The July 25 letter from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon to GMU's Board of Visitors represents the fifth federal inquiry into Virginia's largest public university in as many weeks, targeting what critics describe as routine faculty business: expressing confidence in university leadership.
"This is not enforcement—it is intimidation," said Dr. Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), in a strongly worded statement condemning the federal probe. "If the Department of Justice can investigate faculty governance bodies for citing a university's own strategic plan, then no campus in America is safe."
The DOJ letter singles out a phrase from the Faculty Senate resolution that referenced a 2022 university goal to achieve "faculty and staff demographics that mirror student demographics." According to the Justice Department, this statement suggests the faculty is "praising President Washington for engaging in race- or sex-motivated hiring decisions."
However, faculty leaders and the AAUP argue the department has mischaracterized the resolution. The phrase appears in a "whereas" clause—a contextual preamble that cites existing university policy rather than advocating for new practices. The language comes directly from GMU's strategic plan, which was approved unanimously by the Board of Visitors.
The investigation comes amid mounting pressure on Dr. Gregory Washington, GMU's first Black president, who has faced four other federal probes related to the university's diversity, equity and inclusion policies and alleged failures to combat campus antisemitism. The timing has raised concerns among faculty and administrators that the investigations represent a coordinated effort to remove Washington from his position.
"We believe these investigations are nothing more than a thin pretext to attack and remove current GMU President Gregory Washington," the George Mason chapter of the AAUP stated, calling on supporters to attend Friday's Board of Visitors meeting where Washington's annual review is scheduled.
