Officials hired a new director and advocacy specialist within the Office of Advocacy and Support after several officials left the office over the course of the past year.

University spokesperson Josh Grossman said an advocacy specialist has joined the office and a new director will join later this month. Grossman declined to say who filled the advocacy specialist role, but said officials have started the search to fill the office’s prevention specialist role.

“The University collaborated with student leaders, including from the Student Association and Students Against Sexual Assault executive leadership, throughout the hiring process for both staff members and has received positive feedback from students and other members of the GW community about the staff members’ qualifications and ability to lead OAS and support GW students,” Grossman said in an email.

The OAS’ previous advocacy specialist, Nada Elbasha, left the University earlier this year after she filed a civil rights complaint against the University in November 2021 alleging the University discriminated against Palestinian students. The complaint states that representatives from the Board of Trustees and the Office of the President called an emergency meeting on June 3 to instruct OAS to take down information about a “virtual processing space” for Palestinian students that the office had posted on its Instagram the day before in the wake of outbreaks of violence in Gaza.

Faith Wardwell contributed reporting.