Statue of George Mason on campus of George Mason College, Fairfax, Virginia.
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The Department of Education stated Thursday that it has opened an investigation into George Mason College’s hiring and promotion practices, the second federal probe of the Fairfax, Virginia, faculty launched up to now month.
The division’s Workplace for Civil Rights is investigating a criticism filed by GMU professors who alleged that the college’s personnel selections are skewed to favor some racial teams over others.
The division stated in an announcement that the alleged habits “creates a racially hostile atmosphere” and will violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
If the investigation concludes that the college did, in actual fact, violate school members’ civil rights, GMU might be vulnerable to dropping its federal funding.
George Mason is the second main Virginia public establishment to be focused by the Trump administration in latest weeks.
Jim Ryan, the longtime president of the College of Virginia, stepped down in June after UVA was the goal of a federal investigation into its DEI insurance policies, and the Justice Division referred to as for Ryan’s resignation.
College of Virginia President Jim Ryan speaks throughout a memorial service on November 19, 2022 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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In accordance with the George Mason criticism, a number of professors alleged that the college has given “preferential remedy” to individuals from “underrepresented teams” beginning in 2020.
This was the identical 12 months that college president Gregory Washington began his tenure as GMU’s first Black president.
“The Trump-McMahon Training Division’s Workplace for Civil Rights will examine this matter totally to make sure that people are judged based mostly on their advantage and accomplishment, not the colour of their pores and skin,” stated Craig Trainor, the appearing assistant secretary for civil rights on the division, in an announcement.
The Division of Training highlighted 5 central allegations outlined within the criticism. They embrace a declare that the college has “Fairness Advisors” centered on fairness in recruitment, and that GMU has a Process Pressure on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence.
The criticism additionally alleges that Washington offered steering to college {that a} potential candidate who surpassed sure necessities for a place could be employed based mostly on his or her “range… even when that candidate might not have higher credentials than the opposite candidate,” in response to the training division.
George Mason says it solely acquired discover of the investigation Thursday, on the identical time that information organizations did.
“George Mason College once more affirms its dedication to adjust to all federal and state mandates,” the college stated in an announcement. “The college constantly evaluations its insurance policies and practices to make sure compliance with federal legal guidelines, up to date government orders, and on-going company directives.”
In March, following a directive from President Donald Trump to comply with federal DEI policies, Washington announced the college was renaming its DEI workplace the “Workplace of Entry, Compliance, and Group.”
“I’m happy to verify that, after an preliminary evaluation of our insurance policies and practices, George Mason meets all of those federal mandates,” Washington wrote on the time, including that the evaluation discovered “no proof” of any discriminatory practices.
Thursday’s probe marks the second this month for GMU, which was notified final week by the OCR that it was being investigated for allegedly failing to “reply successfully to a pervasively hostile atmosphere” for Jewish group members.
That investigation mirrors related ones launched into Harvard University and Columbia University, amid an intensifying Trump assault on larger training.
A number of the faculties which were focused by the Trump administration, such because the College of California, Berkeley, have lengthy traditions of nurturing progressive concepts and fostering a various, inclusive campus.
However George Mason shouldn’t be certainly one of these faculties.
In 2016, its regulation faculty was named after the late Supreme Courtroom Justice Antonin Scalia after politically conservative donors gave tens of millions of dollars for the naming rights.
It has additionally received millions of dollars in donations from foundations affiliated with, and funded by, Charles H. Koch, the reclusive billionaire identified for bankrolling conservative suppose tanks and libertarian causes.