The Trump administration turned up the heat Friday on George Mason University, Virginia’s largest public school, accusing its president of unlawfully promoting diversity in hiring and promotions.
The Education Department notified George Mason that a federal civil rights investigation had found the university had acted unlawfully. It demanded a public apology from the president, Gregory Washington, as well as other corrective actions, within 10 days.
The move comes as George Mason, known as one of the most diverse campuses in the country, is also under investigation by the Justice Department for policies that focused on promoting diversity in hiring, as well as for not doing enough to combat antisemitism. In addition to those two Justice Department investigations, another Education Department investigation of the campus, on antisemitism, is pending.
Dr. Washington, the first Black president of the university, was hired in 2020 from the University of California, Irvine. There, he served as dean of the engineering school and was known for promoting diversity initiatives.
He took office at George Mason, which is in the suburbs of Washington, around the same time the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining force across the country. Dr. Washington started an antiracism task force and began working to hire more diverse faculty members.
In a news release Friday, the Education Department said it had found that Dr. Washington and his leadership team had given preferential treatment to new hires and existing faculty from “underrepresented” groups to advance an agenda of “antiracism,” which it said was unlawful. In some cases, the agency said, the university’s leadership had reserved the right to waive competitive hiring processes to advance its goal of building a more diverse faculty.
Solon J. Simmons, a George Mason professor, said the government’s announcement and demand that Dr. Washington issue a public apology, which specified that it be “personal,” seemed unusual.
“It feels extremely personal to me, and about him,” said Dr. Simmons, who is president of the faculty senate at George Mason. “And I don’t understand why they’re making it so much about him and not the policy.”
Promoting diversity in hiring was viewed favorably during the Biden administration. But the Trump administration has shifted the government’s interpretation of civil rights law, reversing the traditional view that anti-discrimination provisions be used to protect and advance racial minorities.
At the same time, Dr. Washington had angered some Jewish students and faculty by permitting pro-Palestinian protests that used the chant “from the river to the sea,” a contested phrase that some see as calling for an end to the state of Israel.
But following notices of the antisemitism investigations, dozens of Jewish professors emerged in support of Dr. Washington’s leadership, signing a letter disputing claims that the school was not doing enough to address the issue.
The Education Department initiated its investigation of diversity hiring at George Mason last month based on what it said were complaints from professors. The findings released on Friday marked an unusual speedy conclusion in the case.
Dr. Washington was recently given a raise by George Mason’s board amid speculation that he might be fired.
Reacting to the Education Department’s findings, George Mason’s board issued a statement calling the determination “a serious matter” and vowing to review the findings.
Earlier in the summer, another university president, James E. Ryan, who led the University of Virginia, was forced to resign after he became the target of federal investigations involving his promotion of campus diversity.