University of Washington suspends 21 students who occupied engineering building, set fires

This followed the university receiving a notice that the federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism has initiated a review of federal grants and contracts at the university in response to a five-hour occupation Monday night of a brand new engineering building by Antifa and antisemitic militants, which according to the university, saw “significant damage to the building and equipment inside it, setting dumpsters on fire outside the building, and delaying emergency responders.”

“Thirty-four individuals were arrested and are subject to criminal prosecution and University disciplinary processes. The 21 students who were arrested have been suspended and banned from all UW campuses. Non-student participants will be banned from the UW’s Seattle campus,” the school stated.

The University of Washington added in the statement that it “condemns antisemitism, harassment, and discrimination. Throughout the May 5th incident, the UW was in contact with campus and Seattle Jewish community leaders. We value these partnerships and understand their deep concern.”

This was a sharp contrast from the same administration that allowed a Gaza encampment to occupy the quad last spring for over 3 weeks. Following the encampment, UW was rated as being one of the most antisemitic campuses in the US, according to a report from StopAntisemitism.

The statement continued, “The University of Washington fully complies with Title VI and other federal civil rights laws. We also recognize the need to continually improve and have for many months been taking concrete actions to improve the campus climate for Jewish students, faculty, staff and visitors. This includes the creation of a full-time Title VI coordinator position, training on preventing shared ancestry discrimination, a review of University policies and procedures, strengthening relationships with the Jewish community, improvement of bias incident reporting and response processes, and consolidation of anti-discrimination compliance in a new Civil Rights Compliance Office.

And this March, the University’s Board of Regents overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to divest from companies with ties to Israel.”

Earlier this year, the Trump administration informed UW that it was on a list of over 60 universities that were being investigated for Civil Rights Act violations for allowing rampant antisemitism and discrimination on campus.

UW’s spokesperson added, “The University values its long-standing partnership with the federal government. We will cooperate with the Task Force’s review and are confident that an evaluation will find we are in compliance with federal civil rights laws.”