GWU Sanctuary Campus Statement

In October 2025, the GW Student Consortium on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) signed onto the GW Sanctuary Campus Campaign. This campaign, led by a coalition of GW student organizations, demands that the university take concrete steps to protect immigrant, undocumented, and politically targeted members of our community by halting government encroachment efforts and urging the University to defend its students. By joining this campaign, our organization affirms our support for these demands and will work alongside other student groups to help achieve them.

The Sanctuary Campus aligns with the values of our organization, and it directly affects our student members and leadership. As an organization committed to advancing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, we recognize that government encroachment threatens both the safety of our community and our ability to carry out our work, just as it does for many other student organizations at GW. According to the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security Index, the United States ranks 31st globally, with declining indicators in access to justice, bias towards male children, and women's perception of community safety. These trends show that our work is far from complete and that campus communities must take proactive steps to protect those who are most vulnerable to government surveillance and discrimination. Supporting the Sanctuary Campus campaign is important to our organizational mission and the values we strive to uphold.

The Sanctuary Campaign calls for a commitment to democratic governance within the GW community, urging the Board of Trustees to share responsibility for governing and managing the university with students, faculty, and staff. Research from The Council on Foreign Relations states that strengthening democratic institutions and empowering women are closely interconnected, with women’s status strongly linked to election integrity and freedom of association. When institutions are inclusive and accountable, democracies are more resilient, and marginalized communities have the ability to participate and advocate for their rights. These same values are foundational to our organization and shape our support for shared governance on campus.   

As a feminist organization, we believe campuses should be safe, demilitarized spaces. WPS principles and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 reiterate the importance of reducing the presence of armed actors in civilian life and protecting people who are most vulnerable to governmental violence. Allowing ICE or MPD onto campus without a warrant threatens students, especially undocumented and politically targeted groups such as Palestinian liberation groups. Keeping militarized forces off campus aligns with feminist peacebuilding frameworks and helps create a community that is not subjected to intimidation or harm. 

The WPS agenda makes it clear that there can be no peace without full and real participation in civic life. As the WPS Working Group states, “no peace is possible without the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and leadership of people in all their diversity.” This includes the right to protest, speak out, and challenge injustice. Attempts to silence students go against these principles. Throughout history, our own civil society organizations have faced suppression, smear campaigns, violence, and other attempts to undermine their activism. Because we have seen how vital activism is for social progress, we believe the university must protect students’ rights to organize, protest, and express themselves without fear of punishment or retaliation.

WPS frameworks recognize that people facing insecurity because of gender, race, class, sexuality, or immigration status are often the most vulnerable in times of crisis. Community members dealing with deportation threats, financial strain, or targeting because of activism need protection and support, instead of isolation and intimidation. We support building systems that offer legal assistance, financial resources, and academic flexibility so that all students can learn and participate equally in campus life.

We, as a student organization, were founded on the backbone of years of activism and the persistence of strong leaders who pushed back against institutional reproduction of inequities, injustice, and oppression. Because of this history, we believe it is our responsibility to support students in having the freedom to do the same. We call on other GW student organizations to take action and join us in supporting the Sanctuary Campus Campaign. The Student Government Association passed a resolution supporting similar demands, and we hope to see more groups join this collective effort to protect our community.