University of Virginia strikes deal with Trump administration to end admissions, hiring probe

The University of Virginia has reached an agreement with the Justice Department in which the school agrees to comply with President Trump's order to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices in hiring and financial aid processes in exchange for the DOJ ending its probe into the matter. 

The department began the probe in April, according to the Associated Press.

The pressure resulted in university President James Ryan announcing his resignation in June, saying the stakes were too high for others at the university if he opted to “fight the federal government in order to save my job.”

The agreement announced Wednesday doesn't include a fine or monetary payment, said interim university President Paul Mahoney. He said the school instead the Trump administration's anti-discrimination criteria, which includes the school providing the DOJ every quarter with data related to compliance that must be certified by its president.

Mahoney says the deal still maintains the university's academic freedom and doesn't harm its attempts to get federal research funding and will not result in additional, external monitoring by the federal government.

The DOJ the university violating the agreement could result in fines or termination of federal funding.

While UVA will adopt new federal definitions of discrimination in hiring, “we will also redouble our commitment to the principles of academic freedom, ideological diversity, free expression, and the unyielding pursuit of ‘truth, wherever it may lead,’” Mahoney said, quoting university founder Thomas Jefferson.