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George Washington University Has a DEI Problem
George Washington University has announced the establishment of a Center for Jewish Education whose priorities include “addressing the pressing issue of antisemitism on American college campuses.” The prestigious institution has good reason to be concerned about campus antisemitism‚ but whether this move represents a token gesture or an earnest desire for change will ultimately be determined by whether the university dismantles its office of diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion (DEI).
If DEI was actually about fostering inclusion … the weeks that followed October 7th would have been a terrific moment to prove it.Â
The George Washington University is no stranger to the issue of campus antisemitism. In October‚ members of the organization Students for Justice in Palestine projected the slogans “glory to our martyrs” and “from the River to the Sea” on the side of the campus library. The stunt earned the organization a 90 day suspension and the university sharp words from Senate Leader Mitch McConnell‚ who characterized it as “a call for the destruction of the Jewish state.” (READ MORE: Anti-Semitic Incidents Increase Nearly 400 Percent)
An even more disturbing — if less publicized — event occurred weeks later when Amr Madkour‚ an assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology‚ penned an op-ed in the GW Hatchet (the university’s student newspaper) titled “silencing Palestinians and their supporters speaks volumes of GW.” In the screed‚ Madkour lambasted the university for suspending the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. In his words‚ “Martyrdom is essential to the religion of Islam and the psyche of Muslims and Palestinians … Supporters have a right to express support for resistance against the occupation.”
Madkour went on to claim that labeling “resistance” as “terrorism” or “antisemitic” reinforces “the most heinous Islamophobic tropes of subhuman savagery and barbarism.” In other words‚ Hamas terrorists deserve to be celebrated‚ and anyone who says otherwise is a bigot.
What makes Madkour’s radicalism particularly alarming is that he begins the piece by identifying himself as a member of the faculty of the School of Medicine before proceeding to cheerlead for Hamas. He calculated that using his credentials to express jihadist sympathy in a public forum would not draw professional sanction‚ and it appears that the gambit paid off. Madkour remains a member of the faculty and the school never distanced itself from his remarks.
Madkour’s decision to publicize his radical beliefs and the lack of consequences from that decision are almost certainly tied to the university’s diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion infrastructure. A clear pattern indicates that the DEI regime does not actually foster diversity and inclusion‚ but rather acts as a political commissariat that shelters and amplifies radical anti-Jewish‚ anti-Christian‚ and anti-white speech and punishes those who stray from the script.
Consider the case of Benjamin Neel‚ former director of NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center. Neel reposted X commentary that satirized Hamas supporters‚ including a group of protestors holding signs that say‚ “Beheading is resistance” and “I heart Hamas.” In response‚ the president of the American Cancer Institutes publicly scolded him for not “sticking to the principles of DEI‚” and Neel’s employment was terminated. Under the DEI regime‚ celebrating Hamas is defensible while mocking Hamas and its defenders is grounds for termination.
If DEI was actually about fostering inclusion and not promoting hatred of groups identified as “privileged‚” the weeks that followed October 7th would have been a terrific moment to prove it. Instead‚ George Washington University DEI officials demurred on answering what the office did on the week of October 7th and instead referred to a statement from the University President. Tellingly‚ the university postponed an annual DEI event that was scheduled to take place days after radical messages were projected on the side of a university building “due to the current climate at GW‚ nationally‚ and globally.” (READ MORE: Being Vaccinated Against Antisemitism)
The fight against antisemitism can take many forms‚ and centers for Jewish education can certainly feature into that process. Yet so long as the new center at George Washington University finds itself under the thumb of the school’s DEI bureaucracy‚ there is little hope for meaningful change.
Ian Kingsbury is director of research at Do No Harm.
The post George Washington University Has a DEI Problem appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.
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