Fourth federal investigation launched at George Mason for racial bias

The big picture: DOJ's most recent investigation into George Mason alleges racial discrimination in the school's admission and scholarship decisions.

• It follows an investigation the department launched the week before, which alleged the Fairfax school used race as a deciding factor in faculty hiring and promotions.
• The U.S. Department of Education started its own probe into the school's alleged racial discrimination in hiring and promotions earlier this month in response to a complaint by "multiple professors."
• And DOE kicked off July with an inquiry into alleged antisemitism at Mason.

In statements, the school has denied all the allegations and said it will cooperate with the investigations, per the Washington Post.

The intrigue: In response to the probes, George Mason's Board of Visitors and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares hired Torridon Law, a firm co-founded by President Trump's former attorney general William Barr, the Post reports.

• The hiring of that firm prompted the George Mason chapter of the American Association of University Professors to issue a vote of no confidence in the school's Board of Visitors this week.

• The association is concerned that the Board of Visitors and the Trump administration are trying to fire the school's president, Gregory Washington, who is Black, according to a news release from the group.

Context: Mason's board, along with that of all 14 public Virginia colleagues, is composed of Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointees.

• The Virginia Military Institute's first Black superintendent, Cedric T. Wins, was pushed out earlier this year. UVA president Jim Ryan resigned last month under Trump administration pressure.