CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – In a celebration of its first year completed under the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Education is highlighting its October agreements with the University of Virginia and six other schools as “striking historic deals.”

The agreement both UVA and the USDOE announced October 22 claimed “will protect UVA’s students, faculty, and employees from violations of federal civil rights laws, including from discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin.”

According to the DOE release at the time, “As part of the agreement, the University of Virginia agrees to be bound by the Department of Justice’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,” ensuring that UVA does not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in its university programming, admissions, hiring, or other activities. UVA will provide relevant information and data to the Department of Justice on a quarterly basis through 2028. The President of UVA will personally certify each quarter that UVA is in compliance with the agreement. The Department will pause its pending investigations into the university’s admissions policies and other civil rights concerns. The United States shall treat UVA as eligible for future grants and awards. If UVA completes its planned reforms prohibiting DEI at the university, the Department will close its investigations against UVA.”

Then interim UVA President Paul Mahoney wrote, “The agreement does not require the University to make any monetary payments. Importantly, it preserves the academic freedom of our faculty, students, and staff. We will be treated no less favorably than any other university in terms of federal research grants and funding. The agreement does not involve external monitoring. Instead, the University will update the Department of Justice quarterly on its efforts to ensure compliance with federal law.”

The DOE first anniversary release noted, “These deals have enforced federal civil rights laws according to their true purpose. As a result, schools have rooted out DEI, restored merit by ending unconstitutional race preferences, acknowledged sex as a biological reality in sports and the protection of intimate facilities, and obligated schools to consistently apply disciplinary policies; and announcing an upgraded, state-of-the-art foreign funding reporting portal to end the secrecy surrounding foreign dollars and influence on American campuses. ”

While the DOE is celebrating, new Governor Abigail Spanberger is not.

Speaking during her campaign with the Jon Stewart Weekly Show podcast, she said, “They signed onto the weakened pact with the federal government and frankly were out celebrating that UVA doesn’t have to pay any sort of damages to the federal government. The question is for what?”

Spanberger has chosen ten new visitors to the UVA Board, filling five vacancies and replacing five more who resigned, after calling into the question the statutory constitution of the board that made those decisions.