This article is orginally reprinted from aflegal.org, May 23, 2025

WASHINGTON D.C. – Yesterday, America First Legal (AFL) released the results of its preliminary investigation of the University of Virginia’s (UVA) discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asking for immediate and appropriate enforcement action.

AFL’s letter, including over 48 exhibits, supports DOJ’s April 28, 2025, letter placing UVA on notice for failing to comply with federal civil rights laws, controlling U.S. Supreme Court precedent, and recent Executive Orders issued by President Donald Trump. DOJ demanded that UVA certify, with “precision and particularity,” that every division, school, and program had fully complied with a March 7 resolution adopted by UVA’s Board of Visitors. That resolution required UVA to dismantle all DEI-related policies, programs, and preferences that discriminate based on race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, or other protected characteristics.

DOJ also directed UVA to provide a detailed accounting of every department, role, preference system, and title that had been eliminated; to disclose all individuals who previously held DEI-related positions and whether they remain employed in any capacity; and to produce records demonstrating the full dismantling of DEI across the institution. UVA was required to respond by May 2, 2025.

On April 29, the University adopted a new resolution titled “Advancing Free Inquiry and Viewpoint Diversity at UVA,” claiming it had “made progress” in dismantling DEI while asserting that “additional work remains to be done” to advance “open inquiry” and to cultivate “citizen leaders.” 

Rather than certifying compliance with DOJ’s directives, UVA announced the creation of a working group — not to bring the University into compliance with federal law — but to “promote open inquiry, constructive conversation across differences, and development of a civic mindset.” The resolution failed to identify which parts of its $1 billion DEI initiative had been rescinded and provided no evidence that any discriminatory programs had been dismantled.

The timing and language of the working group suggest an effort to reframe DEI using rhetoric traditionally associated with the First Amendment — invoking terms like “open inquiry,” “inclusivity,” and “viewpoint diversity” to obscure and preserve the University’s discriminatory infrastructure. 

“UVA is not in compliance — it is in open defiance of DOJ’s clear directive and long-standing federal law,” said Megan Redshaw, counsel at America First Legal. “The University is running the same discriminatory programs under different names, hoping no one will notice. Rebranding discrimination does not make it legal, and changing a label doesn’t change the substance. UVA’s use of sanitized language and recycled job titles is a deliberate attempt to sidestep the law.” 

Below are just a few of the unlawful practices AFL uncovered in its investigation and outlined in its letter to DOJ:

• UVA has rebranded its DEI programs using euphemisms like “Inclusive Excellence,” “Advocacy and Opportunity,” “Community Engagement,” “Strategic Wellness and Opportunity,” “Inclusion and Belonging,” and “Viewpoint Diversity,” while continuing to apply race-, sex-, and other identity-based preferences in violation of federal law.
• The Darden School of Business renamed its “Diversity and Inclusion” page to “Inclusive Excellence,” but it still offers scholarships that restrict eligibility based on race, sex, and sexual orientation, supported by a $125 million endowment for “diverse” candidates.
• Darden also partners with outside organizations to offer scholarships that favor students based on impermissible characteristics, such as the Reaching Out MBA Fellowship, which awards $20,000 to LGBTQ+ applicants for promoting LGBTQ+ equality.
• Through its “Discover Medicine” pipeline program, UVA actively recruits students based on race and ethnicity, bypassing equal opportunity standards to engineer a racially preferred applicant pool for its School of Medicine.
• UVA’s School of Medicine offers scholarships that explicitly discriminate based on sex and sexual orientation. For example, the Peter Page Scholarship awards a $10,000 “merit scholarship” exclusively restricted to “highly motivated gay male students.”
• UVA Health rebranded its DEI division as “Community Engagement and Health Outcomes,” but continues to promote race-conscious models, LGBTQ+ initiatives, and DEI-based training.
• University staff with former DEI roles were quietly reassigned to newly named roles, such as “Global Recruiting,” “Community Engagement,” and “Equity and Inclusive Excellence,” while retaining virtually identical responsibilities.
• The UVA School of Medicine requires all students, faculty, and residents to endorse DEI principles and participate in programming that prioritizes race, sex, and other identity-based classifications over merit. Its “Diversity Consortium” enforces DEI compliance across clinical training, admissions, and research.
• Departments such as Family Medicine and Radiology continue to embed DEI ideology into medical education and operate scholarships explicitly limited to applicants based on race, sex, or other protected characteristics.
• UVA-Wise, the University’s public liberal arts college, rebranded its “Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” as the “Office for Advocacy and Opportunity,” and continues to operate under the Inclusive Excellence model — advancing policies that redistribute “resources, opportunities, and responsibilities” based on race and sex.

These violations are not limited to a single department. From the business and law schools to UVA’s medical system and liberal arts college, the DEI framework remains embedded throughout the institution.

AFL’s letter urges DOJ to take immediate enforcement action to ensure UVA fully complies with Title VI, the Equal Protection Clause, and Executive Orders 14151 and 14173. Specifically, AFL calls on the DOJ to: 

• Direct UVA to cease all race-, sex-, and identity-based policies, programs, and practices across all departments, administrative units, and affiliated schools, including any initiatives operating under rebranded euphemisms.
• Dismantle all DEI-related offices, committees, and working groups that perpetuate discriminatory classifications.
• Obtain a formal written certification of compliance from the University President.
• Compel full disclosure of all DEI personnel since 2021, including current status and role changes.
• Audit federal funding received by UVA since FY2021 and suspend or condition awards found to support discriminatory practices.

“This is exactly why AFL exists — to investigate, expose, and ensure compliance with federal civil rights law,” Redshaw said. “Taxpayer-funded institutions do not get to choose which laws they follow and cannot simply rename illegal programs to hide them from oversight. UVA’s actions are deliberate, strategic, and unlawful.”

AFL remains committed to dismantling unlawful DEI frameworks across higher education and will continue leading the fight to ensure that every American is protected under the law.

Read the full letter here.

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