The next meeting of George Mason University’s Board of Visitors could be among the most heavily scrutinized in the Northern Virginia school’s 53-year history.
In addition to revisiting an anti-diversity-programs resolution that was tabled in May, the board is scheduled “to discuss the performance goals” of GMU President Gregory Washington during a closed session at its annual meeting tomorrow morning (Friday).
Though the meeting agenda doesn’t include further details on the closed session, Mason students, faculty and supporters fear there may be a vote to oust Washington after the Trump administration opened a series of investigations into him and the university earlier this month, alleging complaints about antisemitism and racial discrimination.
“Friday’s Board meeting is starting to feel like high noon at the O.K. Corral,” said Tim Gibson, a Mason communications professor and vice president of the George Mason University chapter of the American Association of University Professors (GMU-AAUP).
The GMU chapter of the AAUP, a national organization representing college and university faculty members, is organizing a “Day of Action” to rally support for Washington in response to the federal investigations, which it argues represent “escalating political interference” at odds with the values of inclusion, academic freedom and institutional independence that are crucial to Mason’s success.
GMU-AAUP plans to pack the board meeting, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Merten Hall (4441 George Mason Blvd) on Mason’s Fairfax campus. Expected speakers at a community assembly and press conference following the meeting include Virginia NAACP President Rev. Cozy Bailey, state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37), Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read and former Board of Visitors chair James Hazel.
Salim and Read are Mason alumni in addition to representing Fairfax City, which borders the university’s main campus.
“This is when the Board will face a simple decision,” Gibson continued in a press release. “Will you stand up for Mason? Will you stand by Mason President Gregory Washington, a true leader with a strong record of success? Or will you side with the political forces attacking the university and its proud tradition of diversity and inclusion?”
In its most recent statement, released on July 25, the GMU Board of Visitors said it’s “cooperating fully with the Departments of Education and Justice.”
“Like other leading universities, we have, through the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, engaged outside legal counsel with experience and expertise in navigating these issues,” the board said. “These attorneys are in communication with the Board, University leadership and the U.S. Government to ensure complete, transparent and timely compliance with all requests.”
Torridon Law, the firm hired by the board, counts multiple members of the first Trump administration among its staff, including founder and former U.S. attorney general William Barr, former CIA director Mike Pompeo and former energy secretary Dan Brouillette. It hasn’t responded to requests for comment.
Controversy weighs on faculty ahead of fall semester
The U.S. justice and education departments have now launched five separate civil rights investigations targeting GMU.
The first one, started on July 1 by the Department of Education, is based on a reported complaint about a hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty. Three others are scrutinizing policies and initiatives intended to promote diversity in hiring and admissions, arguing that they could amount to racial discrimination.
Most recently, the Justice Department’s civil rights division notified Board of Visitors Rector Charles Stimson last Friday (July 25) that it’s investigating the faculty senate for passing a resolution on July 24 in support of Washington’s leadership and efforts to advance diversity.
According to the New York Times report, the DOJ took particular issue with a reference to Mason seeking “faculty and staff demographics that mirror student demographics.” That language came directly from the university’s most recent five-year strategic plan, which was approved by the Board of Visitors on Dec. 1, 2022 and highlights its status as the “most diverse and accessible public university in Virginia.”
As the state’s largest public university, GMU has more than 40,000 students who come from all 50 states and 130 different countries, accepting nearly 90% of undergraduate applicants. Though white students are a minority at the university, white people make up nearly two-thirds of the full-time instructional faculty, according to GMU-AAUP.
GMU Faculty Senate President Solon Simmons describes the DOJ’s letter as “very surprising” to members, who participate voluntarily on the primary faculty advisory body to GMU’s administration.
A sociology professor and director of GMU’s Narrative Transformation Lab, which is based at its Arlington campus, Simmons says the senate has generally refrained from commenting on the federal investigations, since they don’t know the sources of the complaints or the status of the cases.
However, worried they might see a repeat of University of Virginia (UVA) president Jim Ryan’s resignation in late June, which came under pressure from the Trump administration and UVA Board of Visitors, faculty senate leaders decided to “take a proactive stance and make clear that by all appearances, Mason was in great shape,” Simmons told FFXnow.
The senate gathered to discuss an initially proposed resolution in a special meeting on July 24, but some members felt it didn’t take a strong-enough stance. The final approved resolution added explicit references to the federal investigations, calling for the Board of Visitors to “provide the strongest defense possible” of Washington and other university leaders and to “not give in to political pressures to issue penalties” without due process.
As the current “tumultuous” month draws to a close, Simmons says the mood among fellow faculty members “is as if there has been a death in the family.”
“Things just feel off, and the people I talk to are both sad and supportive of one another at the same time,” he said. “Mason has long been a very inclusive community and it is important to us that everyone feels like they belong. This sequence of investigations feels like it is intended to divide us, and it weighs on everyone I talk to, even if they are ever more committed than ever to making Mason a great place to work and learn.”
Gibson expressed confidence that faculty members will still be ready and eager to welcome students back for the fall semester, which will begin classes on Aug 25, though they “may be more stressed and anxious than normal.”
Reactions to the ongoing controversy will likely vary among students, given their diverse backgrounds and points of view, Simmons noted, but he expects tensions to “become even more pointed” if the board opts to remove Washington, who is generally popular among faculty, staff and students.
“If anything, the students I have heard from are critical of him for not standing up enough for diversity and minority rights, not for doing it too much,” Simmons said. “I would not be surprised if his ouster would produce some serious discontent in the student body. Needless to say, the majority of the faculty leadership hopes that Washington will not be removed on Friday. The place is doing well, and we all just want to do our jobs.”
Alumni, community leaders organize petition
Concern about the future of Mason’s leadership has extended beyond the university campus to encompass a growing coalition of alumni, elected officials, and business and community leaders, including the Virginia AAUP, the GMU Alumni Association, the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), and the Northern Virginia, Loudoun County and Prince William chambers of commerce.
Launched on July 23, the “Stand with Mason” campaign is encouraging supporters to attend the Board of Visitors meeting and sign a letter supporting Washington. The letter had 2,544 signatures, as of noon yesterday (Wednesday).
In a shared statement, NVTC and the chambers of commerce highlighted Mason’s importance to the region’s economy and workforce. More than 80% of graduates remain in the D.C. area, with 60,905 alumni living in Fairfax County alone, and the university’s small business and entrepreneur programs have generated an estimated $1.6 billion for Virginia, according to its Office of Government and Community Relations.
“It is critical to maintain and accelerate the positive momentum of a key regional and Commonwealth asset, one that is fueling the Northern Virginia talent pipeline,” the business groups said. “The current times in our region require an accelerated partnership between Mason and private industry.”
In making its case, Stand with Mason also notes that the university is “ideologically diverse,” with institutions ranging from the liberal-leaning Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution to the conservative, Federalist Society-supported Antonin Scalia School of Law and libertarian Mercatus Center.
However, the response to the Trump administration’s investigations from elected officials has largely broken down along partisan lines, with Democrats decrying them as attacks on Virginia’s higher education institutions and Republicans countering that they will provide necessary oversight and accountability.
Fairfax County Supervisor Walkinshaw, whose Braddock District includes George Mason’s Fairfax campus, lauded the university as “a beacon of academic freedom and engine of economic opportunity that is key to our region’s economic success” in a statement to FFXnow.
“The Department of Justice’s bogus investigations into GMU are part of a concerted attack by the White House and the Youngkin administration. It’s disgraceful that not only is the DOJ unfairly attacking GMU leadership, they are now investigating faculty just for expressing support for President Gregory Washington.
“President Washington has made incredible progress, helping to make GMU the thriving institution it is today. I stand with the thousands of GMU students, faculty, and alumni across the political spectrum who see this shameful attack for what it is – an attempt to silence anyone who wants our educational institutions to be open and welcoming places for people of all backgrounds and viewpoints.
I stand with Mason.”
Walkinshaw is currently vying for election to his late mentor Gerry Connolly’s seat in Congress. FFXnow has also reached out to the campaign of Stewart Whitson, the Republican nominee to represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, for comment.
It remains to be seen whether the outpouring of support for Washington and his vision for Mason will sway the university’s visitors, all of whom were appointed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Senate Democrats did notch a win when a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge ruled on Tuesday (July 29) that eight university governing board appointees will be suspended while a lawsuit challenging their presence proceeds.
The challenged appointees include Charles J. Cooper, William D. Hansen, Maureen Ohlhausen, and Caren Merrick on GMU’s board, along with Jonathan Hartsock, Stephen Reardon, and Jose J. Suarez on the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) board and former Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli’s spot on the UVA board.
The Democratic-led Virginia Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections rejected the appointments on June 9 in an 8-4 vote, but the university board rectors have allowed the individuals to continue serving as members at the advice of Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares.
All eight Democrats on the committee and Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas filed the lawsuit against the university rectors on June 26, arguing that they were violating the state constitution’s requirement that gubernatorial appointees be confirmed by the General Assembly.
Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Frieden appeared to agree with that assertion, stating in his opinion that “protecting the power of the elected legislature to confirm or reject gubernatorial appointees” is in the public interest, the Associated Press reported.
A spokesperson for Miyares, whose office is representing the rectors, indicated that they plan to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Virginia and remain “confident in our position” that a vote by the full General Assembly is needed to reject an appointee.
The expected lineup of speakers at GMU-AAUP’s community assembly has been updated.
