Campus Watch February 26, 2025

Education Dept. Concerned GWU May Have Retaliated Against Jewish Students Who Filed Antisemitism Complaint Against Prof

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) found evidence in an investigation that George Washington University (GWU) faculty may have retaliated against Jewish students who had filed an antisemitism complaint against a professor.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that OCR sent a confidential settlement letter to the school dated Jan. 16 stating that it was concerned “that the students may have been placed on remediation plans in retaliation for asserting their rights” in filing the complaint against Lara Sheehi, at the time a psychology professor at the university, in 2022. Sheehi later left GWU to work in Qatar. OCR also demanded that the university review all of Sheehi’s social media posts, which included statements like “destroy Zionism” and deriding Israelis as “genocidal f—s.” As part of the settlement, the university will clear the students’ records of any past disciplinary action and will provide anti-discrimination training to professors.

StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism Director Carly Gammill told the Free Beacon that the group “welcomes” the result. “Far from exonerating Sheehi or GW, OCR made clear that what happened to these students was wholly unacceptable under Title VI, and it imposes concrete obligations on GW to best ensure that such mistreatment does not recur.” StandWithUs had filed a Title VI complaint against the university in Jan. 2023 over the matter.

Barnard College Expels Students Who Disrupted Israeli Prof’s Class

Barnard College has expelled two students who were involved in disrupting an Israeli professor’s history class on Jan. 21, according to Jewish Insider (JI).

JI stated that it had learned about the expulsions from a source familiar with the situation. The college told the outlet that it could not comment on “the academic and disciplinary records of students” but that “when rules are broken, when there is no remorse, no reflection, and no willingness to change, we must act. Expulsion is always an extraordinary measure, but so too is our commitment to respect, inclusion, and the integrity of the academic experience.”

During the disruption, protesters handed out flyers stating “Burn Zionism to the Ground” and “Crush Zionism,” the latter of which featured a black boot about to crush a Star of David.

Swarthmore College Suspends SJP After Group Took Over Campus Building

Swarthmore College President Valerie Smith announced on Feb. 20 that the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter is being suspended over its involvement in a takeover of a campus building.

“On Wednesday, members of Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and other protesters entered Parrish Hall and took over the first floor of the East Wing,” Smith said. “We instructed the students to leave on multiple occasions, both verbally and in writing. They failed to do so … Protesters escalated the situation, including by ignoring Public Safety officers who were attempting to keep the building secure and by opening exterior doors on multiple occasions to allow additional protesters inside, some of whom we now know were not members of our community.” She added that the protesters’ banged “on office doors and the walls of the corridor,” broke “into multiple staff member offices” and damaged “an office door frame.” 

DePaul University’s Meeting with Jewish Group to Discuss Safety for Attacked Jewish Students Canceled

DePaul University’s meeting with a Jewish group to discuss safety for a couple of Jewish students who were assaulted in November was canceled at the last minute.

As previously reported in Campus Watch, the two students were reportedly attacked from behind by two masked men; one of them (who served in the Israel Defense Force) suffered a concussion and the other suffered a fractured wrist. 

According to a Feb. 21 ABC 7 Chicago report, the Chicago Jewish Alliance was supposed to meet with the university that week before the sudden cancellation. Josh Weiner, co-founder of the group, told ABC 7, “We had put up a social media post on the day before the meeting was supposed to happen, and they interpreted that social media post somehow as us not coming to the table in a collaborative way. It doesn’t matter how much DePaul really says that they want to help. When it comes to definitive actions, it doesn’t seem like there’s definitive actions to back up some of these claims that they’re making.” While the university increased patrols and offered 24/7 escorts, the victims said these measures are available to all students and don’t go far enough to protect Jewish students.