Donald Trump’s administration says it has determined that George Washington University (GWU) has violated federal civil rights law, making it the latest higher educational institution to be targeted by the White House over last spring’s campus protests against Israeli military strikes in Gaza.
In an announcement Tuesday, the Trump-led justice department accused the Washington DC-based university of failing to take “meaningful action” to combat antisemitism during demonstrations there.
A statement that GWU spokesperson Shannon McClendon provided to the Guardian on Tuesday said it “condemns antisemitism, which has absolutely no place on our campuses or in a civil and humane society”.
“Moreover, our actions clearly demonstrate our commitment to addressing antisemitic actions and promoting an inclusive campus environment by upholding a safe, respectful, and accountable environment,” McClendon’s statement said. “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.”
A statement from the justice department claimed that an investigation found that GWU was “deliberately indifferent to the hostile educational environment for Jewish, American-Israeli, and Israeli students and faculty” during the pro-Palestinian campus protests in April and May 2024.
In a letter to GWU’s president, the justice department alleged finding “numerous incidents of Jewish students being harassed, abused, intimidated and assaulted by protesters” – and that the university “was deliberately indifferent to the complaints it received, the misconduct that occurred, and the harms that were suffered by its students and faculty” in violation of a provision of the US Civil Rights Act prohibiting programs that receive federal aid from discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin.
The justice department asserted that it had given GWU the “opportunity to resolve this matter through a voluntary resolution agreement” to “ensure immediate remediation of these issues and related reforms to prevent the recurrence of discrimination, harassment, and abuse”.
The administration’s letter gave the university until 22 August to “to indicate whether GWU has interest in such a dialogue”.
McClendon’s statement said GWU on Tuesday was reviewing the administration’s letter “to respond in a timely manner”.
But McClendon’s statement did make it a point to say: “We have worked diligently with members of (GWU)’s Jewish community, as well as Jewish community organizations, city and federal authorities to protect the (university) 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.”
As reported by Reuters, protesters who were part of the 2024 campus demonstrations last year – including the group Jewish Voice for Peace and other Jewish groups – have accused the US government of conflating their criticism of Israel’s government, the country’s military assaults in Gaza, and Zionism as antisemitism.
Trump at the beginning of his second presidency in January nonetheless signed an executive order purporting to “combat antisemitism”. And in March, the administration warned at least 60 universities about possible action over alleged violations of federal civil rights laws related to antisemitism.
In July, Columbia agreed to pay $200m as part of a settlement to resolve government investigations into allegations that the school violated federal anti-discrimination laws by failing to protect students from antisemitic harassment on campus. The agreement also reportedly restored more than $400m in research grants to the university.
And on 6 August, the Trump administration suspended $584m in federal funding for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) over similar allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. The administration accused UCLA of “acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students”.
The UC system’s president has said that it has agreed to talks with the administration over the allegations against UCLA.
In April, Democratic congressman Jerry Nadler of New York publicly condemned Trump linking antisemitism to his crackdown on US universities. Nadler said that the “president is weaponizing the real pain American Jews face to advance his desire to wield control over the truth-seeking academic institutions that stand as a bulwark against authoritarianism”.
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