The University publicly released its first quarterly civil rights compliance report to the Justice Department Thursday. The report outlined a series of policy and operational changes implemented across several schools and administrative units as part of an ongoing University-wide review of civil rights practices. Those changes include the dissolution of diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming, removal of diversity language from communications and revisions to admissions and medical policies.
The quarterly report is part of an Oct. 22 agreement between the University and the Justice Department that suspended five federal civil rights investigations into the University. Under the terms of the agreement, the University is required to submit quarterly reports through Dec. 31, 2028 documenting its “good faith efforts” to comply with federal civil rights law, including ensuring that race, sex and other protected characteristics are not used in decision-making.
The agreement followed a series of Justice Department inquiries opened in 2025 after federal officials raised concerns about the University’s DEI and admissions policies. In response, the University retained the law firm McGuireWoods LLP to represent the institution and conduct a broader civil rights compliance review. Two of the seven inquiries were closed in September 2025, and the University entered into the agreement in October 2025 to suspend the remaining five investigations.
The seven-page report was originally submitted to the Justice Department Dec. 29, but it was not made public until one month later. According to an FAQ provided by University Spokesperson Bethanie Glover, the delay in the public release occurred because the submission came shortly after University President Scott Beardsley was selected as the University's 10th president and just days before he took office. It noted that Beardsley and his team took time to review the document and brief key stakeholders, which resulted in the roughly one-month delay in the release.
The review covers all 12 schools, the College at Wise, the Medical Center, Division of Student Affairs, Human Resources and the Division for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity.
In an introductory section of the review, the University described the purpose of the report’s submission, explaining that the outlined changes prove the University is abiding by its agreement with the Justice Department.
“This report reflects U.Va.’s ongoing efforts to ensure that its policies, procedures and practices align with federal antidiscrimination laws. This report provides an overview of changes that have been fully implemented within the following units,” the report read.
Among the University-wide changes outlined in the report, the University reported that it eliminated DEI infrastructure across academic and administrative units.
“U.Va. has dissolved diversity, equity and inclusion offices University-wide as well as DEI branded programming across academic and administrative units, including within the academic medical center,” the report read.
The report also says that the University removed affirmative action and DEI language from public-facing websites and program descriptions. The University also issued new guidance clarifying that race and other protected characteristics should not be used in decision-making.
The first quarterly report focuses primarily on the School of Medicine, the University Medical Center, the School of Nursing and McIntire School of Commerce.
At the School of Medicine, the report states that the school revised its admissions procedures, student orientation programming, faculty awards and student recruitment efforts. The school eliminated diversity-related questions from admissions materials, removed diversity language from evaluation rubrics and discontinued implicit bias training — a practice that teaches individuals to recognize unconscious stereotypes and attitudes — for admissions committee members.
Separately, the report states that the Medical Center ended its Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion education program and discontinued community outreach initiatives targeted at specific demographic groups.
“U.Va. Medical Center no longer conducts community outreach events for the provision of care to communities or populations solely on the basis of race, sex or other protected characteristics,” the report read.
Furthermore, in accordance with the Feb. 21 Board Resolution on Gender Care, the Medical Center no longer provides “invasive gender affirming care” or hormone therapy to new patients who are minors.
The report also states that the Medical Center no longer conducts faculty trainings or pipeline programs targeted toward underrepresented populations in medicine.
A review conducted by The Cavalier Daily of archived versions of the School of Medicine’s admissions website shows that several references to diversity and background were removed following the compliance review. In June 2025, the School of Medicine described applicants as coming “from broad and diverse backgrounds” and highlighted “life experience” as a factor in admissions decisions. That language has since been removed and the current version of the website emphasizes academic metrics and professional experience, without referencing diversity or applicant background.
The School of Medicine previously stated on its website that it receives over 5,000 applicants annually and aims to build a “diverse student body.” That language has also been removed. Earlier versions of the site described the admissions committee as “a diverse group of faculty and fourth-year students” and said that evaluators considered many factors, including diversity. At the time of publication, those references no longer appear on the current page.
Beyond the Medical Center, the report outlines similar changes within academic units. The School of Nursing revised admissions criteria to remove references to race and discontinued its holistic admissions model.
“The [School of Nursing] updated its admissions training, reviewer guidance and evaluation rubrics to eliminate references to race or race-related considerations and to ensure that admissions decisions are made on neutral, nondiscriminatory criteria,” the report read.
Additionally, the School of Nursing revised the criteria for faculty promotion and tenure considerations to no longer evaluate candidates on the basis of diversity, according to the Dec. 29 report.
At the McIntire School of Commerce, the report notes revisions to graduate admissions essay prompts, study abroad selection policies and marketing materials. A review of archived versions of McIntire’s graduate admissions website shows that the school also removed references to race, gender and background from its required application essay prompt.
In August 2025, McIntire asked applicants to describe how their “individual background, perspective or experience” — including “race, gender or other aspects of your background” — shape their perspective. The current version of the prompt no longer references background or identity and instead asks applicants to describe personal, academic or professional experiences that influenced their decision to pursue graduate study.
According to the Office of University Counsel, the Justice Department agreement and the quarterly report do not mean the University is admitting it violated the law. They also noted that the compliance review launched in June 2025 was not intended to regulate academic content or restrict research or teaching topics.
The quarterly report draws from that compliance review, which followed a March 7 Board of Visitors resolution requiring the University to ensure compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard — a ruling that restricted the use of race in college admissions.
According to the report, the compliance review was based solely on information provided by administrators, faculty and staff selected by the leadership of each school or unit, rather than independent sampling or investigative interviews. The review relied on documents produced by each school or available public websites and was intended to assess current practices, not to investigate individual intent or determine legal liability.
The civil rights compliance review remains ongoing and says additional schools are “under review” and expected to appear in future quarterly reports. University Counsel also noted that all reports going forward will be posted publicly as they are submitted, rather than undergoing a review process prior to release.
The next report is expected to be released in March.
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