‘The behavior was demonstrably abhorrent, immoral, and most importantly, illegal,’ Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote
George Washington University (GWU) was “deliberately indifferent” to campus anti-Semitism, creating a hostile environment for Jewish, American-Israeli, and Israeli students and faculty, and violating civil rights law, the Department of Justice determined Tuesday.
The Washington, D.C., university’s failure to take “meaningful action” in response to known misconduct and complaints puts it in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon wrote in a letter to the school.
“The department finds that GWU students and faculty were subjected to a hostile educational environment that was objectively offensive, severe, and pervasive,” she wrote.
“The antisemitic, hate-based misconduct by GWU students directed at Jewish GWU students, faculty, and employees, was, in a word, shocking,” Dhillon continued. “The behavior was demonstrably abhorrent, immoral, and most importantly, illegal.”
Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the agency “intends to proceed with enforcement” of federal civil rights law, but offered GWU the opportunity to enter into a voluntary resolution.
The Trump administration has already reached high-profile resolutions with several elite universities. Last month, it settled with Columbia and Brown to resolve anti-Semitism investigations, with the Ivy League schools agreeing to pay $221 million and $50 million, respectively. It also reportedly demanded a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, on Friday, just days after the administration revoked $339 million in federal funding.
Dhillon’s letter points to several anti-Semitic incidents and accuses agitators of staging protests and establishing an encampment on the University Yard in spring 2024 “to frighten, intimidate, and deny Jewish, Israeli, and American-Israeli students free and unfettered access to GWU’s educational environment.”
In one case, a Jewish student near the yard was surrounded, harassed, and threatened by anti-Semitic protesters, who ordered the student to leave the area immediately. GWU’s assistant dean of students also told the Jewish student to leave because his presence was “antagonizing and provoking the crowd,” Dhillon wrote.
Other Jewish students reported similar experiences.
“Protesters surrounded them, yelled antisemitic slurs in their faces, and forced them to flee,” Dhillon wrote. In another incident, protesters encircled a Jewish student silently holding an Israeli flag and linked arms—restricting his movements—while shouting racial slurs. A nearby GWU Police Department officer told him to leave for his own safety.
Another student holding an Israeli flag faced agitators yelling, “Fuck you, Zionist go die,” “there is only one solution, Intifada revolution,” “Hamas are freedom fighters,” and “Zionists go to hell!” A GWU police officer again told the student to leave.
GWU spokeswoman Shannon McClendon said the university is reviewing Dhillon’s letter and condemns anti-Semitism.
“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,” she said. “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.”
A Department of Education civil rights investigation uncovered similar findings in February. It reported that GWU’s faculty retaliated against Jewish students based on “shared ancestry-related advocacy” by placing them in a remediation program after the students lodged an anti-Semitism complaint against an anti-Israel psychology professor, Lara Sheehi.
When one of the students introduced herself to the class as an Israeli, Sheehi responded, “It’s not your fault you were born in Israel,” according to the probe. She also invited a guest lecturer who reportedly assailed “white Israeli racism” and praised a Palestinian terrorist who stabbed an Israeli child, according to the complaint. When Jewish students pushed back on Sheehi’s anti-Israel rhetoric in class, the professor allegedly argued that Zionism was racist and anti-Semitic.
Sheehi, who attacked Israel on social media as “racist” and “genocidal,” has since left GWU for Hamas-friendly Qatar.
The DOJ’s announcement follows a federal lawsuit filed in May by Jewish students accusing GWU of permitting “pervasive and severe antisemitic harassment” on campus for years without any action from the school’s leaders. The 176-page complaint outlines a series of disturbing incidents, portraying GWU’s campus as an environment where Jewish students endure relentless intimidation. The lawsuit details acts of physical assault, vandalism, and verbal harassment, including Jewish students’ property being defaced with anti-Semitic slurs and anti-Israel protests that escalated into violence, with university administrators allegedly turning a blind eye.
The suit also accused Sheehi of targeting her Jewish students for their religion and Israeli nationality.
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