GMU condemned 'Islamophobia'—but not anti-Semitism, faculty say
Professors at George Mason University (GMU) have criticized the school’s president for denouncing anti-Muslim discrimination but not strongly condemning anti-Semitism.
On July 1, the Department of Education announced it had opened a Title VI investigation into George Mason University over allegations that it failed to address a hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty.
Professors at George Mason University (GMU) have criticized the school’s president for denouncing anti-Muslim discrimination but not strongly condemning anti-Semitism.
In November 2023, GMU President Gregory Washington published a statement entitled “Denouncing Islamophobia” after Palestinian students were shot.
However, a GMU professor identified the next month that Washington never published a similar statement condemning Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks against Israel, during which more than a thousand Israelis were killed.
“I do not recall reading a single email you have sent to the GMU community of professors, staff, and students since Oct. 7, 2023, in which you solely denounced antisemitism, in which you identified the harassment, assaults, vandalism, and other criminal acts as motivated by antisemitism,” the professor wrote to Washington at the time.
Following Oct. 7, a group of law professors reportedly requested that Washington issue a statement condemning anti-Semitism, but Washington declined their request, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
On July 1, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced it had opened a Title VI investigation into George Mason University over allegations that it failed to address a hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty during 2023–2025.
In a letter to the GMU administration, the department explained that it opened the investigation after receiving a complaint “that the University discriminated on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) by failing to respond effectively to a pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty.”
This is not the first time that GMU has made headlines for its response to anti-Israel conduct.
In December, Campus Reform reported that police found firearms, terrorist flags, and anti-Jewish signs in the home of George Mason Students for Justice in Palestine leaders Jena and Noor Chanaa, prompting suspension of their chapter and multi-year bans from the university.
Campus Reform also reported in February about an event hosted by George Mason University’s chapter of Faculty for Justice in Palestine. During the event, Holocaust scholar Raz Segal claimed the Holocaust was “not unique” and characterized Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide.”
Campus Reform has contacted George Mason University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
