DOJ finds George Washington University intentionally indifferent to anti-Semitism

George Washington University responded with deliberate indifference to reports of hate against Israelis and anti-Semitism on campus, the Department of Justice reported Tuesday. The Washington, D.C. school’s hostile education environment violated the federal civil rights of teachers and students, the DOJ alleged.

The allegations came after a federal investigation into the school’s response to complaints of anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment of Jewish students and faculty. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division shared the investigation’s results in a Tuesday letter. Despite the notice of actual abuses on campus, the school was deliberately indifferent to the harms suffered by students, Dhillon wrote. Students were subjected to a hostile and offensive learning environment with shocking misconduct, she continued.

What did the report describe? The report centered on the rise in anti-Semitism alongside the pro-Palestinian protest encampment erected on campus in spring 2024. Encampment agitators meant to frighten and intimidate Jewish and Israeli students in an educational environment, the report said. Investigators cited what they said were numerous instances of Jewish students being harassed and assaulted by protesters leaving them scared to attend class.

One Jewish student described being surrounded, threatened, and ordered to leave by anti-Semitic protesters after leaving a building across from the encampment, the report said. The school’s assistant dean of students told the Jewish student to leave because his presence antagonized and provoked the crowd, the report continued. Another Jewish student was confronted and surrounded by protesters for quietly holding up an Israeli flag near the encampment. Demonstrators linked arms to stop the student from moving and shouted racial slurs, according to the letter. A campus police officer near the scene did nothing to intervene, and only told the Jewish student to leave the area for his safety.

Students, parents, and alumni contacted the school out of concern but George Washington University took no meaningful action and was deliberately indifferent to the hostile environment, Dhillon said. He offered to settle the civil right violations out of the court by entering into a voluntary resolution agreement, similar to Columbia University. The school has until Aug. 22 to initiative a meaningful dialogue with the DOJ, according to the letter.

How has the school responded? University spokeswoman Shannon McClendon told WORLD that the university was reviewing the DOJ’s letter and planned to respond in a timely manner. George Washington University condemns anti-Semitism and the school has demonstrated its commitment to addressing anti-Semitic actions, she said. She noted that the school had held individuals and organizations accountable under university code for their behavior, including those involved with the encampment.

The DOJ formed a federal task force in February aimed at combating anti-Semitism with a specific focus on harassment of Jews on college campuses. Officials have since taken issue with what they are characterizing as a lack of response to anti-Semitism of several high-profile schools, including Harvard University, University of California Los Angeles, and Columbia University.

Dig deeper: Read my report about GWU’s pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year for more background.