The University of Virginia is trying to claim victory in the matter of the five sham Justice Department investigations into the school’s DEI policies, even as the DOJ is itself painting a very different picture of the agreement that both sides announced on Wednesday.
UVA, through a news release, said it has reached an agreement with the administration on the civil rights investigations that “includes no monetary penalty and no external monitoring,” and “affirms UVA’s academic freedom.”
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The release from the University tries to low-key the matter of the school agreeing to “comply with civil rights laws and report quarterly on its compliance efforts through Dec. 31, 2028.”
“During that period, the government will suspend its current investigations,” the release tells us. “UVA leaders will continue to confirm the University’s compliance through the end of 2028, at which time the government will conclude the investigations.”
“We intend to continue our thorough review of our practices and policies to ensure that we are complying with all federal laws,” interim UVA President Paul Mahoney wrote in a message to the University community that went out today. “We will also redouble our commitment to the principles of academic freedom, ideological diversity, free expression, and the unyielding pursuit of ‘truth, wherever it may lead,’ as Thomas Jefferson put it.
“Through this process, we will do everything we can to assure our community, our partners in state and federal government, and the public that we are worthy of the trust they place in us and the resources they provide us to advance our education, research, and patient care mission,” Mahoney wrote.
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Which is all well and good, but the Justice Department is telling a different story on this.
A DOJ news release on this frames the terms as UVA agreeing “to be bound by the Department of Justice’s ‘Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,’ ensuring that UVA does not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in its university programming, admissions, hiring, or other activities.”
Whereas the UVA spin is that the DOJ will “suspend” its investigations, the DOJ release uses the term “pause.”
“The Department will pause its pending investigations into the university’s admissions policies and other civil rights concerns,” the DOJ release reports. “The United States shall treat UVA as eligible for future grants and awards. If UVA completes its planned reforms prohibiting DEI at the university, the Department will close its investigations against UVA.”
UVA, then, is claiming “no external monitoring,” but the Justice Department seems intent on continuing to closely monitor the school.
“UVA will provide relevant information and data to the Department of Justice on a quarterly basis through 2028. The President of UVA will personally certify each quarter that UVA is in compliance with the agreement,” the DOJ release reports.
“This notable agreement with the University of Virginia will protect students and faculty from unlawful discrimination, ensuring that equal opportunity and fairness are restored,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, an assistant attorney general in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, and a UVA alum.
“We appreciate the progress that the university has made in combatting antisemitism and racial bias, and other American universities should be on alert that the Justice Department will ensure that our federal civil rights laws are enforced for every American, without exception,” Dhillon said.
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The truth of this seems to lean more toward the Justice Department framing. A report from UVA Today, the University’s in-house PR vehicle, referred to the agreement as being “the result of months of concentrated work led by Mahoney since he assumed the post of interim president on Aug. 11,” which happened after Jim Ryan resigned in June under heavy pressure from the Trump administration, and credited Mahoney for his efforts “to address concerns the agency raised about the University’s compliance with federal civil rights laws and its response to allegations of antisemitism on Grounds.”
You don’t have to read much between the lines to come up with the word capitulation as being what happened here.
“This agreement allows UVA to move forward together, upholding the University’s principles and independence while maintaining the essential research partnership with the federal government,” said Rachel Sheridan, the rector of the UVA Board of Visitors, herself one of the supermajority of BOV members who is an appointee of our MAGA governor, Glenn Youngkin.
“This has been a challenging time for many institutions in higher education, including UVA. The agreement results from steadfast adherence to the same values that have guided generations of UVA’s leaders and that we have honored as stewards of that legacy,” Sheridan said.
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It’s pretty obvious what is going on here: as long as the newly MAGA-fied UVA leadership plays ball, the Trump DOJ will find somebody else to pick on.
“Some work remains to be done to satisfy fully the terms of this agreement,” Mahoney said, per the UVA Today news item. “I am optimistic, however, that our community will be able to pursue that work in a manner consistent with the values and principles that are at the heart of everything we do.”
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Chris Graham
