GW General Counsel to Step Down

Charles Barber, vice president and general counsel at the George Washington University, will step down from his position June 30 after close to 20 years of legal leadership.

Barber joined GW's Office of General Counsel in the late 1990s and became general counsel in 2021, after serving for nearly 14 years as deputy general counsel. Over the course of his tenure, Barber played a central role in shaping the legal framework that has guided the university's academic, medical and real estate enterprises, particularly as GW navigated evolving federal oversight, governance challenges and community relations in the nation's capital.

"The legal challenges that are presented have grown in significance," Barber said. "That's certainly true for universities across the country. But for GW, in the nation's capital, the challenges have been even greater."

"On behalf of the university, I want to thank Charles for his outstanding work and deep commitment to GW over the course of many decades," said President Ellen M. Granberg. "He has consistently brought integrity, professionalism and a deep understanding of the law to an ever-evolving higher education landscape while also sharing that expertise in the classroom, educating next-generation legal scholars. The university is fortunate to have had such a generous and thoughtful leader as our general counsel."

One of the most consequential moments of Barber's early career at GW came during the development of the Foggy Bottom Campus Plan in the early 2000s. As the university faced strict enrollment and zoning restrictions imposed by the District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment, Barber was part of the legal team that challenged those limits and helped craft a new zoning framework that balanced institutional growth with neighborhood concerns.

"That effort allowed us to 'grow up, not out,'" Barber said, quoting the tagline the university used to convey this approach. "We were able to gain the right to build roughly two million square feet of additional space on campus while addressing the concerns of the surrounding community regarding neighborhood impacts."

In recent years, Barber said the role of general counsel has become even more critical as universities face heightened scrutiny, federal investigations and complex financial and regulatory pressures.

"At no time in my history as counsel for GW has the Office of the General Counsel played a more important role than now," he said. "The role of counsel is to help guide and advise leadership as we navigate through these challenging issues."

In addition to his administrative leadership, Barber has also been a longtime educator at GW. He recently marked his 10th year teaching higher education law at GW Law, after previously teaching in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

"Teaching has made me a better lawyer for GW," Barber said. "It has enabled me to stay current about key cases and regulatory issues in higher education and to place GW's challenges in a broader national context. And working with students who are eager to understand how universities really operate has been incredibly fulfilling."

As he prepares to step down, Barber said he hopes his legacy is reflected in the strength and professionalism of the Office of General Counsel itself.

"We've built an office of trained, experienced lawyers who understand that their role is to serve the university by providing sound legal and strategic advice, while being empathetic to the challenges administrators and trustees face and the decisions they need to make," he said. "I'm proud of the office we have established and the service it provides."

"Charles has been a trusted and essential resource to me in my time as board chair," said Grace Speights, J.D. '82, GW Board of Trustees chair. "Generations of GW community members and the entire Board of Trustees have benefited tremendously from his dedication and leadership."

The university will soon announce plans for the search for Barber's successor, who officials expect will be in place by the start of the next academic year. Barber will then transition into a short-term advisory role after June 30 to assist Granberg.

"My job is not over," he said. "I've never worked harder than I have in the past few months on issues of existential importance to the university. A year from now, I'll figure out what comes next."

Reflecting on his time at GW, Barber expressed gratitude to university leadership and the Board of Trustees.

"I am keenly aware that being counsel to the university means serving the board, as well as senior administrators," he said. "I've had the pleasure of working with extremely thoughtful trustees and presidents, and I'm very grateful for the opportunities I've been given."