Officials released finalized versions for four anti-discrimination policy changes as part of the University’s voluntary resolution agreement with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Wednesday.
In a University release, officials said they received “robust” community engagement on the draft policies released in March which included 2,054 individual policy views and 127 submitted feedback forms on the four policies. The policy reviews are part of a January agreement the University made with OCR to revise its anti-discrimination policies after the office identified “concerns” in the University’s response to discrimination and a pair of Title VI complaints.
One of the complaints, filed in February 2023 by Palestine Legal — a Palestinian rights advocacy organization — alleged that GW discriminated against Palestinian students by denying them mental health services in 2021 and falsely accusing Students for Justice in Palestine and its president of committing conduct violations in 2022, despite other students claiming responsibility.
The second complaint, filed in January 2023 by StandWithUs — a Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy organization — claimed a former assistant professor of criminal psychology created a “hostile environment” for Jewish and Israeli students in a fall 2022 course. It also alleged that faculty and administrators “retaliated” with “disciplinary proceedings” against students who raised concerns about the professor’s conduct.
The finalized policies include the Equal Opportunity, Nondiscrimination, Anti-Harassment and Non-Retaliation Policy, Demonstrations Policy, Barring People from Campus Policy and the Poster Policy. For each policy, the University also provided a thematic summary of the findings from community feedback.
The Equal Opportunity, Nondiscrimination, Anti-Harassment and Non-Retaliation Policy outlines definitions for unlawful discrimination, discriminatory harassment and hostile environments, also specifying that nothing in the policy “limits freedom of expression or academic freedom.” The policy states individuals may submit reports of discriminatory harassment based on age, gender, race, sexual orientation and other similar “protected characteristics” via the Discrimination and Harassment Reporting Form.
The Demonstrations policy states the University is committed to “lawful and orderly demonstrations,” but such demonstrations may not be conducted in a manner that “endangers the safety or security of the University community.” The policy outlines rules for demonstrators, including that they may not use force, establish encampments or make amplified sounds exceeding 80 decibels.
The thematic summaries for both policies state the main community concerns regarding the policy was that it “limits free expression” and is “politically motivated” as well as opposition of the University’s prohibition of encampments. The summary states the University has and will continue to protect free speech and the prohibition of encampments is to prevent “health and safety risks” on campus.
The Barring People from Campus Policy states the University reserves the right to determine who can and cannot access private University property. If outside affiliates violate law, the policy states, the GW Police Department has the discretion to remove them.
If a GW community member violates University policy or any laws, the GWPD also has the right to bar them, according to the policy.
The thematic summary for the policy states the main concern among community members was the equitable enforcement of the policy. In response, the University said they added procedures for barring people from campus, including that GWPD should “when able” consult with the Division of Student Affairs or the Title IX office before issuing a barring notice to students.
The Poster policy establishes time, place and manner parameters for displaying posters. According to the policy, all posters must include the date the poster was first displayed and posters not related to events must be removed 17 days after placement, while those associated with events may be placed 15 days prior to the event and removed two days after the event’s conclusion.
The policy also states poster displays are restricted to Identified Display Areas and posters are prohibited from displaying threats, discrimination or harassment. The policy states failure to comply with these parameters can result in conduct action up to removal from the campus community.
The thematic summary for the policy states the University made revisions to the policy after receiving community feedback, like clarifying that pushpins can be used to display posters.
In addition to the four finalized policies, the release states that after receiving community feedback the University developed Discrimination, Harassment, and Related Retaliation Complaint Procedures, which the release states “centralizes” the University’s approach to such complaints and introduces a new reporting form for all discrimination-related complaints.
