The Education Department alleges that George Mason University factored race and other immutable characteristics into hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions since at least 2020. Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor linked the practices to actions after the murder of George Floyd, citing calls to expunge campus of "racist vestiges" and to intentionally discriminate on the basis of race. The department requires the university president to apologize and enter a Resolution Agreement with the Office for Civil Rights to resolve alleged violations of federal civil rights law. Federal investigations have examined potential Title VI violations and Faculty Senate actions, while the university's board retained and raised the president.
Gregory Washington, president of Virginia's George Mason University, must apologize to the university community for "promoting unlawful discriminatory practices" in order to resolve allegations that the institution violated civil rights law, the Department of Education announced Friday. The department claims that the university has illegally factored race and "other immutable characteristics" into hiring, promotion and tenure practices since at least 2020.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said the unlawful practices began shortly after the murder of George Floyd, when Washington called on faculty and administrators to expunge campus of "racist vestiges" by "intentionally discriminat[ing] on the basis of race." "You can't make this up," Trainor said in the 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."
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