Updated: Aug. 21, 2024, at 8:23 p.m.
A coalition of pro-Palestinian student groups said Tuesday that officials agreed to five conditions that the coalition put forward in order to resume meetings with administration on its demands for the University to protect pro-Palestinian students and cut its academic and financial ties to Israel.
Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU said the University agreed to hold meetings with coalition representatives in “good faith” without a time limit, allow representatives to livestream meetings online, exclude Provost Chris Bracey from meetings, allow a “trusted” faculty member in the meeting and foster goal-creating discussions, according to an Instagram post Tuesday. The post states that officials did not accept the coalition’s timeline for negotiations, which included a meeting schedule based on its demands, but that the coalition’s negotiation team will attend a meeting next week to set up a timeline.
The coalition’s demands — and the mission of pro-Palestinian students’ 13-day encampment in University Yard in the spring — include that officials drop all charges against pro-Palestinian protesters and student organizations, protect pro-Palestinian speech on campus, divest from companies supplying technology and arms to Israel, disclose all endowments and investments and end all academic partnerships with Israel.
“The acceptance of our conditions comes as a result of the pressure placed on GW by all sectors of the community, and is a testament to our collective power and a step towards the victory of our true demands,” the coalition said in the post.
The post states that a structured timeline is essential to ensuring that negotiations between GW and the coalition result in “material change” because of the University’s “deceptive tactic and escalating repression.” The coalition’s members have been ready to meet with officials to discuss the coalition’s demands since the beginning of the war in Gaza, the post states.
The post also states that officials placed sanctions against nine student organizations and pursued disciplinary sanctions against 22 students.
“We are re-entering these negotiations skeptical of the administration’s interest in genuine, good faith negotiations,” the post states.
A University spokesperson declined to confirm if officials have agreed to the coalition’s conditions to resume meetings with administration or if officials denied the proposed timeline for negotiations. The spokesperson also declined to confirm if they will be meeting with the coalition this week to set a timeline for negotiations.
“While the University would not characterize them as ‘negotiations,’ it continues to hold discussions with groups of students, faculty, alumni and parents about enhancing community engagement and conflict education on campus moving forward,” the University spokesperson said in an email.
The spokesperson also declined to confirm that officials have placed sanctions against nine student organizations and are pursuing disciplinary sanctions against 22 students, as the Instagram post alleged. The spokesperson declined to comment on if officials were considering making any changes to its “endowment investment strategy,” academic partnerships, or student conduct processes as a result of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
After police cleared the encampment last spring and arrested protesters, Bracey, University President Ellen Granberg, Dean of Students Colette Coleman and Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes invited representatives from seven student organizations representing GW Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students to a 45-minute meeting at 1 p.m. on May 10 to discuss “broad community concerns” like free speech and Islamophobia. Officials said in the invitation that GW will not consider changes to its “endowment investment strategy,” academic partnerships or student conduct processes.
In response to the invitation, GW Students for Justice in Palestine asked officials to reschedule the May 10 meeting to 5 p.m. due to the proposed meeting conflicting with Jummah prayer, an obligatory Friday prayer for Muslims, and the invitation being last minute on the last day of final exams. GW SJP said in its reply that officials showed a “concerning lack of genuine interest” in engaging with students by giving representatives a two-hour notice for the meeting.
SJP requested in the email reply to exclude Bracey from the meeting because of his alleged assault of two students during the U-Yard encampment. The coalition posted a video on April 29, the fourth day of the encampment, where Bracey appeared to grab a student’s phone that was recording him.
A representative from the Muslim Students Association and the coalition — who requested anonymity due to fear of doxing — said the coalition met with officials once in-person on May 10, which was live streamed on the coalition’s Instagram account. During the May 10 meeting, Granberg said officials would not commit to divesting from companies selling weapons to Israel or disclosing University finances. Student representatives at the meeting said they were unsatisfied with officials’ refusal to accept the coalition’s demands.
The MSA and coalition representative said students met with officials again on May 13 over Zoom where officials allegedly refused to set up a follow-up meeting to discuss their demands.
“This was after the second negotiation meeting when they cut us off at 45 minutes and they said, ‘We cannot set a future date for our next meeting at this time, we have other students to talk to, and we want to get everyone’s perspective on this issue,’” the representative said.
The representative said when officials reached out to them again early in the summer, the coalition sent its conditions for negotiation meetings, but officials originally denied the conditions. The representative declined to name the trusted faculty member that the coalition chose to be present in its negotiation meetings, now that GW has allegedly accepted its conditions.
The coalition is not interested in having discussions about their “feelings,” but want material change, the representative said.
“We’d like to see tangible action,” the representative said. “We’d like to see all of our demands met in their entirety.”
Jennifer Igbonoba contributed to reporting.
This post has been updated to correct the following:
The Hatchet incorrectly identified Provost Chris Bracey as a vice provost. We regret this error.
