Readers of CTA will probably be aware of the issue that entered the public sphere, involving George Washington University (GWU) psychology professor, Lara Sheehi. Sheehi became the focus of serious controversy when a group of Jewish and Israeli psychology students at GWU filed a civil rights complaint in 2023, stating that GWU failed to protect them. These students were subjected to relentless harassment by anti-Israel faculty and classmates, and when they later complained, they were further punished for asserting their rights.
Following a two-year investigation, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued a settlement letter to GWU, ordering GWU to review and revise its anti-discrimination policies, train faculty against unlawful discrimination, and to delete the record of unfair retaliation against the implicated students.
“Far from exonerating Sheehi or GW, OCR made clear that what happened to these students was wholly unacceptable… and it imposes concrete obligations on GW to best ensure that such mistreatment does not recur” (Goodman, 2025).
In addition to her targeted harassment in class, the OCR determined that online pronouncements may also create a hostile environment for students and may be included in proceedings involving allegations of harassment. This is significant, given Sheehi’s aggressive and antisemitic pronouncements on Twitter.
As well-worded and tactful the pronouncements by the OCR can possibly be, there is no hint of Sheehi being exonerated. The details of these two cases can be further explored here and here.
What makes these recent findings on Sheehi even more significant, is the fact that she has been the president of Division 39 (Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology) of the American Psychological Association throughout this controversy. The CTA has reported before on the dismal decline and loss of legitimacy of the APA due its embrace of anti-civilisationist Woke ideology and its virulent antisemitism. Just this past week, Sally Satel wrote in the Free Press that “[m]ore than 3,500 mental health professionals have sent a letter to the leaders of the world’s largest psychological association, rebuking them for allowing ‘virulent antisemitism’ to fester in their ranks.”
From this letter, we read this indicting paragraph:
We have documented extensive evidence of antisemitic discourse and concerning behavior across APA divisions. Our archive includes statements from APA council members, leaders of APA divisions, and member postings on APA-hosted listservs that collectively demonstrate insensitivity toward Jews, a lack of concern regarding antisemitism, minimization of aggression towards the Jewish people, and outright hostility and prejudice toward Jews and Jewish heritage. Across numerous divisions of the APA, the listservs contain antisemitic discourse, often masked as anti-Zionism. Posts on listservs include statements like “Kudos to Hamas” and calls for “Intifada, Intifada,” which are synonymous with calls for violence and murder against Jewish and Israeli civilians. In addition, there have been numerous calls for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel (an initiative to demonize, delegitimize, and isolate the state of Israel including Israeli academics). Jewish APA embers have been harassed, marginalized, and silenced on APA community forums even for attempting to challenge antisemitic rhetoric or correct misinformation.
The full letter and list of signatories can be accessed here.
Reference
Goodman, A. (2025, February 22). George Washington University Retaliated Against Jewish Students Who Lodged Anti-Semitism Complaint, Federal Probe Finds. The Washington Free Beacon. Retrieved February 28, 2025, from https://freebeacon.com/campus/george-washington-university-retaliated-against-jewish-students-who-lodged-anti-semitism-complaint-federal-probe-finds/.
Leave a Reply