Cases & Developments

The Department of Justice (the Department) opened an investigation into George Mason University (the University) to assess whether its faculty hiring and promotion practices violate Title VII. The Department is investigating whether race and sex have been “motivating factors” in hiring decisions, citing internal communications from the University’s President that date back to 2020-2022 in which he promoted diversity in hiring and expressed institutional commitments to racial equity. The president addressed the investigation in a letter to the University community, stating that his past comments came as responses to the national reckoning on racial justice that followed the murder of George Floyd, and further articulated that at the time of his statements, the University was operating under the “One Virginia Plan”—an initiative, which remains in effect through the end of 2025, that required all state agencies to develop strategic plans to promote inclusivity in hiring, compensation, and operations.  

U.S. Department of Education has announced a Title VI investigation into George Mason University after multiple professors at the University filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) alleging that the University illegally used race-based hiring and promotion practices from 2020 through the present. The complaint alleged that the University created a racially hostile environment in violation of Title VI by way of several policies and practices that constituted racial discrimination, including the University’s DEI policies, the presence of “Equity Advisors,” the use of race-conscious promotion criteria, and the creation of diversity hiring directives. Additionally, the complaint makes note of a campus-wide email sent by the University president in March 2025 announcing the renaming of the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” office and stating that no University policy changes were needed to comply with civil rights laws.