Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published on the College Fix on August 18, 2025. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission.
President Donald Trump’s administration has condemned George Washington University for breaking the law by failing to address the harassment of Jewish students on campus.
“Today, the Department of Justice finds George Washington University (GWU) in violation of federal civil rights law by acting deliberately indifferent to the hostile educational environment for Jewish, American-Israeli, and Israeli students and faculty,” am Aug. 12 Department of Justice news release reads.
The civil rights division investigated the school under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bans “discrimination, harassment, and abuse based on race or national origin” by institutions receiving federal funds, the department stated.
The department argues GWU failed to take “meaningful action,” showing no concern for complaints or misconduct and harm experienced by “Jewish and Israeli students and faculty.” The department also stated it will “seek immediate remediation” for the school’s wrongdoing.
“Every student has the right to equal educational opportunities without fear of harassment or abuse,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division stated in the news release.
“No one is above the law, and universities that promulgate antisemitic discrimination will face legal consequences.”
[RELATED: A New ‘Anti-Semitism Scale’ Reveals the Perils of Politicized Social Science]
Dhillon also sent a letter to university President Ellen Granberg this month stating students held “antisemitic, disruptive protests,” including an encampment at University Yard. She stated these protests aimed to “frighten, intimidate, and deny,” CNN reported.
The letter states the Justice Department is giving the school the option to resolve the issue with a “voluntary resolution agreement,” according to CNN. The university must indicate whether it is interested in an agreement by Aug. 22.
In addition, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo to the school last month warning of “significant legal risks of initiatives that involve discrimination based on protected characteristics.”
The memo includes examples of illegal initiatives such as race-based programs, preferential hiring, and access to resources based on race.
GWU spokesperson Shannon McClendon said the university’s Office of the General Counsel is closely reviewing the memo to determine its potential impact on the school’s “current approach to abiding by federal anti-discrimination laws,” the GW Hatchet reported.
Last year, anti-Israel protesters spray-painted a bust of President George Washington, writing “disclose divest now” on the monument, the College Fix previously reported.
Pro-Palestinian protesters also kicked off the first day of school last year with aggressive protests. This happened despite the fact that GWU had suspended both Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace for the fall semester in an attempt to rein in the chaos.
Image: “Professor’s Gate – GWU” by AgnosticPreachersKid on Wikimedia Commons
