George Washington University Cracks Down on Anti-Israel Protests Disrupting Academic Priorities

Fox News reporter Ashley Strohmier provides updates on nationwide anti-Israel protests as George Washington University reaffirms that protesters violating campus conduct rules will be disciplined and removed. The university’s President Ellen Granberg and Provost Chris Bracey stated that the demonstrations, which have been ongoing for several days at both University Yard and a nearby location on H Street, are jeopardizing academic priorities as they disrupt community activities like exams and graduation ceremonies scheduled in coming weeks. They warned that although activism is allowed within limits, such protests will not be tolerated if they violate university rules or infringe upon the rights of others to learn without distractions.
In their joint statement issued Sunday night, Granberg and Bracey confirmed seven students were suspended for participating in these demonstrations, with campus police urging other protesters at University Yard who continued trespassing to move instead to an alternate location on Anniversary Park as of Thursday morning when the protests began. The university has also provided food, water, medical assistance information and access to bathrooms if necessary while limiting entry into both encampments since Friday afternoon after several refusals by demonstrators to vacate University Yard earlier in the week led campus police to seek help from Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
Granberg and Bracey added that they have been working with MPD, who declined university requests for assistance clearing out encampments due to concerns over relocating a small group of peaceful protesters. Instead, students barricading the entrances in University Yard were only advised not to interfere or physically impede access to and from other campus facilities after officers took positions along nearby H Street Northeast and set up portable fences around both encampments for safety reasons during daylight hours when classes are ongoing.
The university’s statement also revealed that about twenty students, out of some four-hundred anti-Israel protestors in the University Yard camping area on Sunday night, were confronted by campus police who briefly detained two individuals before releasing them after other demonstrators chanted and pleaded with officers to free their comrades. Meanwhile, several hundred others outside this particular encampment joined protests across downtown Washington DC while calling for an end to Israeli military operations in Gaza that have killed over 200 Palestinians since last week’s outbreak of hostilities between Israelis and Hamas militants based there.
The university has also acknowledged the presence of around twenty tents pitched on H Street, which is a public area outside campus boundaries not controlled or maintained by GWU authorities but falls under Washington DC government jurisdiction instead. The statement added that MPD monitors all encampments round-the clock since police had rejected appeals from university officials to dismantle these makeshift settlements earlier this week due to concerns over the optics of relocating a small group of peaceful protesters in broad daylight when classes are ongoing.
Granberg and Bracey’s statement concluded by stating that as graduation ceremonies approach, they will continue monitoring protests while ensuring academic priorities like exams take precedence, reminding all parties involved that infringements on the rights to learn or express opinions without interference would not be tolerated at GWU. They warned demonstrators of disciplinary actions and temporary suspension for violating campus conduct rules before concluding by stating their commitment towards safeguarding students’ academic success and personal well-being as they approach exams, graduation ceremonies and other end-of-semester activities in the coming weeks while urging all parties to respect each others’ rights.