Former University of Virginia School of Law Dean Paul Mahoney has been interim president of UVA since Aug. 11, 2025. He replaced Jim Ryan, who resigned following pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration. A school board voted in March to dissolve UVA’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Partnerships.

The University of Virginia has reached an agreement with the Trump administration and will adhere to guidance from the White House on admissions and hiring − putting a pause on Justice Department investigations into the school's diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

An agreement comes after the Justice Department accused the university and others across the nation with attempting to defy White House demands to eliminate DEI policies on campus.

In the Justice Department's announcement of the deal on Wednesday, Oct. 22, officials said the agreement will "protect UVA’s students, faculty, and employees from violations of federal civil rights laws, including from discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin."

Meanwhile the school said in a message to the community that the agreement "includes no monetary penalty and no external monitoring, and it affirms UVA’s academic freedom."

Under the deal, the university is agreeing to follow Justice Department guidance on discrimination as recipients of federal funding and turn over data showing the school is in compliance on a quartlery basis through 2028, the Justice Department said.

"If UVA completes its planned reforms prohibiting DEI at the university, the Department will close its investigations against UVA," the Justice Department said.

“This notable agreement with the University of Virginia will protect students and faculty from unlawful discrimination, ensuring that equal opportunity and fairness are restored,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a news release. “We appreciate the progress that the university has made in combatting antisemitism and racial bias, and other American universities should be on alert that the Justice Department will ensure that our federal civil rights laws are enforced for every American, without exception.”

University of Virginia interim President Paul Mahoney said in a message to the university community that the school intends "to continue our thorough review of our practices and policies to ensure that we are complying with all federal laws."

“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,’ as Thomas Jefferson put it," he said. "Through this process, we will do everything we can to assure our community, our partners in state and federal government, and the public that we are worthy of the trust they place in us and the resources they provide us to advance our education, research, and patient care mission.”

The agreement between the university and the administration follows similar deals across the U.S. as colleges fight to retain their federal funding amid government probes and threats. Other universities to strike deals with the administration include Brown in Rhode Island and Columbia in New York.

Amid the pressure from the Trump administration since April, University of Virginia President James Ryan resigned, saying he could not "make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: University of Virginia reaches deal with Trump administration to pause DEI investigations

Reporting by Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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