University Policy Review Announcement
In January, GW entered into a voluntary resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to resolve two complaints filed in 2023. Among other commitments made to enhance and expand efforts to address and combat discrimination and harassment, the university agreed to evaluate several policies relating to discrimination and demonstrations.
The policies designated for review include:
- Equal Opportunity, Nondiscrimination, Anti-Harassment, and Non-Retaliation Policy
- Demonstrations Policy
- including the related policy on Barring People from Campus
- Poster Policy
Recognizing that these policies impact every member of our community, we invited an opportunity for current students, faculty, and staff members to review proposed changes and provide any feedback they might have has between March 6, 2025, and April 18, 2025. The community comment period for these four polices has since closed.
In addition to the above cited policies, the university has drafted a new Anti-Hazing Policy in response to the Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed into law December 2024 which amends the Jeanne Clery Act. The ammendment requires institutions to have in place a policy prohibiting hazing by June 23, 2025. To meet this timeline, community feedback to this policy must be submitted by Friday, May 23, 2025.
The university will prepare a thematic summary of the feedback received for all policies posted for community comment, along with a summary of how feedback was incorporated, and then share the final decision on the policy revisions.
Based on our learning from how this process works in relation to these policy proposals, GW leadership will announce a more permanent procedure for engaging with our community about the development of new policies or revisions to current policies. The university will work with the Faculty Senate, the Student Government Association, and the Staff Council to finalize that approach.