Joshua
Kleinfeld,
Chief
Counsel
to
the
Secretary
of
the
Department
of
Education,
is
currently
on
leave
from
his
professorial
role
at
George
Mason
University’s
law
school
(ASS
Law,
to
its
friends)
but
would
love
to
be
its
next
dean.
His
agency,
of
course,
launched
an
investigation
into
George
Mason
University
for
alleged
“DEI
violations,”
accusing
the
school’s
first
Black
president
of
waging
a
“university-wide
campaign
to
implement
unlawful
DEI
policies,”
and
generally
trying
to
bully
the
institution
into
submission.
No
conflicts
of
interest
there!
But
beyond
the
general
skeeviness
of
applying
for
a
job
at
the
school
your
Department
is
harassing,
Kleinfeld
penned
an
application
letter
for
the
job
that
reads
less
like
a
cover
letter
and
more
like
a
note
slipped
under
the
door
by
a
guy
who
knows
where
you
live.
George
Mason
has
been
under
siege
by
the
Trump
administration
since
mid-2025.
The
Department
of
Education
opened
a
Title
VI
investigation
in
July
2025
based
on
complaints
from
a
handful
of
conservative
professors.
By
August,
the
DOE
had
already
concluded
that
the
university
violated
federal
civil
rights
law,
with
the
Department’s
Acting
Assistant
Secretary
Craig
Trainor
declaring
that
President
Gregory
Washington
“waged
a
university-wide
campaign
to
implement
unlawful
DEI
policies
that
intentionally
discriminate
on
the
basis
of
race.”
That
a
federal
probe
reached
this
wide-ranging
conclusion
within
one
month
might
make
you
think
it
was
all
a
sham
investigation
except….
Yeah,
I’ve
got
nothing
to
add
there.
After
the
DOE
delivered
this
pretextual
salvo,
the
DOJ
piled
on
with
its
own
investigation,
congressional
Republicans
accused
Washington
of
lying
under
oath,
conservative
outlets
ran
coordinated
hit
pieces,
and
the
university’s
own
board
—
stacked
with
appointees
made
by
Virginia’s
former
Republican
governor
Glenn
Youngkin
—
pressured
Washington
behind
the
scenes.
The
board’s
rector
was
literally
texting
allies
that
“GW
is
already
in
panic
mode.”
That’s
multiple
compounding
investigations
carpet
bombing
one
university
president.
If
only
Republicans
could
muster
the
sort
of
outrage
they
have
for
a
Black
university
administrator
and
apply
it
to
—
oh,
I
don’t
know
—
a
pedophile
sex
trafficking
ring
with
ties
to
the
White
House.
Washington,
to
his
credit,
has
refused
to
resign
—
unlike
UVA’s
Jim
Ryan,
who
was
effectively
pushed
out
over
similar
manufactured
controversies.
As
a
tenured
professor
taking
a
leave
of
absence
to
serve
in
the
federal
government,
Kleinfeld
applying
to
serve
as
the
dean
isn’t
inherently
unusual.
What
IS
unusual
is
that
he’s
applying
to
lead
a
school
that’s
part
of
a
university
his
agency
investigated.
One
suspects
he
would
say
that
his
current
job
—
and
its
directly
adversarial
relationship
to
the
university
he
hopes
to
hire
him
—
shouldn’t
have
anything
to
do
with
the
decision.
But
when
he
took
a
job
with
the
federal
government
to
help
oversee
education,
he
had
to
understand
that
it
might
carry
consequences
that
could
complicate
his
future
return
to
higher
education.
You
don’t
get
to
accept
the
prestigious
benefits
of
high
government
service
and
then
claim
to
be
a
victim
when
it
creates
a
conflict.
And
then
there’s
this
letter
from
Kleinfeld
making
his
case
to
the
ASS
Law
community
for
the
job.
For
most
of
its
12
pages,
it’s
a
pretty
standard
deanship
pitch.
But
then,
in
the
second-to-last
substantive
paragraph,
he
flags
“past
controversies,
sometimes
with
political
overtones,
have
strained
ties
between
the
law
school
and
the
university,”
which
is
quite
the
spin
on
“I’m
senior
legal
counsel
for
a
federal
agency
that
launched
a
probe
to
pressure
the
university
president
to
resign.”
Then
to
close
out
the
letter,
in
the
final
substantive
paragraph,
Kleinfeld
puts
forth
a
key
qualification
to
separate
him
from
the
rest
of
the
candidates:
As
Scalia’s
dean,
I
may
also
be
able
to
present
positive
aspects
of
GMU
to
the
federal
government,
showcasing
the
university’s
good
faith
commitment
to
marketplace
of
ideas
values.
Over
my
last
year-plus
in
government,
I’ve
had
a
broad
portfolio
developing
relationships
with
people
not
just
at
the
Department
of
Education
but
throughout
the
grant-making
and
civil
rights
agencies
of
the
government.
My
commitment
to
a
marketplace
of
ideas
in
higher
education
is
well-known,
and
I
would
be
able
to
speak
with
credibility
about
my
efforts
to
implement
that
commitment
at
Scalia
Law.
Whatever
he
might
have
intended,
that
paragraph
sure
reads
as
“nice
school
you’ve
got
here…
shame
if
anything
happened
to
it.”
He
set
up
that
there
had
been
“controversies…
with
political
overtones”
and
then
immediately
asserts
that
—
if
he
gets
the
job
—
then
maybe
the
federal
government
doesn’t
cause
as
much
trouble.
He
frames
it
as
a
byproduct
of
his
stellar
skills
at
“developing
relationships,”
but
it
certainly
gives
protection
money
vibes.
And
if
it
isn’t
what
he
meant
to
signal,
then
you’ve
got
to
question
his
drafting
skills.
The
Trump
administration’s
assault
on
higher
education,
by
its
nature,
creates
an
environment
where
institutions
feel
compelled
to
install
compliant
leaders.
Watching
the
DOE
ramrod
a
month-long
investigation,
heap
on
more
pressure
across
the
government,
and
then
have
a
DOE
official
offer
himself
up
as
a
way
to
smooth
over
relations
with
the
government?
There’s
a
certain
irony
in
seeing
a
broad
based
attack
on
“DEI,”
accusing
minorities
of
getting
positions
that
aren’t
based
on
merit
and
then
watching
someone
from
the
attacking
agency
try
to
get
a
job
citing
his
relationships.
Again,
maybe
he’s
not
trying
to
spell
it
out
like
this,
but
we
have
to
evaluate
the
four
corners
of
the
document.
Since
the
legal
profession
runs
on
avoiding
even
the
appearance
of
impropriety,
the
question
for
the
powers-that-be
at
George
Mason
should
be:
if
they
hire
the
DOE’s
lawyer,
and
investigations
subsequently
go
away,
will
anyone
believe
it
was
a
coincidence?
Unfortunately,
I’m
not
even
sure
ASS
Law
has
the
requisite
sense
of
shame
to
care
one
way
or
the
other.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
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of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
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Managing
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Executive
Search.