George Mason University President Gregory Washington will keep his job — and he’ll get a 1.5 percent pay raise, too, 13NewsNow reported.
On Friday, the George Mason University Board of Visitors met in a closed session to “review a personnel matter to discuss the performance goals of the president.”
The meeting came after the federal government launched four federal investigations into GMU’s diversity policies — two by the Department of Justice and two by the Department of Education. Believing this meeting may end in Washington being fired or pushed to resign, crowds of protestors and Fairfax community members gathered Friday at the school.
Instead, the board voted to increase Washington’s salary to $823,452.
The board was missing four members, RadioIQ reported. Those four were among the eight university board appointees — chosen by Gov. Glenn Youngkin — who were removed from their posts this week by a Fairfax Circuit Court judge’s ruling.
Protests Against Feared Firing
Ahead of the Board of Visitors meeting, the George Mason University chapter of the American Association of University Professors (GMU-AAUP) raised concerns that the board would fire Washington during this meeting.
“This is when the Board will face a simple decision,” said GMU-AAUP Vice President Tim Gibson ahead of the meeting. “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?”
Outside the meeting, GMU-AAUP organized a “Day of Action” rally and press conference where community members led chants in support of Washington. Invited speakers included Virginia NAACP President Cozy Bailey, State Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read, and former Board of Visitors chair James Hazel.
“By every metric he has exceeded expectations, and the only reason to criticize him or attack him is a political agenda,” said James Walkinshaw, a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and a Democratic candidate for Congress. “In Fairfax and here at George Mason, we are not going to allow a political agenda to divide us and to drive out one of the greatest leaders we have had at this university in its history.”
Fairfax Mayor Catherine Read, a GMU alumna, said of Washington: “The track record of what he’s done speaks for itself. He has been an excellent, outstanding university president. And the student body and the faculty and the business community want him to remain in his leadership role.”
“To attack Mason for his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is to attack for what the core of Mason is,” said Camden Layton, the president of AFT Virginia and a former GMU undergraduate student government president. “Mason would not have been able to reach the successes it has in such a short amount of time without its commitment to diversity in all senses of the word.”
Several Fairfax area business groups and community members have spoken out in support of Washington, including the Northern Virginia Technology Council. A petition and a website titled “I stand with Mason” has garnered more than 3,500 signatures.
Federal Investigations
Last month, the federal government launched four federal probes into GMU’s diversity policies. One of the DOJ investigations sought to determine whether the school “engaged in discriminatory practices based on race, color, or national origin against its students.” Specifically, they focused on practices in admissions and hiring that aimed to promote diversity.
In response, Washington said on July 18 that, “It is inaccurate to conclude that we created new university policies or procedures that discriminated against or excluded anyone. To the contrary, our systems were enhanced to improve on our ability to consistently include everyone for consideration of every employment opportunity. That is our ethos and it is core to our identity as a national leader in inclusive excellence in higher education.”
An additional investigation was launched into the faculty senate after that group wrote a letter in support of Washington.
The GMU Board of Visitors asserted that it was focused on “the best interests of the university and the commonwealth” in its most recent statement, released July 25.
“One aspect of excellence is full compliance with all federal anti-discrimination laws. We are cooperating fully with the Departments of Education and Justice,” the Board of Visitors said.
This came shortly after University of Virginia President James Ryan resigned in late June under pressure from the federal government regarding UVA’s DEI policies.
Jamie Gholson contributed to this report.
Feature image of Fairfax Mayor Catherine Read by Jamie Gholson
