George Washington University was ‘deliberately indifferent to antisemitic discrimination,’ Trump administration finds
The Department of Justice said the federal government would seek ‘immediate remediation’ over the civil rights violations
A man holds an Israeli flag while counter-demonstrating against a pro-Palestinian protest at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., April 25, 2024. Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images
(JTA) — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it had found George Washington University in violation of federal civil rights law for acting “deliberately indifferent to the hostile educational environment for Jewish, American-Israeli, and Israeli students and faculty.”
The announcement marks the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s campaign against colleges it says have fostered antisemitism, most recently resulting in multi-million dollar settlements with Brown University and Columbia University.
In a letter sent to GWU President Ellen Granberg on Tuesday, the Justice Department said it had found the school acted “deliberately indifferent to the complaints it received, the misconduct that occurred, and the harms that were suffered by its students and faculty,” citing the “antisemitic, disruptive protests” that occurred on its campus in April and May 2024.
The private university in Washington, D.C., was one of dozens of schools to have a student pro-Palestinian encampment in the spring of 2024. It became an early symbol of student protests against Israel in the weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, when students projected messages including “Glory to Our Martyrs” and “Divestment from Zionist Genocide Now” on the outside wall of a campus building. The school soon suspended Students for Justice in Palestine and, several months later, Jewish Voice for Peace in an attempt to quell tensions. This past May, the school banned a student who called for divestment from Israel in her graduation speech.
As a result of the Civil Rights Division’s investigation’s conclusion, the Justice Department said it would offer the school a “voluntary resolution agreement to ensure immediate remediation” but did not stipulate what that would entail.
In a statement responding to the investigation’s findings, George Washington University said that the school had “worked diligently” with its Jewish community as well as city and federal authorities to “protect the GW community from antisemitism” and would remain committed to working with them.
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