George Mason University faces investigation in Trump administration's anti-DEI crackdown

Washington: The Trump administration on Thursday opened a civil rights investigation into the hiring practices at George Mason University, expanding a national campaign against diversity policies to Virginia's largest public university. The Education Department said it is responding to a complaint from multiple professors at George Mason who accuse the university of favouring those from underrepresented groups.

The complaint takes aim at the university's president, Gregory Washington, saying he issued guidance that favours faculty candidates based on diversity considerations rather than their credentials, according to the department. It marks an expansion of the Trump administration's campaign to reshape higher education, which until recently focused on elite private institutions like Harvard and Columbia universities.

George Mason is the second big public university to face scrutiny in recent weeks, following a Justice Department investigation at the University of Virginia that prompted the school's president, James Ryan, to resign. A statement from George Mason denied any allegations of discrimination and said the university “affirms its commitment to comply with all federal and state mandates.” The Trump administration has used civil rights law to fight DEI, saying diversity preferences amount to illegal discrimination against white and Asian American people.

Trump administration: Ending DEI

On his second day in office, Trump signed an action demanding an end to DEI at all universities that receive federal money. George Mason responded to federal orders by renaming its DEI office in March, but it concluded that its policies were already in line with federal law. The complaint to the Education Department said the school did nothing to change campus hiring and promotion policies that favored those from minority groups, the department said. The complaint said George Mason had a policy to include an “equity adviser” in every academic department to help recruit faculty.

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The university also created an “anti-racism” task force whose work included “diversity cluster hire initiatives," according to the agency. It also accuses Washington of issuing guidance allowing faculty and staff to be hired based partially on their diversity “even if that candidate may not have better credentials than the other candidate.”

Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, said “it appears” that George Mason's hiring and promotion policies “not only allow but champion illegal racial preferencing.” George Mason has built a reputation as a conservative powerhouse, especially in law and economics.

But it has also been the subject of conservative criticism over its DEI initiatives . A 2023 report by the Heritage Foundation found that George Mason was “bloated” with high numbers of DEI officials and had “radical content” on its websites. Washington disputed the report and its methodology.

The University of Virginia was also called out in the report, and its president more recently faced criticism from conservative groups that said he was too slow to end DEI initiatives on the Charlottesville campus. Among those leveling complaints were America First Legal, a conservative group founded by Trump aide Stephen Miller.