‘We Can’t Remain Silent’: How This President Crafted a Response to ‘One of Humanity’s Most Complicated Topics’

After Hamas’s attack on Israel, Gregory Washington, president of George Mason University, knew he had to speak up.

Administrators, he said, have a responsibility to help students navigate the confusing world of disinformation and know that they are supported.

“It’s what we’re training our students to do,” Washington said. “If we don’t speak, how can you expect them to?”

Strife in the Middle East

How Should College Presidents Speak About the Unspeakable?

By Karin Fischer October 18, 2023

Some have struggled to find the right words on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Others have opted not to speak at all.

But the process of crafting a statement about a polarizing, decades-long, exceedingly complicated conflict for a campus community of more than 40,000 students and nearly 10,000 employees, was not easy. It involved multiple administrators, several drafts, and feedback from offices across campus over the course of two days, according to Washington and the university’s spokesman, Paul Allvin.

College presidents across the country this week are taking fierce criticism for their untimely — or complete lack of — responses to the violence in Israel and Gaza. Donors have pulled funding, students have staged protests, and some presidents have called out other presidents for not forcefully condemning Hamas’s attack, revving back up an ongoing debate about whether administrators should publicly address politically fraught issues.

George Mason, in Fairfax, Va., about 20 miles outside Washington, D.C., is one of the most diverse colleges in the state. Almost a quarter of its students come from impoverished families.

This makes its responses to national and global issues even more crucial, said Allvin, who is also the university’s chief brand officer.

To Washington, colleges act as “honest brokers” when it comes to politically contentious issues, especially those that affect students. Given how quickly inaccurate information spreads, Washington said colleges need to be providing students with the most reliable, accurate knowledge.

“So much of what you’re getting through social media and other outlets is so slanted, so biased,” Washington said. “Depending on what a cohort of students are listening to and engaging with, that cohort of students could be getting messages that are untrue, and then they’re formulating opinions based on that.”

Following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, Washington and the interim president at the time committed to make changes on campus to better support racial equality. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year, Washington called on the university community to support both Ukrainian and Russian students and acknowledge that Russian students “are not responsible and in no way connected to this war.” And after the Supreme Court decided to ban race-conscious admissions this past June, Washington released a statement assuring all students and parents that George Mason had a place for them.

“The country is reckoning with some very significant issues right now,” Washington said. “We can’t remain silent.”

Drafting a Statement

The process of writing a statement began the afternoon of Monday, October 9, with a conversation between Allvin and Washington, two days after the Hamas militant group led deadly attacks on Israel. Washington explained his perspective, and decided that the statement should address “the atrocities that unfolded,” and not comment on Palestine’s right to operate as its own country.

Allvin, who is responsible for crafting Washington’s campuswide statements, spent that evening at his kitchen table, writing. Allvin was cautious of the amount of disinformation that had surfaced at the start of the war. To ensure that he only had accurate information, he read through various news sources to find “cross sections” in the coverage. He said he stayed off social media as much as possible.

“This is one of humanity’s most complicated topics. And so it was one of our most complicated topics to address,” Allvin said. “You want to make sure that you truly understand jarring, very deeply unsettling events before you put out a comment that you can’t take back.”

The initial draft took about 90 minutes, Allvin said.

At first, the statement took on a “milquetoast” tone, Washington said, similar to many of the responses from other colleges.

Reflecting on other presidents’ statements he was seeing at the time, he said, they seemed to say, “I’m not gonna say anything at all, or I’m gonna say something but not gonna condemn the violence. I’m not going to condemn what Israel has done in Palestine. I’m just going to say all violence is bad and we should come together and talk.”

The goal was to show support for both Jewish and Palestinian students, faculty, and staff, while also staying as unbiased as possible, Allvin said.

Throughout the following morning, Allvin circulated the statement to various administrators, including the vice president for university life, the interim chief of staff, the interim provost and outgoing provost, and the vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion, to ensure that it was accurate and spoke to all members of the campus community.

After incorporating their feedback, Washington made final edits.

“We all bring our various perspectives to the table,” Allvin said. “But at some point, you have to set that aside and say, This is the message that has been decided that needs to be conveyed to the community. And the words need to be as faithful and as compelling as possible to that message.”

The final statement opens, “News of the unfolding war in Israel and Gaza is undeniably jarring. Today we come together to mourn the loss of so many lives, as well as to condemn the acts of terrorism that have targeted innocent civilians, and reminded us of the United States’ own painful history of experiencing terrorist attacks.

“While geopolitical differences that can produce armed conflict naturally produce competing perspectives and robust public debate, such craven acts of terrorism as we have seen in Israel simply must be repudiated,” it continues. “Condemnation of these horrific acts of violence should not be confused with the need to address issues of freedom and democratic self-determination.”

The statement ends with a list of mental-health resources. “To any member of the Mason community who feels vulnerable, threatened, or traumatized by the ongoing events in Israel and Gaza, know you are not alone.”

The statement was posted on the university website and emailed to students and faculty at 3 p.m., three days after the start of the war, around the same time that dozens more colleges began publishing responses. Though Washington wished the statement could’ve been issued on the Monday after the attack, it took longer to craft and revise than prior statements given how politically charged and complex the issue was, he said.

“It took a little moment to make sure we understood the totality of the circumstances unfolding,” Allvin said. “Because not understanding that and jumping out with a message would have made a terrible situation even that much worse.”

Throughout the rest of the week, members of the university community sent emails to Allvin, the office of university life, the president’s office, and other departments on campus, expressing frustration over the statement. Some of the Jewish people on campus argued that Washington should’ve taken a stronger stance and referred to Hamas’s attacks as antisemitic. And some of those who supported Palestinians said he failed to acknowledge any of the violence in Gaza and shouldn’t have referred to Hamas’s actions as terrorism.

At a Students for Justice in Palestine protest last week, several demonstrators said Washington neglected to support the campus’s Palestinian community.

“GMU promises to make students feel safe on campus,” one protester said. “Then tell me, how are Palestinian students who can’t even support their country in public without fear of persecution, how do you plan on keeping them safe, President Washington?”

For Allvin and the rest of Washington’s team though, the backlash was to be expected. If they hadn’t said anything or remained completely neutral, they would have been criticized for their silence, Allvin said. But if they had taken a side, he said, they’d have been criticized for being too partial.

“No matter what you say, you will always disappoint many people,” Allvin said. “We had to simply speak what we thought was the most responsible message that we could, understanding nothing that we’d say would create consensus on such a polarizing topic.”

Washington said he’s confident that the message covered most of what it needed to.

It’s a “classic lose-lose situation,” he said.

Being on the receiving end of the critiques also gave the administration an understanding of where the community stood, Allvin said, and helped them move forward.

As protests about the war broke out across the country, Washington released a new statement Tuesday to respond to concerns about colleges being a safe place.

The statement, which is much lengthier than Washington’s initial response, addresses demonstrations that took place across the world and at George Mason’s campus. “We have fielded complaints from all sides, demanding that we bar those with views they oppose from expressing themselves on campus,” it states.

“For every advocate who has called on Mason to muzzle those with opposing views, know that we have also received demands to muzzle your views,” the statement continues. It goes on to explain that the university cannot heed those complaints without “running afoul of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

Washington concludes by encouraging community members to express themselves, while also condemning acts of violence from Hamas and retaliation from the Israeli government, as well as Palestine’s struggle for independence.

“Whether it is your style to pray, meditate, or simply think good thoughts — I invite you to do so on behalf of innocent people in harm’s way in Israel and Gaza, as the world waits with dread and resolution to see what happens next,” the statement says. “Surely this is something we can all agree upon.”

Colleges that didn’t respond or took a neutral stance on the war last week “got it wrong” and missed an opportunity to weigh in on a crucial conversation, he said.

Students need more engagement from their leaders, Washington said. Not less.

“When you don’t say anything, you’re managing your institutions, you’re managing your communities, that’s a management decision,” Washington said. “The leadership decision is, should I speak? And what should I say? That’s the fundamental decision that leaders must make.”