The University of Virginia is the fourth university, and the first public university, to agree to settle discrimination claims with the Trump administration.
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The University of Virginia has reached a settlement with the Department of Justice that will halt pending investigations in exchange for assurances from the public flagship university that it will not engage in unlawful practices in admissions, recruiting, programming and more.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the settlement at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
As part of the agreement, UVA agreed to follow a July memo from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi banning the use of race in recruiting, admissions and scholarship programs. UVA will be required to provide “relevant information and data” to the Department of Justice, according to the release.
While recent investigations into alleged illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have been paused, that doesn’t mean they are completely over. However, officials said the Justice Department would end its investigation “if UVA completes its planned reforms to ban DEI.”
“This important agreement with the University of Virginia will protect students and faculty from unlawful discrimination and ensure the restoration of equal opportunity and fairness,” Harmeet K. Dhillon, a University of Virginia alumnus and Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “We applaud the university’s progress in combating anti-Semitism and racial bias, other American universities should remain vigilant, and the Department of Justice will ensure that our federal civil rights laws apply to every American without exception.”
The settlement comes nearly four months after former University of Virginia President James Ryan abruptly resigned, reportedly under pressure from the Justice Department to resolve an investigation.
UVA officials released a statement Wednesday along with the text of the agreement.
“We intend to continue a thorough review of our practices and policies to ensure that we comply with all federal laws,” Interim President Paul Mahoney wrote. “We will also redouble our commitment to academic freedom, ideological diversity, free speech, and the unwavering pursuit of ‘truth, wherever it may lead,’ as Thomas Jefferson said. Through this process, we will do everything we can to assure our communities, state and federal partners, and the public that we are worthy of the trust they place in us and the resources they provide us to advance our mission of education, research, and patient care.”
Education Minister Linda McMahon called the deal “transformative” in a post on X.
“The Trump Administration will not give up on our efforts to eradicate DEI and illegal racial preferences from our nation’s campuses,” McMahon wrote. “This renewed commitment to merit is a critical step toward once again making our institutions beacons of truth and excellence.”
UVA is one of several institutions to reach agreements with the Trump administration in recent months and the first public university to do so. Previously, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown University all agreed to agreements with the federal government after the Trump administration froze federal research funding over alleged civil rights violations.
While UVA reached a settlement with the federal government, it rejected other proposals such as the Compact on Academic Excellence in Higher Education, which would have required institutions to agree to demands such as tuition freezes, international student caps and campus-wide viewpoint diversity assessments in order to receive preferential treatment to obtain federal research funding. UVA was one of nine institutions initially asked to join the compact, although neither the original institution nor others subsequently invited announced they would sign on to the proposal.
