Trump Administration ‘Schools’ Another University Seeking to Keep Federal Tax Dollars

The Trump administration reached yet another deal with a higher education institution, as the University of Virginia agreed to drop its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. 

In exchange, the Justice Department will drop its civil rights investigations into alleged racial discrimination and antisemitism at the public institution famously founded by the third president, Thomas Jefferson. 

“This notable agreement with the University of Virginia will protect students and faculty from unlawful discrimination, ensuring that equal opportunity and fairness are restored,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.

“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 added. 

Previously, private institutions Brown University, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania inked agreements with the Trump administration promising to resolve issues on campus, such as antisemitism, males in female sports, and racial preferences in admissions and hiring, so they could continue to receive federal funding.

However, several universities—including the University of Virginia—had publicly rejected the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education offered by the U.S. Department of Education.

Under the agreement, the University of Virginia is bound by the Department of Justice’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination” that ensures the school does not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in its university programming, admissions, hiring, or other activities. 

The university will be required to provide data to the Justice Department on a quarterly basis through 2028, and the university’s president will certify each quarter that UVA is in compliance with the agreement. 

In the meantime, the DOJ will pause its pending investigations into discrimination in the university’s admissions policies and other civil rights concerns. If UVA completes its planned reforms to prohibit DEI policies at the university, the DOJ will close its five remaining investigations of the university. 

University of Virginia interim President Paul Mahoney announced the agreement in a message to the university community Wednesday afternoon after he sent a signed copy of the agreement to the DOJ’s Office of Civil Rights. 

“We intend to continue our thorough review of our practices and policies to ensure that we are complying with all federal laws,” Mahoney wrote. 

“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,” Mahoney’s message continued. “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.”