The President of George Mason University will not be apologizing for implementing diversity initiatives on campus after he was hired in 2020, according to his lawyer. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said Gregory Washington violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as he engaged in race-based hiring. In a news release published on Friday, OCR demanded he apologize for supporting diversity efforts.
Why is OCR saying Gregory Washington participated in discriminatory hiring practices?
Washington stepped into his role at George Mason in 2020. He launched a Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence to look into potential racial bias within the university’s policies and hiring procedures. GMU’s President is also the first Black person to hold the position at the institution. He previously served as the dean of the engineering school at the University of California at Irvine, where he was seen as a “proven leader in both faculty recruitment and enrollment, having hired one of the most diverse engineering faculty cohorts in the country,” according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
In early August, the Justice Department launched two investigations into GMU’s alleged discrimination based on race and gender. It said it would look into whether the university had illegally discriminated against white male faculty and applicants.
“In 2020, University President Gregory Washington called for expunging the so-called ‘racist vestiges’ from GMU’s campus,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said last week, according to The Independent. “Without a hint of self-awareness, President Washington then waged a university-wide campaign to implement unlawful DEI policies that intentionally discriminate on the basis of race. You can’t make this up.”
OCR gave the university a 10-day deadline to revise policies, train employees annually and assign someone to ensure compliance. It said these changes would remove “any provisions that require or encourage the use of race to favor or disfavor any candidate.” OCR also asked Washington to apologize for partaking in DEI policies at the university.
Gregory Washington’s lawyer says the investigation is incomplete
Washington’s lawyer, Douglas F. Gansle,r rejected the claims made by OCR, saying that the investigation hadn’t been thoroughly completed and that an overwhelming majority of student applicants are admitted into the university.
“It is glaringly apparent that the OCR investigation process has been cut short, and ‘findings’ have been made in spite of a very incomplete fact-finding process, including only two interviews with university academic deans,” Gansler wrote, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. “For OCR to single out GMU for alleged discriminatory conduct — when it admits more than 90% of its student applicants, has no record of selectively denying faculty opportunities, and in fact boasts a faculty community nationally respected for its viewpoint diversity — borders on the absurd.”
Gansler also wrote that OCR’s claims contain “gross mischaracterizations of statements made by Dr. Washington and outright omission,” according to The Independent.
“To be clear, per OCR’s own findings, no job applicant has been discriminated against by GMU, nor has OCR attempted to name someone who has been discriminated against by GMU in any context. Therefore, it is a legal fiction for OCR to even assert or claim that there has been a Title VI or Title IX violation here,” he added.
Gregory Washington is refusing to apologize and instead points to his compliance with the government’s anti-DEI policies
Gansler said that several diversity programs and at least 17 positions associated with DEI have been cut since President Donald Trump took office.
“Well before the federal government turned its attention to GMU, the university, under Dr. Washington and the Board’s leadership, undertook a robust effort to stay ahead of the curve and make many of the changes now being demanded of universities,” he wrote, per The Independent.
Gansler noted that an apology would undermine Washington’s record of compliance and make his liable for conduct that did not occur.
“If the Board entertains OCR’s demand that Dr. Washington personally apologize for promoting unlawful discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion, and tenure processes, it will undermine GMU’s record of compliance,” Gansler wrote. “An apology will amount to an admission that the university did something unlawful, opening GMU and the Board up to legal liability for conduct that did not occur under the Board’s watch.”