The Department of Justice is continuing its fight against antisemitism on college campuses. In a letter to George Washington University, the Department of Justice has found that the university’s actions towards Jewish and Israeli students were “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitic harassment. In the letter, the DOJ offered GWU an opportunity to resolve the matter through a voluntary resolution, giving the university until Aug. 22 to communicate to the department if it was interested. (RELATED: Trump: Harvard ‘Deliberately Indifferent’ to Anti-Semitism, Risks Losing All Fed Money)

The DOJ stated that agitators of the “antisemitic, disruptive protests” at GWU’s campus from April and May 2024 intended “to frighten, intimidate, and deny Jewish, Israeli, and American-Israeli students free and unfettered access to GWU’s educational environment.” DOJ also stated that it “found numerous incidents of Jewish students being harassed, abused, intimidated and assaulted by protesters.” As a result, Jewish students “were afraid to attend class, to be observed, or, worse, to be ‘caught’ and perhaps physically beaten on GWU’s campus.”

The DOJ also stated that one Jewish GWU student, who was “surrounded, harassed, threatened, and then ordered to leave the area immediately” by the protesters, was then instructed by GWU’s assistant dean of students to leave, stating that the Jewish student was “antagonizing and provoking the crowd.”

Other students asserted that they were harassed and told to leave by the protesters. Protesters also surrounded another student with the intention of confining the student, and shouted racial slurs at this student, after the student held up an Israeli flag.

Rather than intervene on the student’s behalf, a GWU Police Department officer told the student to leave for his own safety. A GWU Police Department officer told another Jewish student to leave after the student merely held up an Israeli flag and protesters responded by harassing him and screaming epithets like: “F[***] you, Zionist go die,” “there is only one solution, Intifada revolution,” “Hamas are freedom fighters,” and “Zionists go to hell!” (RELATED: Post-Identity Antisemitism: The New Obsession With Israel)

GWU received no fewer than eight complaints alleging that the protestors were discriminating against students due to their being Jewish or Israeli. Based on its investigation, DOJ concluded that “GWU took no meaningful action and instead was deliberately indifferent to the hostile educational environment on its campus.”

These findings follow a similar letter that the DOJ sent to UCLA, stating that UCLA was also “deliberately indifferent” to the hostile environment targeting Jewish and Israeli students caused by its protesters. UCLA had received at least 11 complaints stating that protesters during April and May 2024 discriminated against students because they were Jewish or Israeli, which included complaints alleging assault and being physically prevented from accessing parts of the campus.

One complainant alleged that her Jewish friend was “pushed around, punched, and beaten with a stick” by encampment “marshals” on April 25. Another alleged that on the same day, a demonstrator perceived them to be Jewish and told them to “go back to Poland” with their “people.” DOJ’s findings show that UCLA took no meaningful action to eliminate the hostile environment caused by the protesters. The DOJ is seeking a $1 billion settlement with UCLA to resolve antisemitism and discrimination claims, after UCLA had settled with Jewish students for $6 million in July.

As I reported in July, the DOJ sent a similar letter to Harvard University, finding that Harvard was also “deliberately indifferent” to the hostile environment that targeted its Jewish and Israeli students. (RELATED: Three Major Universities Face Congress Over Campus Antisemitism)

The DOJ’s efforts are starting to produce results, as the agency is reaching settlements with universities. In July, the DOJ and Columbia University reached a $221 million settlement. The settlement includes $21 million to resolve antisemitic discrimination employment claims following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack, a review of Columbia’s Middle East studies, the establishment of a liaison for students on antisemitism issues, and a ban on demonstrations that take place inside university buildings and/or those that violate the school’s anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.

Also in July, the DOJ reached a $50 million settlement with Brown University that in part addressed antisemitism on campus, which includes a survey to be administered by the end of the year that will “evaluate the campus climate for Brown students, including the climate for those with shared Jewish ancestry, and to evaluate social media harassment.” Brown also agreed to act as needed on any survey results and to inform the federal government of how it is implementing any reforms. Additionally, Brown agreed to keep a detailed spreadsheet of discrimination complaints and to share that with the federal government.

After a long period of harassment and intimidation, Jewish and Israeli students are starting to reclaim their rightful place as equals on college campuses. Hopefully, the DOJ’s actions will help turn the tide against antisemitism on campuses.

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