Officials began the process of constructing new fencing surrounding University Yard last week, taking down the fences that had encased the green space for over a year and a half after officials completed their installation following the pro-Palestinian encampment in spring 2024.
The new fencing aims to “enhance” the “historic nature” of U-Yard as one of the University’s few green spaces, mimicking the design of Kogan Plaza, and creating “cohesion” in GW’s Foggy Bottom campus, according a GW Today release Wednesday. This marks the first alteration to the fences since December 2024, even as students have consistently labeled them as obsolete and claimed the fences blocked off access to one of the only green spaces available on campus, with Student Government Association members calling on officials to remove them as months passed from the encampment that prompted their installation.
The construction, which officials confirmed began last week, is set to last throughout the remainder of the summer break, according to Wednesday’s release. Contractors are in the process of repairing the concrete foundations that will support the new fencing, with officials anticipating the new fencing to be installed by early August. Officials last week removed the previous fencing, and U-Yard will remain open and accessible during the construction.
Officials temporarily installed 8-feet-tall metal fences around U-Yard and Kogan Plaza that limited access to one of GW’s most popular gathering spaces after the Metropolitan Police Department cleared the U-Yard encampment in May 2024. They then completed the permanent fencing that has since surrounded the green space in December 2024. Since then, officials have frequently closed the fences when protests cropped up on campus.
The Student Government Association Senate in April 2025 passed a resolution calling on officials to remove the fences as the encampment’s one year anniversary approached. Then-SGA Sen. Claire Avalos (CCAS-U) said at the time the barricades prevent students from using one of the “few” green spaces accessible to students on campus.
“Shortly after their installation, the fences were causing issues, including ruining the beauty of U-Yard, creating accessibility issues for students with disabilities and signaling the university’s unwillingness to listen to the concerns of students,” Avalos said.
Several candidates in the 2025 SGA elections made removing the U-Yard fences part of their platform, but the fences remained standing for the remainder of that year.
The 8-feet-tall temporary U-Yard fencing remained in place throughout much of the fall 2024 semester as officials looked to obtain fencing that “aesthetically integrates” with the campus. Officials completed the installation of the permanent fencing in December 2024.
The U-Yard fences were usually open from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., but as protests cropped up on campus in the months after the fence’s installation, officials would frequently close the gates, blocking off access to U-Yard for all community members.
Officials removed the fencing around Kogan in July 2024, but kept U-Yard blocked off, a decision GW made following the recommendation of security experts, according to a since-archived version of the University’s “Strengthening Our Community” website. The website stated that encampments created safety risks for the community, and fencing was the most feasible option to secure U-Yard.
“It is also the most effective way to prevent large numbers of non-GW-affiliated demonstrators from joining an attempted encampment, living on GW property, and disrupting our university operations,” the website read.
The website currently makes no mention of U-Yard or the fences.
An earlier version of the webpage also stated the gates would be open from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., however that version was last live in December 2024, according to web archives.
