University besieged by violent protests weighs crackdown tools
The University of Washington is considering implementing stricter student conduct policies following over two years of protests inspired by the Gaza conflict.proposed changes aim too address issues like mask-wearing by rioters, broaden definitions of disruption and vandalism, and include doxing as a prohibited behavior. The university has faced scrutiny from the Trump administration over it’s handling of anti-Israel protests, such as illegal encampments and campus takeovers. The new rules, subject to a Tuesday hearing and potential adoption on September 9, seek to establish clearer standards for managing prohibited conduct, promoting fairness and consistency. university President Robert Jones acknowledged the need for updated conduct policies amid protests that included unlawful encampments,vandalism,and threats,as well as intense criticism over alleged connections to Israel. Recent incidents include masked activists vandalizing officials’ property, riotous demonstrations against Israel, and accusations of antisemitism, prompting investigations and condemnations from government officials, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon. The changes also address behaviors like obstructing law enforcement, posting private facts to incite harm, and occupying campus premises unlawfully. the university is responding to ongoing unrest with proposed policy reforms aimed at maintaining order and addressing the rise in disruptive protests and anti-Semitic activities.
The University of Washington is considering tougher student conduct measures after more than two years of chaotic Gaza war-inspired protests.
University proposals from July would target rioters who wear masks, expand the definition of “disruption” and “vandalism,” and add “doxing” to its list of prohibited conduct, among other changes. The Trump administration has repeatedly scrutinized the public school’s response to anti-Israel disruptions, such as an illegal 2024 tent encampment and the May 2025 takeover of a campus building.
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The changes, reported by the school’s newspaper, will be discussed at a Tuesday hearing and go into effect Sept. 9 if adopted, according to a state government website. The slate of changes “establishes clearer standards for addressing prohibited conduct while promoting fair, efficient, and consistent resolution of student conduct matters,” the website says.
University President Robert Jones acknowledged concerns about maintaining order on campus at a March town hall, saying its “student conduct code was not written for this moment in time,” Jerusalem News Syndicate reported. Protesters gained national attention in April and May 2024 by unlawfully setting up a three-week encampment, obstructing and assaulting people on campus, and drawing messages such as “kill your local colonizer” on campus property, according to multiple reports. Activists have continued heaping scorn on the university for supposed financial ties to Israel.
The university reached a resolution with former President Joe Biden’s Education Department in January 2025 that found no wrongdoing in the school’s response to antisemitism, an agreement the Trump administration called lenient.
Changing attitudes
Concealing one’s identity “while engaging in prohibited conduct” would be an aggravating factor in determining discipline under the university’s proposed rules. Hindering law enforcement and campus officials “in the performance of their duties” would be added to “prohibited conduct.” Publicizing one’s private information to incite various harms against them, sometimes called doxing, would also become prohibited conduct.
Students who occupy university property without permission could be held accountable, regardless of whether they participated in banned conduct, if they refused orders to leave, according to the proposals. They also expand the meaning of “vandalism” to mean “intentionally or recklessly damaging, defacing, destroying, or misusing university property, or the property of others.”
The university already allows officials to withhold degrees, transcripts, and course registration from students under pending misconduct proceedings or final sanctions. The new changes would add graduation ceremonies to the privileges that can be withheld.
Six months after the 2024 encampment, masked activists took their pressure campaign straight to the top in November 2024 by vandalizing then-university president Ana Mari Cauce’s home and car with a Hamas triangle symbol and other messaging, KOMO News reported.
The university drew the U.S. government’s scorn again after dozens of rioters broke into a campus building, blocked entrances, lit a dumpster on fire, and proclaimed “death” to police during a May 2025 demonstration against Israel.
“The violence and chaos that ensued on University of Washington’s campus is yet another horrifying display of the antisemitic harassment and lawlessness which has characterized many of our nation’s elite campuses over the last several years,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said a day after the riot, announcing a three-agency investigation into the university. “This destructive behavior is unacceptable.”
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Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon also called out UW activists’ seeming support for terrorism in an April X post.
“Tomorrow, a student group — SUPER UW — is holding a fundraising event for the ‘Lebanese resistance,’” she said. “This group has a history of violent antisemitic activity on University of Washington’s campus. On Friday, I authorized [a civil rights] investigation of UW’s handling of antisemitism!”
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