NAACP Denounces Trump Administration’s DEI Probe of GMU

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

Another Virginia college president has come under fire from the Trump Administration allegedly related to the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.

According to news reports, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced its investigation of George Mason University on July 1 for allegedly violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. George Mason University, located in Northern Virginia, is headed by Dr. Gregory Washington, who became the school’s first Black president on July 1, 2020.

The investigation is in response to a complaint filed by GMU professors who allege the university’s personnel decisions are skewed to favor some racial groups over others.

The federal investigation came on the heels of the recent University of Virginia investigation, which led to the resignation of its president. Also, a July 2 editorial in The City Journal, a conservative public policy magazine, accused Washington, the university’s first Black president and a first-generation college graduate, of backing “racially discriminatory DEI programs.”

Virginia NAACP President Rev. Cozy Bailey said in a recent statement posted on the organization’s website, “This latest witch hunt against President Washington is a blatant attempt to intimidate those who champion diversity. We will not allow the progress we have achieved to be dismantled by political opportunism.”

Bailey continued, “Our universities must remain bastions of inclusion, not retreat from it. President Washington should not be targeted for his commitment to fostering an inclusive academic environment. The Virginia NAACP stands firmly against these politically motivated assaults that threaten the core values of equity and justice that our institutions should uphold.”

The July 2 editorial in the City Journal stated, “The presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell, among others, have come under fire or been forced out in recent years for failures of leadership on campus anti-Semitism and racially discriminatory DEI programs. Yet Gregory Washington, the president of George Mason University, has managed to keep his job despite similar failures. Mason may not be an Ivy League school, but anti-Semitism and discrimination are problems at non elite public universities, too. Washington’s track record warrants his resignation or dismissal.”

The City Journal editorial was headlined “George Mason University’s Disastrous President.”

Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights wrote later in a press statement, “This kind of pernicious and wide-spread discrimination – packaged as ‘anti-racism’ – was allowed to flourish under the Biden Administration, but it will not be tolerated by this one.”

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According to ProPublica, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights notified George Mason University on July 1 that it was opening an antisemitism investigation based on a recent complaint.

But, Washington, told ProPublica in a July 11 interview that he was “perplexed … It seems like this is orchestrated,” Washington told ProPublica. Washington said he finds the timing of the attacks against him and his university troubling.

“Given that the Office for Civil Rights doesn’t publicly announce who is under investigation, we were wondering how these conservative outlets even got the information in the first place,” Washington told ProPublica. The “almost hateful discussions of me” in the City Journal article looked like “a concerted effort to try to paint the institution in a negative light.”

GMU issued its response to the federal investigation on July 14. It wrote: “George Mason University (GMU) received a new Department of Education letter of investigation this morning, as it was simultaneously released to news outlets, which is unprecedented in our experience. As always, we will work in good faith to give a full and prompt response. George Mason University again affirms its commitment to comply with all federal and state mandates. The university consistently reviews its policies and practices to ensure compliance with federal laws, updated executive orders, and ongoing agency directives.”

The university added that “George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.”

The NAACP Virginia State Conference issued its statement on July 11 when the GMU investigation was announced just four days after University of Virginia President James E. Ryan announced that he was resigning to help settle a federal probe into the university’s DEI commitments.

After Ryan resigned on June 27, 2025, more than 400 concerned faculty signed a July 10 letter that appeared in the Cavalier Daily, the University of Virginia’s campus newspaper.

The signed letter urged the Board of Visitors “to collaborate closely with faculty in appointing an Interim President to guide the university through this perilous time” and “to provide a full, clear, and credible account of the circumstances leading to President Ryan’s forced resignation.”

Following Ryan’s resignation, top Democrats in the Virginia Assembly warned in particular about choosing former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, or any other candidate without a higher education background as the president of the University of Virginia.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax said, “I think they should be careful about who they pick as an interim.”

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“Anybody who would be viewed as an excessively partisan actor I think would be a big mistake,” Surovell said.

George Mason University was founded in 1957 in Fairfax County, Va., as an extension center to serve mid-career working professionals and non-traditional students living near Washington, D.C. The university also includes the Prince William Institute (1997) in Prince William county and a campus in Arlington (1979), where the School of Law is located. About 100 degree programs at the undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, and professional levels are offered. Total enrollment is about 22,000.

The percentage of white students is 34.98 percent and the percentage of Black students is 11.38 percent at George Mason University. Asian students comprise 19.48 percent of all enrolled students. In 2017, George Mason University was named one of the nation’s best universities for graduating Black students at the same rate as white students, according to news reports.