Tell-It Report: George Mason’s First Black President Under Investigation for DEI Initiatives

Gregory Washington’s job is at risk amid Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's push to reverse diversity programs at public universities before his term ends in January.

(Envato/ContrabandCamp)

In Gullah Geechee communities, a "tell-it" was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention — from politics to entertainment.

Gregory Washington, the first Black president of George Mason University, is at risk of being ousted amid attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion at Virginia’s public universities.

Famed painter Amy Sherald has pulled out of her “American Sublime” tour stop at the Smithsonian, accusing the institution of censoring her artwork showing a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty.

The USDA is ending a 35-year-old designation meant to help Black farmers access grants and resources.

Read the full stories below:

George Mason University president under investigation for promoting campus diversity

The first Black president of George Mason University, Gregory Washington, is facing backlash from the Trump administration for promoting diversity on campus. Now the university is facing four federal investigations that many believe are being used to bring about Washington’s firing.

According to The New York Times, Washington’s antiracism program — including hiring practices to ensure faculty and staff demographics mirror those of the student body — has made him the next target in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push to reverse diversity efforts. Since his 2021 election, Youngkin has taken control of Virginia’s four-year public universities with his right-leaning appointees. He said that the schools’ diversity, equity and inclusion programs have “gone off the rails.”

If Washington is ousted, he’d be the third university president pushed out in the state this year, behind top leaders at Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia. The Times reports that Washington recently began backtracking on programs he had previously been committed to align with federal mandates.

Amid the crackdowns, faculty have begun rallying around Washington. The school’s Faculty Senate adopted a resolution last week, in which the group defended the president and the university’s commitment to DEI, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“President Washington has shown every indication of consistently and faithfully exercising compliance with evolving directives from federal and Commonwealth authorities,” the resolution reads. “Evidence, truth, and due process should be the foundation for all decisions, not allegations that have not been fully investigated.”

Between July 1 and July 21, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights launched four investigations against George Mason, which is a minority-serving institution. The first is over the school’s response to antisemitic claims that date back to October 2023. The second investigation focuses on the institution’s hiring practices and the final two are related to alleged discriminatory hiring practices and race-based admissions.

Washington denied any discriminatory practices, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“Our practices and initiatives, including some being questioned by the DOJ, emanated from this framework. They were developed in collaboration with our Board of Visitors, and through shared governance with our students, faculty, and staff,” Washington wrote in a statement. “It has never been a ‘one man show’ at Mason.”

Professor and Senate Faculty member Zachary Schrag told the outlet that when Washington was hired in 2020, the school had already been doing DEI work, and the president just picked up the torch.

“This was not something that he came in to impose on the institution,” Schrag said. “My fear is that he will be scapegoated for doing the job that he was hired to do.”

Amy Sherald Cancels Her Smithsonian Show After Censorship of Trans Artwork

Amy Sherald has pulled out of the Smithsonian stop on her art tour after the institution asked the painter to withdraw a portrait of a Black trans woman from the exhibit.

In “American Sublime,” Sherald’s work highlights Black humanity in a series of portraits, including her famed paintings of Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor. The exhibit also features a painting of a trans woman depicted as the Statue of Liberty.

The exhibit, currently at the Whitney in New York City, was slated to open at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in September. That is until she was told to remove the painting, titled “Trans Forming Liberty,” to prevent upsetting Trump, The New York Times reports.

“This painting exists to hold space for someone whose humanity has been politicised and discarded,” Sherald says in a statement, according to The Art Newspaper. “I cannot in good conscience comply with a culture of censorship, especially when it targets vulnerable communities.”

In a letter to Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, Sherald said she entered the collaboration “in good faith, believing that the institution shared a commitment to presenting work that reflects the full, complex truth of American life,” according to The Times. “Unfortunately, it has become clear that the conditions no longer support the integrity of the work as conceived.’’

“American Sublime” would have been the first exhibition by a Black contemporary artist featured by the Portrait Gallery. According to the Times, Bunch proposed replacing the portrait with a video of people reacting to it and discussing transgender issues. Sherald was against that idea, stating that it would’ve opened up a debate about trans visibility.

“While no single person is to blame, it is clear that institutional fear shaped by a broader climate of political hostility toward trans lives played a role,” her statement read.

Since January, the Trump administration has signed several executive orders attacking trans people’s rights to exist in the United States. This includes declaring the federal government would only recognize two genders, banning federal funding for gender-affirming care and prohibiting trans people from serving in the military. And just on Wednesday, Trump placed a ban on trans women and girls participating in women’s sports.

“At a time when transgender people are being legislated against, silenced and endangered across our nation,” Sherald said, “silence is not an option.”

USDA ends support for Black farmers, saying it ‘sufficiently’ handled discrimination

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will no longer use race- and sex-based criteria to provide resources and grants, reversing a 35-year policy meant to aid Black farmers, Capital B reports.

Under the Trump administration, the department is eliminating the term “socially disadvantaged,” which includes Black farmers and other groups of color. The language was used in the 1990 Farm Bill, which helped historically disenfranchised farmers.

That will no longer be the case, as the USDA has announced that it has “sufficiently” addressed discrimination through settlements, relief, and reform. Instead, the department will “uphold the principles of meritocracy, fairness, and equal opportunity for all participants,” according to the outlet.

A department representative said in a statement to Capital B, “Under President Trump, USDA does not discriminate and single out individual farmers based on race, sex, or political orientation. Secretary Rollins is working to reorient the department to be more effective at serving the American people and put farmers first while following the law.”

Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown said that “Trump’s resegregation agenda has arrived at USDA,” in a statement on her website.

She added, “The ‘socially disadvantaged’ designation was a long overdue recognition of the barriers to land, credit, and opportunity that farmers of color have faced for generations. This move isn’t about fairness or efficiency. It’s about erasing history and stripping the tools that help level the playing field.”

This could have a detrimental impact on farmers of color, who make up 4% of America’s 3.3 million producers. Farmers across the country have already felt the impact of Trump’s push to eliminate equitable programs. In June, the USDA cut more than $148.6 million in awards that were part of DEI initiatives, IPM reports.

Mike Lavender, policy director at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, told the outlet that in addition to weather, pests, increasing prices and other factors, farmers are already strained.

“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen from the first six months or so from this administration is the injection, consistently, of uncertainty for farmers by freezing contracts that farmers lawfully held, by terminating contracts, by terminating projects unexpectedly, by canceling market opportunities for farmers,” he said.

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