The George Washington University chapter of the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace was suspended through the 2025-2026 academic year, a move that came amid the announcement of Justice Department findings that the academic institution had violated civil rights law by acting with indifference to campus hostility toward Jewish and Israeli students.
A list of student groups and organizations with conduct violations published by the Office of Student Life detailed that JVP was found responsible for planning and hosting an event without approval, and while under disciplinary restrictions. JVP allegedly hosted a disruptive anti-Israel protest encampment on campus grounds and created disturbances by encouraging other protests. The group was previously suspended through December 2024 and was further under probation through May 2025.
The decision, first reported by the student paper, the GW Hatchet, lengthened the suspension period to the end of spring 2026, and the disciplinary probation was extended through spring 2027.
It was also noted that the “organization was found responsible for a social media post that created a hostile environment based on Jewish identity.”
Alums for Campus Fairness praised the decision on social media on Tuesday, calling it “an essential step in addressing campus antisemitism and anti-Zionism. We call on the university to hold every student group accountable when they cross the line.”
The group also noted that the decision came not long after the DOJ Civil Rights Division found that GW took no meaningful action and was indifferent to the complaints of misconduct and the suffering of Jewish and Israeli students and faculty.
The August 12 letter to GW President Ellen Granberg gave the example of the establishment of the protest encampment on campus grounds, which was alleged to have been designed to “frighten, intimidate, and deny Jewish, Israeli, and American-Israeli students free and unfettered access to GW’s educational environment.”
Jewish and Israeli students were surrounded, harassed, threatened, and ordered to leave the university yard by both protesters and an assistant dean of students. A Jewish student was told to “go die” in one instance.
GW Student Affairs condemned antisemitism
On Tuesday, GW’s Division for Student Affairs said in a statement that the university was working to determine its next course of action but emphasized that it condemned antisemitism.
“GW has worked hard to prevent antisemitism, hold individuals and organizations accountable for their actions related to the encampment, and continues efforts to hear and respond to the concerns of members of GW’s Jewish community,” said the GW office. “Every student has the right to equal educational opportunities, and we must ensure that all members of our academic community can thrive at GW without fear of harassment or abuse.”
JVP has not been the only organization disciplined by the university for excessive anti-Israel protest activity and radicalism. Students for Justice in Palestine, whose chapters often collaborate closely with JVP, was suspended in May through spring 2026 for planning and hosting an event while under disciplinary restrictions. Prior conduct violations included threatening social media posts about faculty and hosting the encampment.
The two-week-long encampment was dispersed by the DC Metropolitan Police Department on May 8, according to a statement by Granberg, following failed negotiations amid activists “harassing and degrading people based on their beliefs or background, assaulting police officers, illegally occupying and destroying university property, and displaying violent imagery and language.”
Anti-Israel incidents have not ceased at the university, though manifested in a different manner. At a May 17 graduation event, a student deviated from prepared remarks and attacked the institution for declining to boycott Israel. According to SJP, GW, and GW Media Relations, the student was banned from campus, and an investigation was opened into whether the student code of conduct was broken.