George Mason University (GMU) presents itself as a champion of diversity and inclusion. Yet recent actions raise serious concerns about its commitment to protecting the rights and free speech of Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, and other anti-genocide students. Reports indicate that the Muslim Student Association (MSA) has repeatedly warned the administration about rising Islamophobia on campus, yet these concerns have gone unaddressed. In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights initiated an investigation into GMU for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Among the concerning incidents was an FBI-led raid, possibly in collaboration with GMU, on the home of two female Palestinian American student sisters. According to The Intercept, “authorities told the family the raid was related to a spray-paint vandalism incident at George Mason’s campus in August.” Reacting to the raid, a coalition of faculty, staff, and advocacy groups asked, “Do universities such as GMU routinely send phalanxes of police officers in military fatigues and armored vehicles, and carrying assault rifles, to break down the front door and raid the homes of students during the pre-dawn hours over an allegation of spray painting?” This response was viewed as excessive, given the initial allegations of spray-paint vandalism, and racially biased, raising questions about whether similar measures would have been taken against students advocating for other causes. These students, who played a central role in advocacy for Palestinian human rights, faced severe disciplinary actions, including the suspension of their organization and campus bans.
Although GMU claims to “include and embrace a multitude of people and ideas in everything we do and protect the freedom of all members of our community to seek truth and express their views,” Muslim students have reported feeling alienated due to the administration’s failure to accommodate their religious practices. In November 2023, the MSA of GMU posted on their social media account that they were concerned about “the increase in Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments on campus.” The MSA of GMU reports that after the prayer space on the third floor of the Johnson Center was reconfigured due to fire safety concerns, Muslim students were left without an adequate area for their daily prayers, and the administration did not provide any interim space or formal communication regarding this situation. The MSA of GMU released a statement declaring, “This has only heightened feelings of alienation amongst Muslim students at a time when incidents of harassment and discrimination have largely gone unaddressed by the university, which has contributed to the degradation of the political climate on campus.”
George Mason University administrators’ anti-Palestinian activities are only part of an apparently embedded institutional culture where Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism are permitted. The university reportedly deleted emails from anti-genocide students who criticized a statement by the university’s president, stating that he did not include support for Muslim and Palestinian students, making them marginalized. GMU administration has reportedly collaborated with the FBI to undermine and intimidate student activists for Palestinian human rights on campus. This shocking partnership has led to the invasive surveillance of student organizations and the chilling of protestors, blatantly violating students’ fundamental rights to free speech and assembly. GMU’s attempts to suppress activism are an affront to the very principles of justice and democracy that it claims to uphold.
In August 2024, GMU’s Non-Discrimination policy added the working definition and examples of antisemitism from the highly controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). CAIR previously condemned Harvard University for adopting as part of its antidiscrimination policies the IHRA definition of antisemitism because it conflates criticism of the Israeli government with religious discrimination. In a 2023 letter to the UN from 104 civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, urging the UN not to endorse the IHRA definition the coalition observed, “the IHRA definition has often been used to wrongly label criticism of Israel as antisemitic, and thus chill and sometimes suppress, non-violent protest, activism and speech critical of Israel and/or Zionism, including in the US and Europe.” The original drafter of the IHRA definition himself called it a “working definition” and testified to the U.S. Congress that if government bodies “enshrine this definition into law, outside groups will try and suppress – rather than answer – political speech they don’t like. The academy, Jewish students, and faculty teaching about Jewish issues will all suffer.” By incorporating the IHRA definition into its non-discrimination policy, George Mason University allegedly suppresses legitimate discourse on Israeli state actions, thereby undermining academic freedom and fostering a campus environment hostile to free expression.
George Mason University’s recent actions—including the aggressive policing of student activists, the adoption of policies that suppress legitimate criticism, and the marginalization of Muslim students—reveal a troubling pattern of hostility toward those advocating against occupation and genocide. These measures not only contradict the university’s professed commitment to diversity and free expression but also foster a climate of fear and repression. Considering these developments, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) designates GMU as a hostile campus, urging the administration to uphold the principles of justice, equity, and academic freedom that are foundational to a truly inclusive educational institution.
