Overview

• The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights found on Aug. 22 that GMU violated Title VI through race-based hiring and promotion practices and gave 10 days for a remedy that included a personal apology, policy revisions, and compliance measures.
• President Gregory Washington, through attorney Douglas Gansler, repudiated the findings as legally unsound and refused to issue the demanded apology, warning such a statement could create legal exposure.
• GMU’s Board of Visitors stated it wants to negotiate a resolution with the administration and retained Torridon Law, co-founded by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, to represent the board.
• Federal scrutiny intensified over the summer as the Education and Justice departments opened at least four investigations into the university’s DEI, hiring, promotions, and related practices.
• Virginia Senate Democrats blocked multiple gubernatorial appointees to the board, leaving it without a quorum and complicating governance as roughly $200 million in federal funding could be at risk.