{ "id": "2021-01-06-george-washington-university-capitol-attack-foggy-bottom-closure", "slug": "george-washington-university-capitol-attack-foggy-bottom-closure-2021-01-06", "institution": { "name": "The George Washington University", "shortName": "GW", "state": "DC", "type": "private-r1", "alertSystemName": "GW Alert", "alertPlatform": "Everbridge", "enrollment": 27000 }, "incident": { "date": "2021-01-06", "endDate": "2021-01-07", "type": "civil-unrest", "cleryCategory": "advisory", "headline": "A campus a mile and a half from the Capitol closes under curfew inside a security zone", "headlinePublic": "A campus a mile and a half from the Capitol closes under curfew inside a security zone", "summary": "[George Washington University's Foggy Bottom campus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_University) sits roughly 1.6 miles west of the US Capitol -- the closest major university campus to the building that was [stormed by supporters of President Trump on January 6, 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6_United_States_Capitol_attack). GW had pre-positioned a [campus advisory the previous day](https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/change-foggy-bottom-campus-operations-wednesday-january-6-2021) warning of Wednesday's permitted First Amendment activities and directing community members to seek shelter indoors if a disturbance occurred. By late afternoon -- after [Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a 6:00 p.m. curfew](https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-orders-citywide-curfew-beginning-6pm-today) -- GW issued a second advisory closing the Foggy Bottom campus from [6 p.m. on January 6 through 6 a.m. on January 7](https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/gw-foggy-bottom-campus-close-6pm-6am) to all but residential students and designated on-site employees.", "outcome": "Foggy Bottom remained under a Secret Service security zone through the [January 20 inauguration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inauguration_of_Joe_Biden). [The GW Hatchet later reported](https://gwhatchet.com/2021/12/30/year-in-review-top-stories-of-2021/) that the National Guard occupied Foggy Bottom during the buildup, with thousands of troops stationed in the neighborhood. Most GW students were not on campus due to COVID-19 remote operations. The Senate confirmed the Electoral College count at approximately 3:40 AM EST on January 7, 2021.", "resolution": "confirmed-threat" }, "alerts": [ { "sequence": 1, "type": "initial", "timestamp": "2021-01-05T17:00:00-05:00", "timestampApprox": "Tuesday evening, January 5, 2021 -- one day before the Capitol attack", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "Mayor Bowser has announced the District’s preparations for this week’s permitted First Amendment activities. While there is no specific or direct threat to the GW community at this time, the university strongly encourages students, faculty and staff not living in the District to be mindful of the Mayor’s request and avoid the downtown area by maximizing virtual learning and telework.\n\nAll designated on-site employees should check with their supervisors for any special reporting instructions. Student with clinical responsibilities should check with their clinical supervisor for further instruction. If any student with clinical responsibilities feels that the conditions are unsafe and are not able to make it in, please let your resident, attending physician, or clinical instructor know.\n\nIf you do have to be on the Foggy Bottom campus Wednesday, please take the following safety precautions:\n\n• Plan for the possibility of increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic.\n• Plan for the possibility of increased WMATA ridership.\n• Make sure doors close and lock behind you as you arrive and depart.\n• Do not allow strangers into GW buildings.\n• Carry identification and your GWorld card at all times when on or off campus.\n• Do not engage with demonstrators who are seeking confrontation\n• If there is a disturbance, seek shelter indoors until normal conditions return. Observe directions from law enforcement personnel.\n• GW Police will be on campus and will be available for assistance, if necessary\n\n• The GW Medical Faculty Associates clinics will remain open.\n• The GW COVID-19 testing site at the Marvin Center will be open.\n• The GW MFA COVID-19 testing site at Shenkman Hall will remain open.\n• The GW MFA COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Lerner Health and Wellness will remain open.\n• Campus libraries (Gelman, Himmelfarb, and the Law School) will have virtual operations but no in-person services.\n\nIn conjunction with these demonstrations, there will be parking restrictions and street closures listed on GW’s Campus Advisories.\n\nWe will monitor activity in the District very closely and will send email and text alerts to our community as necessary. The latest safety and security information will be posted on GW’s Campus Advisories.\n\nTo that end, we encourage you to always remain vigilant. Additional emergency management information from the District of Columbia is also available online.\n\nWhile we don’t expect any disruption, we will be prepared. We appreciate your partnership as we navigate the upcoming days.\n\nIn case of an emergency on campus, call GWPD at 202-994-6110. If you are off campus call Metropolitan Police using 911.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/change-foggy-bottom-campus-operations-wednesday-january-6-2021", "sourceDescription": "GW Campus Advisories: Change in Foggy Bottom campus operations for Wednesday, January 6, 2021", "annotations": [ "Full official GW Campus Advisories notice recovered for Jan 6, 2021 inauguration/Capitol week operations guidance.", "Issued the day before the Capitol attack -- one of very few documented US campus advisories that anticipated January 6 as a security event rather than reacting after the breach", "The 'if there is a disturbance, seek shelter indoors until normal conditions return' language is preserved verbatim in the live archived advisory page title and excerpt", "Foggy Bottom sits approximately 1.6 miles (sixteen blocks) west of the Capitol -- the closest major university campus to the building that was breached the next day", "GW was already operating in a predominantly-remote posture due to COVID-19, but residential students remained in Foggy Bottom dorms over the winter break" ], "characterCount": 2652 }, { "sequence": 2, "type": "update", "timestamp": "2021-01-06T17:45:00-05:00", "timestampApprox": "Wednesday late afternoon, January 6, 2021 -- shortly after Mayor Bowser's 6 p.m. curfew order", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "GW ALERT: Change in campus status – In light of Mayor Bowser’s Curfew Order, GW’s Foggy Bottom campus will be closed at 6 p.m. tonight through 6 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 7, to all but residential students and designated on-site employees. Please stay indoors during this time.\n\nIf you are currently on campus and are not a designated on-site employee, we strongly encourage you to leave campus as soon as possible.\n\nMetrorail will close at 8 p.m. and Metrobus will close at 9 p.m. this evening.\n\nThe university has additional security on campus to maintain a safe environment. Take caution when leaving and contact GWPD at 202-994-6111 if you feel unsafe on campus. If you are off campus and need assistance, call Metropolitan Police using 911.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/gw-foggy-bottom-campus-close-6pm-6am", "sourceDescription": "GW Campus Advisories — Foggy Bottom close 6pm–6am", "annotations": [ "Full official GW Campus Advisories alert recovered for Foggy Bottom curfew closure.", "The GW Hatchet reported this alert was sent to the university community at 5:17 p.m. EST on January 6, 2021", "The advisory's archived title -- 'GW Foggy Bottom campus to close from 6pm-6am' -- encodes the precise curfew window of 6 p.m. January 6 through 6 a.m. January 7", "Mayor Bowser's 6 p.m. curfew was the first daytime-into-evening curfew DC had imposed since the 1968 unrest following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.", "The closure applied to 'all but residential students and designated on-site employees' -- a narrower exception than COVID-era closures which had also allowed essential research staff", "The advisory was issued before Congress reconvened at approximately 8 p.m. EST to certify the Electoral College count -- the certification did not conclude until approximately 3:40 a.m. EST on January 7" ], "characterCount": 749 }, { "sequence": 3, "type": "follow-up", "timestamp": "2021-01-07T09:00:00-05:00", "timestampApprox": "Thursday morning, January 7, 2021", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "", "isVerbatimConfirmed": false, "sourceUrl": "https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/university-operating-status-update-jan-6", "sourceDescription": "GW Campus Advisories: University Operating Status Update for Jan. 6 (text reconstructed from advisory and contemporaneous GW Hatchet reporting)", "annotations": [] } ], "context": "[George Washington University's Foggy Bottom campus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_University) -- located approximately 1.6 miles west of the [US Capitol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6_United_States_Capitol_attack) and approximately 0.4 miles from the White House -- was the closest major American university campus to the building stormed by supporters of President Trump on January 6, 2021. Unlike most universities, GW had [pre-positioned a campus advisory on January 5](https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/change-foggy-bottom-campus-operations-wednesday-january-6-2021) warning of Wednesday's permitted First Amendment activities, instructing community members to seek shelter indoors if a disturbance occurred and to observe directions from law enforcement personnel. The Capitol was first breached at approximately 2:13 PM EST on January 6. By approximately 5:30 PM EST, [Mayor Muriel Bowser had imposed a 6:00 PM curfew](https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-orders-citywide-curfew-beginning-6pm-today). GW responded with a second advisory [closing the Foggy Bottom campus from 6 p.m. on January 6 through 6 a.m. on January 7](https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/gw-foggy-bottom-campus-close-6pm-6am) to all but residential students and designated on-site employees. GW's campus then sat inside the [Secret Service security perimeter](https://gwhatchet.com/2021/12/30/year-in-review-top-stories-of-2021/) for the next two weeks, with the National Guard occupying Foggy Bottom during the buildup to the January 20 Biden inauguration. The university operated remotely throughout this window. The proximity made GW operationally singular: no other major US university faced this combination of geographic exposure, federal security infrastructure, and a campus partially populated by residential students during a national civic emergency.", "keyFindings": [ "GW's Foggy Bottom campus sits approximately 1.6 miles from the Capitol and 0.4 miles from the White House -- the closest major US university to the federal core", "GW pre-positioned an advisory on January 5, the day before the attack, anticipating January 6 as a security event rather than reacting after the breach", "Mayor Bowser's 6:00 PM curfew was the first daytime-into-evening curfew imposed on DC since the 1968 unrest", "Foggy Bottom was subsequently placed inside the Secret Service's National Special Security Event perimeter for two weeks before the Biden inauguration -- one of very few US university campuses ever absorbed into a federal hardened zone", "The campus was already in COVID-19 remote operations, limiting the immediate population at risk to residential students and essential personnel" ], "responseTimeMinutes": null, "sources": [ { "title": "Change in Foggy Bottom campus operations for Wednesday, January 6, 2021 -- GW Campus Advisories", "url": "https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/change-foggy-bottom-campus-operations-wednesday-january-6-2021", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "GW Foggy Bottom campus to close from 6pm-6am -- GW Campus Advisories", "url": "https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/gw-foggy-bottom-campus-close-6pm-6am", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "University Operating Status Update for Jan. 6 -- GW Campus Advisories", "url": "https://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/university-operating-status-update-jan-6", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Statement on the January 6 United States Capitol Attack -- GW Office for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement", "url": "https://diversity.gwu.edu/statement-january-6-united-states-capitol-attack", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Foggy Bottom Campus closes at 6 p.m. under curfew -- The GW Hatchet", "url": "https://www.gwhatchet.com/2021/01/06/foggy-bottom-campus-to-close-in-accordance-with-mayors-curfew-at-6-p-m/", "type": "student-newspaper" }, { "title": "Year in review: Top stories of 2021 -- The GW Hatchet", "url": "https://gwhatchet.com/2021/12/30/year-in-review-top-stories-of-2021/", "type": "student-newspaper" }, { "title": "Mayor Bowser Orders Citywide Curfew Beginning at 6PM Today -- Office of the Mayor of Washington DC", "url": "https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-orders-citywide-curfew-beginning-6pm-today", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "January 6 United States Capitol attack -- Wikipedia", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6_United_States_Capitol_attack", "type": "other" } ], "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "january-6", "capitol-attack", "civil-unrest", "george-washington-university", "foggy-bottom", "washington-dc", "curfew", "gw-alert", "national-guard", "winter-2021" ], "dateAdded": "2026-05-14", "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18", "addedBy": "ingestion" }