Alumni called on University President Ellen Granberg to formulate a plan for combating antisemitism at GW in a letter signed by more than 1,000 graduates.
The letter, which garnered 1,114 signatures before alumni sent it to Granberg on Friday, states that officials should launch an investigation into the anti-Israel messages projected onto Gelman Library last month and form a “clear plan” for how faculty and University leadership will combat antisemitism, including procedures on how to report and handle instances of hate speech. Some alumni said they are ceasing donations and refusing to hire GW students until the University further communicates on how officials will combat antisemitism.
A University spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment regarding the petition and the impact of the SJP projections and the University’s subsequent response on alumni donations.
Four students of the Students for Justice Palestine projected statements onto the library on the evening of Oct. 24, including “End the siege on Gaza,” “Free Palestine from the river to the sea,” “Glory to our martyrs,” “Your tuition is funding genocide in Gaza” and “President Granberg is complicit in genocide in Gaza.” The projections, which criticized GW’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, sparked outcry online from groups combating antisemitism and alumni in the House of Representatives, who demanded an investigation into the students involved.
The alumni said incidents at GW before the SJP projections, like the desecration of a Torah in the Tau Kappa Epsilon house and antisemitism allegations against professor Lara Sheehi, did not receive adequate attention from the administration.
“As alumni, we acknowledge that we remained silent for too long, trusting that the university would address these acts of hate more seriously,” the petition states.
TKE members reported their townhouse vandalized and a Torah scroll desecrated in November 2021 and GW Police Department officers increased patrols in the area following the incident.
Officials hired Crowell & Moring to investigate antisemitism allegations against Sheehi after StandWithUs, a Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy organization, filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights alleging that Sheehi created a “hostile environment” for Jewish and Israeli students. That investigation found “no evidence” of discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students in Sheehi’s course.
Graduates and community members online also threatened on social media to cease donations following SJP’s projections, alleging that projected messages were antisemitic and urging officials to expel the students involved.
Alum Andrea Russin, a 2006 graduate, said she donated to the University in the past because of her “love” for GW. Russin said she left a voicemail to Granberg’s office after the SJP projections but was disappointed to not receive a response, saying officials have done a poor job communicating and listening to alumni.
She said GW’s initial release following the SJP projection was “unacceptable” because it did not explicitly address antisemitism.
The release states that the projections do not reflect the views of the University and officials will take “any appropriate steps” regarding the protesters involved, per GW’s policies. In a second statement following the projections, University President Ellen Granberg called the statements made during the demonstration antisemitic and in violation of the University’s policy.
“People are angry, people are disappointed, people are upset, and these are GW alumni,” Russin said. “No, they’re not doing enough.”
Russin said donations are a way for alumni to communicate their needs to the University but officials need to do more to educate students on antisemitism and Jewish history and mitigate “rampant antisemitism” like the SJP projections on campus before she begins contributing again.
“It’s no secret that universities rely on donations, and they come from alumni,” Russin said. “That’s why directly you’re seeing so many alumni utilize what power they have or influence they have through the form of money.”
Alumni are part of a larger group of GW community members that contributed over $70 million in donations to the University in fiscal year 2022 and made up 37 percent of the donors for the University’s Giving Day 2023, a 24-hour fundraising event.
Jonathan Chashper, the founder and CEO of Product Savvy Consulting, a tech startup consulting company, said he would not hire GW graduates unless the University does a better job educating its students and standing firmly against groups against “basic human rights” like Hamas — a Palestinian militant group that the U.S. and United Kingdom consider a terrorist organization.
Chashper said he would not want to hire GW students along with graduates of other high-profile institutions like Harvard because companies do not want students who are “radicalized” and “uneducated” as a part of their workforce. Chashper said he currently does not have any employees who are GW alumni.
“I hope the school will realize what they’re doing rather than not doing,” Chashper said.
Other individuals associated with programs the University sponsors are choosing to remove their association in reaction to the demonstrations and its response.
Tzlil Berko, a former nondegree student in 2009, said her mother Anat Berko was a visiting professor at GW who taught courses on counterterrorism and that her family is “shocked and horrified,” arguing the University has tolerated on-campus support for Hamas. She said GW’s lack of condemnation of the projections tells Jewish students that they are not safe or welcome at GW.
In a LinkedIn post, Berko urged her peers on the site to not attend or support the University until it becomes a “place of safety and acceptance.”
“GW may choose to be complicit in this nefarious agenda, but the University may find it will have to do so without the support of its influential alumni and donor base,” Berko said in an email.
Berko said she hopes officials will take a “firm and unequivocal stance” against terrorism toward Jewish and Israeli people, like Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, because officials have not appropriately condemned support for Hamas after failing to immediately discipline students for “hate speech” on campus. She added that officials should expel or file criminal charges against students who support Hamas and organizations deemed terrorist groups.
“Until GW restores its lost support for human rights, including human rights for Jews, we will diligently work to ensure our friends and colleagues do withhold their support for a university that functions in such a morally reprehensible and legally criminal manner,” Berko said in an email.
