s agreement requires GMU to publicly commit to nondiscrimination in hiring and promotion, including a personal apology from the president for promoting unlawful discriminatory practices.

The school’s Board of Visitors said Friday it was reviewing the steps outlined in the resolution and 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 board said in a statement on Friday. “Our sole focus is our fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of the University and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

But on Monday, Washington rejected the Department of Education’s demands.

In a 10-page letter to GMU’s board on Monday, Washington’s attorney, Douglas Gansler, alleged that OCR cut corners and only interviewed two university deans, Inside Higher Ed reports.

“To be clear, per OCR’s own findings, no job applicant has been discriminated against by GMU, nor has OCR attempted to name someone who has been discriminated against by GMU in any context. Therefore, it is a legal fiction for OCR to even assert or claim that there has been a Title VI or Title IX violation here,” Gansler wrote.

The university still has until Sept. 1 to comply.