Community and student organizations, seven out of eight under alleged suspensions or disciplinary probations from the University, hosted an organization fair at a church just a few blocks away from campus.

About 35 people attended a “Radical Org Fair” hosted by Socialist Action Initiative and GW Dissenters at the Western Presbyterian Church, where they and seven other organizations tabled to educate students about their visions of social justice. Organizers said the event was a way for students to facilitate community in light of the University’s alleged sanctions, like suspension and disciplinary probation for some of the student groups for their alleged involvement in campus protests last semester.

Along with SAI and Dissenters, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, Soulful Brewings, the Asian American Student Association, Black Defiance and Organizers for Revolutionary Climate Action tabled at the fair. All organizations except ORCA and Soulful Brewings have sanctions against them, with officials allegedly suspending SJP and JVP in August, and the others placed on disciplinary probation for their alleged involvements in pro-Palestinian encampments in University Yard and on F Street in May and an April protest at the Elliott School of International Affairs.

“George Washington University and its administration has made it explicitly clear that they don’t want us on their space, and they have been hostile to us,” a representative of JVP said.

JVP and SJP are allegedly suspended until the conclusion of this semester and will be on disciplinary probation until the end of next semester, according to an Instagram post from the Student Coalition for Palestine.

On May 8, local police cleared the nearly two-week-long encampment in U-Yard, arresting 33 people, at least six of whom were GW students, and deploying pepper spray on protesters who pushed back against officers as they temporarily blocked access to the block surrounding U-Yard. In the days following, GW Police Department issued initial stay-away orders to arrested students, banning access from University property, then allegedly all public buildings within the Foggy Bottom campus grounds, like CVS and Tonic.

The representative said the organization fair was a way for the groups to foster community among one another and educate students interested in organizing and social justice about their organizations.

Some organizations tabled with candy, zines with information about their organization and flyers of historical information about activism on campus, including things like the occupation of the Institute for Sino-Soviet Studies during a sit-in at Maury Hall in 1969 against the Vietnam War and the presence of labor unions. One flyer said the solidarity with Gaza from people across the D.C.-area community “haunts” the University, as greater security presence has been present at vigils and throughout campus since the pro-Palestinian encampment.

“As radical student organizations, our existence directly threatens the university system and its violent connection to the U.S. empire,” the paper reads. “We believe in radical world building and understand that everyone has an essential role in the movement.”

An organizer from ORCA said the group participated in the “radical org fair” to raise money for disaster relief for Hurricane Milton by selling pins, stickers and prints. ORCA raised and donated $126 for mutual aid at the fair, according to their Instagram post after the event.

The ORCA organizer said officials did not invite some of the student groups to participate in the University’s annual organization fair in September.

“Some of these orgs were not invited to org fairs,” the organizer said. “Some of these orgs did not choose to go to org fairs because they don’t feel safe or welcome on campus. Some of these students are banned from campus, and frankly, that’s just unacceptable and disgusting on the part of the school.”

The ORCA organizer said the organization’s efforts encouraging the University to divest from fossil fuels “ties in” to other student groups’s current demands for divestment from Israel. The organizer said ORCA won their divestment demands in 2020 after five years of student referendums, protests and pushback from the University.

“Divestment is not a commitment that this school cannot make,” the ORCA organizer said. “They’ve done it in the past. They embarrassingly didn’t do it with Apartheid in South Africa, and this is an opportunity to do it for something equally as important to minority groups and to a lot of other people on campus.”

The organizer said ORCA stands in solidarity with the other groups because the main focus of each participating student group are all “interconnected.” They added that “militaristic societies” contribute to harming the climate of the Earth.

“We as people are part of this planet, so we are anti killing of everyone,” the organizer said.

Nathan Dawit, a first-year student and attendee of the fair, said he felt “frustration” since he came to GW, and he heard about “nasty stuff” that the University was involved in, like their lack of financial transparency, partnerships with weapon manufacturers and the raiding and arrests of students following the pro-Palestinian encampment. He added that he feels an “obligation” to get involved with groups going against the University and connect with “like-minded” people.

“All of these orgs definitely, the causes and stuff is definitely something I can get behind,” Dawit said. “Black Defiance, SJP, climate org, it’s all stuff that I kind of feel passionate about to some extent.”

Dawit said he wishes the student groups could feel “safe” hosting events like the fair on campus, as opposed to hosting events off campus. He said that the goals of the student groups are all related.

“You can’t have true, for example, true liberation for occupied territories without ending capitalism,” Dawit said. “And then, you can’t have true climate liberation without ending capitalism.”

A representative of the People’s Medic Collective DMV said their organization helped run the medical care tent during the encampment and provided resources to demonstrators when some were pepper sprayed the night it was cleared. The representative said because of the group’s consistency, they built a relationship with student organizers who brought greater awareness to the organization, and the fair was a way for them to meet their former patients.

“A lot of times in those hot zones, we don’t have the time to really get to know each other, whereas, after the fact, here, months later, we can sit down and be like ‘We’re glad you’re feeling better, and thank you for everything,’” the representative said.