Officials reported last week an increase in hate crimes, sexual violence and disciplinary referrals for drug law violations across all of GW’s campuses in 2024 in their Annual Security & Fire Safety Report.
The report, which the University releases annually in compliance with federal law, showed significant spikes in certain crimes, with reports of rape and drug law violations across campuses more than doubling and hate crime reports climbing from one in 2023 to five in 2024. University Spokesperson Julia Garbitt said crime statistics vary from year to year, and an increase in a certain category one year may be the result of increased awareness of ways to report crimes and available resources, not an indication of an “ongoing trend.”
“GWPD and our safety teams will continue to strive to meet the evolving needs of the entire GW community and to foster a safe campus environment for all,” Garbitt said in an email.
Garbitt declined to comment on the increases in hate crimes, instances of rape and drug law violations. She also declined to comment on whether officials made any changes to security measures that could have influenced the changes in the 2024 data.
The Clery Act requires universities that receive federal funding to collect and publish data on crimes reported by university police departments as well as documented criminal offenses, liquor and drug law violations, offenses to the Violence Against Women Act and hate crimes. Next year, the Clery Act, in compliance with the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which passed in December 2024, will require universities to include instances of hazing in its report.
Hate crime reports, defined in the report as a criminal offense “motivated by the offender’s bias,” hit a three-year high in 2024 with three incidents of destruction of property and two incidents of simple assault compared to one report of assault on the basis of sexual orientation in 2023 and one report of vandalism based on religion in 2022. The report stipulates that 2024’s reported crimes were committed on the basis of national origin, religion or both as opposed to 2023 where the one incident was on the basis of sexual orientation. Three of the five incidents occurred on campus.
The increase, in which four of the five instances were based on religion, comes after the Department of Justice found in August that GW acted “deliberately indifferent” to student and faculty reports of antisemitism in violation of federal Title VI law referencing incidents that occurred during the pro-Palestinian encampment that took place on GW’s campus in the spring of 2024. Officials said they were “in contact” with the Department of Justice in late August but declined to comment on if the University entered a voluntary resolution agreement.
The uptick also comes after GW reformed its method of University oversight and support of religious organizations and interfaith programming in June 2024. The University’s interfaith branch was previously governed under the Multicultural Student Services Center, which faced staffing and funding concerns after its director abruptly departed at the beginning of 2024.
GW Police Department disciplinary referrals to the Office of Conflict Education and Student Accountability for drug law violations on campus property spiked to 105 across all GW campuses in 2024, after 45 were reported in 2023, and 89 were reported in 2022. Referrals for liquor law violations on campus property remained consistent, with 235 violations reported in 2023 and 2024 following a high of 279 reports in 2022.
The report also indicated a stark increase in sex crimes across all campuses compared to the year prior, with the number of reports of rape climbing to 17, a jump from eight reports in 2023 and 14 in 2022 — most of which took place in campus residences. The report indicates 14 instances of fondling in 2024, compared to 13 in 2022 and last year’s low of two reports.
Reports of dating violence more than tripled in 2024, increasing to 10 from three in 2023. Eight reports of dating violence were documented in 2022.
Five reports of domestic violence were recorded on campus property in 2024 while just one report was noted in each of the two years prior. GW also saw an increase in reports of stalking last year, with a total of 28 compared to 17 in 2023.
There was one report of incest in 2024, the University’s first documented instance since GW began making records public in 2021, which includes data from 2019 and on. Reports of robbery, arson, manslaughter and statutory rape remained consistent across campuses with zero reports in all categories in 2023 and 2024.
Laura Egan, senior director of programs at the Clery Center, said she wouldn’t be surprised to see an overall uptick in reports of hate crimes, like at GW, across college campuses after reports rose in 2023, a trend she attributed to the ongoing war in Gaza. She added that the addition of hazing data collection will be an “improvement” to the Clery Act.
“This year over year data helps indicate trends which enables campus leaders to better tailor prevention and response efforts,” Egan said in an email.
Sita Ramaiya, junior and co-president of Students Against Sexual Assault at GW, said although it is upsetting to see an indication of more sexual violence on campus, it could mean that survivors of sexual crimes are feeling more empowered to report these aggressions when they happen.
“I think while on paper, the statistic rise is negative, I think we need to look at the prevention programs that GW has put in place, the survivor advocacy that they’ve put in place, the campus resources that may have been put in place, that have made reporting more accessible,” Ramaiya said.
Kate Walsh, a researcher of sexual violence from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, said studies have shown that college campuses do not inherently cause a higher risk of exposure to sexual violence but rather that young adults in general may be at higher risk due to the developmental transition from adolescence to adulthood, which often comes with the exploration of new intimate relationships, which can make people more vulnerable to encountering violent individuals.
Walsh said she thinks all universities could be doing more to support survivors on their campuses by providing “trauma-informed” support and resources to individuals who have experienced harm that don’t cause further trauma or revictimization. She said implementing these practices could help combat the culture that contributes to sexual violence by showing that universities take violence seriously.
“Universities can start by believing survivors, creating an environment where people are encouraged to reflect honestly on their own behavior and treat all with respect and dignity,” Walsh said in an email.
GW’s report also noted that six fires occurred in 2024 — one in Mitchell Hall, two in Amsterdam Hall, one in 1959 E Street and two in South Hall — with the damage reaching a total cost of $4,500. The 2023 report documented two fires in District House and one in Guthridge Hall, with a listed damage cost range of $200 to $2,097. Most of the fires in the past three years are documented as kitchen fires.
