Embattled GMU president survives board meeting with pay raise

Despite being anticipated by some as a showdown between George Mason University‘s board and its embattled president, a Friday meeting ended with GMU President Gregory Washington landing a pay raise instead of being ousted.

Washington and the university he’s led since 2020 have been under increasing pressure from the Trump administration, which has launched four federal investigations into George Mason since July 1. Trump administration officials have criticized Washington for supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, and have alleged he emphasized race- and sex-based hiring and promotions, which they say disadvantaged white and male faculty candidates and employees.

In a unanimous vote with no public discussion among the board members, the university’s board of trustees approved a 1.5% base salary raise for Washington. Rector Charles “Cully” Stimson said that he and vice rector Michael J. Meese would meet with the university’s president to “provide him feedback from the discussion in closed session.”

Earlier in the meeting, Washington presented an overview of highlights during his five-year tenure leading George Mason, including a doubling of the university’s state funding from $190 million to $382 million and a boost of more than 30 places in national university rankings by U.S. News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal.

Members of the conservative-leaning Mason Board of Visitors, which has firing power over the president, have been publicly critical of Washington regarding diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives put in place at GMU since he took office in July 2020, just as the nation was undergoing a racial justice reckoning spurred by the murder of George Floyd.

Washington has defended his actions in the early days of his tenure at George Mason, saying Friday that new programs and initiatives helped calm racial strife after a large protest took place on George Mason’s grounds in the summer of 2020.

The probes opened by the U.S. Justice and Education departments cite some of the university’s changes in 2020 as proof that Washington has emphasized race and gender as priorities in hiring and promotions. The DOE also filed an allegation that George Mason has not protected its Jewish students and staffers from antisemitic attacks on campus. Washington has been called to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in Congress on DEI matters as well.

Faculty members, including the university’s faculty senate and the American Association of University Professors chapter at Mason, have been vocal in their support for Washington, whom they say has been politically targeted by the Trump administration and by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who appointed all 12 members of Mason’s current board.

Some of Washington’s supporters attended the board meeting’s public segments Friday and silently held small signs voicing their moral support, after the AAUP-Mason chapter rallied the university community to “pack the BOV and protect our president.”

The board entered closed session for about two hours to discuss Washington’s job performance and legal counsel “relating to probable litigation,” according to the agenda.

A Fairfax County Circuit judge blocked George Mason, along with the University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute, from seating eight of Youngkin’s board appointees who were rejected in June by a state Senate committee.

Youngkin and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares encouraged the three university boards to recognize the disputed members in letters and comments, but on Tuesday, Judge Jonathan Frieden ruled in favor of nine state senators in a civil lawsuit against the three rectors. Miyares’ office said it plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Virginia.