OPINION:
Recent calls for the removal of George Mason University President Gregory Washington are not the independent critiques they claim to be. Rather, they are part of a coordinated effort linked directly to the Heritage Foundation and GMU’s own board of visitors.
Michael Gonzalez, a senior fellow at Heritage, has teamed with colleague Jay Greene to repeatedly target the same issues at the school: diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, antisemitism, the faculty and the administration. Their method is predictable: file complaints, amplify them in sympathetic media and pressure the board to act. This mirrors Project 2025, Heritage’s blueprint for the Trump administration, which calls for dismantling DEI programs, reshaping university governance and using federal power to impose ideological goals.
What Mr. Gonzalez doesn’t reveal is the key role of Charles “Cully” Stimson, rector of GMU’s board and a senior leader at Heritage. Mr. Stimson holds several top positions at Heritage while helping govern the university — an unusual convergence of advocacy and governance.
The “damning” federal investigations Mr. Gonzalez cites In a recent Washington Examiner op-ed were triggered by complaints from a small group of Mason faculty, then amplified by conservative outlets to give the impression of widespread outrage.
In the same piece, Mr. Gonzalez also misstates how GMU’s board functions. Members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature; they do not “answer to voters.” Every current member is a Republican appointee of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, with several connected to Heritage, other right-wing groups or the Trump administration.
One of Mr. Gonzalez’s main claims in the op-ed rests on a four-year-old remark by Mr/ Washington: When two equally qualified candidates are “above the bar,” diversity could be a deciding factor. This was a reflection, not a directive, and aligns with federal law and Virginia’s ONE Virginia Strategic Plan. Portraying it as illegal distorts the law and practices in higher education.
I know this firsthand because I co-authored the Chronicle of Higher Education article Mr. Gonzalez cites. It explains that the campaign against Mr. Washington is about political control, not antisemitism or “reverse racism.”
If Mr. Gonzalez wants to continue to weigh in on George Mason University’s governance, readers deserve full disclosure of his ties to Heritage and GMU’s rector.
JAMES FINKELSTEIN
Professor emeritus of public policy
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia
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