When university president Gregory Washington received notice that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into complaints of antisemitism, he was “perplexed.” But there are signs it may be part of a coordinated campaign to oust him.

The Trump administration on Thursday opened a civil rights investigation into the hiring practices at George Mason University, expanding a national campaign against diversity policies to Virginia’s largest public university.

The Department of Education has launched a probed into George Mason University's hiring practices, the second time this month that the school has been the target of a federal investigation. A complaint by professors alleges that George Mason violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by giving preferential treatment to candidates from "underrepresented groups.