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In Virginia, the Attack on University Presidents Widens

U.S.|In Virginia, the Attack on University Presidents Widens

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/us/virginia-university-presidents-dei-trump.html

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Gregory Washington, the first Black president of George Mason University, is under fire for his promotion of campus diversity.

Gregory Washington stands in front of a microphone.

July 22, 2025Updated 4:35 p.m. ET

The leader of Virginia Military Institute, Cedric T. Wins, lost his contract in February after an alumni group, the Spirit of VMI, attacked his administration for its “woke assault” on the state-supported military college.

The president of the University of Virginia, James E. Ryan, resigned in June, chased out by the Trump administration and a conservative alumni group known as the Jefferson Council, which has board connections.

Now the president of George Mason University, Gregory N. Washington, is facing an attack from the Trump administration and the university’s highly partisan board, appointed by the Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin.

Like General Wins, Dr. Washington is Black. And like the other university presidents, Dr. Washington had promoted diversity, including what he called an “antiracism” agenda.

“We have every reason to believe that George Mason is the next target,” the campus’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote in an email to its members.

The ouster of a third public university president to support D.E.I. would help fulfill the mission of Governor Youngkin, who is limited to one term. Elected in 2021, Mr. Youngkin has pushed for education reform, declaring that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives had “gone off the rails.”