GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 101, No. 15, © 2020
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
Students To Vote in Referendum Ticket Petitions To Join Urging Fossil Fuel Divestment GUSA Executive Election GRACE BUONO Hoya Staff Writer
Students will vote on whether or not to support Georgetown University’s divestment from fossil fuel companies by 2024 in a Feb. 6 referendum after the Georgetown University Student Association Senate approved the initiative Jan. 20. GU Fossil Free, a student group that advocates for the university to adopt socially responsible investment policies, began making plans for a referendum in the beginning of the fall 2019 semester. The bill proposing the referendum passed with 19 GUSA senators voting in favor, four voting against and one abstaining, surpassing the senate’s two-thirds voting majority required to put forward referenda. The referendum will be attached to the Feb. 6 GUSA Executive election. If students approve the referendum by a wide margin, the vote could be the final push for the university to take action on divesting from fossil fuel companies after GUFF’s years of campaigning, according to Victoria Boatwright (COL ’22), a member of GUFF who introduced the referendum proposal before the senate. “This referendum is really just to show the board of directors that this is a priority for students,” Boatwright said at the Jan. 20 senate meeting. The referendum is the latest phase of years of advocacy by GUFF, which has worked since 2012 to encourage the university’s board of
directors to fully divest from fossil fuels. Through previous GUFF initiatives, the university divested from coal in 2015 and from tar sands in 2018.
“This referendum is really just to show the board of directors that this is a priority for students.”
VICTORIA BOATWRIGHT (COL ’22) Member of GU Fossil Free
In January 2019, GUFF submitted another proposal to the Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility, which is made up of students, administrators and faculty, advocating for full divestment. GUFF met with CISR in March 2019 to discuss the proposal and answer questions, according to GUFF member Celia Buckman (SFS ’21). After the meeting, GUFF submitted a memo to CISR that elaborated on potential steps for divestment from fossil fuels over a five-year timeline. At the start of this semester, GUFF had not heard back from CISR about the proposal or the memo, despite repeated requests for follow-up meetings, according to Buckman. Since the university had not responded to the student group, GUFF began making
plans for a referendum at the beginning of the fall semester to apply additional pressure on the university, Buckman wrote. “GUFF followed the proper protocol for proposing a change to the endowment, and we feel the administration did not hold up their end of the bargain,” Buckman wrote in an email to The Hoya. “When an administrative body simply refuses to meet with students making a good faith effort to engage them, we will only amplify our message across campus until they do.” Over the past semester, CISR has conducted further research to develop a response to the fossil fuel divestment proposal submitted by GUFF, according to a university spokesperson. The university expects to receive CISR’s recommendation in the coming days, the university spokesperson wrote in an email to The Hoya. The university reached out to GUFF on Tuesday after the senate vote asking to meet, according to Sadie Morris (SFS ’22), a member of GUFF who also introduced the proposal at the senate meeting. At the meeting, CISR will provide an update regarding GUFF’s proposal. “We were really grateful to hear from them after fairly limited responses by email last semester and no meetings with us,” Morris wrote. “We are pleased that university admin are taking our campaign seriously and look forward to a productive meeting.” See GUFF, A6
JAIME MOORE-CARRILLO AND RILEY ROGERSON Hoya Staff Writers
A potential ticket announced its intention to join the executive election ballot Jan. 23 after Georgetown University Student Association
members Nicolo Ferretti (SFS ’21) and Bryce Badger (MSB ’21) officially launched their campaign for GUSA president and vice president Jan. 22. Ferretti and Badger became eligible by attending one of the required information meetings held Jan. 16 and 18
by the GUSA Election Commission. Candidates can still enter the race by collecting and submitting 100 student signatures to the GUSA Election Commission by 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 25. Julio Salmeron-Perla (SFS ’22) and Gabrial Elliott Brault (SFS ’21) began gathering signatures to join the ballot as president and vice president Jan. 23. This year’s election will take place Feb. 6. Salmeron-Perla and Elliott Brault started petitioning to avoid an uncontested race and represent more student perspectives, according to Elliott-Brault. “We thought that it wasn’t fair that there was only one ticket. It wasn’t fair that not all student voices are represented in that ticket,” Elliott Brault said in an interview with The Hoya. “We don’t claim that we represent all student voices, but we want to expand the options that students have. We want to try to make sure as many students are heard as possible, and we think a one ticket ballot ALEX BAKER FOR THE HOYA doesn’t do that.”
Nicolo Ferretti (SFS ’21), left, and Bryce Badger (MSB ’21), middle, announce their candidacy for the GUSA Executive election in Red Square on Jan. 22.
See GUSA, A6
Jesuit Sexually Harassed Students. Georgetown Let Him Resign. Survivor recalls sexual misconduct by Fr. Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., during his sophomore year.
MASON MANDELL AND SANA RAHMAN Hoya Staff Writers
This article discusses sexual misconduct at Georgetown University. Please refer to the end of the article for on- and off-campus resources. John had known Fr. Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., his former English professor and chaplainin-residence in Copley Hall, for a full semester when the alleged incidents began in December 1997. What started as an uncomfortable request for a hug turned into a series of increasingly uncomfortable episodes, including offers of alcohol and pornography and Ribeiro shaking his penis in front of John, who is referred to by a pseudonym for privacy. After John reported the inappropriate behavior to Rev. William Byron, S.J., the rector, or head, of the Georgetown Jesuit Community in spring 1998, Ribeiro left campus for three semesters under a sabbatical leave of absence, despite being at least one semester short of qualifying, according to Georgetown
NEWS Doomsday Clock Panelists discussed increased international threats Jan. 23. A7
University archives. Ribeiro returned to Georgetown in spring 2000, teaching English classes for freshmen and seniors until 2007. Ribeiro died in 2013. Ribeiro resigned from Georgetown in March 2010 after an investigation into unwanted touching of students and other inappropriate behavior, according to a university spokesperson. The investigation, overseen by Georgetown’s Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity & Affirmative Action in consultation with the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, has not been made public until Wednesday. University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) affirmed Georgetown’s support for survivors and condemned sexual misconduct in response to The Hoya’s inquiry about Ribeiro. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms sexual misconduct in our community and am deeply sorry for the experiences of survivors,” DeGioia wrote in a statement to The Hoya. “As a University, when responding to reports of sexual misconduct, we must hold ourselves to the
highest standards in pursu- conduct seriously, and its ing prompt and appropriate ethical policies include guideresponses.” lines on behavior toward peoIn interviews with The ple 18 years or older, accordHoya, three friends and family ing to the spokesperson. members confirmed hearing Georgetown has been afabout the misconduct from filiatied with 14 other clergy John during and after the in- who were plausibly or credcidents took place. Addition- ibly accused of sexual abuse, ally, former according Dean of the to a March College Rev. 2019 invesRobert Lawtigation by ton, S.J., who The Hoya. would have John’s acapproved Ricount and beiro’s sabthe incibatical, said dents inveshe heard tigated by Ribeiro had the IDEAA been put unare now the der restriconly publicly tion somedocumented time after the cases of cleralleged inciical misconJOHN Survivor of Sexual Harassment dent. Lawton duct against did not speciGeorgetown fy the details of a restriction. students. Ribeiro is also the A spokesperson from the first known Jesuit to engage Maryland Province, which in misconduct while serving oversees the university’s Je- on Georgetown’s faculty. suit Community, declined to comment on the restric- ‘I WAS TERRIFIED, I REALLY tion mentioned by Lawton or communication between WAS.’ The harassment started at the Jesuits and the university. The Society of Jesus takes all the end of John’s sophomore allegations of inappropriate fall, when Ribeiro saw him in
“He was a Jesuit, was my professor, and I just kind of felt like, ‘I don’t want to do it, but sure. I’ll help him out.’”
FEATURED
their Copley floor common room and congratulated him on getting a good grade in his class. Ribeiro then asked for a hug. “I was kind of a shy 19-yearold,” John said in an interview with The Hoya. “It did feel a little uncomfortable to me, but I was kind of like, ‘Ah alright, that’s cool, maybe that’s just the way he shows congratulations.’” At the beginning of the spring semester, John ran into Ribeiro in a Copley elevator after doing laundry. Ribeiro began mentioning several poems and explained to John that they all had one common theme: penises. A few days later, Ribeiro asked John if he would help the priest return a stereo system to the Pentagon City Mall. Despite his growing discomfort from the incidents, John felt obligated to assist Ribeiro. “I didn’t know how to say no to him,” John said. “He was a Jesuit, was my professor, and I just kind of felt like, ‘I don’t want to do it, but sure. I’ll help him out.’” At the mall, Ribeiro offered to buy John a Playboy magazine, alcohol, a suit, a sit-
down dinner and to take him to a movie, all of which John declined. The inappropriate conduct culminated a few weeks later when John, after playing basketball, walked to the Yates Field House sauna and passed Ribeiro in the locker room. After John went into the sauna alone, Ribeiro entered soon after, saw John and told him to wait. Ribeiro then returned, having changed into only a towel. In the sauna, Ribeiro took off his towel and began to sway back and forth, shaking his penis in front of John. Ribeiro then asked John about his upcoming summer plans. “This is not good — I have to get myself out of here,” John remembers thinking. When John attempted to evade the situation by saying he had to study for upcoming exams, he remembers Ribeiro telling him, “Hey, you should shower now” — something John feared was an invitation to shower with him. Erika Summers (COL ’01), a friend of John’s at the time, told The Hoya she remembers See RIBEIRO, A6
FEATURE GU Politics Fellows Spring fellows discuss their goals for the semester. A4
SPORTS
Bobcat Sighting Bobcat seen along C&O Canal attracts online attention. A9
Sweeping Up The Georgetown men’s tennis team shuts out Hampton 7-0. A10
OPINION
January Drought Women’s basketball suffers fifth straight defeat to Villanova. A12
Club Culture Clubs should not accept freshmen fall applications. A3
EDITORIAL
Queering the Narrative Attend queer events to celebrate individuality. A3
Off-Campus Housing Georgetown should promote resources for living off campus. A2 Published Fridays
Send story ideas and tips to news@thehoya.com
A2
OPINION
THE HOYA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
THE VERDICT
HOYA HISTORY • Jan. 28, 1972
Congress To Offer Resources to Medical Schools
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), in the last of the “Who Controls the Future of Science’’ lecture series at Georgetown University, outlined some major health care changes that may result from the proposed Health Manpower Act. According to the senator, people are finding great difficulty in attempting to meet the ever-rising medical costs, especially those with low incomes. Rural and inner-city residents are plagued by inadequate health facilities and are handicapped because health care can only be obtained in emergencies. In general, he stated, “Health care is disastrously expensive, frighteningly hard to get, at best uncertain in quality and, finally, is offered in ways, at times and in places more suitable to the convenience of the provider than to the ones who need it.” As the major failure of the present health care system, Kennedy cited the fact that doctors are not attracted to “those parts of the country where they are needed most.” The senator also noted that medical schools should not only provide science and techniques, but that they should
train physicians who will take on this duty of insuring that this country has “reasonably available” medical assistance. Possible ways of accomplishing this goal would be to increase the importance and position of the family practitioner and to construct “satellite” clinics near educational institutions and in rural areas. Congress has created bills that conceivably would offer “incentives and resources” to health schools with the goal of national health care. These incentives would include such things as scholarships, “loan forgiveness within two years of the loan” and a minimum guaranteed doctor’s salary. The comprehensive Health Manpower Act will offer this financial aid to medical schools. However, they “must increase enrollment, train new types of professionals and develop new kinds of practices in continuing education.” Kennedy added that there are challenges regarding health care to be met. The present health care services must be organized so that “the patient is not the only one to know his whole medical history.”
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Something’s Fishy –– A man in California stole over $500 worth of shrimp from a grocery store by stuffing 30
frozen bags of crustaceans down his pants. He was clearly quite dedicated, entering the store three times within fifteen minutes to execute his plan.
Lucky Accident –– A Delaware man accidentally bought two identical lottery tickets and ended up winning
$50,000 for each ticket. After the shocking win, he said he would use the money to pay bills and put the rest into savings.
Disco Dogs –– Spotify made a collection of playlists that features music and short stories after finding that many pet-owners in the United Kingdom play music for their pets when they leave the house. Maybe dogs will soon be able to curate their own playlists with doggy DJ software.
It’s Raining Iguanas –– The National Weather Service recently alerted citizens of southern Florida that iguanas may begin to fall suddenly from trees in the next few days. The iguana downpour is caused by temperatures dropping into the 30s and 40s.
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Coast to Coast –– A woman from England received a message in a bottle from Quebec man named Andre. The bottle’s journey took one year and five days, and made it much further than Andre’s previous attempt, which ended up in Quebec’s Magdalen Islands.
EDITORIAL CARTOON by Advait Arun
Larry Peters Hoya Staff Writer
For letters to the editor and more content, visit thehoya.com/category/opinion.
EDITORIALS
Facilitate Off-Campus Living Georgetown University does not guarantee housing to all senior undergraduates, leaving the majority of seniors to find their own housing options. Yet students are often left feeling unprepared for the transition to living off campus. Hoya Housing sends out emails to freshmen, sophomores and juniors about on-campus housing processes each year. The university, however, does not widely distribute information to upperclassmen about the off-campus housing search. As a result, most students have to navigate the process on their own. Since Georgetown does not have the capacity to house all students on campus, the university has a responsibility to provide students with more information about moving off campus and connect them with resources to help facilitate the search. Georgetown has 7,459 undergraduate students, but Georgetown’s on-campus housing can only accommodate about 5,400, according to Office of Residential Living Assistant Director of Assignments Krista Haxton in an email to The Hoya. The lack of capacity in housing on campus causes the university to rely at least 1,000 students to live off-campus, yet Georgetown offers little support to its students in the search for off-campus housing. Though the Office of Neighborhood Life offers support to students searching for off-campus housing, few students are aware of their existence, according to Olivia Certa (COL ’21). Certa does not recall receiving any information from the university about when or where to start looking. “Georgetown provides basically no resources or information about off-campus housing. Almost every place we looked at we found through researching ourselves,” Certa wrote in a message to The Hoya. The only Georgetown-promoted resource she used was the outdated Hoya House Hunters spreadsheet, which can be found on the ONL website and lists many properties as available despite leases already having been signed through the 2020-21 school year. ONL has an off-campus listings site, a Hoya Living Guide document on off-campus renting rights and responsibilities and monthly programming with the Office of the Tenant Advocate to assist students with landlord and lease questions, according
to ONL Director Cory Peterson in an email to The Hoya. These resources are not widely advertised to students, however, at any point in the housing process. After receiving emails from Hoya Housing detailing deadlines and processes for on-campus housing options for their first three years at Georgetown, students can reasonably expect to at least be notified about the resources that exist for facilitating the off-campus housing search. ONL’s resources have the potential to help students navigate the off-campus housing process, but these resources are useless if students do not know about them. Certa wrote to The Hoya that she was not aware of these ONL resources at any point in the off-campus housing search. Many students are signing a lease for the first time when they live off campus senior year, and it is difficult to navigate the rental process without information about when and where to start looking for properties. Moreover, off-campus housing in the Georgetown neighborhood fills up quickly. Landlord Judith McCaffrey owns two homes in Burleith, each housing six people, that she exclusively leases to Georgetown undergraduates. “The houses rent a year in advance. For example, this year, both houses were rented in September 2019 for the school year beginning in August 2020,” McCaffrey wrote in an email to The Hoya. Since students need to be prepared to sign a lease by fall of their junior year, Georgetown should first notify students about the process no later than the end of students’ sophomore year. The university should provide rising juniors with a timeline for those choosing to move off-campus senior year, and students should be directly connected with the resources that ONL offers. Given that the university cannot house all of its seniors on campus, it has a responsibility to at least widely publicize the resources that already exist for students planning to move off campus senior year. Georgetown should better acquaint students with the off-campus housing search process during their sophomore and junior years to mitigate stress and confusion around the process. ONL took the time to make resources available to students; they should at least make the effort to let students know about them.
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struggled with my first couple of months at Georgetown was seeing that there were hypothetically ‘healthy’ options such as a variety of vegetables, yet feeling disgusting after eating them. It took me a while to realize that it was because they were so soaked with oil,” Leibovitz said in an interview with The Hoya. Moreover, students need access to healthy options at all hours. Though the university resumed its Late Night Leo’s program in fall 2018 with meal swipe options from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m, this menu primarily features a variety of fast food options. For the entire week of Jan. 23, late night menus listed no cooked vegetables, but students just getting out of class or club meetings at 8 p.m. deserve the same nutritional options as those who eat earlier. Late Night Leo’s should serve the same variety of vegetables that Leo’s serves at dinner each night before 8 p.m. The lack of sufficient vegetable options is unacceptable when most freshmen are required to pay a minimum of $3,007 and sophomores $2,500 for meal plans each semester. If students have to purchase costly meal plans and rely on these to cover most meals, then healthy options need to be available. Students at Georgetown have also expressed interest in healthier options. The Late Night Leo’s menu was altered in response to requests for expanded vegetarian options and now includes a vegetable hummus wrap, vegetable quesadilla, side salad and fruit cup, according to Hoya Hospitality and Aramark’s registered dietician Tiffany Leon in an email to The Hoya. Late Night Leo’s is also welcoming feedback for further changes to its menu and offers an option for students to submit their own recipes for consideration by Hoya Hospitality, according to Leon. The university has responded to past requests for menu changes, so students should take advantage of the available channels to ask the university for healthier options at all hours. Georgetown should invest in providing fresh vegetable options at all open dining locations. Student health depends on it.
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Georgetown University students should be able to find nutritious food on campus, but they cannot always access fresh vegetables with their meal plans. With some dietary and religious exceptions, all freshmen and sophomores living on campus without in-unit kitchens are required to purchase a meal plan. Georgetown’s website claims that this policy is meant to ensure all underclassmen have access to nutritious meals. Yet the university does not deliver, leaving many students without adequate nutritious options. If Georgetown is going to require most underclassmen to have meal plans, the university must provide a greater variety of fresh vegetables at all hours that campus dining services are open. Less than 10% of college students nationwide consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables each day, per a study by the journal Preventive Medicine. To combat the lack of nutrition among students, universities should provide at least five fresh fruit options and five fresh vegetable options at all campus dining locations serving lunch and dinner, according to guidelines from Partnership for Healthier America’s Healthier Campus Initiative quoted in Forbes. Though students can access fresh fruit in the bottom floor of Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall and through meal exchanges at several other locations like Whisk and Royal Jacket, vegetable options on the meal plan are inadequate. The menu at downstairs Leo’s always includes some vegetable options, but these are not always sufficient. During the 4 p.m to 8 p.m. dinner hours on Jan. 23, the downstairs Leo’s menu included five cooked vegetable options in addition to its salad bar: roasted seasoned cauliflower, green cabbage, shredded carrots, “peas and carrots,” and “seasoned vegetable medley.” But even when downstairs Leo’s has five vegetable options, students find that they lack freshness and nutritional value, according to Reagan Leibovitz (COL ’22). “One concept I
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Improve Nutrition at Leo’s
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OPINION
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
AS THIS JESUIT SEES IT
THE HOYA
A3
VIEWPOINT • KALAYDJIAN
Find a Secret Space
Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J.
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here are many “secret” places on Georgetown University’s campus — hidden corners of the Intercultural Center, favorite study spots in the Bioethics Library and areas to lounge in the open air on the grass by Wolfington Hall. I find that everyone has their favorite, and they share the location of these spaces only with a chosen few people, lest they become overrun by the masses. For me, there is no competition when it comes to my favorite “secret” place on campus: Copley Crypt Chapel stole my heart and drew me in from the day I first saw it. Through a nearly unmarked door on the backside of Copley Hall, the chapel immediately conveys a sense of stepping out of the hustle and tumble of campus life. Its gentle silence beckons with a call to slow down, to take a moment, to become aware. Even though the chapel is fairly small, its Gothic arches and solid stonework speak of a God and a sacredness of life that are much bigger than daily tasks or the latest news cycle. Once the chapel in which all-night vigils were kept for deceased Jesuits before their burial down the hill, it reminds us of ultimate things — life and death, meaning and a life of meaning. Now it serves as the liturgical home of our Orthodox Christian community, as well as for Catholic Masses Monday through Thursday at 10 p.m. Admittedly, the chapel had grown a bit dingy over the years, with stains on the walls from leaky windows and a heating and cooling system that clinked, clanked and looked like a throwaway droid from an early “Star Wars” movie. Many times we shivered in sweaters and coats through Mass, or sweltered in summer. The lighting was, to put it kindly, atmospheric, if not downright too dark for reading or seeing those around you. But now, newly reopened after a year of renovation, Copley Crypt shines with a warmth that truly welcomes and inspires. I am told that generous graduates took the restoration on as a project of love for the spiritual life of Georgetown, and the architects and builders spoke of how transformative it was for them
to work on such a special place. The work has paid off. New lighting emanates from the floor, framing the tabernacle and altar and creating an entryway that calms and lifts the spirit. The new chairs, nestled among the columns, invite sitting down, for a moment, or for an hour, to be present and to reflect. Over the years, I have seen Copley Crypt become a spiritual home for generations of Hoyas. Not in large numbers as in Dahlgren Chapel, but instead, in the way of a special, personal place of encounter and deepening. In particular, it is a space that draws not just lifelong Catholics or Orthodox Christians, but instead seems to have a special allure to those on the edge of faith. So often, people looking for a moment of respite, or in need of some direction or just doubting how to be or what to do, find their way there. Many are students; others are people caring for loved ones at the hospital; faculty and staff, too, seek solace within its walls. I find that no matter what time of day I stop in, I am likely to find one or two other people there — praying, or reading, or just being. I have also seen community form there in powerful ways. Small faith groups that gather to read the Scriptures, talk about their lives, or pray the rosary together. Others who gather for Mass, and who stay afterward — some students have even brought baked goods to share. Others who bring a team, a club or a preorientation group for some reflective moments, or to pray for an upcoming event or to give thanks for successes. I even know one couple who chose to become engaged in Copley Crypt — and would have had their wedding there if they could have fit all their guests. Sometimes we all need a “secret” place. Copley Crypt Chapel — in its simplicity and its silence — is mine. And it can be yours, too. Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., is an associate professor of government in the School of Foreign Service and currently serves as the director of the Center for Latin American Studies. AS THIS JESUIT SEES IT appears online every other Thursday.
By waiting until the spring semester to hire freshmen, all clubs would benefit from allowing new students the time to develop genuine interest about their organization, and they would avoid reading applications born out of rushed anxiety.
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Delay Freshman Club Applications
ver seven semesters, I have had the opportunity to be accepted into some, and rejected from even more, of Georgetown University’s most exclusive clubs. Having been a member of the Georgetown University Student Investment Fund and Blue & Gray and now the president of Hilltop Consultants, I have seen all facets of this system, and I have learned its flaws firsthand. The overwhelming stress placed on freshmen the moment they arrive on campus is premature and detrimental to their assimilation into Georgetown’s community. The status quo among application-based clubs and organizations represents a broken system, and the extreme proposition of eliminating all club applications is logistically infeasible. A schoolwide policy delaying recruitment for applicationbased clubs until the spring semester for freshmen would be a significant first step toward a healthier club culture. By waiting until the spring semester to hire freshmen, all clubs would benefit from allowing new students the time to develop genuine interest about their organization, and they would avoid reading applications born out of rushed anxiety. Every August, wide-eyed freshmen attempt to assimilate to a new school, a new city and
a new lifestyle away from their families. Within two weeks, they are overwhelmed by hundreds of clubs at CAB Fair all vying for their attention and application. Some clubs tell students that they will want to become professional consultants; others use the allure of investment banking. But in reality, most freshmen do not have the slightest idea what those fields are, let alone whether they want to dedicate a significant portion of their undergraduate experience to such organizations. New students might not decide their career path by the spring semester, but they certainly will have had more time to make an informed decision as to which clubs they want to apply to through conversations with their peers and introduction to new fields through coursework. The tangible mental health benefits that this policy would engender far outweigh any argument for maintaining freshman fall club hiring. Assimilating into college creates enough anxiety for freshmen; they do not need social and professional stress to strain them as they attempt to find a new home on the Hilltop. I know that, in response to this proposal, students could argue that I should lead this charge by changing Hilltop Con-
sultants’ hiring policy. But this is the crux of the problem. This initiative cannot be effective without an overarching, schoolwide policy. Individual clubs can certainly enact these policies, but the stigma, stress and anxiety associated with premature club hiring cannot be improved without buy-in from every club that contributes to the problem. Without unanimous participation, freshmen would simply apply to whichever clubs still take their fall applications. Such a policy should be applied not only to pre-professional clubs such as Hilltop Consultants and GUSIF, but also to all clubs that maintain an acceptance rate below 100%. Consequently, clubs like Blue & Gray that maintain extremely low acceptance rates should also be affected. I would also strongly advocate for organizations such as The Corp and GUASFCU, whose hiring processes are not regulated by the school, to also opt in to such practices. Additionally, this policy would encourage students to develop friendships outside of the exclusive circles created by certain clubs. First-semester freshmen in exclusive clubs can easily cocoon themselves in groups of friends only from those clubs. Allowing students at least one semester to develop friendships will inevitably foster social ties
beyond walled-off club cliques. Moreover, one cannot deny the privilege granted to certain students in club admissions based on the high school they attended. Having attended a private preparatory boarding school, I benefited from the institutional knowledge of eight to 10 Hoyas in each grade above me as a first-semester freshman. They helped me navigate the club culture at Georgetown before even arriving on campus, and I have passed along the favor to younger high school classmates. Pushing back applications to the spring would undoubtedly help attenuate such forms of privilege by giving other students time to integrate and understand the club landscape on their own. This suggestion is by no means an all-encompassing remedy for the stress culture associated with Georgetown’s clubs. But student leaders in the community must accept that inaction simply perpetuates the issue and that real change is imperative. It is time to bring propositions like these to the school administration and pressure them to enact the policies we want to see governing our clubs and the culture they are a part of.
EDWARD KALAYDJIAN is a senior in the School of Foreign Service.
REPRESENTATION GAPS
QUEERING THE NARRATIVE
Elect LGBTQ Political Leaders
Come Out for Queer Events
resentation, there would need to be more than 20,000 new LGBTQ elected officials across the United States. That’s roughly 25 times more LGBTQ officials. This deficit in representation matters. Research has found that LGBTQ elected officials are more likely to sponsor pro-equality legislation and champion the fight against anti-LGBTQ bills. Such officials utilize their platforms to highlight personal experiences and connect with such communities, actions even the most ardent ally could not perform. H.R. 5, better known as the “Equality Act,” was sponsored by David Cicilline (D), a gay representative from Rhode Island, while H.R. 3280, the “LGBTQ Essential Data Act,” was sponsored by Sean Patrick Maloney (D), a gay representative from New York. Though progress is slow, early signs indicate that 2020 could be a pivotal year for LGBTQ political representation. Not only are more openly LGBTQ candidates running than ever before, but the diversity within the ranks has also increased significantly. Candidates for the 2020 elections include Todd Gloria, running to be the first Latino and LGBTQ mayor of San Diego, and Kim Jackson, running to be the first LGBTQ Black woman in Georgia’s legislature. Countless candidates of color, religious minorities and others across the spectrum of the LGBTQ community are running for the first time. This increased diversity not only better mirrors America demographically, but will also make a substantive difference. LGBTQ people of color are more likely than their white counterparts to center racial and economic justice as part of their activism. It is critical to include these perspectives in decisionmaking. Yet barriers still remain. According to Gallup polls, 24% of
sors and students while one of the most powerful Democrats in the world spoke to you about his time in office. Now, you’re eating waffles and watching a 6-foot-4 drag queen from Baltimore do cartwheels to “Fergalicious” in the exact same room. Disruption is, and has always been, the way of the queer community. When we feel as though there isn’t space for us, we throw our fists up and demand to be seen. When we feel our needs aren’t being met, we come together to bring justice. When we aren’t having a good time, we put on some of the biggest events in town. After working with GU Pride over my years here, I have learned three primary lessons, and I have done my very best to carry them into every event we’ve thrown over the past few years. First, there is room for everyone. If you ever grab a GU Pride sticker, you’ll find our slogan printed beneath our logo: “The LGBTQ+ and Ally Students of Georgetown.” No matter what event we are throwing, every single student is welcome, regardless of identity. Come to our events with an open mind and a willingness to learn and we will show you what it’s like to be a part of the greatest community on this campus. Plus, nobody throws a party like the queer community. You’d probably be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t show up. Second, there is no one way to celebrate your identity. As a community-building organization, GU Pride’s duty is to build programming for the needs of every single queer person at this school. Everyone has a different view of their community and everyone is looking for something different out of our organization. No person or idea can get left behind. To accomplish such inclusion,
Trevor O’Connor
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oday, our democracy faces a dilemma. As the United States has diversified along lines of race and ethnicity, our legislatures have failed to reflect such demographic shifts. The representation of women in our legislature falls behind that of 74 other countries. In an age of growing disillusionment, inequality and backlash against “identity politics,” “Musings on Representation” seeks to perform a biopsy on the current state of political representation in the United States. Spanning topics from LGBTQ elected officials to the 2020 presidential race and beyond, the column will explore how marginalized communities find themselves and their issues represented, if at all. One of the less studied trends in political representation is that of LGBTQ people who, despite stigma and incumbency, are increasingly making their mark in elected office. Although not a guarantor of progress, LGBTQ representation in our legislature is critical to championing, sponsoring and passing equality legislation. As more Americans than ever identify as LGBTQ, our legislatures need to better reflect this segment of the population. Currently, 806 officials in the United States from the local to the national level openly identify as LGBTQ. Although LGBTQ individuals make up 4 to 8% of the U.S. population, they comprise less than 0.16% of all elected officials. To reach proportional rep-
Americans would refuse to vote for a candidate who identified as gay or lesbian, even if they shared the same views. Despite the current trajectory of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, a 2019 Gallup poll indicated that only 61% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats stated they would vote for a gay or lesbian presidential candidate. Outright bias also remains strong on the campaign trail. Facing dozens of death threats, Christine Hallquist, a transgender candidate for Vermont governor, stopped publicizing her campaign schedule. A New York Times article outlined the harassment many LGBTQ candidates faced in the 2018 midterms such as when one local GOP official called Kansas Representative Sharice Davids (D) a “radical socialist kickboxing lesbian Indian.” LGBTQ candidates of color often find the compounding forces of racism and queerphobia to be particularly strong, especially in an electoral system that favors incumbents through fundraising resources and institutional knowledge. Simply put, if you’re already outside the door, it’s hard to get in. LGBTQ representation matters. Not only does it provide substantive change, but it also serves as a symbol of progress toward a more inclusive and equitable future in an era of political disillusionment. Organizations and parties should make the recruitment, training and funding of LGBTQ candidates a priority, especially LGBTQ candidates from marginalized backgrounds. I’m under no delusions that such representation will win liberation, but if we believe in equal representation, it’s a grand first step. Trevor O’Connor is a senior in the College. REPRESENTATION GAPS appears online every other Tuesday.
Andrew Molinari
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et’s set the scene: It’s a Friday in October. You drag yourself out of bed, put on your coat and haul yourself to the Intercultural Center Auditorium for another Friday morning economics lecture. Eight hours later, you reenter the Auditorium. This time, the lights are dimmed, the seats are packed, there’s music playing and someone has just drawn a “V” on your forehead with red lipstick. All of a sudden, on the very stage where Carol Rogers just spoke to you about the cyclical rate of unemployment, there are six students performing a choreographed striptease while the opening number of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” begins to play. This is what a queer student group is capable of. If you ever stumble upon a Facebook invitation to a queer student event, I’ll give you one reason to attend: It exists. At a 231-year-old institution, it’s easy to feel as if there isn’t a place for you. It’s easy to be discouraged by the history, the establishment and the traditionalism of a place like Georgetown University. The role of queer student groups, though, is to disrupt spaces like these. Working with GU Pride for three years has taught me how to build community where community wasn’t before. Let’s paint another picture: The last time you were in Copley Formal Lounge, you sat among a crowd of distinguished profes-
our events calendar runs an extraordinarily wide gamut. When we need to meet up for a night of dancing, we throw a social. When we want to put our most vibrant selves on display, we put on a drag brunch. When we are proud of our community, we host a Coming Out Day celebration. When we are not proud, we hold discussions. And finally, when we need each other’s shoulders to lean on, we host vigils in Red Square. No matter who you are and no matter your opinion on the queer community here, it is GU Pride’s mission to help you find what you are looking for. Finally, I have learned there is no such thing as “queer enough.” Try to imagine the experiences of every queer person attending our school. Some of us have been out since age 13, while others are just beginning to scratch the surface of our sexual orientations or gender identities. There is no prerequisite or requirement for being a queer person. There is no five-hour Saturday class that can show you how to vogue or how to properly enjoy “ARTPOP.” The point of queer student groups is to celebrate individuality and the differences we all bring to the table. At GU Pride events, all are made to feel at home. So next time you pass through Red Square, look for posters with the next GU Pride event, the next Queer People of Color event or the next LGBTQ+ Mentors & Resources event. Come see what we’re about, and I promise you’ll learn what it means to be a part of something that’s truly bigger than yourself. Needless to say, you’ll also have a hell of a time while you’re at it. Andrew Molinari is a junior in the College. QUEERING THE NARRATIVE appears online every other Thursday.
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Two union workers from the Citizenship and Immigration Services union explained the impact of current immigration policies at an event Tuesday. Story on A8.
Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.
IN FOCUS
CHALK IN RED SQUARE
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Under the new system, students will be better able to take advantage of classes with different levels of credit.” SFS Vice Dean Daniel Byman on upcoming degree requirement changes. Story on A7.
from our blog
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Anonymous chalk messages were left in Red Square to protest the upcoming Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life, some referencing the cardinal’s historical link to blocking AIDS prevention programs. Passersby saw the messages the evening of Jan. 23.
NEED A NEW TV OBSESSION? Looking for something new to binge on Netflix’s latest competing streaming service? Here’s our guide to a whole new world of streaming serendipity. blog.thehoya.com
Q&A: Spring GU Politics Fellows Welcome Opposing Views CLARA GRUDBERG AND RILEY ROGERSON Hoya Staff Writers
This semester’s five Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service fellows discussed their hopes to gain new perspective by engaging with students and help guide future generations of politics in a Jan. 17 interview with The Hoya. The fellows include former Congressman Joe Crowley (DN.Y.), Communications Director for Kamala Harris for President Lily Adams, BuzzFeed News Washington Bureau Chief Kate Nocera, co-founder of Torchlight strategies John Rogers, and Head of Public Affairs for Facebook Robert Traynham. The spring 2020 semester marks the 10th class of GU Politics fellows. The program invites professionals involved in government and advocacy to share their experiences and expertise with the Georgetown community. The fellows host open weekly discussion sessions and office hours, among other events, for students seeking to learn more about practitioners’ perspectives on politics.
Why did you decide to become a GU Politics fellow?
Nocera: “It has been wild the past three years, and so I kind of wanted to take a step back and talk to people who maybe aren’t in it as much every day — talk to folks about what the media is doing right, what we are doing wrong, thinking about ways to build trust back in the media. … I have talked to the same people and follow the same people on Twitter and see the same people in the hallways on the Hill who really are in it all the time, which is great — it is great for my job — but getting a fresh perspective I think is important, so that is really why I wanted to come here.” Adams: “I think the fresh perspective thing is — you’re gonna hear it from all of us, I think we all have been in politics for a decent amount of time, so I think this is a good opportunity not only to share our experiences with students here at Georgetown, but also hear from them. I’ve been doing campaigns for more than a decade, and so there is a lot that I’ve picked up along the way that I hope that I can be helpful to young people who are thinking about doing campaigns and working on the Hill, but I also know that we don’t have it all figured out.” Rogers: “I kind of look back at my own career and see starting out without a program like this and having to find my way through politics and remember-
ing how unknown all of that was. You just didn’t even know where to start or how to start. I just want to give back to close that gap for students out there who may be interested in a career in politics. … Having worked in politics for the better part of 20 years, it is just great to see that fresh set of eyes, and that pure excitement from students is something that I’m excited about.” Traynham: “I really, really enjoy intellectual conversations and rigorous debate on both sides. I feel as though I become a much more stronger, grounded person when I hear different perspectives, particularly that are different than mine, and so I cannot think of a better place than to be with my colleges here but also here at Georgetown. … My hope is — over the next two months — is that we can almost be a recipient of that and that we can really learn from all of you and from your readers in terms of what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling, but just as importantly how you are going to create a better world for all of us.” Crowley: “Including everything everyone else already said, when I was in college, I remember taking a class: ‘How to Run for Congress.’ … No one ever came to the class who was actually a member of Congress and told
us what they do and what their experience was. I think that this is an opportunity for me to have that exchange with young minds and ideas and new ideas and fresh ideas.”
As part of your role as fellow at GU Politics, you have to lead discussion groups. Can you all talk about how you decided on your discussion group themes and topics?
Crowley: “My discussion is “Of The People: 30 Plus Years in Elected Office,” and it’s kind of soup to nuts in terms of my experience of what drove me — what drives people — to run for political office. … What attracted people today to be involved in politics — why do they want to do it? What do you do when you’re successful? What do you do when you’re not successful initially and keep at it, and then when you get to Congress how do you build coalitions, and what are the ramifications if you don’t? Ultimately leading up to why people choose to leave and under what circumstances, and what they choose to do later with their lives.” Nocera: “Mine is about covering politics when old rules don’t apply. I feel like especially, you know, the last decade, and especially the last three years, norms
have been totally shattered in terms of what’s acceptable for journalists to do, what’s acceptable for our sources to do, what’s acceptable for the president to do on Twitter, so just that environment is something that I wanted to take a step back and look at.” Adams: “We’re going to take a look at the Democratic primary that’s going on. I worked in this one, I worked in the last one, and so my hope is that sometimes it can seem a little far off, and seem a little distant to folks who are just watching it on TV or to students here, so I’m hoping to close that gap and talk to students about what it’s like to be on a presidential campaign, or any campaign for that matter, and to try to look at what decisions campaigns are making and candidates are making throughout the process and to try to help the students understand why that’s all going down the way it is.” Rogers: “Part of mine is going to be that current event of Iowa Caucus, New Hampshire, Super Tuesday, and then another part of that is on that practical campaign side, leaning on my experience of getting through ads and polling and things of the sort and how to get careers in politics, and just kinda get into a little more of the nitty gritty on the campaign side of things.”
Traynham: “I read a statistic a couple of days ago that 87% of Americans consume data and digital in a new way, and they’re constantly evaluating the way they use technology because it’s always changing. So the discussion group I’m fortunate to lead is around the intersection of technology and democracy, and specifically how members of Congress or future members of Congress, along with other public officials, will communicate with this vast new thing we call the internet.”
American political discourse can be very polar. How would you plan to facilitate dialogues from students across the political spectrum?
Crowley: “I welcome it. I look forward to that.” Nocera: “I think we all have had instances in being either in a tough conversation, a tough interview, in my case, or you know, Joe worked with Republicans for many years — you can have a civil conversation and totally, totally disagree with the person that you’re having a conversation with. I think that a lot of the political discourse we see is online, where you’re not sitting across from someone, you’re not engaging with them, you’re not seeing them as people, right? …
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The spring 2020 Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service fellows, including John Rogers, Lily Adams and Kate Nocera, above, plan to cover a wide range of topics in their discussion sessions, like the upcoming 2020 presidential campaign and modern technology and politics.
I think having the opportunity to work out some of this stuff in person lends itself to a healthier and more civil discussion.” Traynham: “I would hope in our discussion group that we’ll do more listening as opposed to talking, and setting up some ground rules by saying, ‘Please, come passionate to the living room with your thoughts and ideas, but just as importantly, please stop and listen, and listen to the other person’s voice, because they have a right to be able to express themselves.’ You don’t have a right to your own set of facts, but you do have a right to express yourself.”
How would you characterize your initial experiences with the Georgetown community?
Adams: “I think probably the biggest takeaway — we were here all of yesterday — is just the level of engagement from students who are on campus. These are young people who are showing up not because anybody is giving them extra credit or not because there may be food, but overall, they’re showing up because they’re excited and want to make the most out of their Georgetown experience.” Nocera: “It was not my college experience to show up to things you weren’t required to do, just generally not anything I’m familiar with. Just generally the fact that people seem like not only eager, but interested in what we have to say and what GU Politics is offering here is amazing to me.” Traynham: “Yeah, this is a special place, and you guys know that. I mean, this place is a place that, in my view, really reveres and respects tradition, but also is rooted in a sense of purpose. … Even if you’re a biology major, or whatever major you are, it appears that you still show up for things that are important not only to the Georgetown community, but important to the whole entire country, and that’s a really, really special thing that I think is pretty unique on this campus.” Crowley: “As of an hour and 20 minutes ago, I got an ID card that says I’m a member of the Georgetown faculty. I’m telling you — I’m telling everybody! I’m excited about it! … This is a premier institution — this is a fabulous place — and you know, getting the opportunity to really be with some really, really, smart young people is all good.” Rogers: “It’s been great to see how excited students are. It’s just been great seeing the energy level out there, total engagement, super smart questions we’re already getting.”
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THE HOYA
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GUSA Senators Circulate Petition GUSA Bill Calls for University For Campus Projects Endowment Recognition of Lunar New Year LIANA HARDY Hoya Staff Writer
Members of the Georgetown University Student Association Finance and Appropriations Committee have circulated a petition through social media this week seeking to establish a Student Empowerment Fund. The Student Empowerment Fund would appropriate money from the Student Activity Fee budget to help bankroll large campus projects, according to the petition. The FinApp Committee would allocate $50,000 from the approximately $1.09 million Student Activity Fee budget to create the fund at the start of the fiscal year 2021, with continued allocations being made in coming years. The Student Empowerment Fund would offer students important leverage in negotiations with the university and increase the influence students have over university initiatives, according to GUSA Senator Eric Bazail-Eimil (SFS ’23). “Money speaks when you can negotiate on a project and get what you need,” Bazail-Eimil said in an interview with The Hoya. “Money shows that students would be interested in it, that students have power there and want to be engaged with the decision to spend that money overall.” In 2001, GUSA began setting aside funds from the Student Activity Fee to sustain club funding in the long term, according to the Georgetown University website. GUSA began apportioning these funds to campus projects in 2010; the $2 million fund was then designated to help establish the Healey Family Student Center in 2011. The goal of the Student Empowerment Fund would be to emulate this success, according to Bazail-Eimil. “We envision it to look sort of like what happened when GUSA dissolved the first student endowment to help create the Healey Family Student Center,” Bazail-Eimil said. “Our end goal would be ultimately that we have that money and follow that similar role, where we can get involved in these projects, hold the administration accountable and then also advise them on what students want out of the spaces they are creating.”
The fund is expected to grow from $50,000 with continuous mandated annual allotments at an approximate interest rate of 3%, according to GUSA Senator and Finance and Appropriations Committee member Peter Hamilton (COL ’20). After the fund appreciates for 15 years, GUSA will consider student recommendations for where to direct the money, according to the petition. The university establishes plans for new projects and programs every 20 years, with Fiscal Year 2036 designated as the next planning period. To implement the fund, the GUSA Senate would have to pass bylaws outlining the structure of the fund, according to Hamilton. However, organizers decided to first launch the petition to gauge student support for the initiative. Hamilton did not disclose how many students have signed the petition. Ultimately, the fund would grant future students more power in campus affairs and planning, according to FinApp Committee Chair and Senator Juliana Arias (SFS ’20). “The general consensus of FinApp was that this is our chance to empower future
Hoyas,” Arias said in an interview with The Hoya. The previous endowment process in the 2010-11 school year involved the creation of a GUSA-appointed Endowment Commission and a university-wide referendum. GUSA hopes to enact similar measures in the future to enhance student involvement in the process of allocating the money, according to Hamilton. “The idea would be that ideas for spending the fund would be brought to the student body either through a referendum or through petitions, so we get a process where the average student is informed about how the money is being spent and actively supportive of the ideas that are being promoted,” Hamilton said in an interview with The Hoya. If the Student Empowerment Fund were to take effect, GUSA plans to create a student committee to oversee the allocation of the money, according to Arias. “We would create a body in GUSA that would allow student representatives to come over and present their proposals for different projects in the future so that they can use that fund,” Arias said.
Hoya Staff Writer
As the Institute of Turkish Studies prepares to close this fall due to an inability to secure sustainable funding, students and the organization’s leadership expressed frustration and disappointment over the end of the program’s scholarly work and grants. The ITS, established in 1983 through a fund by the Republic of Turkey, provides grants to students in order to pursue Turkish studies at U.S. institutions of higher education, according to the institute’s website. In May 2019, the ITS’ board of directors announced plans to close effective Sept. 30, 2020, citing terminated funding from the Turkish government-initiated trust in late 2015 and the institute’s inability to find replacement income. The institute provided recipients special opportunities to explore Turkish and Ottoman scholarship. The ITS’ closure has upset many academics and may inhibit better cultural understanding of the region, according to Sylvia Onder, a member of the ITS board of governors. “While the closing of ITS is a loss for Georgetown and for the USA, it is also a great loss for Turkey and the Turkish people,” Onder wrote in an email to The Hoya. “American scholarship about the Republic of Turkey and the Turkic world is essential if Americans are to understand and explore the historical riches, the linguistic particularities, and the cultural and natural wonders of Anatolia and Central Asia.” Funding provided by the program allowed recipients to study their dissertation topics in greater depth, according to Matthew Sharp, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania studying the final two decades of the Ottoman Empire.
Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown University Student Association Senate passed a resolution calling on Georgetown University to recognize the Lunar New Year on the official Georgetown University calendar and social media platforms at their most recent meeting Jan. 20. The resolution, which was introduced and sponsored by at large senator Charlie Wang (SFS ’22) and passed the GUSA Senate unanimously, additionally called for the university to work with Southeast Asian and Chinese student groups on campus to support Lunar New Year celebrations on campus. Senator Peter Hamilton (COL ’20) was listed as a co-sponsor of the resolution. The resolution will provide recognition of an important holiday for many students and faculty on campus, Wang wrote in an email to The Hoya. “The Georgetown administration does not formally recognize the Lunar New Year on its calendar nor on its social media platforms,” Wang wrote. “A significant amount of student and staff population on campus are people of Asian descent who celebrate the annual Lunar New Year. Hence, I wrote this resolution to request the Georgetown administration to formally recognize the festival.” The Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated in Asia and around the world by people of East and Southeast Asian heritages. Over 450 undergraduate students, nearly 1,700 graduate students and 190 professionals are from the Asia-Pacific area, according to the university website. While Lunar New Year is nei-
ther an academic holiday nor listed on the university calendar, the university supports student organizations’ Lunar New Year celebrations, a university spokesperson wrote in an email to The Hoya. “The Georgetown University calendar is limited to academic holidays, but we acknowledge the Lunar New Year is an important date for many of our students, faculty and staff, and we will continue to acknowledge the holiday on University social media accounts and through other University channels,” a spokesperson wrote. “We also encourage organizations on campus to find ways to celebrate this important date, and we look forward to supporting them in this endeavor.” Holidays listed on the main campus academic calendar include Easter, Labor Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and President’s Day. Previously, the university recognized Columbus Day as a holiday until two years ago when it was formally changed to a mid-semester holiday. Wang plans to continue pushing university’s administrator to consider the measure because of the increasing support by student affinity groups, he said. “My resolution has gained the support from the wider Asian cultural clubs and communities on campus, and I have already reached out to Todd Olson, the Vice President of Student Affairs, for further action,” Wang wrote. In the past, the university has recognized the Lunar New Year on its social media accounts, last year they posted an image of Jack the Bulldog on Feb. 6, 2019, celebrating the start of the year of the pig. While the resolution is a positive step in recognition of the
holiday on campus, past initiatives and further efforts should be spotlighted, Bryce Badger (MSB ‘21), co-president of the Asian American Student Association, wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We are excited that GUSA has taken steps to recognize an event which is so important to many API students on campus,” Badger wrote. “We are surprised to learn that nothing like this has been done before but commend the efforts of Senators Wang and Hamilton in spearheading this as well as Senator Rassieur who co-sponsored a resolution to commemorate API Heritage Month in November.” In November 2019, the GUSA Senate passed a resolution, sponsored by senator Leo Rassieur (COL ’23) and Hamilton, calling for the university to formally recognize Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month in November. The measure ultimately passed the senate unanimously. The Chinese Student Alliance supports the resolution and lauds GUSA’s efforts to recognize the Lunar New Year, according to CSA Co-Presidents Shine Aung (SFS ’21) and Linda Wen (COL ’21). “The mission of the Chinese Student Alliance is to promote understanding between the Chinese and American communities here at Georgetown as well as create a community for Chinese Americans rooted in the celebration of Chinese culture,” the copresidents wrote. “The passing of this resolution shows us the dedication of the Georgetown community to this mission and we hope to continue to work with GUSA in the future to promote intercommunal understanding on campus.”
Rabbi Urges LGBTQ Allyship Within Jewish Community GRACE BUONO Hoya Staff Writer
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The proposed Student Endowment Fund would allocate student activity fees to bankroll large projects on campus.
Institute of Turkish Studies To Close After Losing Funding HANSEN LIAN
CAROLINE HECHT
“One of the goals of the ITS is to advance research on Turkey’s history and culture,” Sharp wrote in an email to The Hoya. “In my last year of writing my dissertation, I was no longer funded by my University. So, the ITS writing grant was critical for sustaining me and my family to cover our expenses.” The closure of the program not only restricts access to the field of study, but also can lead to new financial burdens for students studying related topics, according to Johannes Lohnes, a doctoral student at Cornell University who received a grant from the ITS in the 2019-20 application cycle.
“This is mostly a political problem based on a disrupted diplomacy between the United States and Turkey.” SYLVIA ONDER ITS board of governors member
“I would not have been able to conduct my research without the grant. Ottoman documents are expensive to obtain in large quantities, difficult to access, and even more difficult to read,” Lohnes wrote in an email to The Hoya. “For researchers on the US side of the equation this is no small tragedy: ITS offered one of the few remaining lines of dedicated funding for long-term dissertation research in Turkey.” While the institute plans to cease operations in September, it anticipates that it will continue to grant funds up through the 2020-21 cycle. Sinan Ciddi, executive director of the program, will continue to oversee the distribution of funds until September, according to the on-
line letter announcing the institute’s closure. In the past, ITS has faced criticism for reportedly advancing the Turkish government’s agenda through academia, including avoiding references to the 1915 Armenian Genocide. After the Turkish government withdrew its funding in 2015, historians and anthropologists speculated that the Institute had grown too independent for the Turkish government’s liking, according to InsideHigherEd. Despite accusations against the institute, ITS fulfils an important mission as the only nonprofit, private educational foundation dedicated solely to the advancement of Turkish and Ottoman studies in U.S. higher education, according to Onder. The issues currently facing the program have arisen largely from foriegn relations challenges between Turkey and the United States, she wrote. “This is mostly a political problem based on a disrupted diplomacy between the United States and Turkey,” Onder wrote. “Turkish Studies at Georgetown is one of the strongest programs in the USA, with three (and sometimes four) levels of Turkish taught for twenty years without interruption. We are now the only consortium university in Washington, D.C. with a full Turkish program.” Since 2014, the Turkish government has shifted toward authoritarian rule, according to The New York Times. Current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has led efforts to imprison journalists and limit the power of his political opponents. The current Turkish political climate makes the ITS’ pending closure more disheartening, according to Lohnes. “I am not privy to the circumstances surrounding the closure of ITS, but I do know that it couldn’t come at a worse time, for Turkey or for the field,” Lohnes wrote.
Acceptance of the LGBTQ community is essential, Rabbi Mike Moskowitz said at a Jan. 22 event, drawing from the lessons he learned during his 20-year tenure as an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. The event, titled “Rabbinic Practice in LGBTQ Allyship,” was hosted by the Center for Jewish Civilization. At the event, Moskowitz, who is currently a rabbi at a progressive synagogue, spoke about LGBTQ acceptance and allyship within the Orthodox community. Orthodox Jewish policies regarding the inclusion of the LGBTQ community typically adhere strictly to the Torah. Rabbinic teachings prohibit samegender relationships, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The Jewish community has an obligation to advocate for the LGBTQ community, as it is a community facing prejudice, Moskowitz said. “It’s a little bit awkward because I’m not trans and I’m not queer,” Moskowitz said. “But allyship is a little bit awkward because it’s predicated on the world being broken. If we didn’t dehumanize people, then we wouldn’t need other people to stand up.” Amplifying the first-person narrative and getting to know people is an important step toward shedding preconceived notions, according to Moskowitz. “It’s really easy to hate people
and things that you’ve never met or experienced,” Moskowitz said. “The greatest advancements for modern LGBT inclusivity and equality have come from the availability of people being able to tell their own stories.” Moskowitz currently works as the scholar-in-residence for trans and queer Jewish studies at the Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, a progressive New York synagogue that welcomes LGBTQ people. Moscowitz is also working toward a doctorate in Hebrew literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary and focuses his scholarship on the relationship between LGBTQ issues and Jewish thought, according to the event description. While he has three ultra-Orthodox rabbinic ordinations and identified as ultra-Orthodox for 20 years, Moskowitz now identifies as religiously nonconforming, according to his website. Overly focusing on religious text rather than keeping an open mind is a barrier to inclusivity, Moskowitz said. “In speaking about homosexuality, homophobia, more than any sort of text-based argument is, I think, the greatest opposition to progress for LGBT inclusivity,” Moskowitz said. “And unfortunately, like antisemitism or Holocaust denial, it’s not because there’s a lack of evidence, that somehow we could offer one more proof that people would accept the reality.” The event comes as a part of a larger effort to expose students
to a diverse range of voices from the Jewish community this semester, according to Rabbi Rachel Gartner, the director for Jewish Life at Georgetown. “It’s long been the policy of Jewish Life at Georgetown to find a variety of ways to bring diverse Jewish voices to campus,” Gartner said in an interview with The Hoya. “This semester we are doing that through robust programming that features guests and students from a range of Jewish backgrounds.” Jewish Life at Georgetown will host a panel of students titled “Meet the Jews” on Jan. 28 to showcase the diversity of Jewish thought on campus. Jewish Life at Georgetown will also experiment with offering a traditional Orthodox prayer experience Jan. 31, according to Gartner. Moskowitz’s message of acceptance was a strong and important message to students, according to assistant professor of Jewish civilization Jessica Roda, who helped bring Moscowitz to campus. Moskowitz’s views on allyship can be extended to other spheres of prejudice and hate, according to Roda. “I think that the message that he’s sending is about acceptance of otherness and fighting against hate,” Roda said. “He’s extending it to hate speech and racism, antisemitism and the idea of creating opportunities to know the others and to create safe spaces for multiple experiences, sexual experiences, gender experiences and religious experiences.”
YICHU HUANG/THE HOYA
Rabbi Mike Moskowitz spoke about LGBTQ acceptance at an event titled “Rabbinic Practice in LGBTQ Allyship.” The Jan. 22 event was hosted by the Center for Jewish Civilization.
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GUFF and GUSA Collaborate To Push Forward Student Referendum GUFF, from A1
GU FOSSIL FREE/FACEBOOK
GU Fossil Free has worked since 2012 to encourage the university’s board of directors to fully divest from fossil fuels.
The referendum proposes immediately freezing all new direct investments in fossil fuel companies. The referendum also outlines a set of standards, coined Clean Energy Standards by GUFF, by which the university should judge companies in its investment portfolio. These standards include renouncing disinformation on climate science, supporting government policies that reduce carbon emissions and publicly announcing support for the Paris Agreement on climate change. If a company does not currently meet the Clean Energy Standards, the referendum calls for the university to form a working group of students,
faculty and administrators to urge the company to align with the standards. By 2024, either Georgetown will have divested from all fossil fuel companies or the companies will have adopted the Clean Energy Standards, according to the terms of the referendum. The Clean Energy Standards are a strict set of guidelines meant to push for divestment from these companies, according to Morris. “Essentially any fossil fuel company would not meet the clean energy standards so divestment would be achieved from all fossil fuel companies,” Morris wrote in a statement to The Hoya. “Companies that are in the process of switching to non-fossil fuel
industries could keep investment.” For a referendum to appear on a GUSA presidential ballot, it must either obtain 300 signatures from the student body and approval from GUSA’s Election Commission or be introduced through a current senator, according to GUSA bylaws. Last week, Senator Leo John Arnett (SFS ’22) agreed to bring the referendum forward, he said. “Honestly, I had heard about GUFF for a really long time and I’ve heard about divestment, but I didn’t really know what kind of steps were being taken,” Arnett said. “Most importantly, it’s something that I support, but I think it was really pretty awesome that they reached out.”
The university remains committed to stewardship for the planet, the university spokesperson wrote. “Georgetown plays a leading role in addressing critical sustainability challenges through its academic mission and prudent management of its physical and financial resources,” the university spokesperson wrote. “As a global research university guided by our Catholic and Jesuit heritage, we are committed to engaging the complex issues of sustainability to advance the common good for current and future generations.” Hoya Staff Writer Jaime MooreCarrillo contributed reporting.
Unopposed Ferretti and Badger GU Jesuit Returned to Teaching May Soon Face Competition After Allegation of Misconduct GUSA, from A1 Salmeron-Perla previously served as a GUSA senator from October 2018 to April 2019, working as the vice chair of the Socioeconomic Advocacy Committee. Elliott Brault is the president of the United Feminists Club and mentors freshman in the Georgetown Scholars Program, and she formerly worked as Socioeconomic Advocacy Policy chair in the GUSA executive branch. Ferretti and Badger welcome the challenge and hope to have a dialogue with other candidates, according to Harper Thomas (SFS ’22), director of communications for the Ferretti-Badger campaign. “The Ferretti-Badger campaign strongly believes in campus discourse and encouraging a diversity of viewpoints, and we would look forward to engaging with other candidates for the GUSA executive,” Thomas wrote in a statement to The Hoya. “We believe that the Georgetown community deserves the best possible ticket for the GUSA executive, and will endeavor to be that ticket by providing a realistic, proactive, and inclusive platform for GUSA.” Ferretti and Badger were the only pair to put up posters in Red Square alongside staff members at midnight Wednesday to officially start the campaigning period, per GUSA campaigning tradition. Four tickets, including current GUSA President Norman Francis (COL ’20) and Vice President Aleida Olvera (COL ’20), announced their candidacy at this event last year. Ferretti and Badger will focus on four main policy areas during their campaign: sustainability, sexual assault and misconduct, facilities and inclusivity. As GUSA Ex-
ecutive, the pair can implement initiatives surrounding these issues, Ferretti said. “I think I’ve kind of developed an understanding of the realistic pathways through which we can achieve change for the Georgetown community,” Ferretti said. “Advocacy and public service is kind of what I want to do with my life, and GUSA is kind of the best way to do that for my community here at Georgetown.” Ferretti currently serves as the GUSA Executive’s director of university affairs and has worked with the university on accessibility, sustainability and technology policy. As executive director, Ferretti helped facilitate the university’s partnership with Capital Bikeshare and worked with the university to offer feedback on the revamped school webpage. He previously worked as a GUSA senator until he resigned to join the executive branch in spring 2018. Ferretti and Badger will focus on being proactive and realistic and recognizing and embracing intersectionality, Badger said in an interview with The Hoya. “These three core values are how we centered our entire campaign, and it is kind of like what we want students to know about us because that is how we are going to be attaching meaning to our administration — our policy points — and so we are really excited to launch that platform,” Badger said. Badger currently serves as the chief of staff for the Francis and Olvera administration, and he also sat on the GUSA Senate during his freshman year. Badger also works as the GUSA representative on the SaxaFund board, a student fundraising program responsible for financing the Hoya Hub and other projects.
Badger also served as student engagement director for former GUSA President Sahil Nair (SFS ’19) and Vice President Naba Rahman (SFS ’19) when Elliott Brault served in the executive branch. In fall 2018, Badger and Elliot Brault, alongside Rahman and eight other executive cabinet members, resigned to put pressure on Nair to resign amid sexual assault allegations against him. In past years, students have conveyed dissatisfaction with student government institutions. Days before the 2019 executive election, an Abolish GUSA movement emerged. Thirty-two percent of the student body voted in last year’s election, marking the lowest voter turnout since the 2007 executive race. To engage the student body and instill faith in GUSA, the organization must work toward meaningful, achievable goals, according to Ferretti. “Small wins are huge. I would like to have as many small wins as possible, things that students see,” Ferretti said. “Those small wins remind people that GUSA actually does something.” Feasibility is an important facet of the Ferretti’s challengers’ campaign, according to Salemeron-Perla and Elliott Brault. “We really want to focus on tangible goals for the student body, and given our background in GUSA, especially with a focus on socioeconomic advocacy, we believe that we are the appropriate people to do that,” Salemeron-Perla said in an interview with The Hoya. The debates for vice presidential and presidential candidates are set for Thursday, Jan. 30, and Monday, Feb. 3. Hoya staff writer Annalise Myre contributed reporting. This is a developing story.
ALEX BAKER FOR THE HOYA
Ferretti and Badger’s campaign platform includes initiatives surrounding sustainability, sexual assault and misconduct, facilities and inclusivity, the pair announced at their campaign kickoff.
RIBEIRO, from A1 John mentioning a priest engaging in inappropriate conduct. John’s older brother, who also knew Ribeiro, recalls his brother explaining the incidents at the sauna and the mall. Rasheen Carbin (SFS ’98), another friend of John, recalls John in 2014 describing multiple incidents of misconduct by a priest.
REPORTING RIBEIRO
John, who is now 41 and works in marketing, was initially reluctant to report the conduct to authorities. He was convinced to report the episodes to Byron in spring 1998 by his brother and Fr. Wayne Knoll, S.J., his brother’s professor who died in 2013. Byron declined to respond to a request for comment by The Hoya, explaining he could not discuss a misconduct allegation against Ribeiro because of confidentiality agreements between rectors and the Jesuit community. John was skeptical of reporting the episodes in part because he feared the consequences, but decided to come forward as a way to protect those in the future whom Ribeiro might harass. “[Georgetown] was the only school I had wanted to go to, and now I’m a sophomore and I don’t know what the repercussions of me coming forward for something like this would be,” John said. “I wasn’t necessarily swayed by the advances, but perhaps someone else would be — perhaps someone else could be put in a more vulnerable situation.” After John reported the inappropriate episodes to Byron, Ribeiro left as his floor’s chaplainin-residence, according to John. Soon after, John remembers hearing Ribeiro would be put on leave of absence. John also remembers being told Ribeiro was undergoing treatment, although the type and purpose of treatment was never specified. There is no publicized documentation of Ribeiro’s treatment. While Ribeiro became a chaplain-in-residence soon after joining the university in 1992, annual directory records show Ribeiro no longer served as chaplain-in-residence after 1999. Class schedules indicate that Ribeiro returned to teaching classes in spring 2000 after a three-semester hiatus. While university and Jesuit records state Ribeiro was on sabbatical during the semesters away, Ribeiro was short at least one semester of fulfilling the 12-semester teaching requirement for a sabbatical of one year or less, according to the 1999 faculty handbook. Departures from the requirements were not normal but could occur in exceptional circumstances, such as promising academic opportunities, according to Lawton, who was the dean of the College from 1989 to 1999. Lawton could not recall Ribeiro’s 1999 sabbatical. After his three-semester leave, Ribeiro continued to teach English classes until 2007, including an advanced senior seminar during which he took a few students to London for a literary prize award ceremony. Ribeiro also served as an “unofficial chaplain” for the university’s football team, something former Georgetown football Head Coach Robert Benson recalls positively. “I think he was first of all a friend and a mentor to everyone in the Georgetown football program, players and coaches included,” Benson said in an interview with The Hoya. “He had a passion for Georgetown football
ED MCCARTHY/FACEBOOK
Fr. Alvaro Ribeiro, S.J., engaged in sexual misconduct with a student from 1997 to 1998. Georgetown allowed him to resign in 2010. that was very unique.”
‘I WAS NOT INFORMED’: ACCOUNTABILITY
The 2010 investigation by IDEAA, which compiled information from both the Maryland Province and Georgetown, found that Ribeiro had violated codes of conduct, according to a university spokesperson. “[The investigation] found that Fr. Ribeiro had engaged in inappropriate conduct towards students, including failing to abide by professional boundaries and the unwanted touching of students’ posteriors while clothed, in violation of Maryland Province and Georgetown rules,” a university spokesperson wrote in an email to The Hoya. The university did not specify whether Georgetown was notified of John’s allegations in 1998 or whether the university took action in response to the allegations. Lawton said he did not know of any allegations against Ribeiro during his tenure as dean. It was not until he left to become president of Loyola Marymount University in 1999 that Lawton heard Ribeiro had been placed under restriction. Penn Szittya, an English professor and former chair of the English department from 2005 to 2008, had also never heard of the allegation or any restrictions on Ribeiro, he wrote in an email to The Hoya. “I was not informed of this history or of any restrictions related to Ribeiro’s conduct, either by the Administration or by any previous Chairs,” Szittya wrote. “Nor, as a full-time faculty member and colleague of Ribeiro’s during the period you describe (1998 forward), did I hear of any such restrictions.” A spokesperson from the Maryland Province declined to comment on communication between the Maryland Province and the university. An accused priest leaving immediately after a report of sexual harassment reflects how the church and Jesuits have historically handled abuse, according to Patrick Wall, a former priest and current attorney who represents victims of clerical abuse. The Society of Jesus has strengthened its policies in the last two decades by ensuring that those who abuse minors are moved out of ministry, according to a spokesperson from the Maryland Province.
“A Jesuit is always temporarily removed from ministry during the investigation into alleged abuse of a minor, regardless of the alleged victim’s current age,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to The Hoya. While Jesuits have emphasized their response toward misconduct against minors, that outlook misses the gray areas of students who were just above the minor age at the time of the abuse, according to Wall. The President’s Office and the Provost’s Office did not respond to The Hoya’s request for access to university records on Ribeiro. John has periodically thought about Ribeiro’s return to campus — something that came to the surface when he visited Yates years after graduating and saw Ribeiro in the locker room. “I saw two gentlemen being extremely friendly with each other,” John said. “When the two people turned around, it happened to be him, and what appeared to be a very young man. And I wondered if he, that young man, had experienced something like I had, if he felt any pressure. But I felt at that point that I had put the information forward and Georgetown had made the decision about what they wanted to do with him.” On-campus confidential resources include Health Education Services (202-687-8949), located in Poulton Hall on the corner of 37th and P streets, and Counseling and Psychiatric Services (202-687-6985), located behind Darnall Hall. Additional off-campus resources include the D.C. Rape Crisis Center (202-333-7273), the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-4673), the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) (877-762-7432) and SNAP’s Washington, D.C. chapter (703-801-6044). If you or anyone you know would like to receive a sexual assault forensic examination or other medical care, including emergency contraception, call the Network for Victim Recovery of D.C. (202-742-1727). To report sexual misconduct to the university, you can contact Georgetown’s Title IX coordinator (202-6879183) or file an online report here. For more information, visit sexualassault.georgetown.edu. If you have information to share with The Hoya regarding this investigation, contact us at gupriests@thehoya.com or 421 Leavey Center, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. 20057.
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Collaborate To Combat GUSA Senate Rejects Global Crises, Panel Says Blue Campus Referendum YALDA ZARRABI Hoya Staff Writer
A panel including former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon discussed the move of the Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight at an event Jan. 23, attributing the updated time to the increasing threats of climate change, nuclear war and a reactionary media climate. The Doomsday Clock was established in 1947 by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and the Elders, a nonprofit organization that analyzes international security issues. The clock serves as an indicator of global threats. As the minute hand approaches midnight, the world metaphorically approaches apocalypse. The Bulletin and its Security Board updates the minute hand of the clock on an annual basis based on the severity of global crises. To remedy these crises, concerned global citizens need to approach current events through an international perspective, according to Ban. “What is a global citizen? Global passion and global commission, I think that is what is needed to be a global citizen and global leader,” Ban said. “Just keep in mind, look beyond yourself. Just try to be ready to extend some helping hands.” The event was hosted by Georgetown University’s conflict resolution program in collaboration with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and the Elders. Joining Ban were former Irish President and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, former Governor of California Jerry Brown and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists President and CEO Rachel Bronson. The panel was moderated by conflict resolution program Director Desha Girod. The pushing of the clock closer to midnight comes as global political institutions have struggled to reach resolutions to modern international crises, including climate change and nuclear proliferation, according to Bronson. “As our board was putting that together, what they really focused on was the worsening challenge but really the capacity to deal with these problems is deteriorating,” Bronson said. “The multilateral environment that is required to solve these big global challenges is being dismantled before our
eyes. We are going to need to find ways to collaborate across the globe to tackle these huge challenges that we face.” Recent nuclear tests by North Korea and the dismantling of the Iran Nuclear Deal have brought the issue of global nuclear proliferation to the forefront. In 2011, the New START treaty, a nuclear arms reduction treaty, was ratified by the United States and Russia. The New START treaty must be renewed by the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent nuclear disaster, according to Brown. “No START, no budget,” Brown said. “Force the House of Representatives to vote no on the budget unless Trump signs the extension of New START.” International governments also need to take action to prevent climate change and citizens should hold their elected officials accountable for failing to address the climate issue, according to Robinson. “On the climate issue, every country should be taking its responsibility and those more responsible should be taking
more responsibility. Until we make it uncomfortable for governments not to act, they won’t act,” Robinson said. “We have governments with elected representatives, and elected representatives have a big desire to be reelected, and therefore they’re not going to make hard decisions in the meantime.” Panelists also addressed how media coverage can influence political responses to global challenges. The media should prioritize pressing issues over immediate shock-value stories like President Donald Trump’s tweets, according to Brown. “The media only report what they call ‘news of the day.’ That’s a tweet from Donald Trump, a scandal, an accident, but these big questions like thermonuclear war, that’s not news,” Brown said. “It’s very hard to get these kinds of large ideas as news because if you don’t hear it every day, it doesn’t seem as real. We’re in a type of unreality that is engendered by all media communications who provide information. Our first step is that we have to break through that.”
Hoya Staff Writer
The School of Foreign Service announced Jan. 17 that a degree from the school will no longer require a minimum number of courses, making the SFS the last of the four schools to remove the course minimum requirement. Previously, undergraduate students pursuing an SFS degree needed to take at least 38 three-credit courses in order to earn the degree. Students must still complete 120 credits, including core requirements and major requirements. However, the course minimum has been removed, Associate Dean and Director of the SFS Undergraduate Program Mitch Kaneda announced in a Jan. 17 email to SFS students. The SFS’s decision comes after the Georgetown College and the McDonough School of Business announced in April 2019 that they were removing the minimum number of courses. The School of Nursing and Health Studies does not have a course minimum requirement. The university-wide shift towards eliminating course requirements will give students greater agency over their education, according to SFS Vice Dean Daniel Byman. “Georgetown as a whole is embracing classes that involve a range of credits,” Byman wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Under the new system, students will be better able to take advantage of classes with different levels of credit.” This change marks the second time the SFS degree requirements have shifted in the last two years. In March of 2018, the SFS announced significant changes to its core curriculum, including a de-
Hoya Staff Writers
The Georgetown University Student Association Senate struck down a proposed student referendum that would have granted students the opportunity to designate Georgetown University a Blue Campus at their weekly meeting Jan. 20. The Blue Campus label would have functioned as a university pledge to promote environmentally conscious practices focused on ocean preservation. The referendum failed to pass the two-thirds majority threshold required to put forward referenda, with 17 senators voting in favor, seven voting against and four absences. During the same session, the GUSA Senate passed a separate sustainability referendum on which students can vote to support the university’s divestment from fossil fuel companies. The Blue Campus referendum was introduced to show the administration that students support strong environmental protection, according to Leo Rassieur (COL ’23), the senator who introduced the bill. “Everything from the way we source our energy to the education modules that incoming freshmen receive to how we deal with consumer waste is addressed by the referendum,” Rassieur wrote in an email to The Hoya. “If the student body at large does not have the opportunity to add their voice to this declaration, then the decla-
ration is meaningless.” The Blue Campus referendum outlined goals for the university, including a published list of campus energy sources in partnership with the Office of Sustainability by 2021, investments in carbon offset programs by 2025 and continuing efforts to transition all Georgetown University Transportation Shuttles to zero-emission vehicles.
“I think that the Blue Campus was a little bit too general, and I think that it was slightly confusing.” LEO JOHN ARNETT (SFS ’22) GUSA Senator
GUSA President Norman Francis (COL ’20) and Vice President Aleida Olvera (COL ’20) expressed support for the Blue Campus initiative in a press release published Oct. 15. The GUSA Senate agreed to establish a Blue Campus working group Nov. 24 to explore the possibility of introducing a Blue Campus referendum. The broader mission of the Blue Campus referendum was to spread awareness about environmental issues on campus, Rassieur wrote. “Our ultimate goal is simply to change the way that the student body and the University does things and to make
people more conscious about the environment and the oceans,” Rassieur wrote. “For us, the way that we achieve those goals is less important than actually being able to say we did everything we could to preserve the oceans and the world’s environments for future generations.” The GUSA Senate had a responsibility to support the environmental policies outlined in the Blue Campus referendum, Senator Eric Bazail-Eimil (SFS ’23) said during a debate period at the meeting, according to the meeting minutes. “I don’t know if you noticed the quote on the wall: ‘Look on to the rock on which you are hewn. We are called upon to support the Earth we live on,’” Bazail-Eimil said. “This is an incredibly well-written objective, and if we can actively pursue change we should.” The Blue Campus referendum may have lacked the specificity necessary for a twothirds majority passage, according to Senator Leo John Arnett (SFS ’22), who voted in favor of the bill. “I think that the Blue Campus was a little bit too general, and I think that it was slightly confusing to what the students would be voting on,” Arnett said in an interview with The Hoya. “But when it comes to Georgetown’s administration, especially with referendum, it has to be very specific for the board of directors to really take it seriously because they care most about the money side of things.”
Embrace Healing Through Writing, Acclaimed Poet Says ANNA FERRAZZI Hoya Staff Writer
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Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and Elders President and CEO Rachel Bronson was one of the panelists at the event Jan. 23.
SFS Does Away With Course Minimum Degree Requirement AMY LI
JAIME MOORE-CARRILLO & GRACE BUONO
crease in the course minimum requirement from 40 to 38. The changes also included revising the degree program to reduce the number of required major courses and economics courses while introducing a new mandatory science course. First- and second-year students enrolled in the revised BSFS degree program will no longer have a minimum course requirement following the announcement. The change will have no effect on third- and fourth-year students, who still must take 38 courses in order to graduate, according to a separate Jan. 17 email Kaneda sent to students clarifying the change. Last semester, the SFS Academic Council worked with the Dean’s Office to bring forward the resolution eliminating the course minimum to the SFS Curriculum Committee, which studies and recommends revisions of the school curriculum, according to SFS Academic Council President Forrest Gertin (SFS ’20). The proposal was then passed by the SFS Executive Council, the governing body of the SFS comprised of students, faculty and deans, according to Kaneda’s email. The removal of the course minimum requirement will allow students more flexibility when creating their schedules, according to Gertin. “This means that students currently enrolled in the BSFS revised curriculum (students with a science requirement) can take one-credit courses to fulfill their 120-credit graduation requirement,” Gertin wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Plus, taking lab sciences or intensive languages worth more than three credits will now bring you closer to graduation.”
The SFS degree requirement change takes into account students who are enrolled in intensive language courses to satisfy the school’s modern language proficiency requirement, according to Grace Shevchenko (SFS ’22), who took three semesters of intensive French. “I think by getting rid of the course minimum requirement it makes graduation requirements a lot more simplified and properly recognizes the differences between three and six-credit classes,” Shevchenko wrote in an email to The Hoya. The change will benefit students who could have easily met the credit requirement, but would have needed to enroll in more courses to meet the course requirement, according to SFS Academic Council Junior Representative Siddharth Muchhal (SFS ’21). “It definitely helps students whose schedule includes more four and five-credit classes, as well as those who want to take one-credit classes, in order to meet their graduation requirement in a more flexible manner,” Muchhal wrote in a statement to The Hoya. Without a course requirement, fewer students will need to enroll in expensive summer courses, according to Gertin. Tuition for Georgetown undergraduate summer sessions is $1,496 per credit, according to the summer sessions website. The removal of the course minimum will not diminish the integrity of an SFS degree, according to Kaneda. “Several considerations inspired this amendment to the degree,” Kaneda wrote in his Jan. 17 email. “We expect the change to make life easier on all students, without compromising the strength, breadth, and depth of the BSFS degree.”
Poetry served as an important coping mechanism for poet Terrance Hayes after the 2016 presidential election, he said at a book reading and discussion Jan. 21. The event was hosted by the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice as part of the center’s Readings and Talks Series and Symposia, which brings poets and writers to Georgetown University to share their work. During the reading in Copley Formal Lounge, Hayes discussed his poetry and the inspiration behind some of his published works. As someone who was deeply impacted by the 2016 presidential election, Hayes used writing as a coping mechanism. After the election, Hayes began work on his book of poems “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin,” which won the 2019 Hurston/ Wright Legacy Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award for Poetry. “I started writing these poems in November of 2016, and I thought I was going to need these poems for just the next four years as a way of coping,” Hayes said in the discussion. “Too much language, too many questions, too much noise. But I still write them because we’re still here.” While many poems pub-
lished in his book reflect Hayes’ reactions to the 2016 election, Hayes still stressed the importance of writing even if the works are not published. “I think maybe one or two of the poems that I’ll end with tonight have been published,” Hayes said. “If I only write for the book then we’re pretending that somehow we’re past it and we’re not.” Hayes criticized the current practice of sharing writing via platforms like Twitter, alluding to tweets from President Donald Trump as an example of the lack of substance behind such forms of writing. “If you live in a culture where everybody’s writing and no one can write, that’s Twitter,” he said, provoking laughter from the audience. “To me, that’s apocalyptic, even before, you know, tweeting presidents.” Since his inauguration in 2017, Trump has written more than 11,000 tweets, according to The New York Times. Trump sent out 142 tweets and retweets on Wednesday alone, marking his all-time highest number of tweets in a single day since becoming president, according to Factba.se. Hayes is also known for his books “To Float in the Space Between: A Life and Work in Conversation with the Life and Work of Etheridge Knight,” which won the Poetry Foundation’s 2019 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism,
and “Lighthead,” which won the 2010 National Book Award for Poetry. Aside from writing, Hayes currently serves as a professor of English and artistin-residence at New York University. All of the poems in his book “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin” share the title “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin.” Hayes said he gave all his sonnets the same name so he could focus on the writing of the poems. “Once I called them all the same thing, I could do anything,” Hayes said. “It actually was very exciting for me to not have to be, like, naming them anymore, to say, ‘no matter what I write,’ and you can see that in the poems. It means I can concentrate on the poem, not the superficial, you know, naming.” Readers can find meaning from his poetry, regardless of whether they agree with the political inspiration behind it, according to Hayes. “Forget about everything else; forget about Trump; forget about books, audiences,” Hayes said. “Whether you agree with it or not, I’ve already told you everything’s got a bunch of sides, so if you’re with that then you might be flexible to whatever I might propose to you.” Hoya Staff Writers Sophie Haber and Harrison McBride contributed reporting.
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During the book reading and discussion Jan. 21, poet Terrance Hayes discussed his poetry and the inspiration behind some of his published works. The event was held in Copley Formal Lounge.
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THE HOYA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
Ward 2 Residents Oppose Ellington McCourt Students Assist DC With Field Takeover at DPR Meeting Housing Inspection Program ANNA FERRAZZI
ISHAAN RAI
Hoya Staff Writer
Special to The Hoya
Concerned residents and school administrators of the Georgetown, Burleith and Glover Park neighborhoods gathered to express their opposition to the management transfer of Duke Ellington Field at a Jan. 15 community meeting. In July, the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation announced its intent to take over control of the field from District of Columbia Public Schools. The meeting, hosted by DPR, was held at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library and drew a crowd of approximately 100 residents who voiced their concerns to representatives from DPR and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education. At the meeting, administrators and parents from Hardy Middle School, School Without Walls High School and Duke Ellington School of the Arts expressed concern that their sports teams’ access to the field will decrease following the management transfer. There are other recreational spaces around Washington, D.C., that would be better served from DPR management than Ellington Field, according to Martin Welles, vice president of Hardy Middle School PTO. “Why not some other field throughout the city, and I can name about four or five, that already have lights, that already have unused space — why don’t you go target those fields, let this one sit for a little bit?” Welles said at the meeting. “Why don’t you start cleaning house on some of these long-term contracts that deprive the citizens of their right to the fields that are paid for and maintained by taxpayer dollars?” Local schools’ access to the field will not be affected by the transfer, according to Tommie Jones Jr., DPR chief of external affairs who led the meeting and fielded most of the questions. “DPR will permit and manage the field under the regulations
Georgetown University students at the McCourt School of Public Policy are assisting city officials by developing a new algorithm to improve rental housing inspections after several controversies relating to inspection negligence in Washington, D.C. In recent years, the Washington, D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has faced blowback after negligent building rental inspections. The issue received attention after the D.C. Council held a hearing in November 2019 about a fire that killed two people, including a 9-year-old boy, in a Northwest row house that seemed to have been illegally rented, according to The Washington Post. Amid other recent reports of oversight in safety checks by city inspectors, graduate students involved in the new data science for public policy program have been working with the DCRA to improve inspection efficiency since last year. The partnership benefits McCourt students and the greater D.C. community, according to program professor NaLette Brodnax. “The purpose of our partnership with DCRA has been twofold,” Brodnax wrote in an email to The Hoya. “First, to provide students with the opportunity to
SHEEL PATEL/THE HOYA
Community members expressed concern that neighborhood and public school access to the field will be cut off under DPR control. during hours not scheduled by public schools” Jones said at the meeting. “Duke Ellington, Hardy and School Without Walls will have first priority. We’re not hiding away from it.” Last September, Glover Park residents pushed back against DPR’s granting of exclusive after-school hour access to Jelleff Field, a recreational space in Glover Park, to a prestigious Northwest D.C. private school. Fears that a similar arrangement would occur with Duke Ellington Field are a major reason for community opposition, according to Advisory Neighborhood 2E Commissioner Kishan Putta. DPR’s communications with the community over the terms of the Jelleff Field transfer were inadequate, which led Putta to seek written confirmation from the department over the specifics of its plan for Ellington Field, he wrote. “They gave written assurance of school priority, BUT not about long-term private contracts or neighborhood access,” Putta wrote in a statement to The Hoya. “I asked again last week they said that is their intention - but I said we need it written. The neighbors and the schools are worried DPR won’t listen to
them - after feeling completely ignored by Jelleff decision.” Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who represented the Georgetown neighborhood on the council as well as other sections of the District, announced his official resignation from the D.C. Council in a Jan. 7 letter following accusations of ethical misconduct. A special election to fill Ward 2’s open seat will be held June 16. Evans’ resignation leaves residents without representation on the council. The transfer should not be attempted until his seat is filled, according to Putta. “At the meeting, dozens of residents and school representatives spoke and not one of them said they support the transfer. Most were very much against the transfer - both residents and schools,” Putta wrote. “Many think it definitely should not be transferred until Ward 2 has a new Councilmember (after June 16 special election). And they feel that if the priority is schools and neighbors, then DCPS should continue to manage it like they do at fields citywide.” In response to community concerns, DPR has extended the commenting period, which was set to end in January, until Feb. 12.
learn data science with a handson, real-world problem. Second, to assist DCRA in leveraging their existing data to improve agency processes.” Students have been working alongside DCRA to focus on developing a system for more thorough housing inspections, according to Brodnax. “After some discussions with the agency, the students participated in several projects using data on housing inspections, construction, and permitting,” Brodnax wrote. “Subsequently, the class worked to identify patterns in housing complaints and inspection reports in order to develop an algorithm that could be used to identify properties for proactive inspection.” The algorithm, called the Proactive Inspection Program, routinely assesses properties for adherence to code compliance, according to Neha Tiwari (GRD ’20), a graduate student who began working on the project in fall 2019. “The aim was to help DCRA solve certain specific problems using data science as well as gain practical experience through the same by working with a real and messy dataset with actual uses and implications,” Tiwari wrote in an email to The Hoya. The current system relies on law enforcement officials filing reports of unsafe conditions. Be-
KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA
As part of the program, students developed an algorithm to address inspection negligence in rental housing in recent years.
fore the rowhouse fire, investigators from the DCRA or the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department did not inspect the building despite notifications to both agencies. However, a police officer who surveyed the building noted multiple safety concerns, according to The Washington Post. A more standardized process would make it more difficult for violations to go unnoticed, according to Tiwari. “Currently, the way inspections are alloted is completely random. In the interest of resource management, it was prudent to allocate inspections by prioritizing properties which were more likely to be in noncompliance,” Tiwari wrote. The Proactive Inspection Program attempts to correct the inspection process and prevent tragedies by taking a building’s violation history into account, according to Tiwari. “My approach was to improve the allocation process. The way to do this was to take into account the inspection and violation history besides the neighborhood and building characteristics when allocating inspections,” Tiwari wrote. “The intuition was that the buildings which have a history of violations may have a higher likelihood of being in violation in future as compared to ones that don’t.” Expansions to the algorithm will be ready within the next few months, according to Brodnax. More information about buildings and neighborhoods might be added, but new features will be introduced to avoid the risk of stereotyping and improve the algorithm, according to Tiwari. “Adding more neighborhood characteristics and demographic information to the model is a future consideration,” Tiwari wrote. “However, we should be careful to not let implicit demographic and other biases affect model’s inspection allocation unfairly.” Representatives for the DCRA did not respond to The Hoya’s request for comment.
US Immigration Policies Harm Med School Names Diversity Refugees, Union Reps Say and Inclusion Director HARRISON MCBRIDE Hoya Staff Writer
Immigration policies enacted under President Donald Trump’s administration have harmed the global reputation of the United States regarding refugee protection, two United States Citizenship and Immigration Services union members said at a Jan. 21 event. USCIS operates as a division of the Department of Homeland Security and features two branches supervising refugee affairs and the asylum programs within the agency. The event featured two representatives from the American Federation of Government Employees’s National CIS Union. The AFGE is the largest federal government employee union and exclusively oversees the National CIS union, the body that represents USCIS employees. Asylum officer Michael Knowles, who serves as a special representative for the National CIS Council 119, which represents 14,500 USCIS employees, spoke at the event. Jason Marks, a union representative with the AFGE branch that represents USCIS employees of the Washington, D.C. area, also addressed students. Both Knowles and Marks spoke in their capacity as a union members at the event, titled “A Conversation with the USCIS Asylum Officer’s Union,” hosted by the Institute for the Study of International Migration. Prior to U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, many USCIS employees and migration experts viewed U.S. refugee and asylum programs as functional and well-organized, despite partisan disputes over several smaller issues linked to migration, according to Knowles. “We don’t usually get involved in public policy, especially in the area of asylum, because frankly at least from our point of view, it’s been a pretty good program, and the employees have been usually well-engaged in helping create and build and perfect that program over an almost 30-year period of time,” Knowles said. “There are always disagreements about how many we should bring in and law enforcement considerations and vetting and making sure our national security is covered.” Though the CIS union branch has focused on advocating for workers in the past, they have in-
creased their attention to include advocacy for various issues since 2017. The National CIS Union 119 wrote an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court concerning the Trump administration’s travel restrictions on seven different countries in Sept. 2017. After a series of appeals, a different version of the restrictions was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court. On Jan. 21, Trump reportedly considered adding new restrictions on seven additional countries, according to the Wall Street Journal. The union decided to file their amicus brief to lend their experience to the case, according to Marks. “You know we felt, in talking to these folks, talking to these advocacy groups, you know, that the court would want to hear from the folks who actually do this work,” Marks said. “And we approached this, you know, so we found a lawyer that would handle this on behalf of our union, we worked with this legal team, we worked with our members, and essentially we filed a brief in support of the petitioners who were opposing the travel ban.” In past decades, the United States has led the international community on accepting refugees, those who have fled their country of origin, and asylum seekers, people searching for protection out of fear of persecution. The 1980 Refugee Act raised the annual refugee admission ceiling and established communication policies and regulations between Congress and the President about refugee and migration issues. After the act passed, the U.S. emerged as a global leader on this immigration policy, according to
Marks. “The United States has been the world leader in refugee resettlement by far,” Marks said. “I think out of all the other countries in the world combined, it doesn’t even come close to the numbers of refugees the U.S. has resettled since 1980, probably more before that, until 2018 or 2019 when Canada actually started to resettle more folks than we did.” Current rhetoric and policies pushed forward by lawmakers under the Trump administration contrast previous U.S. conduct around immigration, according to Knowles. “Refugees and asylum was always a very patriotic thing. It was always good politics, whether you were left, right, or center until 2017, when we saw this new administration coming in,” Knowles said. “One of their signature campaign things, and now we’ve seen one of their signature wrecking balls, I don’t know how else you could call it, has been to radically change the face of immigration without any legislative action whatsoever.” While many of the policies enacted by the Trump administration have more visible short-term effects, the long-term impacts of the policies are more serious and unseen by the American public, according to Knowles. “But it does, long term, has dire implications for our institutional capacity,” Knowles said. “Let’s suppose we have a new administration in a year, or four, whatever it is, it’s really hard to rebuild what the wrecking ball has done and we have lost hundreds of very talented, committed people, not because they weren’t laid off, they just said we’re not gonna be here.”
WILL HOUSTON FOR THE HOYA
As part of advocacy efforts, the AFGE National CIS Council 119 union filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.
ANNALISE MYRE Hoya Staff Writer
Georgetown University School of Medicine has named Isela Melendez-Carpio as its new director of diversity and inclusion, GUSOM announced in a tweet Jan. 17. Melendez-Carpio will lead strategic initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion and organize diversity-focused programming and unconscious bias training in her new role, according to the announcement. Prior to joining GUSOM, MelendezCarpio worked as the assistant director of academic and student affairs at the McCourt School of Public Policy. As a Latina first-generation college student and immigrant from a low socioeconomic background, promoting diversity and inclusion within the field of medicine is an important issue to Melendez-Carpio, she wrote. “I see this as an opportunity to continue expanding the pool of diverse doctors, especially as our country continues becoming more diverse,” Melendez-Carpio wrote in an email to The Hoya. GUSOM launched its Office of Diversity and Inclusion in August 2015 with the goal of advancing diversity and inclusion for its students, faculty and staff, according to the GUSOM website. In line with its goal, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion runs a number of programs, including the Georgetown experimental medical studies program, a one-year post-baccalaureate program that aims to recruit and mentor students from disadvantaged backgrounds into the field of medicine. As director of diversity and inclusion, Melendez-Carpio will build on the school’s mission to promote diversity in medicine, according to Dean for Medical Education at GUSOM Stephen Ray Mitchell. “Ms. Meledez-Carpio brings great experience to that vision and will help to build the trajectory and create a sense of belonging to a wonderfully innovative system of pipeline and cultural programs,” Mitchell wrote in an email to The Hoya. Pipeline programs, like GEMS, play a key role in helping underrepresented students see medical school as a viable option, Melendez-Carpio wrote. “The road to medical school is a long one,” Melendez-Carpio
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA WOMEN’S CENTER
Isela Melendez-Carpio will focus on diversity, equity and inclusion intiatives in her new role as director of diversity and inclusion services. wrote. “Support systems are imperative for student success, which is why the Office of Diversity and Inclusion plays a special role in the development and growth of the populations we serve. Ultimately, we hope to prepare the next generation of health care professionals.” GUSOM also offers opportunities to high school and undergraduate students. High school students from across Washington, D.C., can apply to GUSOM’s summer internships, which provide hands-on experiences for students to gain insight into the field of medicine. Undergraduate students can apply to the Academy for Research, Clinical, and Health Equity Scholarship, which allows select students to gain clinical experience and participate in guided research. GUSOM strives to create a diverse workforce by recruiting and mentoring students who are likely to make a significant contribution to medicine but whose disadvantaged circumstances may hinder their academic achievement, Mitchell wrote. “Our patients deserve health care providers who can identify with their experiences and understand the cultural needs when making decisions affecting their care,” Mitchell wrote. “This role allows us to give a razor-sharp focus to this goal and to foster pipeline opportunities by working with high school and undergraduate students.” Melendez-Carpio hopes to broaden Georgetown’s reach to local high schools and universities and implement alumni initiatives to continue cultivating relation-
ships with students, she wrote. Melendez-Carpio’s professional background has been centered around working with organizations that empower underrepresented groups, such as low-income, first-generation, LGBTQ, Black and Latinx populations. Melendez-Carpio will draw on her past experiences to help her serve in her new position, she wrote. “My personal and professional experiences equip me with the skills, knowledge and expertise needed to lead this effort,” Melendez-Carpio wrote. “I am deeply committed to ensuring local students from the area recognize their potential and see Georgetown as an option for their education endeavors.” Melendez-Carpio brings both passion and professional expertise to her new role, according to Mitchell. “Melendez-Carpio brings a deep passion to this role based on her personal experiences,” Mitchell wrote. “But equally important, she brings a set of skills and talents needed to define and redefine successful strategies with the end goal of diversifying our student body and our workforce, while ensuring a healthy and robust learning experience.” Changing the culture of a campus to be more diverse and inclusive will take time and effort, Melendez-Carpio wrote. “Representation matters,” Melendez-Carpio wrote. “Schools are addressing these topics through various initiatives and programming; however, we need to affect change across all sectors of society.”
NEWS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
THE HOYA
A9
Center for Juvenile Justice Multiple Pipe Breaks Cause Reform Names New Director Water Outages, Street Closures ELIZABETH BRENNEMAN
CLARA GRUDBERG
The Center for Juvenile Justice Reform has named Michael Umpierre as its new director after former director and founder Shay Bilchik stepped down Jan. 1. CJJR, housed within the McCourt School of Public Policy, works to highlight policies and practices that best help youth at risk of entering the juvenile justice system. Umpierre previously served as CJJR’s deputy director for juvenile justice system improvement and communications. Bilchik, who has since assumed the position of founder and director emeritus, founded CJJR in 2007 to help the juvenile justice system better meet the needs of disadvantaged youth across the country, according to his letter announcing his plans to step down. With his new position, Bilchik hopes to spend more time with his family while also continuing to serve CJJR, he wrote in an email to The Hoya. “While I am stepping aside as Director of the Center in order to create a better balance in my work and personal life, I intend to support Michael as the new Director and remain involved in a meaningful way in the activities of the Center,” Bilchik wrote. “In that regard, I will continue to promote effective policies and practices that serve the disadvantaged children, youth and families to which I have dedicated my career.” Bilchik is confident that CJJR will continue to grow with Umpierre as its director, he wrote. “It is my expectation that Michael will bring the deep knowledge he possesses of the work of the Center and his terrific skill set to his new role in order to build on that strong foundation,” Bilchik wrote. “I know he will take the Center to new heights and his work will result in even better outcomes for the children, youth and families we serve.” Umpierre, who joined CJJR almost five years ago, plans on using his new position to advocate for positive change and better train other leaders in the field, he wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Moving forward, my vision is to deepen and strengthen this network of leaders who are implementing efforts to improve outcomes for youth, families and communities,” Umpierre wrote. “This means increasing opportunities for
After a recent drop in temperatures, pipe breaks caused water outages and street closures in the Georgetown neighborhood on Jan. 19 and Jan. 20. The first break occurred on P Street between 29th and Dumbarton Street NW on Sunday, according to Pamela Mooring, external communications manager for District of Columbia Water and Sewage Authority. After being repaired, the water main broke again early Monday morning, with workers commencing repairs at 7 a.m. and working throughout the day, finishing at around 7:30 p.m. The breaks affected approximately 100 homes on the south side of P Street, according to Mooring. In addition to outages in Georgetown, 200 homes were affected by a Monday morning water main break in the residential Michigan Park neighborhood at Sargent Road between South Dakota Ave. and Gallatin St. NE, according to The Washington Post. Repairs were performed at a routine pace, according to Mooring. Water main breaks become increasingly common in colder months. “Most required 24-hour or less for water service restoration,” Mooring wrote in an email to The Hoya. “DC Water averages 300-450 water main breaks per year, on average, with higher numbers in the winter months due to the cold.” Every year, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Com-
Hoya Staff Writer
Hoya Staff Writer
CENTER FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM
Michael Umpierre previously served as the center’s deputy director. He was promoted after the former director stepped down Jan. 1. training, peer-to-peer learning, and the sharing of innovative ideas.” CJJR provides training, networking opportunities and webinars to help state and local agencies develop and implement policies that will help achieve better outcomes for children across the United States. In her nearly 12 years at CJJR, Deputy Director of Multi-System Operations Macon Stewart has witnessed the positive work carried out through the program, she wrote. “Since its inception, CJJR has been committed to advancing multi-systems reform in every aspect of its work,” Stewart wrote. “Through innovations in the practice that are grounded in research the Center continues to fulfill its mission and maintain its commitment to the fields of Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare.” CJJR also hosts a variety of certificate program trainings for public and private sector leaders working in juvenile justice, child welfare, mental health, substance abuse and other related systems of care. Through these programs, CJJR has helped create a network of individuals across the country committed to juvenile justice reform, according to Stewart. “Since I began we’ve grown
tremendously through the various programs and in staffing,” Stewart wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Additionally, our impact in the field has become widespread. You’ll note from our website, we have supported work through our Certificate Programs and/or Practice Models in just about every state in the US.” Umpierre hopes to continue to uphold CJJR’s role in bringing about positive programs and reform for the youth who need it most, he wrote. “I have dedicated my career to improving the lives of youth, particularly those who are underprivileged, vulnerable, and most in need,” Umpierre wrote. “As Director, my plan is to continue to position CJJR as a beacon of light for the youth-serving field— an organization that shows the vital need for supporting all youth and families, and the most effective, researchbased ways to do just that.” In spite of the change in leadership, CJJR’s overarching goals in helping children and continuing to advance the field of juvenile justice will remain constant. “I hope that the work of the Center continues to positively impact how systems support and partner with youth and families,” Stewart wrote.
Bobcat Spotted Prowling Along C&O Canal in Georgetown MOIRA RITTER Hoya Staff Writer
A photo of a bobcat roaming the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal near the Palisades neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., was uploaded to Facebook last week, sparking excitement on social media. The photograph was captured Nov. 9 at 6:22 a.m. approximately three miles from Georgetown’s campus. Dan Herrera, a field technician for the Humane Rescue Alliance, posted the photo to the Capital Naturalist Facebook group Jan. 10 after uncovering the snapshot. The post has since accumulated 805 reactions, 92 comments and 306 shares. While the bobcat sighting was exciting, it does not come as a surprise after previous sightings in the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia area according to Alonso Abugattas Jr., naturalist and founder of the Capital Naturalist Facebook. “We had a video of one in Arlington that made the news last year, and several had been hit on the roads in NOVA as well,” Abugattas wrote in an email to The Hoya. “So it’s great, really neat, but not a great surprise either.” The bobcat’s D.C. visit indicates there are suitable paths for wildlife movement from rural areas to urban centers, according to William J. McShea, wildlife ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. “If one animal can make that transit than others can as well.
Young males are more likely to move, but the pathway will be similar for mature females. These animals will keep moving unless they can find a suitable amount of habitat for residency,” McShea wrote in an email to The Hoya. “There might be sufficient area within Rock Creek Park or along the Anacostia/Potomac for a small population but it will never be large due to the cat’s aversion to people.” The camera that captured the bobcat is operated by DC Cat Count, a three-year project estimated to conclude in June 2021. DC Cat Count is a collaboration between the Humane Rescue Alliance, Petsmart Charities, the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the SCBI. The initiative utilizes a combination of cameras, surveys and data collection and analysis in an effort to estimate the population of cats in D.C., according to Annalisa Meyer, deputy director of communications at the SBCI. “At the conclusion of this project, we will have estimated the number of all cats within Washington, D.C. and illustrated how cat population segments interact,” Meyer wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Furthermore, we will have developed logistically feasible and scientifically sound tools and protocols that can be used by a wide variety of animal welfare or municipal organizations to facilitate data-driven cat population management.”
DC Cat Count launched the population project to better understand cat dynamics and especially to address the controversy surrounding population management and other feline debates, according to the DC Cat Count website. Three years ago, female bobcat Ollie escaped from the Smithsonian National Zoo, sparking media attention. The escape triggered a large search effort in surrounding neighborhoods. She was found and returned safely to her enclosure after two days. As for threats posed by a bobcat population in D.C., Washingtonians have nothing to worry about, according to McShea. “All carnivores eat other species of animals, but I would not consider that a threat. Bobcats are generalists that eat a variety of small mammals and birds,” McShea wrote. “They do not usually associate with humans or their waste (garbage) and will not likely have any impact on humans in DC.” The bobcat’s appearance is a good sign for D.C. and its surrounding areas as many counties are attempting to provide more habitats for native species, according to Abugattas. “These days, some animals are making comebacks and many local counties are trying to combat invasives, providing more habitat for these animals. So that we see one, is a good sign,” Abugattas wrote. “Hopefully we will see more of these and other less common animals as we improve our habitat.”
mission, which provides safe drinking water and wastewater treatment for Montgomery and Prince Georges County in Maryland, handles about 1,800 water main breaks. Two-thirds of those breaks take place between November and February, according to WAMU. The temperatures on Sunday and Monday hovered around 20 degrees Fahrenheit, falling below the historic average lows for those two days in January, based on data from AccuWeather. Frequent water main breakages in the winter are a result of standing water freezing in pipes, according to information published by DC Water. “When water standing inside a pipe freezes, it can expand causing the pipe to break,” DC Water’s website reads. “Pipes that freeze are often exposed to the outside or are in unheated interior areas such as kitchen cabinets, attics, garages, basements and crawl spaces.” Another major factor causing water main breakage in the District is aging water system infrastructure, with some pipes dating back to the mid 1800s, according to a 2016 infrastructure report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers. “The pipes’ median age is 79 years, which is beyond the design lifespan of 50 years, and 9% of pipes were installed during the period between the Civil War and the 1890s,” the report read. “Recently, DC Water started replacing 1% of pipes a year. While 3 times the previous year’s replacement rate, it is still a 100-year replacement cycle.”
Damage from pipe breaks have triggered maintenance issues on Georgetown’s campus. In February 2019, fire alarms malfunctioned, going off inadvertently three times in a two-day span in Darnall Hall. The error was caused by physical damage from a nearby burst pipe, according to a Feb. 4 email sent to Darnall residents by Darnall Hall community director Tom Mangano. Water main breakage is not the only issue brought up by the District’s aging pipe system. The D.C. government has struggled with contamination in water sources because of the common use of lead pipes in public and private facilities, with a lead contamination crisis in the early 2000s heightening awareness of the issue, according to The Washington Post. Lead pipes were most commonly used in buildings constructed before 1986, according to the EPA. The Washington Metropolitan Water and Sewer Authority has been gradually replacing lead pipes under public streets, as well as partnering with homeowners to replace pipes on private property, according to the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment. While Georgetown has not publicly provided information about the composition of pipes in many of its older buildings or in off-campus buildings, a September 2019 study conducted by Georgetown graduate students found that water from numerous sources around campus tested above or near the EPA’s standards for lead contamination.
4th Annual Women’s March Sees Decrease in Attendance GIULIA TESTA Hoya Staff Writer
The fourth annual Women’s March on Washington drew a crowd of around 10,000 people Saturday, approximately a sixth of the estimated 65,000 people who attended last year’s march. Several Georgetown University students attended the march in downtown Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18. This year’s march marked the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the United States. While the first Women’s March in 2017 drew an estimated 500,000 protestors, the past three years have failed to reach the same level of participation. One possible explanation is that the march has become increasingly partisan. Attendees and speakers at the march often openly oppose President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and policies, discouraging more conservative women from attending, according to Sophie Bennett (COL ’23), who attended both this year’s march and the march in 2017. “I think partially it’s because the message has become more anti-Trump,” Bennett said. “That can be isolating even for women who identify as Democrats who are maybe more centrist or fear that not being centrist about the way you approach feminism isolates right-wing voters and Americans.” The Women’s March has also faced controversy in the past because of claims of antisemitism within the movement, which may also be a factor behind the decline in
participation. The march was accused of promoting antisemitic rhetoric last year when Co-President Tamika Mallory refused to apologize after posting a photo of her alongside Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the black nationalist group Nation of Islam, who referred to Jews as “satanic” in a 2018 speech. Despite the claims of antisemitic rhetoric surrounding the march, many students still chose to attend to demonstrate their dedication to women’s rights and equality, according to Bennett. “Being a feminist has always been a part of my identity and it’s something that’s evolved over the past few years of my life,” Bennett said. “There are still plenty of women that recognize that the current administration is bad for women and dangerous for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations.” The march also took place just three days after what would have been the 91st birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., as pointed out by humanitarian and activist Arndrea Waters King, who spoke at the event. The dream that King fought for over half a century ago has been revived in the modern fight for gender equality, according to Waters King, who is the wife of Martin Luther King III. “It’s ironic that America now more than ever is challenged to realize its dream by fulfilling the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King,” Waters King said at the march. “In their spirit, we can and we must work to seize the urgency of the mo-
ment, for the only way to keep from moving backwards is to keep moving forward.” The march began around 11 a.m., with speakers rallying up the crowd before marching toward the White House. Protesters marched to the White House, where they chanted “Un Violador en Tu Camino,” a feminist protest anthem that denounces patriarchial norms, rape culture and violence against women. The protestors pumped their fists into the air as they chanted, led by Las Tesis, a Chilean feminist collective. Despite the freezing temperatures and snow, partaking in the march this year was an empowering and patriotic experience, according to Maria Howard (SFS ’23), who attended the march. “I was very cold, but it was also very empowering and it was cool to see that there were so many people that were fighting for the same thing,” Howard said. “It made me appreciate being an American more because we have the opportunity to voice our opinions and petition and practice our rights.” This year’s march begins the decade with renewed hope for achieving greater respect and equality for all, Waters King said. “This can be the decade that ushers in a new freedom, new responsibility for each other and new dignity of human behavior,” Waters King said. “Today I call for you to remember the power that resides with and within each of us, to remember the power that we can embrace the vision that another world is possible.”
WOMEN’S MARCH ON WASH/FACEBOOK
The fourth annual Women’s March took place in downtown Washington, D.C., with an estimated attendance of 10,000 demonstrators. Arndrea Waters King was a featured speaker at the event.
A10
SPORTS
THE HOYA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
MEN’S BASKETBALL
MEN’S TENNIS
GU Falters in Free Throws Hoyas Sweep Hampton, Lose In 84-80 Defeat by Marquette In Shutout to Old Dominion SEAN HAGGERTY Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown men’s basketball team fell short to the visiting Marquette Golden Eagles 84-80 as the game slipped out of grasp in the last minute of play Jan. 18. Marquette’s senior guard Markus Howard, the reigning Big East Player of the Week, was too much to handle for the Georgetown defense as he dropped 42 points on the day. In front of a crowd of 20,622 people at Capital One Arena, sophomore guard Mac McClung led the Hoyas (12-7, 2-4 Big East) with 24 points while senior center Omer Yurtseven scored 22 points and tallied 11 rebounds to notch his 10th double-double of the year. With the loss, Georgetown slips to seventh in the Big East while Marquette (13-5, 3-3 Big East) overtakes the sixth spot. Both teams shot efficiently throughout the game with Georgetown shooting 50.8% from the field and Marquette shooting 46.9% from the floor. Success from the three-point line made the difference for Marquette as they converted 10 three-pointers and outrebounded the Hoyas 36-33 despite the size and strength of Yurtseven. The game began with a backand-forth first half that saw six lead changes. The Blue and Gray jumped out to an early 13-9 lead at the first media timeout, led by two inside buckets from Yurtseven. Marquette, however, warmed up as they put together a 10-0 run behind Howard’s success from deep with two consecutive three-pointers. McClung responded to the Golden Eagles’ lead by sinking a jumper from the paint to give Georgetown back the lead at 2928 with under eight minutes to play until halftime. In the final few minutes of the half, Marquette surged with Howard on the bench. The Golden Eagles combined for four baskets in the paint to conclude the half with a 42-36 advantage over the
Hoyas. Georgetown shot 57.7% from the field at the half with just three three-pointers in its seven attempts. Marquette shot just 48.6% from the floor but found success from the threepoint line with eight buckets made in its 19 attempts. Head Coach Patrick Ewing (CAS ’85) fired up the Hoyas during halftime as they started the second half on a 10-4 run to tie the score at 46. Junior forward Jamorko Pickett made consecutive corner three-pointers to lead the run. Marquette and Georgetown continued to trade buckets and neither team jumped out to a lead over six points in the first 10 minutes of the half. With just over 10 minutes to play, junior guard Jamorko Pickett gave the Hoyas a 57-55 lead off a three-pointer to bring the fans to their feet. Howard, however, refused to let the Hoyas run away with the lead as he answered with eight straight points of his own while the Golden Eagles held the Blue and Gray to one layup during that stretch. Marquette capitalized on their 8-2 run and extended their lead to seven with under four minutes remaining in the game. Yurtseven responded with a pair of jumpers and forced a turnover leading to junior guard Jahvon Blair’s three free-throws to tie the game at 76 with 1:34 on the clock. The fans at Capital One rallied around the Hoya offense with a surge of cheers, pushing for a third consecutive Big East win on Georgetown’s home court. On the following play, Marquette called a timeout as the game stood at a stalemate. When the teams returned to play, Howard continued his dominant play with a sunk three-pointer to regain the lead. Pickett answered with a layup to bring the Hoyas back within one point and the Golden Eagles drained the clock down to 28 seconds before drawing a foul from Georgetown. Marquette sunk its free throw to extend its lead to two before fouling Georgetown to send McClung to the line. McClung
missed his first attempt before making his second, again pulling within one of the Golden Eagles. Marquette’s free throw shooting would prove to be the difference in the game, as the team capitalized on two more free throws in the last nine seconds of play to force Georgetown to score on the next possession to remain in contention. Senior guard Jagan Mosely failed to make both of his free throws and Marquette sealed the victory with a final score of 84-80. Despite McClung, Yurtseven, Pickett and Mosely combining for 67 points on the day with individual efforts in the double digits, the Hoyas struggled to find an offensive rhythm throughout the game. Ewing recognized his team’s inability to execute its offensive strategy and pointed to the Blue and Gray’s lack of cohesion as a major factor in the loss. “The difference is that we didn’t do a good job on the pick and roll. One, the guards are looking for the pick and roll; two, the bigs didn’t get up in time to show or help,” Ewing said in an interview with GU Hoyas. On the defensive end, the Hoyas conceded 17 second chance points to the Golden Eagles while only notching eight themselves. In transition, Marquette capitalized for 11 points on turnovers compared to Georgetown’s six. At the end of the day, Howard, Marquette’s leading scorer this season, proved too much for the Georgetown defense to handle, accounting for half of his team’s’ points. Ewing gave a nod to Marquette’s performance but also noted his team’s failure in shutting down Howard. “They're a good team, [Howard] is a good player and we can't give him everything,” said Ewing. Georgetown next heads to Cincinnati on Wednesday to face the Xavier Musketeers in its seventh conference matchup of the season. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted on FS1.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
TIAN SHI
Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown men’s tennis team opened its season with a double-header against Old Dominion and Hampton, splitting the dual match with a 7-0 loss to the Monarchs and 7-0 sweep of the Pirates in Norfolk, Va., on Jan. 18 and 19. Georgetown faced off with Old Dominion to begin the twoday tournament, challenging the Monarchs for the first time since the 2011-12 season, during which the Hoyas suffered a 6-1 loss. The first match of the tournament was the singles matchup between senior Ian Witmer and Old Dominion Monarchs Nicola Vidal. Witmer finished his last season with a 4-5 singles record while managing a 6-8 doubles record after three consecutive doubles wins to open the 2018-19 season. In the matchup with Vidal, Witmer was defeated 6-0 in the first set and 6-1 in the second. Witmer also lost 7-6 in his doubles competition, playing alongside freshman Kieran Foster. Foster, in his inaugural year with the Hoyas, finished the preseason on a high note. At the Navy Fall Invite, he finished 3-0 in his event. Foster was seeded No. 15 overall at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regionals in Charlottesville, Va., in mid-October, demonstrating potential to be a key player for the Hoyas’ tennis crew in the future. Foster, however, was also defeated in his singles match against Old Dominion’s Francois Musitelli, dropping his first set 6-4 and losing the second 6-1. Georgetown’s second dou-
Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown women’s tennis team began its 2020 season Saturday, Jan. 18, in College Park, Md., with a match against the University of Maryland Terrapins. The Hoyas fell 3-4 on the day but had a strong showing that improved upon their preseason performances. After losing every match of the Harvard Invitational on Nov. 3, 2019, the Hoyas returned to campus ready to ring in the new decade with a stronger performance. In the singles matches, the Hoyas went 3-3. Junior Sofie Moenster, who has historically been a strong performer for the Hoyas with an 11-9 singles record and 9-18 doubles record last season, was bested by Maryland freshman Ayana Akil 6-0 and 6-2 in consecutive sets. Freshman Agata Mikos started off slow in her match against Maryland sophomore Chloe Hamlin, scoring only one point in the first set. Mikos, however, came back to dominate Hamlin 6-2 and 6-0 in the final two sets to secure Georgetown’s first match win of the tournament. Sophomore Elena de Santis had a similar performance to Mikos,
dropping the first set 1-6 before coming back to defeat Maryland freshman Vera Markovic 6-2 and 6-3 in the final two sets of the match. These two comebacks for the Hoyas show the benefits of their offseason training and current levels of stamina, persisting while their opponents suffer fatigue. Freshman Olivia Ashton shut out Maryland senior Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka in consecutive sets, recording 6-0 and 6-2 results to top off the Blue and Gray’s three points earned on the day. The Hoyas were swept in their final two singles matches of the day, with Maryland junior Zoe Kulkarni defeating Georgetown sophomore Brooke Murphy 6-4 and 6-2 and Maryland senior Saya Usui besting Georgetown freshman Carmen Aizpurua 6-2 in consecutive sets. The doubles matches did not provide any victories for the Hoyas, as the freshmen duo of Ashton and Mikos fell 0-6 to their opponents and senior Anna Short and De Santis also suffered a scoreless loss. Freshman Chloe Bendetti and Moenster faired better, managing to win two games before ultimately falling 5-2 to Maryland junior Eva Alexandrova and Usui.
The team’s performance demonstrated an improvement from their fall slate and points to a more promising spring season after the Blue and Gray dropped all six of its singles matches at the Harvard Invitational in early November. The team similarly struggled at the ITA Regionals in late October, losing all six of its singles matches and both of its doubles matches in a winless tournament showing. The team’s result against the Terrapins shows the Hoyas’ renewed competitiveness and ability to keep scores significantly closer. The team looks ahead to a spring season with a challenging Big East schedule. Despite struggling in large tournaments against a number of teams at different skill levels this fall, Georgetown returns to the Big East stage to compete against a number of familiar foes in an effort to overcome its 1-6 conference record in the 2018-19 season. In the coming months, the Blue and Gray will play matches nearly every weekend against teams both in the Big East and across the East Coast. The Hoyas will next face the Liberty University Flames in Lynchburg, Va., on Jan. 25 in search of their first win of the spring season.
GUHOYAS
Freshman Olivia Ashton sends a backhand to her opponent. On Jan. 18, Ashton shut out her opponent 6-0, 6-2 in her singles match in College Park, Md., in the Hoyas' 4-3 loss to the Terrapins.
falling 6-4 in the first set before taking the second set 2-6. Despite his efforts, Militzer fell in the third set 1-0. Militzer finished the 2018-19 season with a singles record of 7-11 while going 7-6 in doubles. Having won three consecutive matchups in October and four straight doubles matches, Militzer is poised for greater success in the upcoming season. On the second day of the tournament, the Blue and Gray found far greater success against the Pirates, whom the Hoyas haven’t played against since the 2006-07 season. The men, after failing to earn a point against Old Dominion, swept Hampton in singles games. Foster finished 6-2, 6-3 in his match, Kamdar played three sets to win 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 and Miltzer put away his opponent 6-3, 6-1. Witmer also swept his opponent 6-2, 6-1 while Rozanov took his match in two sets 6-3, 6-2. Ross rounded out the Blue and Gray’s dominant singles performance with a 7-6, 6-1 win. The doubles matchups ended with two more wins for the Hoyas as Kamdar and Rozanov returned to the court together to secure the 6-2 win. Sharton and Ross followed Kamdar and Rozanov’s victory by taking their set 6-1. Witmer and Foster recorded the Blue and Gray’s only loss of the day, dropping their doubles game 6-3. Following the doubleheader, Georgetown continues on with a 1-1 record. The men are set to travel to West Point, N.Y., the first weekend of February to play Binghamton and West Point in a two-day tournament.
BEHIND THE GRIDIRON
Chiefs’ Success Undermined By Domestic Violence Cases
Georgetown Drops Its Spring Season Opener 4-3 to Maryland GRACE COHN
bles matchup against Old Dominion consisted of junior Rohan Kamdar and sophomore Andrew Rozanov, who fell to the Monarchs’ Musitelli and Jannick Giesse 6-3. Kamdar finished his last season with a 6-13 singles record and a 13-8 doubles record, including eight straight doubles wins alongside junior Connor Lee. Kamdar went up against Old Dominion’s Tomislav Podvinski in a singles matchup, falling 6-2 in both sets. Rozanov wrapped up his previous season with an 11-13 singles record and an 8-11 doubles record. Between last March and April, he won five consecutive singles matches, including one conference win against an opponent from Xavier. In his singles competition against the Monarchs, he lost 7-5 and 6-2 to Oliver Tobisch. Lee proved to be tough competition against Luca Maldoner, ranked No. 93 by ITA, of Old Dominion, playing three sets 2-6, 6-2 and 3-0 before falling to his opponent. Lee finished the last season with a 6-17 singles record, as well as an 14-9 doubles record. Although he recorded eight consecutive doubles wins to start the last season, he was defeated in his doubles match with junior Charlie Sharton 6-2. Sharton tallied an 8-13 singles record last season with a 9-12 doubles record, with particularly notable four straight singles wins in October. His freshman season resulted in greater success with a 14-2 singles record and seven opening match wins. Another strong performance against the Monarchs came from junior Mark Militzer, who managed three sets against Old Dominion’s Younes Lalami,
Jacob Vanderzwaag This article includes descriptions of domestic violence and assault. Please refer to the end of the article for on- and offcampus resources. Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ 35-24 defeat of the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Jan. 19, NFL Network reporter James Palmer tweeted a video of the Chiefs’ defensive end Frank Clark praising his team’s defensive effort and expressing, with a number of expletives, his confidence in his team’s ability to take home the Super Bowl title. While some fans were quick to praise Clark’s passion for the game, many members of the media and the greater NFL fandom have failed to recognize Clark’s history of domestic abuse. Frankly, the NFL has a domestic violence problem. On Sept. 8, 2014, TMZ released a video showing Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancée in an elevator. Rice was subsequently released by the Ravens and has not played in an NFL game since the incident. As a result of the Rice incident, the NFL has adopted stricter domestic violence policies, with many teams taking extra care to steer clear of players with histories of domestic violence. The Kansas City Chiefs, however, are not one of them. According to USA Today, Chiefs players have recorded the third highest number of domestic violence arrests or charges since January 2000. These horrifying statistics would be problematic on their own if these players had a clean record before joining Kansas City, but it is an entirely different story considering that the Chiefs consistently acquire players who have a history of offthe-field offenses. Frank Clark is just one example of the NFL’s tolerance for domestic abusers. Back in Nov. 2014, Clark was kicked off of the University of Michigan football team after being charged with first-degree domestic violence and assault against his then-
girlfriend. Witnesses to the incident alleged that Clark had grabbed the woman by the neck and slammed her down. The officer on the scene described a welt on the woman’s cheek, along with marks on her neck and a rug burn on her leg. In the victim’s description of the incident, she explained that Clark restrained her on the bed, pushed her head and eventually punched her in the face. Clark was drafted in 2015 by the Seattle Seahawks and did not receive a suspension from the NFL. In April 2019, Clark was traded to the Chiefs, with whom he signed a five-year contract. This year, Clark has been a crucial part of the success of the Chiefs defense, ranking second on the team with eight sacks during the regular season and tallying four more in the team’s two playoff wins thus far. Even more unsettling, Clark may not be the worst of the bunch. Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill has his own history of domestic violence. In 2014, Hill was kicked off of the Oklahoma State football team after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges, which alleged that he had abused and choked his pregnant girlfriend. Despite this, Kansas City drafted Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and he has since become one of the league’s most dynamic playmakers. In April 2019, a recording of Hill’s fiancée accusing him of hitting their 3-year-old son was released by local television station KCTV. According to The Kansas City Star, Hill was also connected to an investigation concerning a broken arm his son had suffered at their home. In July, the NFL announced that Hill would not be suspended due to lack of evidence, despite the recording from Hill’s fiance and the local police investigation. Entering the 2019 NFL season, Hill remained with the Chiefs and has played a crucial role in their success, leading the team with seven receiving touchdowns. The Chiefs’ front office consistently failed to respond in a timely manner to allegations of assault, as seen most clearly in the case of current Cleveland Browns’ running back Kareem Hunt. In November 2018, a video surfaced of Hunt pushing down and kicking a woman at a hotel. The incident occurred nine months prior. Even after learning of the incident in February
and speaking to Hunt, the Chiefs did not cut him from the team until the video’s release. The Chiefs’ extensive history with recruiting players accused of domestic violence does not imply that other teams, the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers included, do not have issues with domestic violence, although their responses have been far more appropriate for the most part. The 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster, who has had his own history of legal troubles, was arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence charges Nov. 24, 2018. Foster was released by San Francisco the very next day, pointing to the 49ers’ less tolerant stance on domestic abuse. During Kansas City’s run to the Super Bowl, the focus has been on the team’s success on the field. The Chiefs are one of the league’s most exciting teams to watch. Behind last year’s regular season MVP Patrick Mahomes, they rank sixth in total offense and fifth in points scored. In the postseason, Kansas City has been nothing short of spectacular, overcoming first half deficits of 24 points and 10 points in their two wins over the Texans and Titans. Patrick Mahomes is, without question, a generational talent. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to appreciate Mahomes’ high-quality play and the Chiefs’ success knowing the domestic violence records that some of Mahomes’ teammates carry. As the championship nears, the Kansas City Chiefs are free to run their organization how they see fit, but they cannot expect to garner support for a team that includes domestic abusers. I, for one, will be rooting for the San Francisco 49ers on Super Bowl Sunday. Behind the Gridiron is an NFLfocusd column that discusses pertinent issues in the league that go beyond what meets the eye. Jacob Vanderzwaag is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service. BEHIND THE GRIDIRON appears online and in print every other Friday. Resources: On-campus confidential resources include Health Education Services (202-687-8949) and Counseling and Psychiatric Services (202687-6985); additional off-campus resources include The National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800799-7233).
SPORTS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Hoyas Suffer 5th Conference Loss XAVIER, from A12
commanding 15-4 run, eventually racking up an 18-point lead with just over seven minutes to play in the first half. Two hit free throws from McClung and a three-pointer from Mosely cut the deficit to 10 as the clock approached the three-minute mark. An and-one by McClung further cut the Musketeers’ advantage, pulling the Hoyas within single digits of the lead. A Xavier three-pointer to end the half, however, sent Georgetown to the locker room down 35-23. The Blue and Gray left the court shooting 28.6% from the floor, dominated by Xavier’s 42.9% field goal shooting in the first half. Georgetown began the second half with offensive intensity following an opening 8-4 run that brought the Hoyas within eight points of the Musketeers. After trading baskets with Georgetown for much of the second half, Xavier maintained a double-digit advantage and pulled together a 12-point lead as the clock approached the 10-minute mark.. With less than 10 minutes to play, Wahab carried Georgetown to within single digits of Xavier by scoring seven straight points. As Xavier began to again extend its lead late into the half, McClung came away with two critical steals to lead the Hoyas to eight unanswered points to bring the score to 62-54 with 2:48 remaining. Successful free throw shooting by Xavier, however, proved to be the difference in the game and enabled the Musketeers to finish out the day with a nine-point win. Head Coach Patrick Ewing (CAS ’85) explained the Hoyas were not able to execute their game plan properly against the bigger, less-athletic Xavier team. “When you give up 16 offensive
rebounds — they got 20 points off of that — so it’s obvious that their size — they used it to their advantage, and we didn’t use our quickness to ours,” Ewing said in an interview with GUHoyas. Ewing’s frustration lies in the Hoyas’ performance off the board, as the team was outrebounded 48-38 by Xavier and outscored 20-6 in second-chance points. Another takeaway from the game was the performance of senior center Omer Yurtseven, who currently leads the Hoyas with 328 total points and 191 rebounds on the season. In the game against Xavier, Yurtseven got into foul trouble and ended the game with four personal fouls. In his 21 minutes of play, he scored six points on 3-of-9 shooting and pulled in two rebounds. On the day, senior guard Jagan Mosely added four assists and a career-high seven boards, while junior forward Jamorko Pickett used his massive wingspan to reel in 10 rebounds of his own. Mosely’s assists against the Musketeers put him at a total of 304 for his career — 19th in program history and just three behind Georgetown legend Allen Iverson. The Hoyas’ loss to the Musketeers points to Georgetown’s continued struggles in the Big East conference. Despite double-digit contributions from McClung in the last three games, the Blue and Gray has continued to falter late in conference games, conceding single-digit losses to both Marquette and Xavier in the last week. The Hoyas return to play at Capital One Arena against No. 13 Butler, who currently sits at sixth in the conference after opening the season with 15 wins and just one loss before recently dropping three consecutive games. Tipoff is set for Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 9 p.m.
SUDOKU
GU Falls Again in Winless January VILLANOVA, from A12
points to open the quarter to cut their deficit to two. Even with this strong opening, the Blue and Gray soon faltered defensively by conceding a 12-0 run to Villanova with a minute left in the half. The quarter concluded on a three-pointer from Barnes to bring the score to 40-31. The third quarter proved to be a pivotal point for the Hoyas, who were plagued by 14 missed shots that allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead into the double digits. The Blue and Gray lost the quarter 17-8 behind 3-for-16 shooting from the field and 0-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Villanova drained six of its 17 shots from the field and shot 3-for-8 from the three-point line. Faltering on the offensive end, Georgetown allowed Villanova to run away with an 18-point advantage, a lead that would prove insurmountable for the Hoyas. Entering the fourth quarter trailing 57-39, Georgetown did not sink a shot from the field until the fourth minute of play. Despite the Blue and Gray’s efforts to close the double-digit deficit, an 8-0 run by Villanova in the last three minutes of play pushed its lead to as much as 26 points before ending the game at 74-53 for the win.
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Villanova’s success came as a result of its dominance in the paint. The Wildcats outscored the Hoyas 30-16 from inside the paint, a stark 14-point difference in a game lost by 21. Villanova’s success in the paint was supported by its efforts in rebounds, notching 41
rebounds to Georgetown’s 32. The Hoya’s season is far from over, as Georgetown has 11 more regular-season conference games. They next face Marquette Friday, Jan. 24 and then DePaul Sunday, Jan. 26 in a midwest road trip. They will be looking to snap their five-
game losing streak against two tough Big East teams. Marquette currently sits in fifth place in the conference with an overall record of 13-5 and an in-conference record of 4-3. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wi.
FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA
Sophomore guard Nikola Kovacikova fires off a shot. In the Hoyas’ 74-53 loss to the Villanova Wildcats, Kovacikova was Georgetown’s second-leading scorer with 13 points on the day.
PLAYING FOR PROFIT
NFL Coaching Salaries Trend Upward SACHS, from A12
Rhule’s $8.57 million average annual salary, not including incentives, immediately places him as the sixth-highest paid coach in the NFL. This ranks him higher than Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid and John Harbaugh, all coaches who have led their teams to the Super Bowl. In theory, when an outlier like Rhule’s contract occurs, the market should correct itself to combat this trend toward excessive salaries. Professional sport salary markets, however, do not self-correct. With NFL agents demanding the most for their clients and the NFL rule book not placing limits on coaches’ salaries — coaching contracts are outside of the salary cap’s jurisdiction — future contracts will likely skyrocket. Indeed, the average NFL coach salary may ex-
ceed $10 million, according to a CNBC interview with an anonymous NFL agent. Oklahoma Head Coach Lincoln Riley, who is continuously seen as a top NFL coaching candidate, may be the next college coach to take an NFL job. Riley arguably has a more impressive resume than Rhule has now, as Riley has led the Sooners to three straight 12-win seasons to go with three consecutive College Football Playoff appearances. Fast forward to one year from now on the NFL’s infamous “Black Monday,” the day following the end of the regular season when poor performing teams historically fire their head coaches, and we may see Riley take a job with the Bengals, Lions or Chargers, who all finished the 2019-20 season at the bottom of their divisions and are in search of a turn-around season in the
coming year. In any case, Riley will look at Rhule’s paycheck and demand an annual salary of $9.5 or $10 million. Riley has, undoubtedly, seized an opportunity and will get paid accordingly, contributing to a rising trend of coaches new to the professional level earning millions in their first year in the league. The problem of upward trending salaries may become all the more apparent when Tomlin or Reed’s contract expires or the Patriots try to keep Bill Belichick, who makes $12 million per season, coaching into his 70s. These coaches could look at the turn of events and then demand $12 to $15 million per season. To be honest, coaches with the success of these three, and others like John Harbaugh and Pete Carroll, should be paid top dollar in the NFL. The problem is that
it was not one of their peers who reset the salary market. Instead, it was an outsider in the name of Matt Rhule who did just that. While Tepper will go on with his life unaffected by the $8.5 million salary he will soon pay his coach, we may see a league where head coaches start to make four and five times the average NFL salary of around $3 million. As Rhule awaits a substantial payday at the end of his first season on the professional stage, we must begin to question who’s actually playing the game. Playing for Profit is an economic column looking at how money shapes the sports people love. Matt Sachs is a senior in the College. PLAYING FOR PROFIT appears online and in print every other Friday.
SOCCER
Soccer Program Produces 3 Pro Players DRAFT PICKS, from A12
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA
Graduate student guard Terrel Allen dribbles the ball down court at Capital One Arena. Allen recorded eight points against the Musketeers.
THE HOYA
their collegiate careers. Dylan Nealis graduated from the McDonough School of Business in December with a degree in management. Achara struggled with injuries throughout the 2019 season and started 11 games for the Hoyas. He consistently caused problems for opposing defenses with his pace and skill going forward and was selected as a Second Team All-Big East Honoree. Achara finished the 2019 season with six goals and five assists and provided a notable spark for the Hoyas’ attack after returning from injury. Throughout his four-year career, Achara totaled 21 goals and seven assists in 55 games
played. He was also named as a First Team All-Big East Honoree in 2018 after totaling seven goals and one assist as a junior. Achara graduated from Georgetown College in December with a degree in psychology. Nally, a stalwart for the Hoyas defense, started 88 games in her college career. Over her four years on the Hilltop, Nally was a part of 59 shutouts while only allowing 52 goals. Her defensive effort helped lead the Hoyas to three Big East Championships in her four-year career and four NCAA tournament appearances. Throughout her college career, Nally’s effort on the defensive end of the field has helped set several program records. In 2017, Nally was instrumental in
setting the program record for most shutouts in a season at 17 and for least goals allowed at seven. In 2018, she was instrumental in setting the program record with 14 consecutive wins and 21 overall wins on the season, including a run to the College Cup in the NCAA tournament. Nally appeared on the 2019 MAC Hermann Award Watch list and is the two-time reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year. She was also named as a 2019 United Soccer Coaches Second Team Scholar All-American and has been named as a First Team All Regional Selection twice throughout her college career. In December, Nally graduated from the McDonough School of Business with a degree in mar-
keting and is the sixth Hoya to be drafted to the NWSL during Head Coach Dave Nolan’s reign on the Hilltop. Nally joins former teammate Kyra Carusa (GRD ’19), who was drafted to Sky Blue FC last January, and becomes the eighth Hoya to appear in the NWSL, which has existed since 2013. Achara, Nealis and Nally are all products of a soccer program that has two trips to the College Cup, six Big East Tournament championships, three Big East Regular Season titles and a national championship in the past four years. The draft selections point to a soccer program on the rise that will continue to attract and produce players who continue their careers on the professional level.
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GUHOYAS
Senior forward Achara controls a ball in the air at Shaw Field. After combatting injuries throughout his final season and helping lead his team to the national championship, Achara was selected 25th overall in the MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC.
Sports
Women’s Basketball Georgetown (4-14) vs. Marquette (13-5) Friday, Jan. 24, 12:30 p.m. Al McGuire Center
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
In their season opener, the Hoyas split a pair of matches in Norfolk, Va., with a 7-0 loss to Old Dominion and a 7-0 sweep of Hampton.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
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Hoyas Fall to 8th Place in Big East in 66-57 Loss to Xavier DANNY MCCOOEY Hoya Staff Writer
On the road Jan. 22, the Georgetown men’s basketball team’s efforts to get its season back on track fell short against Xavier 6657. Despite the Hoyas jumping out to a small lead in the first two minutes of play, they conceded their advantage and continued to chase the Musketeers for the remainder of regulation. The loss demotes the Hoyas (12-8, 2-5 Big East) to 2-5 in Big East play and pushes the Blue and Gray into eighth place in the conference, while Xavier (13-6, 2-4 Big East) picks up its second Big East win to move into seventh place. Sophomore guard Mac McClung continued his scoring
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Players from the soccer program were drafted to the professional leagues.
SOCCER
GU Soccer Players Drafted to Pro Leagues Hoya Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA
It’s obvious that their size — they used it to their advantage, and we didn’t use our quickness to ours.”
Men’s Basketball Head Coach Patrick Ewing
DREW SEWALL
Sophomore guard Mac McClung possesses the ball in a fast break. McClung tallied 19 points and three rebounds in the loss to Xavier.
NUMBERS GAME
TALKING POINTS
MEN’S TENNIS
After the conclusion of their successful careers at Georgetown University, three soccer players were drafted to play professionally, including senior defender Dylan Nealis and senior forward Achara, two starters on the National Champion men’s soccer team as well as senior defender Meaghan Nally, a mainstay on the defensive line for women’s soccer for the past three seasons. On Thursday, Jan. 9, Nealis was drafted third overall in the Major League Soccer Superdraft by Inter Miami
FC. Nealis’ teammate Achara followed soon after, selected 25th overall by Toronto FC in the first round. Additionally, Nally was selected by the Portland Thorns FC with the 25th-overall pick in the National Women’s Soccer League Draft on Jan. 16. Both Nealis and Achara provided senior leadership throughout the 2019 season as they helped lead the Hoyas to their first national championship in program history. In their four-year careers, the Hoyas earned three NCAA Tournament berths. With Achara’s and Nealis’ selections, Head Coach Brian Wiese has now coached 20
players drafted to the MLS in his 14-year tenure at Georgetown. Nealis, a perennial fixture in the Hoyas’ starting eleven since his freshman year, started 76 games throughout his four-year college career. Nealis started all 24 games for the Hoyas in 2019 and finished the year with four goals and five assists while still anchoring the Hoyas’ backline for 13 shutouts. For both his attacking and defending prowess, Nealis was named as a finalist for the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy finalist, the award that recognizes both the top men’s and women’s soccer player in the
nation. Nealis was also named as a first team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches and was selected to the First Team All-East Region. A two-year captain for the Blue and Gray, Nealis is the reigning two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year. He is the fourth Hoya in program history to be a top-five draft pick. As the youngest of four brothers who all played Division I soccer on the collegiate stage, Nealis joins brothers Jimmy Nealis (COL ’13, GRD ’17), Connor Nealis, and Sean Nealis, who were all MLS draft picks following See DRAFT PICKS, A11
streak in double figures, leading all players with 19 points on the day. McClung has now scored at least 19 in his last three games. Though he came up empty from behind the arc in his four threepoint attempts, McClung went a perfect seven-for-seven from the free-throw line to keep the Hoyas in the contest. Freshman center Qudus Wahab was second on the team in scoring. He played a complete game, scoring nine points and pulling in eight rebounds in just 19 minutes of action. Graduate student guard Terrell Allen finished the game with eight points and three assists. Xavier opened the game on a
GUHOYAS
See XAVIER, A11
Senior defender Dylan Nealis settles the ball in Georgetown’s College Cup matchup against Virginia. Nealis closed out his last season on the Hilltop with a national championship title before being selected in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft.
PLAYING FOR PROFIT
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgetown Loses 74-53 to Villanova KELTON MILLER Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown women’s basketball team suffered a 7453 defeat to Villanova Jan. 18 on the road. The defeat comes as the team’s fifth-consecutive loss in a winless January. The Hoyas currently sit at an overall record of 4-14 and at 1-6 in conference, putting them eighth in the Big East rankings. Sophomore guard Nikola Kovacikova and graduate student guard Taylor Barnes were the two highest scorers for Georgetown with 13 and 14 points on
the day. The two were the only Hoyas to reach double digits, supported by sophomore forward Shanniah Wright and senior guard Marvellous OsagieErese with 9 and 7 points. Villanova (11-7, 5-2 Big East) asserted themselves early in the matchup, dominating the first quarter on the offensive end. The Wildcats’ lead was generated from a sharpshooting display of 9-for14 shooting from the field and 4-for-7 from the three-point mark. Georgetown, in contrast, shot 6-for-15 in the first quarter.
While Georgetown claimed the first lead of the game with a basket from behind the arc by Barnes in the second minute, the Blue and Gray quickly conceded the advantage and trailed for the remainder of the game. The Wildcats earned eight unanswered points in the middle of the first before ending the quarter on an 11-5 run, emerging as the dominant offensive force with a 23-14 advantage. Villanova guard Cameron Onken led the way for the Wildcats to start, draining a pair of three-pointers in the
first quarter on 2-for-2 shooting from deep to tally four of her 13 total points in the game. The second quarter proved to be more evenly matched as both teams scored 17. The Hoyas relied heavily on their three-point shooting, scoring only two baskets from inside the arc. Both of these baskets came from sophomore guard Tayanna Jones, who shot 2-for5 in the first half. The Hoyas challenged the Wildcats early in the second, notching seven unanswered See VILLANOVA, A11
FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA
Graduate student guard Taylor Barnes dribbles near half court as she directs a teammate to open space. Barnes led the Hoyas with 14 points against the Wildcats, shooting 3-for-8 from behind the arc in the 74-53 loss to Villanova on Jan. 18. Visit us online at thehoya.com/category/sports
Matt Sachs
Panthers’ Coaching Contract Leaves Veterans Underpaid To start off 2020, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper threw around some cash in an unprecedented way. Tepper, a billionaire financial mogul who runs Appaloosa Management and earned $1.5 billion in 2017, seems to disregard the price tags when salary markets come into play. Tepper hired former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule to a seven-year $60 million contract Jan. 7, a move that will at least double his $4.11 million salary at Baylor in 2019. Rhule is poised to earn up to $70 million in the contract with incentives such as performance bonuses for winning championships and achieving other such accomplishments. To boot, Tepper had to pay a $6 million buyout fee to free Rhule from his Baylor contract, making the total contract worth up to $76 million from Tepper’s perspective. In the end, Tepper and the Panthers got a coach who has succeeded in turning around both Temple and Baylor’s football programs, but who has also only spent a single season on an NFL sideline back in 2012 with the New
York Giants. To say Rhule is unproven would be fitting, as college success does not necessarily correlate with success at the NFL level. Current Alabama coach Nick Saban, arguably one of the most accomplished coaches in college sports history, was 15-17 in his two lone seasons leading the Miami Dolphins after his success at LSU and Michigan State, before he returned to the college ranks and established his legacy as Alabama’s most successful coach with a 0.864 winning percentage in his tenure. Steve Spurrier had a 197-752 record leading Duke, Florida and South Carolina on the collegiate stage but failed on the professional level as the coach of the Washington, D.C. NFL team with a record of 12-20. Bobby Petrino won an Orange Bowl with Louisville and had a 75-26 record in college but could not last even a full season with the Atlanta Falcons before getting ousted. Changing focus back to salaries, Tepper paid far above market value for Rhule. See SACHS, A11