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"When the Department of Justice recently opened an investigation into George Mason University over accusations that the university’s diversity programs were discriminatory, many members of the faculty were outraged. Professors quickly published a resolution supporting their president and the university’s efforts around diversity. Now, Justice Department officials say they will investigate the faculty, too. In a letter sent on Friday, the Trump administration said it would seek drafts of the faculty resolution, all written communications among the Faculty Senate members who drafted the resolution, and all communications between those faculty members and the office of the university’s president, Gregory Washington.
Free speech advocates quickly denounced the move as an attack on academic freedom. The faculty resolution affirmed the university’s previous stance that “diversity is our strength.” It also defended Dr. Washington, the university’s first Black president, who has been a target of the Trump administration. Faculty senate resolutions are positions taken by a university’s elected faculty body, like the one at George Mason. They typically carry no force and normally attract little notice beyond the campus newspaper. But these are not normal times for higher education.
Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s civil rights division, wrote a letter on Friday to Charles Stimson, the rector of the Board of Visitors, saying the agency would be looking into the faculty’s resolution. She said that the resolution commended Dr. Washington’s efforts “to ensure ‘faculty and staff demographics . . . mirror student demographics’ at GMU.” ...“This statement is concerning,” she added, “as it indicates the GMU Faculty Senate is praising President Washington for engaging in race- or sex-motivated hiring decisions to achieve specific demographic outcomes among faculty and staff.”"
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Express support for a policy the government doesn't like and lose your job.
Free speech advocates quickly denounced the move as an attack on academic freedom. The faculty resolution affirmed the university’s previous stance that “diversity is our strength.” It also defended Dr. Washington, the university’s first Black president, who has been a target of the Trump administration. Faculty senate resolutions are positions taken by a university’s elected faculty body, like the one at George Mason. They typically carry no force and normally attract little notice beyond the campus newspaper. But these are not normal times for higher education.
Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s civil rights division, wrote a letter on Friday to Charles Stimson, the rector of the Board of Visitors, saying the agency would be looking into the faculty’s resolution. She said that the resolution commended Dr. Washington’s efforts “to ensure ‘faculty and staff demographics . . . mirror student demographics’ at GMU.” ...“This statement is concerning,” she added, “as it indicates the GMU Faculty Senate is praising President Washington for engaging in race- or sex-motivated hiring decisions to achieve specific demographic outcomes among faculty and staff.”"
Link
Express support for a policy the government doesn't like and lose your job.