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An apparent attempt underway to reclassify the African and African American Studies program at George Mason University has prompted claims from some faculty that the move is being driven through by a dean whose actions appear to be racially motivated.
But one professor at the school told The College Fix the bureaucratic restructuring is probably more about streamlining a program that might not be in high demand at a time when higher education is facing growing criticisms about its costs and relevance to today’s job market.
The complaints also come amid heightened scrutiny from the Trump administration and House Republicans, which last year accused the public university of illegal and egregious race-based hiring practices under Gregory Washington, GMU’s first black president, hired in 2020.
An August investigative report published by EDU Ledger, which focuses on diversity issues in higher education, quoted several scholars who allege Ann Ardis, dean of GMU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, has questionable motives regarding the African and African American Studies program.
“Faculty members and others familiar with the college describe a pattern of administrative decisions involving Black women that they say has left them scrutinized, sidelined or stripped of authority,” the outlet reported.
“At the same time, Ardis has pursued changes to the African and African American Studies program that faculty members say would diminish the program’s independence and influence, even as students and faculty continue to support it,” it added.
Professor LaNitra Berger, director of African and African American Studies, received a two-year extension rather than the standard four-year extension and despite “a unanimous recommendation” because of Ardis, according to the report.
Ardis also reportedly informed Berger that the African and African American Studies program would be absorbed by the university’s School of Integrative Studies.
“Berger would be demoted to concentration lead, reporting instead to the executive director for the Integrated Studies,” EDU Ledger reported Aug. 13.
Ardis, Berger, and GMU’s media relations division did not return multiple requests for comment from The College Fix in recent weeks.
Another black female professor cited by the Ledger alleged she “has notified the dean and leaders in the university multiple times that she felt she was being treated disparately and targeted as a Black woman.” For example, her course load was trimmed from full to part-time.
Much of the concerns center on how these decisions were made without larger faculty governance input.
Ardis’ “about” page on the university website states the dean is known for research on “women’s voices … often left out of the modern traditional definitions and literary forms of modernism.”
Asked by The College Fix to weigh in on the African American studies controversy, one professor at GMU who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Ardis’ decisions make sense.
“Everyone in academia knows that we’re going through a period of belt-tightening. If you’re teaching in a Mickey Mouse field—especially something like ethnic studies—you gotta realize that your job’s in jeopardy,” he said.
He added these changes are being made under Ardis and Washington, who are both “pretty darn woke.”
“And the … board of the university was chosen by Gov. Spanberger,” the professor added. “These people are claiming that GMU is discriminating against black females? That’s crazy.”
“Maybe the real problem is that the university is going through belt-tightening and they’re teaching subjects that students don’t want to take.”
President Washington recently had his contract renewed through 2031.
“Under Washington’s leadership, George Mason has emerged as a national model for combining research excellence, access, and workforce relevance,” stated a June news release on his extension.
The Trump administration has put considerable pressure on GMU in the last year, signaling a potential loss of federal funding if the university does not comply.
The U.S. Department of Education found in 2025 that GMU violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, notifying the university that it used “race and other immutable characteristics in university practices and policies, including hiring and promotion.”
The findings came after a complaint from multiple professors at GMU alleging the university’s leaders had “approved policies illegally giving certain underrepresented groups preferential treatment since 2020,” Higher Ed Dive reported.
President Washington refused to apologize despite the feds’ demands, and rejected the findings as incorrect.
In response, a House Judiciary Committee report from November 2025 alleged that the school “likely violated” the Civil Rights Act, and that Washington “was ultimately responsible.”
Meanwhile, higher education faces a so-called enrollment cliff and budget woes, and George Mason University is no exception.
A June 2026 Faculty Senate Budget and Resources Committee report states that some GMU schools and colleges are losing money, although it does not spell out which ones.
“Six units face combined structural deficits of approximately $22 million, while four units generate surpluses,” the report states, adding units in the red must submit budget recovery plans.
MORE: George Mason U. broke federal law with race-based hiring, Ed Dept. says
