Tensions between Virginia’s Democrat-led Senate and leadership at the University of Virginia were front and center Monday morning, as the school’s interim president fielded questions about the agreement he signed with the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The University of Virginia has resolved federal government investigations through an agreement that will not cost Virginia taxpayers a single cent,” said UVA interim President Paul Mahoney. He spoke Monday during a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee's Education subcommittee.
“This is a great win for the Commonwealth and its flagship university,” he said, pointing to glowing reviews of the agreement published in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Mahoney was summoned by Democratic leadership following a tumultuous few months that saw the school's former president resign and litigation between the General Assembly and the governor— which all started with threats from the Department of Justice over the school’s inclusive policies.
“Waiting for enforcement and litigation would have been devastating,” he added. “It could have involved the immediate termination of $400 million in research grants, [and an] end of Pell grants… While litigation was pending, it could have kept funding on hold.”
And while Mahoney stressed the deal he entered into with the Trump administration’s DOJ should see the federal investigatory temperature drop at UVa, Senator Mamie Locke was less impressed.
“I find it disappointing that institutions have been bullied into capitulating to the Department of Justice,” Locke said. “I find the word ‘justice’ oxymoronic in this day and age because that department is certainly rouge.”
Among the Hampton-area Democrat’s concerns was Mahoney’s claim that more “seasoned investigators” could have bogged down the school in the future.
“Many of the seasoned individuals have either been fired or left of their own accord,” she hypothesized.
Senator Ghazala Hashmi asked specifically about UVa’s Board of Visitors’ intention to appoint a new president.
“You are probably not going to see some of the applications we would see if the situation were as complex as it is,” she said.
“I’m not going to answer for the [BoV],” Mahoney said, before noting many universities are “facing challenges from the federal government… that are not dissimilar to what UVa is facing.”
But Mahoney found an ally in Republican Senator Mark Obenshain, who noted wrapping the school up in years of litigation alone could be costly or worse.
“I think in retrospect (it was) a very prudent deal, one that mitigated potentially devastating impacts for the university, for faculty, for the medical center, for patients, for research.”
Obenshain pointed to concerns expressed by former UVA Counsel Tim Heaphy.
“I do think the university had some programs that crossed the legal line,” Heaphy said at a UVA Retired Faculty Association event last month.
Senate President Louise Lucas then asked if Mahoney, the former dean of UVa law from 2008-16, if he thought the college violated any laws before the DOJ got involved.
“We are still in the process of carrying out our internal compliance review,” he said, before saying his office was still “looking into” issues like written materials that referenced selecting candidates based on protected characteristics.
“Whether someone didn’t update the website or whether that actually reflects the actual decision-making process is something we’re still looking into carefully,” he said.
But Mahoney noted the DOJ agreement didn’t require them to admit guilt.
“So, why did no one bring it up before?” Lucas asked, without getting a response.
The standoff over UVA’s future president between its Board of Visitors, Senate Democrats and Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger lives on. As for threats to the schools funding over its agreement with the DOJ, first lobbed by Senator Scott Surovell once the agreement was revealed, those could materialize during the 2026 legislative session.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
