Above photo: Student encampment for Gaza at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2024. Laura Albast.
Students at George Washington University urge the school’s administration not to give in to the Trump administration’s demands.
Following a Justice Department investigation into alleged “antisemitism” stemming from protests against the Gaza genocide.
Note: Last spring, the Department of Justice launched investigations into antisemitism on college campuses at 10 universities across the country, including George Washington University (GW). On August 12, it concluded its investigation, determining that GW has been “deliberately hostile to the educational environment for Jewish, American-Israeli, and Israeli students” and is responsible for Title VI violations. Now, the administration has the option to either enter a resolution process or face the enforcement of further federal action—a decision they are required to make by August 22. The following open letter from a coalition of students and student organizations urges GW to reject the voluntary resolution with the Department of Justice and instead enter a legal battle to protect its community.
To President Granberg, the George Washington University administration, and the Board of Trustees,
We, the students, write to you at a critical moment of GW’s institutional path and the future of education in the United States. As students, we demand the protection of our collective right to pursue our education without the fascist interference of the Trump administration. The White House is waging war against colleges and universities across the country, and as we witness the consequences from the institutions already targeted, we are aware of the fate of our education and well-being should GW decide to give in. The DOJ has already placed the fate of international students at other schools in jeopardy, threatening to report them to DHS and the State Department. At Brown, discriminatory policies and the elimination of DEI programs have threatened the safety and well-being of transgender students—taking away necessary medical care and denying access to gender-affirming facilities and resources—as a result of their resolution agreements. These attacks on students’ rights at other universities demonstrate the imminent danger to student safety and privacy at GW should our administration fold. As these unconstitutional attacks knock on our university’s door, we urge GW to hold its ground and fight the Trump administration’s demands.
At a time when the sovereignty of DC itself is at risk, GW has an obligation to stand for the safety and dignity of its students, staff, faculty, and the larger community who call D.C. home. GW advertises itself as a university embedded within the vibrant and diverse culture of the District; its students draw strength from being a part of, rather than separate from, the community. If GW is committed to its self-professed values, it must not cooperate with efforts to criminalize those who constitute the university community. This choice presents a uniquely pivotal moment for this university to cement its legacy as an institution of integrity, and not simply a real estate company.
With DC police collaborating with federal immigration authorities, placing non-citizens across the district at unprecedented risk, we expect GW to ensure the campus is safe for all students. Every student deserves to attend classes, walk through campus, and participate publicly in the university community. They have the right to do so without fear of harassment, illicit force, or detention. As students, we will always fight to defend our collective right to study and learn, ensuring that education is for the common good.
Columbia and Brown’s capitulation, and the ramifications that followed — such as the surveilling of their curricula and the gutting of programs supporting research, student health, and diverse communities — threaten everything GW students expect our university to stand for. However, Harvard and UCLA illustrate that fighting back is possible. Despite retaliation from the DOJ, they have achieved significant victories, with Harvard ensuring its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) won’t be revoked, and UCLA having one third of its research grant funding restored. This is the floor, not the ceiling, of what we can achieve. History shows how devastating capitulation has been to universities. As such, we reiterate that capitulation is a choice — a losing one — that not all universities have elected to make. Should GW give in to Trump’s demands, our education will be shattered, as the dismantling of programs and departments central to our studies, including DEI programs, cultural studies, and support for cultural organizations and spaces, will strip our university and community of what makes it enriching. We think not only of ourselves at this moment; GW’s surrender would also have catastrophic impacts on higher education nationwide, further setting a dangerous precedent for authoritarian control and the disciplining of our educational institutions, instead of defending the right to independent education as other universities, such as Harvard, have done.
We recognize the threats the White House has leveled, and we write to you precisely because we know GW is capable of fighting back. We recognize in full confidence that resisting will secure us far more than accepting defeat. The victories of other universities and the restoration of their critical functions demonstrate that GW must push back should its stated mission be sincere. As students, we stand united and prepared to weather this storm together; we refuse to stand by, and we expect the same from our university. This is a turning point in the history of education in the United States. GW administration – adhere to the values this university instills in its students and reject a deal with the Trump Administration that would devastate GW in irreversible ways. We call on you to stand with us: do not give in, do not capitulate.
As students, we must stand together to push these demands forward. As an individual or an organization on campus, please sign onto this student letter to the GW administration and the Board of Trustees: https://forms.gle/HeLTzJG4xiU9zLdg8
We call on you, the George Washington University, to:
- Reject federal monitoring and interference of GW’s decision-making and functions, including governance, university structure, curricula, admissions, research, scholarship, employment, speech, and mission.
- Ban ICE, MPD, and all other external immigration and law enforcement agencies from our campus and refuse these agencies access to campus without a judicial warrant to prohibit unwanted surveillance and monitoring of students, faculty, and staff.
- Ensure that university processes (including admissions, hiring, and disciplinary procedures) do not treat community members differently based on identity, political views, speech, or engagement in expressive activities disfavored by the government.
- Create structure and mechanisms for direct and timely engagement with students, faculty, and staff on changes that directly affect the GW community, including rapid and detailed alerts if federal immigration enforcement will be on campus.
- Use GW’s financial resources to protect all students, faculty, and staff in the GW community by challenging the Trump administration and providing legal support and academic flexibility for those at risk of or facing deportation and/or other harassment related to immigration status and for those facing criminalization for activism or protected free speech.
