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The University of Virginia reached an agreement with the federal government to pause ongoing civil rights investigations. The Department of Justice had been looking into the school's use of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and also its handling of antisemitism. NPR's Elissa Nadworny has the details.
ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: The agreement between Virginia's elite public flagship and the DOJ comes after months of negotiation and will suspend the five remaining investigations into the university's admissions practices and DEI programs. The deal doesn't require UVA to pay anything or give up any control of academic freedom, which makes this agreement different from more sweeping deals that the White House has made with Brown University and Columbia University. Instead, UVA agrees to follow civil rights laws, or, as the Justice Department put it in a statement to, quote, "not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in programs, admissions, hiring or other campus activities." The school will also report quarterly to the DOJ to demonstrate it is following these rules. That will last until 2028, and in exchange, the DOJ will pause the pending investigations.
The agreement signed by the school's interim president, Paul Mahoney, also says that the government will, quote, "treat UVA as eligible for future grants and awards," unquote. In announcing the deal on Wednesday, Mahoney said it represented, quote, "the best available path forward." UVA's previous president, Jim Ryan, resigned over the summer under pressure from the Trump administration over the university's DEI initiatives.
Since Trump took office, the administration has canceled billions of dollars in federal research grants at many universities - including UVA - over a number of issues, including transgender policies, DEI programs and antisemitism on campus. The agreement, unlike other agreements the Trump administration has made, has no bearing on Virginia's terminated federal funding, which amounts to about $74 million.
Elissa Nadworny, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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