Dear Members of the GW Community:
In the recent message Reaffirming GW’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Provost Lach shared that GW leaders have been thoughtfully evaluating how best to strengthen and support key areas of the university that advance our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. One opportunity that we are pleased to announce today is an effort to strengthen how GW responds to allegations of harassment, bias and discrimination by establishing the new Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO).
Effective May 1, 2026, the Office of Equal Opportunity will assume responsibility for oversight of the University’s civil rights compliance responsibilities under federal and local laws, including Titles VI, VII, IX, the ADA/Section 504, and the DC Human Rights Act. OEO will be responsible for managing the response to all discrimination, bias and harassment complaints, regardless of the roles in our community of the person making a complaint or responding to it. This new office will be comprised of the Title IX Office, portions of the Equal Employment Opportunity and Access Office in HR, and the Office of Access and Opportunity. We want to thank Ashley Fountaine and Catherine Guttman-McCabe for their leadership and contributions this past year in establishing the Office of Access and Opportunity and setting GW up to take this next step.
The Office of Equal Opportunity will be led by Asha Reynolds, who is assuming the new role of Associate Vice President for Equal Opportunity (EO Coordinator; Title IX & Title VI), and Jessica Tischler, who is assuming the new role of Assistant Vice President for Equal Opportunity and Compliance (Deputy EO Coordinator). The new OEO will include all staff in the former Title IX Office and staff from the Equal Employment and Access Office whose roles are being encompassed in OEO. Asha will report to Scott Mory, Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff.
OEO is designed to enhance GW’s response to complaints of discrimination, bias and harassment by centralizing the various streams for such complaints, which are currently handled by several different offices. This creates confusion about where community members should direct their complaints and complicates the handling of intersectional complaints. By centralizing complaint management, OEO will consistently and equitably apply GW policies regardless of the role of those involved, improve the handling of intersectional complaints, and streamline case management. In addition, OEO will maintain a focus on supporting impacted parties, and sponsor robust training and education programs.
Consistent with the university’s commitment to academic freedom, each OEO complaint will be reviewed initially and, as appropriate, an academic freedom assessment will be conducted in consultation with the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. At the determination stage, the outcome will be forwarded to either the Office for Faculty Affairs, the Division for Student Affairs, or Human Resource Management and Development, depending on the role of the responding party, for next steps, as appropriate.
Please note that while the new office centralizes resources, this announcement does not reflect a change to current policies or procedures, and matters that are currently pending will continue to be handled under existing policies and processes. The university will begin to review policies and procedures in accordance with the University Policy Review Process and will communicate updates as they are available.
In addition to the creation of OEO, we are pleased to announce that the Office of Disability Support Services, which provides reasonable and appropriate academic accommodations to students with disabilities in order to provide equal access to GW’s academic programs, will continue to be led by Executive Director Rochelle Mills-Garcia, who will now report to Deputy Provost Terry Murphy.
The senior leadership joins us in thanking Asha and Jessica for taking on this responsibility, and it shares our enthusiasm about the positive impacts OEO will have on our community in the years ahead.
Sincerely,
John Lach
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Scott M. Mory
Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff