George Washington University student leaders demand DEI protections, ICE ban

George Washington University’s Student Government Association (SGA) passed a resolution on Oct. 27, urging the school to support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from campus.

The association unanimously supported the resolution, and roughly 40 students cheered its passage, according to The GW Hatchet. The resolution reveals continued student support for DEI, despite the federal government’s crackdown, which began with President Trump’s anti-DEI executive order in January. 

[RELATED: New reports finds DEI presence at three technical universities]

The SGA’s resolution condemns the federal administration’s efforts to “interfere in higher education institutions, pressuring universities to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, restrict curricula, and surveil student speech.”

The association demands that university officials provide “immediate alerts regarding federal enforcement actions on campus” and to “use financial and legal resources to protect students, faculty, and staff from deportation, harassment, or criminalization for activism or speech, and to provide academic flexibility for those impacted.”

The resolution notes university cooperation with the Trump administration has “endangered transgender students by eliminating protections and medical care, while at other universities international students have faced threats of deportation.” The resolution specifically links to an agreement between the Trump administration and Brown university from July.

In addition to its support for DEI, the resolution also calls for school officials to ban ICE and “all other external immigration enforcement agencies” from campus, criticizing the fact that District of Columbia police have previously “collaborated with federal immigration authorities.” 

These actions put “non-citizens across the district at unprecedented risk,” according to the association.

Students across the country continue to show public support for DEI practices. On Oct. 27, two University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student organizations hosted a protest against “anti-DEI legislation.”

“We want to send a powerful message to the capital that we will make our voices heard, and we will not stand for our Diversity, Equity, and inclusion communities to be erased,” the groups said.

[RELATED: Catholic universities remove DEI job requirement after Campus Reform inquiry]

Despite claims to the contrary, DEI programs appear entrenched on many college campuses.

A report from July found that over 20 percent of faculty positions at both private and public universities require diversity statements, while a May study of 262 universities across 46 states revealed that 245 schools continue to maintain a DEI office.

Campus Reform has contacted George Washington University and the Student Government Association for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.