The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced an agreement with the University of Virginia (UVA) that forbids the school from “discrimination” based on race, sex or national origin in admissions and hiring.

The agreement follows months of pressure from the administration after a DOJ investigation that began in April led to officials claiming that UVA President James Ryan failed to end the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Following this “pressure campaign,” Ryan resigned, stating that he could not fight for his job “in good conscience” without risking federal funding, student aid, and jobs for UVA.

UVA will follow the DOJ’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,” which many universities have signed onto in order to avoid scrutiny from US President Donald Trump’s administration. Compliant schools must provide quarterly reports and data, and university presidents must certify compliance in each quarter.

The guidance aims to ensure that universities like UVA d0 “not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in [their] university programming, admissions, hiring, or other activities.” Attorney General Pam Bondi warned that the DOJ “will not stand by while recipients of federal funds engage in illegal discrimination … This guidance will ensure we are serving the American people and not ideological agendas.”

Among other strictures, the guidance provides that federal funding recipients may not engage in race-based scholarships or programs, preferential hiring or promotion practices, the provision of “diversity statements,” or “cultural competence” requirements.

DOJ pressure to force UVA into compliance with its policies mirrors administration tactics used against universities across the country. As a public university, UVA remains an outlier in this “pressure campaign” as Trump has primarily targeted private institutions like Harvard, Brown, and Columbia. Some schools have agreed to pay millions of dollars in order to restore federal funding and to cease investigations into the schools’ practices.

UVA’s “Federal Information” website states that “UVA retains the authority to oversee and implement its own compliance program through its established internal governance processes without an external monitor” and that the agreement “does not include any monetary penalty or required payment.”

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ Civil Rights Division lauded UVA’s agreement with the DOJ as an important step in “ensuring that equal opportunity and fairness are restored.” However, many worry the action reflects a larger effort to crackdown on academic freedom and institutional integrity.