George Washington University canceled many in-person events to celebrate the inauguration of President Ellen Granberg on Thursday and Friday, citing “global tensions” — a move that comes amid mounting campus tension stemming from demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas War.
The inauguration website outlines that many public events will now be livestreamed, including Celebrating GW: A Symposium on the Impact of Academic Excellence and the Investiture Ceremony, due to “ongoing global tensions and their impact on our community.”
Student celebrations and community activities have either been canceled or rescheduled.
Granberg said in a Tuesday statement that GW police will also be increasing patrols around campus and security officers have been assigned to all residence halls. She also said she has heard “reports of casual bigotry and direct identity-based mistreatment” while speaking with “Jewish, Muslim and Arab members of our community, including Israelis and Palestinians.”
“Antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise, with disturbing incidents occurring around the world, across the country, and on college campuses, including GW,” Granberg said. “Many of us are deeply and personally impacted by these events. Now, more than ever, it is crucial that we stand together as a community.”
The university’s safety resources site also outlines how the main campus will be increasing security measures from Nov. 3 to Nov. 6, with all GW buildings only accessible by student’s with ID cards.
“While we want to be clear that we are not aware of any direct threats to the university at this time, we are taking this temporary measure in an abundance of caution due to ongoing and planned activism throughout the District,” the website reads.
Upcoming demonstrations in the District this weekend include the National March on Washington: Free Palestine, which will be organizing by the White House, near the school’s campus. Past pro-Palestine marches have moved through the Foggy Bottom campus before on the way to the State Department, which led to roughly 1,000 D.C. police closing down main streets on Monday, according to the GW Hatchet student newspaper.
On campus, students have been holding vigils in support of Israelis and Palestinians in response to the ongoing war. Protests of the Israel-Hamas war earlier in the month by student groups prompted Granberg to “condemn terrorism.”
“The right to free speech, assembly and debate is the foundation on which our nation and our university are built, and members of the GW community, including our student organizations, have the right to be vocal and engaged within the boundaries of the law and our university policies,” Granberg said. “However, we are also a shared community, and I not only condemn terrorism, but I also abhor the celebration of terrorism and attempts to perpetuate rhetoric or imagery that glorifies acts of violence.”
Most recently, Granberg responded to a student group projecting anti-Israel and anti-GW messages onto the Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library.
According to the Hatchet, these statements were projected for two hours before campus police told the students they would be forced to take them down.
“These images included anti-Semitic phrases that have caused fear and anxiety for many members of our Jewish and broader GW community, and we wholly denounce this type of conduct,” Granberg said in a statement.
“Further, these statements do not contribute to the environment of rigorous debate and discussion that is expected at GW.”
The university said they are reviewing the incident and will be following university policies to address the individuals involved.
