The United States Department of Justice today found George Washington University in violation of federal civil rights law regarding Jewish and Israeli students and faculty and will seek “immediate remediation” from the school, according to a press release.
In a letter to GW President Ellen Granberg on Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon claimed that the university received complaints about incidents of antisemitism on GW’s campus.
“The [Civil Rights] Division finds that GWU took no meaningful action and was instead deliberately indifferent to the complaints it received, the misconduct that occurred, and the harms that were suffered by its Jewish and Israeli students and faculty,” the press release stated.
A school may be liable for intentional discrimination under the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if the school has been “deliberately indifferent to known acts of harassment that give rise to a hostile educational environment,” the letter read.
One court found “severe and discriminatory harassment” — plaintiffs claimed they had been repeatedly subjected to antisemitic slurs and “jokes” and had witnessed swastika vandalism. Plaintiffs were “called ‘crispy’ or told that they should have been burned in the Holocaust,” according to the letter.
They also reportedly endured physical harassment, “including being slapped, physically restrained, and having coins thrown at them,” the letter read.
Another court found that Jewish students were subjected to a hostile environment when their peers allegedly “[gave] Nazi salutes, [said] ‘Heil Hitler,’ [wore] swastikas, and referenc[ed] gas chambers used to kill Jews during the Holocaust,” according to the letter.
During a pro-Palestinian protest, demonstrators allegedly “blockaded Jewish students in a study room,” and during another, protesters “surrounded and intimidated” Jewish students.
Dhillon said the department considers this conduct to constitute a hostile educational environment that was “objectively offensive, severe, and pervasive.” Title VI requires that when a school is made aware of discriminatory harassment, they must “act reasonably” to investigate and address the harassment.
Dhillon said GW’s administration did not adequately act to remedy antisemitic behavior on campus, particularly during the spring 2024 encampment in GW’s University Yard, the center of the campus. She said these efforts were to “frighten, intimidate and deny” Jewish, Israeli and American Israeli students access to the university environment.
The DOJ’s investigation found “numerous incidents” of Jewish students being harassed, abused, intimidated and assaulted by protesters, Dhillon wrote. The letter claimed that Jewish students at GW were “afraid to attend class, to be observed, or … perhaps physically beaten on GWU’s campus.”
One GW Jewish student detailed being “surrounded, harassed, threatened, and then ordered to leave the area immediately” by protesters as he exited the law school. GW’s assistant dean of students told the Jewish student to leave because his presence was “antagonizing and provoking the crowd,” Dhillon wrote.
Other Jewish students described harassment by protesters, including antisemitic and racial slurs. A student who was quietly holding an Israeli flag on University Yard was “confronted and surrounded by protesters with their arms linked together” to restrict the student’s movement.
“A GWU Police Department officer standing nearby did nothing to prevent or intervene in the incident and instead told the student to leave University Yard for his own safety,” the letter read.
The letter added that Jewish students, parents and alumni contacted the university “numerous times” to express their concern about the protesters’ actions and to voice fear for their safety. Between April 25 and May 1, 2024, during the encampment, GW received at least eight complaints alleging that protesters were discriminating against students because they were Jewish or Israeli.
The DOJ has also received complaints from Jewish students at GW and their parents about “antisemitic misconduct and abuse.”
“Every student has the right to equal educational opportunities without fear of harassment or abuse,” Dhillon said in a statement. “No one is above the law, and universities that promulgate antisemitic discrimination will face legal consequences.”
Shannon McClendon, a GW spokesperson, said the university has received the letter and is reviewing its contents to respond in a timely manner.
“GW condemns antisemitism, which has absolutely no place on our campuses or in a civil and humane society,” McClendon wrote in a statement emailed to Washington Jewish Week.
“We have taken appropriate action under university policy and the law to hold individuals or organizations accountable, including during the encampment, and we do not tolerate behavior that threatens our community or undermines meaningful dialogue,” McClendon added. “We have worked diligently with members of GW’s Jewish community, as well as Jewish community organizations, city and federal authorities to protect the GW community from antisemitism and we remain committed to working with them to ensure every student has the right to equal educational opportunities without fear of harassment or abuse.”
