University President Complains DEI Is ‘Misunderstood’

A Virginia university often under scrutiny for its wide-ranging diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives renamed its DEI office on Monday and promised “compliance” with the Trump administration.

George Mason University President Gregory Washington announced its “Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” is now the “Office of Access, Compliance, and Community” in a statement Monday. Washington complained that DEI is “misunderstood” as discriminatory after overseeing years of race-based programs.

The office’s renaming “is not an attempt to evade compliance through clever wordsmithing – it simply affirms our actual compliance through more precise naming,” said Washington, who became George Mason’s president in July 2020. “The fact of the matter is, ‘DEI’ and ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ are terms that have become so broadly misunderstood and misapplied as to become counterproductive to our work.”

A local chapter of Young Americans for Liberty celebrates George Mason University’s renaming of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in an Instagram post on March 3, 2025. (Screenshot/Instagram)

“We cannot unilaterally correct the broadening public misperception that anything with DEI in its name is just a new form of discrimination aimed at a different group of Americans,” Washington said. “So we will change the name of this office and move on, committed as always to the substance of that office: ensuring a fair, welcoming, and supportive environment for all, and observing state and federal civil rights laws to the benefit of all.”