As Friday’s deadline for officials to indicate interest in reaching a voluntary resolution agreement with the Department of Justice over its finding that officials acted deliberately indifferent to campus antisemitism neared, student, faculty and alumni groups condemned the investigation and called on GW to rebuff an agreement with the DOJ.

Since the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division announced the investigation’s finding on Aug. 12, some pro-Palestinian and Jewish student organizations denounced the investigation as an unfounded attack against higher education, demanding the University not enter into a voluntary resolution agreement, while others expressed some support in the investigation’s findings of unaddressed antisemitism on campus. Social media posts have trickled in from organizations over the past two weeks as the University and Justice Department have remained quiet on whether or not GW has indicated interest in entering into a voluntary resolution agreement, as the Aug. 22 deadline set in the DOJ’s letter comes and goes.

A University spokesperson said GW is “committed” to combating antisemitism and has worked to seriously address it across campus but declined to comment whether or not the University indicated interest in having a dialogue about an agreement with the DOJ by the Friday deadline.

“We have been in contact with the Department of Justice and look forward to reviewing with them the extensive actions the University has taken to combat antisemitism and all forms of discrimination on campus, and to ensure every GW student is able to access educational opportunities without intimidation or fear,” a University spokesperson said in an email.

University President Ellen Granberg briefly mentioned the investigation at an Aug. 12 Faculty Senate meeting, saying GW officials’ work shows that the University is addressing antisemitism on campus and promoting an inclusive environment on campus.

The DOJ declined to comment on the department’s next steps, whether the University contacted them and if they will pursue enforcement action against GW.

J Street U at GW, which supports peace and a shared future for Israelis and Palestinians, said in an Aug. 14 Instagram post that the investigation mirrors other attempts from President Donald Trump’s administration to subvert both academic freedom and free expression on college campuses. 

The post argued silencing speech on campus deepens the divide between students, adding to campus discourse about the ongoing war in Gaza that can be “polarized and judgemental.”

“Criticism of Israel is not inherently antisemitic, and restricting pro-Palestinian speech does not make any college student safer,” the post reads.

The post said J Street U does not support University officials’ sanctions against organizers of the pro-Palestinian encampment, but the suspensions and probations show GW did not act indifferent to antisemitism on campus. 

El Guichet, president of J Street U, said in an email that the organization does not want the University to enter into an agreement with the DOJ, adding that it will “deliberately compromise” free expression on campus.

In a Thursday letter penned by the “GWU Left Coalition,” which includes Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, Socialist Action Initiative and the Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU, students of those groups urged officials not to enter into a voluntary resolution agreement with the DOJ because it will set a “dangerous precedent” of capitulating to Trump.

The DOJ investigation centered on incidents that took place during the 13-day pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard in April 2024, which the four organizations participated in.

“These attacks on students’ rights at other universities demonstrate the imminent danger to student safety and privacy at GW should our administration fold,” the letter reads. “As these unconstitutional attacks knock on our university’s door, we urge GW to hold its ground and fight the Trump administration’s demands.” 

The coalition provided a list of demands for the University, including rejecting federal interference in University functions, banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from campus, guaranteeing University practices don’t discriminate against those engaged in activities “disfavored” by the government, increased engagement with those on campus about law enforcement on campus and making use of GW’s financial systems to protect students, faculty and staff.

“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,” the coalition said in the letter.

An SJP member, who requested anonymity over fear of retaliation from the University, said the investigation is a part of a broader nationwide project to shut down dissent against U.S. support for Israel.

The member said the University has the necessary resources to challenge the investigation in court and refuse entering into a resolution with the DOJ.

“Trump does not care about Jewish students,” the member said in an email. “If Granberg capitulates, the consequences will not be restricted to Palestinians. This is why a university that’s willing to sell out students to advance Zionist political goals is so dangerous.”

Jewish on Campus at GW, a national organization for Jewish students in higher education with a GW chapter, said in an Instagram post from their leadership team on Aug. 15 that antisemitism on campuses, including GW, is real and warrants “decisive action” from officials and students alike.

“Antisemitism is a genuine problem on campuses across the country, including at GW,” the organization’s leadership said in the post. “Jewish and Israeli students need support — from our administration and our peers.”

They noted that the fight against campus antisemitism should not come at the expense of parts of higher education like federal research funding, which the Trump administration has stripped from universities accused of insufficiently addressing antisemitism. The DOJ’s letter mentioned that GW receives funding through the department but did not threaten to cut funding. 

“We share the growing concerns of many of our peers over the recent federal actions taken in the name of fighting campus antisemitism, including anti-DEI efforts and cuts to vital research funding,” the post read.

The DOJ’s investigation into GW came two weeks after the department found the University of California, Los Angeles, in violation of the same civil rights law for indifference to campus antisemitism. The department offered UCLA officials the opportunity to enter into a similar agreement as the one offered to GW officials, and two days later the Trump administration froze $584 million in federal funding for the school.

Other institutions, like Cornell, Northwestern, Columbia and Brown universities, have all had at least a portion of their federal funding cut by the Trump administration over alleged antisemitic incidents on their campuses. Some universities, like Columbia and Brown, have made pledges to address antisemitism on campus in order to unfreeze their federal funding. 

GW Alumni for Justice in Palestine posted an open letter to the University on Friday, urging officials to refuse an agreement with the Justice Department. The organization said in an Instagram post that antisemitism has been used as a pretext for further attacks against higher education, including at GW.

“As alumni, we unequivocally stand against the ongoing federal attack on the GWU community and academia more broadly,” the post reads. “The Trump administration has targeted universities as part of its authoritarian agenda, curtailing political expression and punishing movements and individuals that challenge its power.”

The organization said university campuses are at their best when political expressions are freely permitted, adding it is a “clear attack” to strip federal funding and undermine the independence higher education institutions have. 

“GW must refuse capitulation to the administration and choose to protect its students and workers,” the post read. 

The group also listed four demands for University leadership, including publicly condemning attacks against higher education, refusing to enter a voluntary resolution agreement with the DOJ, collaborating with other universities to oppose the Trump administration’s attacks and protect University community members’ political freedoms.

“Anything less than open defiance will mark GWU as a willing participant in its own dismantlement,” the post reads.

GW’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors said in a statement Tuesday that the organization rejects the investigation, calling it an attempt to “chill” and “crush” academic freedom and debate on campus.

“It conflates legitimate campus protest against actions taken by the state of Israel with hatred of, or discrimination against, Jewish people at large,” the letter reads. “That is a dangerous conflation designed to rule legitimate political speech out of bounds by mischaracterizing the words and motivations of those engaged in it.”

The organization called on the officials to work with GW faculty and the University community to resist the DOJ’s attempt to “suppress student protesters” and “destroy free speech” on campus. 

“It is clear that the DOJ’s attack on the GW community has nothing to do with fighting antisemitism and everything to do with ending the culture of free speech and open inquiry upon which students, teachers, and researchers rely in order to develop knowledge that aids society,” the letter reads.