The Hoya: April 24, 2026

GU-Q Students Demand Greater Hilltop Support As Iran Con ict Continues

Noah De Haan Senior News Editor

Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) students praised their campus administrators and called on Georgetown’s Hilltop Campus to broaden support for GU-Q as the Iran war enters its eighth week.

After Iran threatened to target U.S. universities in the region, GU-Q moved online in early March and later announced April 1 that campus operations would continue remotely for the remainder of the semester. As GU-Q administrators grapple with the ongoing impacts of the confict, students in Qatar called on the university’s Hilltop campus in Washington, D.C., to actively communicate with them and ofcially denounce the war.

Mosab Alony (SFS-Q ’27), a GU-Q student who left Qatar after the war began, said he wishes main campus administrators provided more frequent updates and words of encouragement to GU-Q students.

“Even though, yes, we did have some emails or some words sent out

from the D.C. campus, it would have been nice to have maybe something more regular,” Alony told The Hoya.

“Because, for instance, our dean in the Qatar campus was sending regular updates weekly, sending out words of support, words of love and wisdom.”

“Two paragraphs, three paragraphs, just letting us know we are thought of, even miles and miles away, far away from where we are — I think that would have mattered a lot,” Alony added.

A university spokesperson said the Hilltop Campus has collaborated with administrators in Qatar to support GU-Q students, including facilitating departures.

“Since the conflict began, University leaders in D.C. and Doha have coordinated closely and remained in regular contact,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “A team of colleagues from across the University has worked tirelessly to support students, faculty and staff at GU-Q. This comprehensive See QATAR, A7

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

GU-Q students called for greater attention to the Iran war.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2026

RAs Allege Mistreatment, Union Busting

Chloe Taft Senior News Editor

Georgetown University resident assistants (RAs) are petitioning the university to roll back policy changes made this year, alleging that administrators are retaliating against their unionization eforts.

The Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition (GRAC) is accusing the university of weaponizing the union’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to worsen living conditions and punish RAs for minor infractions. RAs operate under a contract signed in April 2025 following concerns

GUTS Drivers, GU Reach Bus Pickup Location Agreement

Ajani Stella and Jacqueline Gordon

Executive Editor and Senior Features Editor

Georgetown University will not require shuttle bus drivers to travel to an of-site depot in Maryland every day, a university ofcial confrmed to The Hoya April 17, ending a four-month dispute with the drivers’ union. In January, university ofcials said they expected drivers to begin picking up and dropping of buses at a Hyattsville, Md., location rather than at the Hilltop Campus, prompting the union to send a cease-and-desist letter. Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) drivers had protested that the move to Maryland would cost them time and money, which they said disrespected their position as university employees.

The university originally reafrmed its plan in March, but has since reached an agreement allowing drivers to choose where they clock in; all drivers opted for Georgetown. The Maryland depot — approximately 15 miles from the Hilltop — is the headquarters of Abe’s Transportation, the thirdparty company that manages Georgetown’s buses, which the university planned to subcontract drivers through last semester.

Charlie Grab — the director of the Ofce of Transportation Management (OTM), which oversees GUTS — said the agreement was a result of three-way negotiations

between the university, Abe’s Transportation and GUTS drivers.

“I was able to get approval to move forward with the concept and see if everyone truly could be in agreement, knowing that all three sides had to fex a little bit,”

Grab told The Hoya. “Once I got the fnancial approval and the nod that this seems like a workable solution, then the focus returned to the drivers to really see where we could meet in the middle.”

Grab offered drivers the choice between clocking in at Georgetown or in Hyattsville, according to an April 9 form obtained by The Hoya

Under the new plan, which aims to limit inconvenience, three drivers volunteered to bring the buses to and from the Abe’s depot in Hyattsville when service is needed, though they will remain based at the Hilltop.

A university spokesperson said the plan will satisfy both parties’ needs.

“Following good faith discussions with GUTS drivers and their union representatives, we have reached a new, mutually benefcial operational plan for GUTS,” a university spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “We are grateful that this has been a collaborative process. With this new plan in place, we look forward to continuing to meet the transportation needs of the Georgetown community.”

Michael Fleming, a GUTS driver who helped lead negotiations, said productive engagement with administrators came as a relief.

“I was ecstatic about it because it was fnally somebody in management sitting down and

talking to us — instead of talking at us — and working with us,” Fleming told The Hoya. “I am excited about it. I think we’re headed in the right direction. We’ve still got a little ways to go, but not much.”

Throughout Fall 2025, GUTS drivers engaged in a protracted campaign against a university plan to outsource their employment to a third-party vendor. In December, the university pledged to allow the drivers to remain university employees, retaining their benefts.

Grab said the three bus drivers who volunteered to shuttle the vehicles were central to reaching an agreement.

“Having folks that are willing to move buses after the trafc dies down to make sure they’re fueled or whatever they need right to be ready for the next service day — that was the biggest thing,” Grab said. “It came together where everyone fexed a little bit, but we got it done. We got it to a place where everyone’s satisfed and, operationally, I’m confdent it’s not going to be detrimental.”

University administrators previously planned to require GUTS drivers to pick up and drop of buses in Hyattsville beginning Feb. 1, but kept pushing back the start date after the union representing GUTS drivers protested. As recently as March 26, university ofcials had said they would move forward with the requirement.

See GUTS, A7

about uneven working conditions and poor labor management.

Anna Holk (CAS ’27), a GRAC steward, said the petition asks the university to respect the CBA.

“Considering the sum of actions over the course of this year, we’re asking the university to take a diferent stance towards the RA union,” Holk told The Hoya. “We’re asking them to respect our right to collectively organize and bargain, and we’re asking them not to use the collective bargaining agreement as a tool to justify making the workplace more hostile.”

The petition contends that new policies — which include requiring

more RAs to remain on campus during breaks, ending RAs’ ability to choose their suitemates and delaying the release of summer RA positions — are designed to negatively affect RAs’ quality of life. RAs say these changes ignore the CBA’s original goal of protecting RAs and fostering a healthy work environment.

The RA union’s representation, OPEIU Local 153, also sent a letter to the university April 20 demanding Georgetown stop what it called “union-busting actions.”

A university spokesperson contested GRAC’s characterization of the Ofce of Residential Living’s (Res Living)

policies, saying the university disagreed with the allegations.

“We disagree with these characterizations and note that many of the statements are not accurate,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “The CBA is publicly available and outlines how infractions are consistently handled as agreed upon by the union and the University. Additionally, it established multiple avenues for both informal and formal discussion and resolution of issues of mutual interest and concern.”

See RAs, A7

After Conduct Reform, SNAP Doubled Proactive Contacts

Opal Kendall Executive Editor

After Georgetown University formalized its off-campus living expectations, a university-run neighborhood patrol more than doubled its proactive contacts with students living in the surrounding area, according to data reviewed by The Hoya

The Student Neighborhood Assistance Program (SNAP) both responds to complaints and actively patrols for possible conduct violations, including amplified noise. The rise in cases comes as students complain that SNAP unnecessarily escalates disciplinary consequences for noise violations, stifling student social life.

Any formal interaction between students and SNAP staff is considered a contact, which employees may elevate to an incident report if they believe it may involve a conduct violation. In Fall 2025, campus administrators began requiring university employees to submit an incident report for every violation they witnessed, without any warnings.

A university spokesperson said SNAP, which is housed under the Office of Neighborhood Life, plays an essential role in mediating relationships between Georgetown students and neighborhood residents.

“Through the university’s 24/7 community helpline, SNAP responds to a variety of issues and often is able to respond and address concerns before the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is contacted, reducing the chances a student is given

OPINION

Back GUSA, Call for Further Change

In October, students turned out in record numbers to elect Darius Wagner (CAS ’27) and Nazgol Missaghi (CAS ’28) as Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) president and vice president. Amid increased attacks by the Trump administration on higher education institutions, their campaign centered on plans to meaningfully better student life and champion student voices. Since taking office Jan. 11, Wagner and Missaghi have endeavored to fulfill these promises. Thus far, the Editorial Board largely supports the Wagner-Missaghi administration’s achievements, which have created tangible improvements to student life. Still, the GUSA executive has failed to make meaningful progress on several campaign promises that carried them into office; most notably, little public action has been taken to stand up to the Trump administration’s policies, a key tenet of their campaign. In the second half of their term, the Editorial Board hopes to see Wagner and Missaghi fulfill unmet goals while remaining grounded in the student experience.

Wagner said opening the first-floor entrance of Lauinger Library, which increases accessibility by allowing students to enter the library from Prospect Street, has been one of his administration’s greatest accomplishments so far.

“I think opening Lau one, that’s been one of the biggest successes because it just improves accessibility to the space,” Wagner told The Hoya. “Also, as Lau enters its own phases of redevelopment, that is something that many students are feeling that direct, tangible impact with.”

Beyond the Lau entrance, campus life has been a top concern for this administration. Wagner and Missaghi’s efforts have bettered student life, including ensuring access to elevators in Hayden and Byrnes Halls, handing out winter wellness materials to students following a snowstorm and purchasing new laptops for the Laptop Loan program.

These achievements represent concrete improvements to student life. We appreciate how the Wagner-Missaghi administration has effectively communicated student concerns to university administrators and directly used executive funds to support the Georgetown community.

Acting on their campaign promise to increase inclusivity on campus, the Wagner-Missaghi administration proposed a new queer affinity house, a space that would support LGBTQ+ students, and secured a haircare vending machine for campus, in order to provide Black and Brown students with better access to beauty supplies.

Furthermore, Wagner and Missaghi have aimed to increase transparency within both GUSA and university administrations, holding GUSA town hall meetings and hosting a roundtable with interim University Provost Soyica Diggs Colbert to answer questions on tuition hikes and the university budget.

The Editorial Board commends this emphasis placed on inclusivity and transparency. Both are values we consider essential to the Georgetown community and we are glad to see them reflected in its executive.

The administration has also effectively coordinated with the GUSA Senate on shared goals.

Speaker Cameran Lane (CAS ’28), who has served in the GUSA Senate for two years, said new meetings between senate and executive branch leadership have been conducive to progress.

“We have, for the first time ever, joint leadership meetings,” Lane told The Hoya. “So the leadership of the senate and the leadership of the exec meet every other Monday. We basically go through priorities from both sides and we are able to do a much better job at aligning our advocacy that we haven’t been able to do in the past.”

However, while Wagner and Missaghi point to tens of meetings with administrators discussing student concerns, it is unclear how successful they have been in shaping institutional policy, a key facet of their platform. Many of this GUSA administration’s achievements have focused on smaller, physical improvements rather than longterm changes to how the university operates. Most glaringly, little seems to have been done to advocate against Trump administration policies, a principal reason the Editorial Board endorsed them over other candidates last October.

To follow through with their promise to combat the Trump administration’s attacks on education, Wagner and Missaghi must begin looking to enact policies and safeguards that protect academic freedom. Initiatives like advocating for the university to protect diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) language show some work on that front, but we would like to see the administration place a greater emphasis on this promise.

The Wagner-Missaghi administration should also provide greater transparency on its finances. The executive possesses a budget of thousands of dollars and, while the Editorial Board acknowledges that the administration has spent much of that money on students, adding a publicly accessible record of their expenses would help clarify where funding is going.

A university spokesperson said the university has worked closely with the Wagner-Missaghi administration on shared priorities.

“GUSA and university leaders frequently discuss topics of mutual interest, such as Georgetown Day, speech and expression, access and affordability and a myriad of other issues,” the university spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “These are positive collaborations that have continued under the current GUSA leadership.”

As Georgetown welcomes a new president, Wagner and Missaghi face a rare opportunity to work with new leadership and instill change. We urge them to seize it.

Wagner said the GUSA executive welcomes the opportunity to work with incoming university president Eduardo Peñalver.

“We met with him and he’s somebody that’s really ready to engage the student body, to have recurring engagement with our executive and even engage the GUSA Senate,” Wagner said.

Though Wagner and Missaghi have not accomplished every campaign promise, their work so far gives the Editorial Board hope they will be able to conquer many of the goals they set. The decisions they make during the second half of their term will leave lasting impacts on the Georgetown community. We wish them luck.

The Hoya’s Editorial Board is composed of six students and is chaired by the Opinion editors. Editorials reflect only the beliefs of a majority of the board and are not representative of The Hoya or any individual member of the board.

Volunteering help to fellow human beings is the comerstone of community. At a time when communities throughout the country are in danger of falling apart because of crime and poverty, community service has never been more crucial.

Students today are faced with the difficult task of integrating studies, jobs, relationships and activities into their schedules. It is easy to become so focused on our own individual lives that we forget about the many desperately needy people living all around us in the DC community.

Our undergraduate studies demand a great deal of time, and much is at stake depending on our performance at Georgetown. However, we must critically examine and question our education if we can study subjects like theology or ethics, but never go out into the community to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

In the shuffle of a daily school routine, we become so engrossed in studying, partying and meeting new people that we forget there is some eventual purpose to our education. Most of us hope to use the knowledge we gain here to make some kind of impact on society.

Although our abilities, intelli-

gence, and financial resources enable us to attend this school, there are thousands of others born into circumstances where this opportunity simply does not exist. Look at the nearby DC public school district, where a judge ordered the postponement of public schools because of unsafe building conditions. While we work to earn a degree by the age of 22, many southeast residents struggle to survive until the age of 20. Our attendance at Georgetown is based on both intelligence and hard work. Although there are many equally intelligent and hard working young adults born into poverty, many were never given the inspiration, awareness or means to rise above their circumstances.

We owe this service to ourselves. Without this tangible outreach to others and without being exposed to the myriad problems plaguing society, our education lacks substance. We live in Washington, a city with a murder and homeless rate that rivals any city in any industrialized nation in the world. With so much work to be done, it is important to start now. I am involved with the Calvary Wom-

en’s Shelter, a place that about 25 women call home. These women can only live there if they are actively seeking employment or are already employed.

The shelter relies on volunteers to stay overnight and administer the services of the shelter if necessary.

Volunteers make breakfast for the women and have ample time to talk, learning what it is like being homeless. At the shelter, I have learned as much about the truly significant things in life such as compassion towards others and the importance of community, as I have learned in any class I could take at Georgetown.

Volunteeringisanimportantpartof a Georgetown education. The rewards are immeasurable. Go visit the VPS office on the third floor of Leavey and tell them what type of service you’re interested in. Options range from tutoring inner-city children to serving in soup kitchens to living on a floor with other service-oriented students. Please take to heart the plea of the many needy people and organizations in Washington. It may be the only key we have to rebuilding this community we call our nation’s capital.

Craig Leen

Though Wagner and Missaghi have not accomplished every campaign promise, their work so far gives the Editorial Board hope they will be able to conquer many of the goals they set.

Editorial Board “Back GUSA, Call for Further Change” thehoya.com

This week, the Editorial Board discussed the Wagner/Missaghi Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) administration halfway through its term. The Editorial Board supported the work the administration had done thus far while urging them to make continued efforts and

place a greater focus on institutional change. In order to gauge student opinion, students were asked whether the Wagner/Missaghi GUSA administration has fulfilled its campaign promises or not. Of the 71 respondents, 73.2% said no, 16.9% said yes and 9.9% said they were unsure.

Founded January 14, 1920

Nora Toscano, Editor in Chief

Nico Abreu, Opal Kendall and Ajani Stella, Executive Editors

Jackson Roberts, Managing Editor

Noah De Haan, News Editor

Chloe Taft, News Editor

Jacqueline Gordon, Features Editor

Serene Pai, Features Editor

Thejas Kumar, Opinion Editor

Leo Zhang, Opinion Editor

Anandita Agarwal, Guide Editor

Isabelle Cialone, Guide Editor

Sam Fishman, Sports Editor

Ethan Herweck, Sports Editor

Angela Lekan, Science Editor

Eva Siminiceanu, Science Editor

Lucy Jung, Design Editor

Anish Raja, Design Editor

Allison Ma, Copy Chief

Jaylen Peng, Copy Chief

Yaya Hang, Multimedia Editor

Miranda Kristina Santiago, Multimedia Editor

Matthew Gassoso, Photo Editor

Ella O’Connor, Audience Editor

Caroline Woodward, Audience Editor

Board of Directors

Paulina Inglima, Chair

Ruth Abramovitz, Bethe Bogrette, Maren Fagan, Tanvi Gorripati, Aamir Jamil, Annikah Mishra

Talking Love, Stress, Change

elcome back, advice lov-

Wers. In this week’s column, we’ll be working through issues big enough to last you through the summer, including unwanted romances, underwhelming boyfriends and overinvolved parents. This is the last column of the semester, and, with graduation approaching, it’s also my final one at Georgetown. But if you need advice, don’t fear: Calling In With Caroline will be continued by the wonderfully talented Caroline Woodward (CAS ’27), who cannot wait to hear about your problems, big or small. So, as always, if you have a question I didn’t answer, submit it to the anonymous form — she’ll help you out.

A younger student and friend of mine has had a crush on me for months. I have politely and repeatedly declined any romantic interests but have made an effort to remain a friend and mentor. This student recently found out I am seeing someone else, and she has proceeded to make negative statements about me to our mutual friends. What do I do?

Based on what you’ve told me, it sounds like this friendship has run its course. If this younger student has been interested in you for months despite your clear indications that you aren’t reciprocating her feelings, you’re probably not the best person to be a mentor in her life. It’s really admirable that you want to maintain the relationship, but it’s better for both of you if you take a step back. She’s clearly hurt by your new relationship, and you don’t deserve to hear mean comments about yourself, so separating yourself from the situation gives her the time to move on from her feelings and find a friendship that isn’t as emotionally fraught. Getting some space from this dynamic is in everyone’s best interests, even if it feels awkward at first.

My longtime friend is moving to Australia to be with her longdistance boyfriend as soon as she graduates. I think she’s making a really big mistake, and I don’t like her boyfriend — I find him really boring. I’m worried she’ll be unhappy not knowing anyone there, and I don’t think he’s worth making such a big decision for. Should I tell her why I’m concerned? It makes sense that you’d be worried for your friend. Moving across the world is a big and difficult decision, but it’s

ultimately her choice to make. If your main objection to her boyfriend is that he’s boring, I wouldn’t suggest bringing that up with her. She clearly cares about him, and, unless you have genuine concerns about how she’s being treated in the relationship, it really doesn’t matter whether anyone but her likes being around him. If she doesn’t know anyone in Australia, it’s more important than ever that you continue to be present in her life — call her, send texts and remind her that you care about her! Whether or not things work out with her boyfriend, it’s very likely she’ll find a strong community wherever she moves, and making an effort to stay in touch in the meantime demonstrates your commitment to the friendship and will mean a lot to her.

My dad is way too overinvolved in managing my future. I’m a senior, and he wants to give his input on every decision I make about jobs, graduate school and where I live, but I really just want to be given the space to think these over myself. How do I get him to stop constantly giving his opinion on my life? That sounds really frustrating! While it might not feel this way, it can be helpful to remember that your dad’s behavior probably reflects the fact that he really cares about you and wants to see you succeed. At the same time, you’re completely justified in asking him to back off a little and give you the independence you need to make these decisions alone. Telling him that you know he’s always there if you need advice, but that you need some space to make these decisions for yourself, can go a long way to determining your own future. It’s also helpful to think about the way you usually interact with your dad. If a lot of your conversations revolve around your upcoming decisions or your anxiety about the future, he might be feeling like you need some extra support. Consciously switch to some less stressful topics when you next chat, and you might find that he’s less inclined to weigh in when you don’t sound so overwhelmed. Good luck!

Caroline Brown is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. This is her 12th and final installment of the column, “Calling in With Caroline.”

Dare to Venture Beyond Your Comfort Zone

As the semester comes to a close, I find myself often wondering where each week went. I’m entering new territory as a rising senior and former editor at The Hoya, an organization that has defined my time on campus and helped me find some of my closest friends. In my tenures as senior news editor and executive editor, I’ve seen only a fraction of the people and happenings across Georgetown, but it’s more than I ever could’ve imagined without The Hoya

Beyond the people and the countless print editions, one of the greatest gifts of The Hoya has been the privilege to see and learn so much. I write today to encourage the Georgetown community to look around and engage with the world around them, whether that’s something as simple as joining a new club, being “unplugged” on your walks between classes or picking up a copy of The Hoya. Break your bubble and authentically engage with your environment. I threw myself into student journalism precisely for that reason — because I wanted to embrace my inner curiosity and truly understand the community I would be a part of for four years.

Be a Person for Others, Explore Service

The Jesuit education — and the motto “people for others” — at times seem inescapable around Georgetown University’s campus, but its practical meaning in our lives can lack clarity. As recipients of a Georgetown degree, we both feel privileged to have received wonderful educations. Following our graduation, we chose to complete a year of service in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC), a postgraduate volunteer program where we could get involved with knotty social problems on a local level and live out Georgetown’s Jesuit values. Anson Walker helps run The Store, a free grocery store and food assistance program in Nashville, Tenn., and Caitlin McBride is a clinical care assistant at the Native American Health Center in San Francisco. As the end of the year approaches, we call upon Georgetown students to go do something for their wider community. For both of us, that was through volunteering with the JVC, but there are a myriad of other organizations that offer an opportunity for postgraduate service. As recent graduates, though, it can feel like the world around us is perpetually bursting at the seams. Focusing on smaller problems helps, especially while exploring the pressing issues of a new neighborhood in a new city. As a 22- or 23-year-old fresh out of college, you aren’t going to fix the world or any of its wicked problems in the months — or even years — following graduation. But what you can do is immerse yourself in a new place, living alongside those in need in solidarity and helping where others need it. An experience like this will change

how you view the world. It might even change what you want to do with your life.

JVC has a facetious, unofficial motto: “Ruined for life.” Once you’ve seen the difference you can make on a human level, or the emotions you can foster within others, what you want out of life can change in a heartbeat. For Anson, it was in the gaze of a little 6-year-old who got to pick Christmas presents out at The Toy Store, a program that provides free Christmas gifts to customers enrolled in The Store. The joy in her eyes made his entire year to that point worthwhile. For Caitlin, working alongside a team of clinicians at a community health center opened her eyes to how compassionate and professional health care can be with a smaller, local focus. Both of our jobs, at their roots, involve bettering the local circumstances of a community. We have found that much of the rhetoric today, in public life and at Georgetown, involves large, structural issues. When we were students, national politics seemed to be the basis of the undergraduate experience, especially when living and studying in Washington, D.C. Rather than focusing on the big picture, more of us should aim for a postgraduate position where we can immediately make a substantial difference on a broad level. That’s not always the easy answer, but the JVC and other programs like it have a track record of helping individuals make a difference — domestically or abroad, urban or rural and academically or practically.

As recent graduates, we all have most of our working lives in front of us. Whether or not corporate

drudgery is in your future, take a chance. If you’re not sure what you want to do with your life, take a leap. It can be through spending a few years with the Peace Corps, joining Teach for America or becoming a Jesuit volunteer. This list is not exhaustive: Plenty of organizations offer similar programs or opportunities for postgraduate service. But we believe that students must search for postgraduate opportunities that foster a genuine commitment to service, which might otherwise fall below their radar. Georgetown organizations, like Campus Ministry or the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), can help students discern programs in which they might be interested. With the rest of our lives ahead of us, now is the time we can take a chance and make a difference. Now is the time we have fewer constraints on what we do. Put your Georgetown education — your Jesuit education — to good use outside of the Georgetown bubble and make a difference for others, whether through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps or something else. If this calls to you, or if you’re curious, start by directing some questions to either of us, the CSJ or Campus Ministry. Georgetown students should be “people for others” who make a difference. There will be some way that you can get involved with some form of service after you graduate — as long as you choose some variety — so take a year and do something concrete and serve.

Anson Walker and Caitlin McBride are Jesuit volunteers and graduates of the School of Foreign Service and the College of Arts & Science, respectively.

In helping cover protests and the detention of a postdoctoral researcher by federal immigration officers, I saw firsthand how the university intersects with our national environment. Whether I was helping investigate links between the men’s basketball team and planes used by immigration enforcement, or the case of a physics professor kept on paid leave after a second case of sexual harassment, The Hoya has made me an informed student and individual. Even when talking to students about their TikTok accounts before the impending ban or fire alarm malfunctions, writing and editing for The Hoya has shown me corners and aspects of campus I never would’ve seen otherwise. This advice shouldn’t only apply to your life on campus. Through embracing natural curiosity and escaping the “Georgetown bubble” to visit Washington, D.C., you’ll find so many answers to questions and new rabbit holes to fall into. For me, even something as simple as running off campus has shown me the greenery of the city, from Rock Creek Park to the Capital Crescent Trail. My time at Georgetown has been a constant battle between living in the present and looking toward

the future — talking to friends and taking advantage of all the campus has to offer, while simultaneously applying for unceasing internships, studying for tests and worrying about a career. However, when I’ve taken the time to truly listen and follow my curiosity to investigate the ongoings at Georgetown and observe the people around me, I’ve truly grounded myself in the present. I can better appreciate what I am doing, where I am and who I am. There can be downsides. My time at The Hoya led to hate comments, posts on X calling for me (and many other writers) to be deported and even my being accused of joining a terrorist group. Natural curiosity won’t always result in such harsh outcomes, but it can be uncomfortable, unknown and scary. Despite that discomfort, The Hoya has allowed me to explore campus, understand the environment around me and be present during a time when the world, the country and Georgetown are chaotic.

This also isn’t to say we should be passive. Being a fly on the wall and watching the world around you from afar isn’t enough. Rather, this is a call to integrate with your environment by becoming an active listener and following your

curiosity. Talk to other people, explore the surrounding world (or even just campus) and simply be open to more than what is immediately in front of you. By making an active effort to be more observant, to listen to the people around you, and to explore Georgetown, Washington, D.C. and the wider world, we can all form genuine human connections and truly see our environments for what they are. We can recognize the precious time and experiences of daily life that we often take for granted, allowing us to celebrate small wins or recognize issues in our communities that go unnoticed. We can see the beauty and the sometimes unfortunate realities of our time on campus and in our everyday lives.

While The Hoya has been my conduit for curiosity, I encourage you to explore and discover a new window into the inner workings of the world around you.

Aamir Jamil is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. He is a former executive editor and current diversity, equity and inclusion director of The Hoya

Embrace Uncertainty, Find Structure

Iused to live in the Netherlands, that small and stubborn country, which, if the sea has its way, may soon return to it, and remains the setting of some of my most formative years.

My grandmother’s 1930s duplex is situated across from a train station on the railway connecting Amsterdam and The Hague. Pressing my ear to my pillow each night, I could hear the hum of the railway, then silence from midnight to 3 a.m., the sound of ticking bicycle spokes and cooing wood doves filled my room. I was often alone, sometimes sad and frequently unsettled by a persistent anxiety about the future. These small rhythms carried an indifference that was paradoxically reassuring, and they offered a form of stability that did not depend on my ability to control anything at all.

Within the restless churn of Georgetown, we ought to choose a few sustaining rhythms of our own, protect them deliberately and let them steady us against the uncertainties we cannot control. It is hard not to notice how many of us, swept up in our ambition, begin to lose our grip on these basic rhythms and neglect rest, routine and even the simple responsibility of being kind to our own bodies.

I suppose this orderly nature is why the Dutch can use schools as voting locations while classes are in progress, whytrainsrunontimeandwhygraffiti that appears overnight along trains is scrubbed clean by morning. Rooted in Calvinism and shaped by the practical demands of collective survival, Dutch society reflects an understanding that systemsendureonlywhenindividuals adhere to shared rhythms.

This stands in contrast to a disposition, palpable at Georgetown, that tends to valorize rupture over repetition and reinvention over continuity.Likeothereliteinstitutions, its culture reflects a concentrated form of American individualism.

This impulse can fuel extraordinary ambition: it allows a country to strap brilliant men and women to a rocket and send them around the moon and back again, pursuing the unprecedented with a distinctly American confidence. On the Hilltop, it takes shape in the formation of internationally oriented leaders, world-class doctors, policymakers and business leaders. At the same time, students take their baby steps in this competitive realm, vying for selective roles within layered hierarchies and internalizing that framework through extracurricular activities like The Corp, consulting clubs and other selective organizations. Yet when this impulse becomes total, and all structure is treated as something to be transcended, it risks producing a subtle kind of fragmentation instead of freedom.

At Georgetown, where we try to live by Jesuit values (though Leo’s served meat on every Friday during Lent), there exists a resistance to this restlessness. The practices of the Jesuits suggest that attention, reflection and meaning itself depend on repetition: a deliberate return to familiar questions, the same hours and forms of discipline. Practices like the Ignatian Examen — a daily return in prayer to gratitude, reflection and selfscrutiny through a consistent sequence of questions — reveal how the Jesuits embed regularity in their spiritual practice. The Catholic liturgical calendar also structures time into narrative, hierarchy and recurrence, giving form to the otherwise formless passage of days. It reflects a distinctly human impulse to render the unpredictable nature of life into something more manageable, though it can also be read as a faintly anachronistic, imposing older symbolic order on the disarray of modern life.

In a world whose scale and noise far exceed our capacity to meaningfully engage with it, it becomes easy to feel unmoored, stretched uncomfortably between two poles of awareness and helplessness. In response, we often reachfordigestiblenarrativesthatbring us the illusion of order. By constructing a single, flawless path and mistaking it for the only viable trajectory toward a narrow notion of success, we tie our lives to an impossible Platonic form; when we miss an internship or prestigious law school admission, that ideal collapses, and so, it seems, does everything else. Healthy structure orients us within uncertainty, while brittle scripts presume they can overcome it. If we attempt to control that uncertainty, we will only find ourselves more overwhelmed. The Dutch have preserved a cultural understanding that even the most ambitiousundertakingsrequireastable point of departure, and that without such a foundation, effort dissipates. Life itself resists linearity, unfolding instead through contingencies we cannot fully anticipate, and it is precisely for this reason that structure matters. I try to embrace that uncertainty while still holding onto structure, accepting that life will not unfold predictably while recognizing that some rhythms are worth sustaining. Habitualize breakfast every morning with your friends, go for a jog and enjoy the wind, sit down for that coffee you like from Whisk every Wednesday — not on the go, but sit and have a moment. Read for an hour each day with your roommate as the sun sets before you call it a night. Adequately nourish and rest your body at regular hours. Seek the beauty in the regularity that feeds your soul — when you do, you’re far more likely to find the kind of success you’re actually seeking.

Josine Sindram is a first-year in the School of Foreign Service.

Badar Khan Suri Still Believes in America’s Promise

Khan Suri is continuing his reseach on religious pluralism as his case against the government proceeds.

Nora Toscano and Ajani Stella Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor

When Badar Khan Suri completed his Ph.D. in peace and conflict studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in India, he felt a responsibility to continue using academia to confront global violence.

Khan Suri said his wife, a U.S. citizen, suggested they relocate to the United States to continue their respective educations — her as a graduate student and him as a postdoctoral fellow.

“They say, and I also believed — I still believe — the United States is the best,” Khan Suri told The Hoya “Those universities were always best. It was always a dream.” Planning to study democratic peacebuilding, he joined Georgetown University’s Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) in January 2023. His wife and three children joined him later that year, and he began teaching his first course, an undergraduate seminar on majority-minority relations in South Asia, in Spring 2025. Then, on the evening of March 17, 2025 — halfway through the semester and just over two years after he came to the United States — Khan Suri was detained by federal immigration agents. He remained in custody for 58 days. Now, 11 months after returning to his family and Georgetown, Khan Suri says his detainment still weighs on him everyday. He remains embroiled in a legal battle contesting both his ability to stay in the country and whether the government violated his First Amendment rights. His case has become a touchpoint for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which Georgetown community members say threatens their personal security and experts warn creates an unprecedented legal environment for foreign scholars.

Komal Samrow (SFS ’25), who was taking Khan Suri’s class when he was detained, said the news of Khan Suri’s detainment reframed her understanding of injustice, drawing on what she learned from the course about India’s deteriorating civil liberties.

“It made a lot of what we talked about in the course feel that much more real,” Samrow told The Hoya “On the one hand, we’re talking about the safety of certain minorities and freedom of speech in South Asia and on the other hand, you have the very real threat that he might be deported to a country where, frankly, his freedom of speech will not be upheld and not be respected.”

Khan Suri said he refuses to let his fear control his life.

“I live in constant fear and at the same time I don’t care,” Khan Suri said. “Fear is real because I have certain hormones in me, and they react. I take control and then I keep doing the same. If anyone talks to me, I’m always here to talk to them, and if I go in a public gathering, I talk about courage.”

“If I go to jail again, I go to jail again — no problems — because freedom is not for free,” Khan Suri added. “One has to always fight for freedom and justice.”

In November, six months after his release, an immigration court again ruled that Khan Suri was deportable. His next hearing is slated for June 1, when an immigration judge will consider the government’s deportation case.

Though reunited with his family, Khan Suri said he still does not know what comes next.

“It’s a long struggle,” Khan Suri said. “When I returned home, I knew that I’m still in the desert, so I don’t know if I’m seeing an oasis or a mirage. It could be anything. If I’m in a sea, I’m drowning. My head is out, but still I’m in a big sea.”

Fifty-Eight Days Khan Suri spent a year alone in the United States before Mapheze Saleh (GRD ’27), his wife, joined him with their three children. They moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Rosslyn, Va., a 15-minute shuttle ride from Georgetown.

Adnan Rashid (GRD ’24), one of Khan Suri’s closest friends, said the two met while they were both living alone and often spent evenings talking in their offices.

“We love cricket, we care about minority rights, we’re in the building right next to each other and then we just clicked,” Rashid told The Hoya

But after his detainment, Khan Suri changed, Rashid said. His hair grayed and he lost weight; Rashid said the pair still talked frequently, but their conversations were more serious.

“Our friendship before, it was mostly focusing on cracking jokes, looking at cricket, looking at the politics here in the United States and also back in India,” Rashid said. “It was a view from a distance.

Now, he’s the primary source.”

Khan Suri was nearing his apartment at about 9:20 p.m. on March 17, 2025, when immigration agents surrounded him. It was Ramadan, an Islamic holy month, and Khan Suri was returning from breaking his fast at Georgetown.

Khan Suri said the men jumped out of their cars and asked him if he was Badar.

“That was the most scary moment,” Khan Suri said. “He was muscular and well-built and was wearing one same-color jumpsuit kind of thing, not a uniform or anything.”

The government drew on a rarely used provision that allows the secretary of state to unilaterally deport someone by declaring them a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests. Khan Suri’s legal team, however, argues that the government has twisted the statute’s meaning to target individuals engaging in protected speech.

After detaining Khan Suri, the agents first took him to an office in Chantilly, Va., before transferring him to a detention center about three hours south. During the drive, Khan Suri asked the agents to turn off their loud music. Instead, they put on stereotypical Indian songs.

When they arrived at the facility, Khan Suri said he was locked in a room without a bed or meal. He asked to use the detention center’s tablet to teach his class. The guards said no.

The next morning, Khan Suri was shackled by his wrists, abdomen and legs and flown to Louisiana before being bused to Texas. His final destination was overcrowded, he said, packed with dozens of men who shouted as a guard pushed him inside the cell.

“I took my foot back, and then the guy again pushed me in and locked that big, fat metallic door,” Khan Suri said. “Then I lived there for two months, almost, and of those, around two weeks were on the floor until my lawyers asked them to give me a bed.”

In Rosslyn, Saleh said she felt frozen.

“That night, I couldn’t sleep at all,” Saleh wrote to The Hoya. “I kept replaying the scene in my mind. I felt overwhelmed, frightened and very alone.”

For the first month of his detainment, Khan Suri did not receive any visitors. In late April, ACMCU Director Nader Hashemi said he visited the Texas center, where Khan Suri was classified as a high-security inmate with limited privileges.

“I was hoping that I’d go and I’d sit in some sort of room across the table,” Hashemi told The Hoya. “Of course, none of that was an option because of his status, so I had to talk to him through one of these phones behind a window, like you see in the movies.”

On May 14, a federal judge released Khan Suri, saying the government violated his First Amendment rights in their justification for detaining him. Almost immediately, the federal government appealed the decision. An appellate court heard arguments in March.

When he was first freed, Khan Suri said he was constantly afraid of being redetained.

“May, June, July, I was locked in my apartment, always looking through the windows that someone would again come and do the same thing,”

Khan Suri said. “Once they did it and it was all fake, all lies, so again, what would stop them from doing it?”

“Once, walking with my wife, I saw a police officer stopping me,” Khan Suri added. “My heart stopped beating. Then, he stopped me because he was helping a car to move.”

Khan Suri said he still doesn’t know whether he has found permanent stability or is living in a temporary respite.

“Every time I would hear any knocking sound, I said, ‘Someone is there to pick me up again,’” Khan Suri said. “Even sometimes now, I think like that. Even now, when I open my apartment door, I imagine that a police officer in that blackish uniform or something is standing there.”

‘With Its Own Baggage’

Thirteen months after Khan Suri was detained, he and his family say their world — including their friendships and academic programs — feels fundamentally different.

During Khan Suri’s detainment, Saleh said their 5-year-old twins were worried about their father.

“I told them their father was traveling,” Saleh wrote. “Even so, they sensed that something was wrong. They would stand by the window, watching airplanes, asking if their father was on one of them or wondering if he was ‘lost in the sky.’”

Their 9-year-old son, meanwhile, withdrew from social interactions after overhearing a conversation with lawyers.

Now, Saleh said the family must balance daily routines with their persistent trauma.

“Life now is more stable with Badar back home, although there is still uncertainty because of the ongoing case,” Saleh wrote. “We are trying to rebuild a sense of normalcy and move forward, even while carrying what we went through.”

Yassine Florez (GRD ’26), who supported the family during detainment and is now a close friend, said Khan Suri, Saleh and their children appear closer than ever.

“After what they went through, it makes sense that it would be even more of a close-knit family,” Florez told The Hoya. “They’re always doing activities together. They’re always

hosting potlucks, inviting us over, inviting others over. They’re always appreciating each others’ time even more than before.”

Still, Khan Suri said his relationships with friends and family have shifted.

“It is with its own baggage,” Khan Suri said. “I mean, we have to talk all the time about these things, sufferings and wrongs done by the government, and when will it end.”

Khan Suri said his detainment has instilled fear throughout his community, particularly at Georgetown.

“Everybody is fearful. Everyone is scared,” Khan Suri said. “The whole idea, or the whole purpose of doing what they did to us was to chill the dissent.”

When news of Khan Suri’s detainment reached Georgetown last March, community members said they felt the government had infringed on the university’s autonomy. The campus erupted in a series of protests and campaigns demanding his freedom.

Samrow said she and other students both appreciated the greater significance of their professor’s detainment and felt a personal loss.

“To everybody, he was this big headline, and he was one name of a slew of names representing the human rights abuses of the current administration and all the wrong, horrible things that were happening,” Samrow said. “And that’s all true, and that remains true, but to us, to his students and to the people in his life, he was our professor.”

Meanwhile, Khan Suri’s colleagues say his case became a microcosm of the federal government’s broader attacks against Middle East studies and the ACMCU.

Hashemi said mounting federal pressure has disrupted his academic work and forced him to focus on administrative efforts to protect his staff.

“It was very much, personally, a moment where I had to sometimes pinch myself and ask, ‘Am I dreaming here? Is this a nightmare?’” Hashemi said. “But it wasn’t a nightmare. It’s my lived reality.”

“I have to spend so much time of unpaid labor as a director responding to those bogus accusations that take me away from my own research agenda,” Hashemi added.

Joel Hellman — dean of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service (SFS), which houses the ACMCU — said administrators worried that Khan Suri’s detainment would chill campus expression, particularly for international students who could face retaliation.

“We were deeply disturbed by what happened — to see a member of our community being snatched from his home in the evening with very little information to his family or to his employer,” Hellman told The Hoya

“We were very concerned about how this would ripple across the campus in terms of all students, but especially, of course, our international students and those who might be vulnerable because of their visa status,” Hellman added.

Georgetown at large has also grappled with a U.S. political environment that has become increasingly hostile to immigration. In April 2025, the government terminated the immigration statuses of at least 10 Georgetown community members, and in June, the university recommended that some international students defer admission due to a White House travel ban on certain countries.

Khan Suri said when he returned to campus, he saw himself as a

conduit for the federal government to punish these wider institutions and ideologies, including Arab studies, Georgetown and the ACMCU.

“I was found — someone who was just on a visa,” Khan Suri said.

“So to target all these three institutions, I was targeted.”

Hellman said the SFS has never experienced this level of pressure on international students, forcing university leaders to offer greater administrative support.

“Five years ago, it was unimaginable to think that we would be in a situation where there are so many imposed constraints or factors that are heavily weighing on the desirability of coming to the United States to study,” Hellman said. “We’re in a very, very, very different environment.”

This Is Worth Fighting

As the Georgetown community grapples with a changed academic environment, legal scholars say Khan Suri’s case could reshape how courts apply the First Amendment to noncitizens. The government is contesting whether noncitizens can petition the federal judiciary, rather than solely immigration courts, over constitutional violations.

Khan Suri is currently a party in two parallel cases: one in federal court and one in immigration court. The federal case focuses on Khan Suri’s constitutional challenges to his detention. His immigration case centers on whether the government can remove him from the country.

When detaining Khan Suri, the federal government publicly cited his familial ties. Khan Suri’s fatherin-law is a former Hamas official who left the militant group more than a decade ago and publicly criticized Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Saleh said in legal filings that Khan Suri only met her father twice. In internal memos, the government cited two main sources as justification for detainment: his academic activity and posts from conservative watchdog groups criticizing his connection to his father-in-law. A March 2025 analysis by The Hoya of Khan Suri’s social media found that he opposed Israel’s military action in Gaza and did not advocate violent or illegal activity.

Dan Berger, a leading immigration attorney, said the government’s effort to deport Khan Suri has thrust into the spotlight, for the first time, a conflict between how courts understand First Amendment protections and immigration enforcement.

“It’s just unclear because there are no real guidelines,” Berger told The Hoya. “If speech can have immigration consequences, then what kind of speech is okay and what isn’t?”

Khan Suri’s case is just one example of how the Trump administration has transformed Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) application of immigration law, said Megan Kludt (SFS ’02), a litigator and former immigration appellate judge.

“Previously, ICE officers did not target students and professors just for commentary they were making,” Kludt told The Hoya. “So previously, we never had to tell people to worry about things like that.”

“Having to ask clients about their social media presence, about what they’re saying online, is something we never had to do before,” Kludt added.

Johnny Sinodis — a partner at Van Der Hout LLP, the law firm representing Khan Suri in his immigration case — said the current legal envi-

ronment is especially concerning for immigrants because the executive branch, rather than the federal judiciary, oversees immigration courts. In early 2025, the Department of Justice fired immigration judges, such as Kludt, who were largely appointed by Democratic presidents and have since purged dozens of judges who ruled against deportation orders. The immigration appellate court has overwhelmingly and unprecedentedly sided with the federal government during Trump’s second term, according to an NPR analysis. Hassan Ahmad (LAW ’21), Khan Suri’s original immigration lawyer, said Trump’s reshaping of the immigration system feels more methodical in his second term than it did in his first.

“It felt like a sledgehammer last time,” Ahmad told The Hoya. “They were just trying to break everything down, all the good parts. This time, they brought not only a sledgehammer but a scalpel because they knew exactly where to make the cuts in addition to knocking things down.”

“I’m tired,” Ahmad added. “We all are.” Khan Suri said his struggle has reinvigorated his interest in advancing peacebuilding and democracy.

“Whatever we were fearing — that authoritarianism can make Orwellian dystopia a reality — every American is going through that reality now that this transition to authoritarianism is not bookish,” Khan Suri said. “It is real. We all faced it. I personally faced it. It, in a way, made me from an armchair researcher to becoming a case study.”

“No society should break like this,” he added.

Sophia Gregg, one of the lawyers representing Khan Suri from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia, said the government’s treatment of Khan Suri and other foreign scholars may predict how it treats U.S. citizens in the future.

“There are important issues that everyone should be thinking about, because when it comes to the rights that this country gives or revokes from non-citizens, ultimately, it is the canary in the coal mine for others,” Gregg told The Hoya

Despite the seemingly endless circles of legal proceedings, Khan Suri said he remains committed to his court battle.

“These are unprecedented times, and this is worth fighting, because it will set a precedent,” Khan Suri said. “If we are able to win, maybe others will not go through this. But if we lose, then it becomes an easy way for the government to repeat and defeat people like this.”

As Khan Suri awaits his June 1 immigration hearing, the court is considering a motion by his lawyers for discovery, which would allow them to subpoena government records. It remains unclear what that trial will look like or if it will be delayed.

In the meantime, he is working on his first book, compiling his research on religious pluralism, majoritarianism and intolerance in South Asia. No matter the mental and emotional toll of the past 13 months, Khan Suri said he refuses to see himself as a victim.

“These challenges we are facing are not the only challenges ever faced by mankind,” Khan Suri said.

“There were challenges before. There will be challenges after. Freedom and justice are to be fought for all the time by all the generations.”

SOH Research Conference Highlights

Undergraduate Students’ Discoveries

Eva Siminiceanu Senior Science Editor

Georgetown University undergraduate students presented original health and science research at an April 15 research conference.

The Undergraduate Research Conference (URC), organized by the School of Health (SOH), showcased 100 posters across two sessions, offering students the opportunity to discuss their work with Georgetown science professors and faculty.

This year’s conference was also the first where the committee limited the number of posters, admitting 100 of the 118 submissions.

Jan LaRocque, one of the conference’s faculty advisors, said the program provides students with experiences and skills that are foundational to careers in health and science.

“Most students in STEM and health are headed for careers requiring data-driven decisions,” LaRocque wrote to The Hoya. “The URC is one opportunity to establish a foundation that supports this approach. It’s one thing to do the research, but it’s another thing entirely to stand in front of your peers and explain why it matters.”

Tala Assaf (SOH ’26), one of the conference’s lead student organizers, said the program creates a more relaxed environment for critique.

“There are all these complications and challenges that come about when you’re doing research. I think that having an inclusive and non-judgemental space like URC to celebrate your work and to present it in a way where you’re able to get feedback is really important to engage undergraduates in a process that is undeniably very difficult,” Assaf told The Hoya Nazgol Missaghi (CAS ’28), who presented her research on neural pathways at the conference, said the experience was a fulfilling conclusion to a year and a half of lab work.

“I have been working on this project since my freshman year at Georgetown, so growing together over the last year and a half has made the outcome especially rewarding and meaningful,” Missaghi wrote to The Hoya At the conference, faculty judges across scientific disciplines engaged with the presenters and their work, providing opportunities for discussion and feedback. The judges then selected the most exceptional work to be recognized at an award ceremony following the poster sessions.

Brennan Moore (SOH ’27), a student presenter who was also a lead student organizer, said faculty feedback was a powerful and encouraging resource.

“They give great feedback and I think that’s something that’s really

useful about URC as well,” Moore told The Hoya. “I got some very good feedback on potential next directions I could take with my project, which I think will motivate me back in the lab for my senior year.”

Alexander Theos, a faculty advisor for the event, said receiving feedback from a variety of perspectives is important when presenting at a conference like URC.

“It’s the feedback that’s important,” Theos told The Hoya. “It’s not how amazingly perfect and finished your story is — how polished your poster is, the oral presentation of that work — it really is how many people you can get to come to your poster and how many interesting questions that you can get.”

Missaghi said that, in addition to interactions with faculty, engaging with her peers at the conference gave her valuable experience in scientific communication.

“It pushed me to think about my work in a different way, not just as something I understand, but as something I can communicate clearly to people who are not in my field,” Missaghi wrote.

Assaf said organizers opted to limit student submissions to prioritize hypothesis-driven student work.

“We had about 118 submissions, and then we sifted through them and picked out the 100 that we

wanted to present,” Assaf said. “The criteria for choosing the posters, which might shift in future years, since we’re just trying things out this year, was to choose people that had hypothesis-driven work, so experiments that were working towards some sort of question or some sort of broader goal.”

Theos said the high volume of interest drove the decision.

“Historically, for all these years, every student that wanted to present, they got to present,” Theos said. “But

Surveillance Expert Examines Digital Data Privacy

Oh-Jak Kwon Science Writer

An expert on digital surveillance argued that data privacy is essential to maintaining individual autonomy in the digital age at a Georgetown University event April 10.

Cindy Cohn, executive director of the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, contended that privacy has shifted from an individual concern to a system shaped by large-scale data collection and surveillance. At the event — hosted by the Georgetown Center for Digital Ethics, which analyzes policy solutions — Cohn concluded that corporations are using individuals’ data to gain power and profit, drawing from her memoir.

Cohn said digital privacy is an important protection against abuses of power.

“I think of privacy as one of the ways that people with less power can have protection against people who have more power,” Cohn said at the event.

“It’s one of the ways we maintain a self-governing society.”

“People think privacy is about hiding something, but it’s really about making sure others don’t get to control your life,” Cohn added.

Matt Blaze, a Georgetown University Law Center professor who also spoke at the event, said these concerns are built into the internet’s technical foundations, which were not originally designed with security in mind.

“If we were going to use any of this for anything serious, we needed to ensure that private things could stay private,” Blaze said at the event. “Encryption became the one technology that actually works.”

In 1998, Cohn testified in a landmark case that helped establish encryption as protected speech.

Cohn said the U.S. government classified strong encryption software as a munition — a weapon — in the 1990s, hampering its distribution.

“There were real concerns that if you worked on or shared encryption, you could get in trouble.” Cohn said.

While encryption is now widely used to secure communications and data, debates persist over how it should be regulated, particularly as governments push for greater access to encrypted information in the name of national security and law enforcement.

Cohn said the uncertainty around digital privacy can discourage researchers from studying controversial technologies or ideas.

“When you make people afraid of the legal consequences, they just don’t do the work at all,” Cohn said. “That’s the chilling effect.” Cohn argued that regulators should limit corporate data collection, saying many of these privacy issues stem from what she described as a “surveillance business model,” where companies collect and use large amounts of user data to drive profit.

“I actually think that the privacy problems are at the center of solving these issues,” Cohn said. “We should be looking at limiting the data collection itself.”

Companies have increasingly collected and sold large amounts of user data, ranging from location and browsing history to financial and personal information, often through third-party data brokers that lack transparency.

Blaze said corporate and government surveillance is increasingly interconnected since government agencies often rely on information gathered by private companies.

“We’re seeing an inversion,” Blaze said. “Companies are collecting the data first and then governments are accessing it.”

Government agencies are drawing from information collected by private companies through apps, websites and data brokers, often without the same legal oversight required for direct surveillance, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Experts have raised concerns that, under this model, authorities could obtain sensitive information without going through traditional warrant processes.

Cohn said this shift between corporate and government surveillance allows governments to bypass traditional legal protec-

tions by purchasing data from private brokers, expanding their access to personal information.

“If you go up a level and you think about companies, we’re increasingly seeing companies leveraging all the information that they have about us,” Cohn said.

Cohn said the importance of privacy will only grow as emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) continue to expand data collection and use.

“If we don’t have privacy, then the people who have power over us get to decide how we live our lives,” Cohn said.

we’ve just physically run out of space.” Moore said that, despite the difficulty of rejecting applications, the change may motivate undergraduates to take more control over their research.

“URC’s always been really inclusive and that has boosted the confidence of students and given them an opportunity to present something they’ve worked hard on, so it’s definitely hard to have to say no to people,” Moore said. “But, I do think that long-term, it’s going to hopefully motivate people to take projects in their own direction.”

LaRocque said this year’s conference was successful in spotlighting both the hard work of undergraduate researchers and the student organizers.

“There is a professional reward in witnessing the synergy between our student planning committee’s leadership and the presenters’ academic rigor,” LaRocque wrote. “Seeing students present their work with such passion makes every hour of preparation worthwhile.”

THE POLICY PROGNOSIS

Patent, Acquire, Evergreen: Centralized Drug Producers Hike Prices, Control Access

Shiva Ranganathan Science Columnist

The drug manufacturing industry in the United States has been subject to intense scrutiny over its role in high drug prices. Prescription costs are deeply impactful on patient survival, with a modest $10 increase in prescription cost being associated with a 33% increase in mortality rates, indicating the sensitivity of patients to drug markets. Combating high costs requires assessing how competitive the market for a given drug is. Economically speaking, if a drug’s manufacturing is fragmented by several generic producers, all with equal information and no barriers to entry or exit, the market is perfectly competitive and reduces the price consumers pay.

The manufacturing of most drugs has a high barrier to entry due to the cost and time commitment to create a drug from start to finish. Research and development costs have spiked to around $500 million per medicine developed. Information skews asymmetrically towards large drug companies who can control the information consumers receive about a drug’s safety and success through manufacturer-sponsored research journals that publish findings on medications in the market.

Because of the risk of manufacturing drugs and the opaque information about their value, the market often concentrates power in the hands of large, centralized producers. In this model, the consumer pays for the profit of those with market power.

A drug’s rarity and novelty determine the cost to acquire it, which disproportionately affects patients in need of it. To foster innovation, patents and exclusivity are provided to new brand drugs based on their designation for use. Patents are broader property rights to a formula, while exclusivity periods deem sole salesmanship rights to one particular company from the onset of the period.

For example, the orphan drug classification means a medication is intended to treat a condition affecting fewer than 200,000 people and grants the manufacturer seven years to be the only creator of that specific medication. After exclusivity, generic drug entry marks the beginning of a more competitive market, when more producers can create the same drug, raise supply and reduce its cost.

The exclusivity of drug manufacturing is often believed to drive innovation, since producers can recoup their development costs within the initial decade or so of exclusive manufacturing. However, several business practices exploit this loophole, capturing more profit than intended at the expense of the consumer and smaller manufacturers.

Evergreening is one such practice, where pharmaceutical manufacturers tweak a formulation and submit a new patent for it under new brand names, gaining a few years in exclusivity while stalling new generic entries for the same drug. Patent thicketing involves densely packing the development process in patents. From the method used to formulate each active ingredient to the process used to test their safety, patents are submitted for all stages of drug creation. Smaller producers may find it difficult to contest every patent and eventually give up on producing generics for the brand drug. Large companies also tend to acquire smaller manufacturers throughout the development process. For example, the combined assets of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline are comparable to those of the National Cancer Institute and much larger than those of other market competitors. These conglomerates have the power to create several entirely new brandname markets in the time smaller companies take, even just to remake an existing generic product. The information concentrated in manufacturers can be exploited in unwritten agreements. Brand producers may pay generic manufacturers to agree to postpone their entry into a drug’s market, increasing their period as a monopoly and upscaling their profits.

Acknowledging the issue is the first step to creating an actionable policy. Even if the practices aren’t as widespread as health journals claim, common sense legislation would prevent egregious exclusivity extensions. The Biden administration denied claims that evergreening and patent thicketing were occurring, despite the fact that several manufacturers were uncovered to be using both mechanisms to bypass the market.

A Federal Trade Commission campaign in 2025 contested improper Orange Book listings, like delayed patents and loophole new drug certifications, further extending exclusivity periods on existing drug patents. Following this model, capping the maximum patents per drug and the number of formulation tweaks that can be used for exclusivity extensions is vital. Having oversight on acquisitions and limiting the exclusivity on acquired company products for the aggregator could also prevent market collapse towards one competitor, which is key to avoiding insurmountable prices. Lives are at stake for even marginal increases in drug prices. It is vital that policymakers curb incentives for power to be consolidated so that affordable medications aren’t denied to patients.

IN FOCUS

College Academic Council Honors Professor

Lawmakers, Advocates Condemn

ICE Operations, Encourage Reform

Caroline Garland Deputy Features Editor

Two lawmakers, an immigration lawyer and an organizer advocated for political reform to restrict immigration detentions at a Georgetown University College Democrats (GUCD) panel April 22.

The event featured Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.); Will Smith (D), a Maryland state senator; Hassan Ahmad (LAW ’21), an immigration attorney; and Gerson Quinteros, a community organizer from United We Dream, a youth-led non-profit advocating for immigrant rights.

The panelists argued the Trump administration is purposefully mischaracterizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests as security-focused and urged policies that would help identify ICE agents and protect due process.

McClellan said the Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement efforts beyond targeting criminals.

“What they want to tell you is we’re going after people who are trafficking in these drugs that are killing our children and people who are murdering students on subways,” McClellan said at the event. “That’s not what they’re doing.”

The Trump administration deployed ICE agents to major cities, including Washington, D.C, in June 2025. In January 2026, as a part of Operation Metro Surge — which focuses agent efforts towards Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. — federal agents fatally shot Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens, leading to widespread demonstrations.

The Trump administration has increased detentions of non-citizens without pending criminal charges.

Smith said the Trump administration’s conflation of criminal and civil offenses undermines due process.

“If you’re arrested, that’s an accusation, that’s not a conviction,” Smith said at the event. “And so we wanted to make sure that once convicted, due process was afforded.” Ahmad, who previously rep-

Michael Shtrom

A panel of prominent journalists explored the implications of limited international press freedom at a Georgetown University event April 23. The event, which featured panelists from PBS, The Washington Post and The New York Times, analyzed the actions of journalists in countries where journalistic freedom is restricted. Panelists at the event, hosted for Press Freedom Week by Georgetown’s journalism program, reflected on their experiences working in dangerous regions and gaining the trust of sources in vulnerable situations, and argued the importance of maintaining a free press in the United States and across the world.

John Bass, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Turkey and Georgia under Republican and Democratic administrations, said the investigative work of journalists has been critical throughout his career.

“For over 37 years, I served in or worked on many countries driven by conflict and grappling with central questions on how best to organize a society,” Bass said at the event. “One constant through all of that work was the degree to which I and colleagues

resented the formerly detained Georgetown postdoctoral researcher Badar Khan Suri, said a federal ruling in May 2025 to release Khan Suri from detention acknowledged the federal government’s wrongdoing.

“She found, as a matter of law, that the reasons for him to be detained were punitive and read only because of his exercise of his first amendment rights,” Ahmad said at the event. “Finally, after all these years, not coming up with some kind of roundabout way and just saying it like it is. We all know what happened. We all know why they picked him up.”

Smith said the Maryland Senate aimed to limit ICE’s power by supervising local jurisdictions and eliminating memorandums of understanding (MOUs), which delineate cooperation between local and federal authorities.

“Our agreements allowed for our local law enforcement officers to collaborate with ICE,” Smith said. “The first step we took in the Maryland General Assembly was to get rid of those agreements. Then the second thing was that once you got rid of those agreements, you could still have local jurisdictions collaborate and cooperate with ICE absent those formal MOUs. So the second thing we did was we said, ‘Actually, you will not cooperate with ICE absent certain circumstances like a conviction for a felony or anything that required registration on the sex offender registry.’” Quinteros said encouraging students and young people to

fight against ICE is crucial to decreasing illegal detentions.

“It’s not just me,” Quinteros said at the event. “It’s me talking to young leaders, right? Them creating spaces in their campuses, in their schools and getting them to feel that their story matters, that they have a voice.”

“There’s nobody else that knows the issues that you’re facing than yourself, than your community,” Quinteros added. “The solutions come from the community.”

Ahmad said advocacy can be as simple as using new language to destigmatize immigration.

“Don’t say border security,” Ahmad said. “It’s ‘border prosperity.’ We want to make sure that our borders are a tool that creates prosperity on both sides. Security will naturally flow from that.”

“We don’t have to always say the word immigrant, and we need to tie it together with ‘future citizen’ or ‘aspiring American,’” Ahmad added.

McClellan said the Trump policies contradict the United States’ ideals of equality and freedom.

“The history of our country has been the struggle to make the ideas upon which it was founded true for everybody,” McClellan said. “And we have made progress, but we’re not there yet.”

Quinteros said reforming ICE’s practices benefits the entire country.

“When is the time that it’s just going to be for everyone?” Quinteros said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re an immigrant or not. So this is the true fight that we have about our constitutional rights.”

across the U.S. government needed, valued and worked to defend and advance the work and reporting of professional journalists. That work was vital then and it’s even more vital today due to the complexity of the issues that face virtually every society.”

Rebecca Sinderbrand, director of Georgetown’s journalism program, said Austin Tice (SFS ’14), a freelance journalist who reported on the Syrian Assad regime and the longest-held captive journalist in U.S. history, is one example of the danger working in politically fraught environments can bring.

“Austin’s mother, Deborah Tice, wanted me to share that Austin would be delighted to know that you are still sharing his work with a rising generation of Hoya journalists, and that makes me very proud of him and his work,” Sinderbrand said at the event.

“We’re very proud as well.”

Tice, who graduated from the School of Foreign Service and studied at the Georgetown University Law Center, went missing in Syria in 2012 while reporting on the Syrian Civil War. As of April 2026, Tice remains missing and no government has taken responsibility for his disappearance, despite a Syrian official claiming that he is dead.

Jason Rezaian, the director of press freedom initiatives at the Washington Post, said students should continue the fight for a free press.

“We’re here in Washington, D.C., and it’s the place where we should be embodying these ideals, maybe more than anywhere else in the world,” Rezaian said at the event.

“At institutions across this great city, there are people fighting for those rights and freedoms, but there’s also people working against them. I think anything we can do to contribute to lessening those injustices is a worthy endeavor.”

Fatemeh Jamalpour, a journalist featured in the New York Times Opinion section, said she tries to connect personally with vulnerable sources to establish trust.

“Ask them the easy question, the open-up question — it’s good advice for you to just start the conversation with something more human,” Jamalpour said at the event. “I try to really, really walk in their shoes and have empathy. Your work as a journalist is like your work as a social worker. You open wounds, so you should know how to close them.”

Clayton Weimers — the U.S. executive director of Reporters Without Borders, a nonprofit that advo-

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Noah De Haan Senior News Editor

Formerly detained Georgetown University researcher Badar Khan Suri and his legal team condemned the federal government’s efforts to deport him at an April 17 fundraiser.

The fundraiser, held in Washington, D.C.’s Kalorama Heights neighborhood, drew a crowd of around three dozen people. Since November, Georgetown University community members have raised over $50,000 for Khan Suri’s legal expenses.

David Cole — a Georgetown University Law Center professor and former national legal director of the legal nonprofit American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — said immigrants have been historically victimized in the United States.

“I think what our history shows is that immigrants are the course of least resistance,” Cole said at the fundraiser. “If you want to scapegoat somebody, immigrants are your target. If you want to suppress speech, immigrants are your target. Never has that been more clear than with Donald Trump and this campaign to silence pro-Palestinian speech by targeting the most vulnerable.”

The government’s memo justifying Khan Suri’s detainment, which was unsealed by a federal court in January, cited his academic research, teaching and pro-Palestinian speech. Khan Suri’s lawyers have pointed to this as evidence that the government unlawfully retaliated against him for protected speech.

In May 2025, a federal district judge ruled in a case parallel to his immigration proceedings that Khan Suri’s detention was unconstitutional.

Khan Suri, whose ongoing immigration case will determine whether or not the government can deport him, is currently expected to appear in immigration court June 1.

cates for press freedom worldwide — said protecting the press is not only in the interest of journalists, but of the public at large.

“Sometimes, as press freedom advocates, we get a bit lost in the idea that we’re doing press freedom work on behalf of journalists when, really, this is a human tragedy that is affecting so many civilians and citizens well beyond the rights of journalists,” Weimers said at the event. “Sometimes, we forget that journalists themselves can be victimized in the same way that any other victim of local conflict or repression can.”

Jamalpour said it is important for journalists to continue working, even in regimes that attempt to repress it.

“They had huge progress from human activists to go and just watch matches in the stadium, and it was the time that we had moderate reform,” Jamalpour said. “I went there for the newspaper to report on that, and I was arrested violently. They took us to the detention center, and I saw all of these women activists. They were very heavily beaten, so I started interviewing them inside the detention center. I did not give up. You continue doing this because we believe that, by doing this, we make a better world.”

At the fundraiser, Khan Suri said American values, including the First Amendment’s freedom of speech, should be guaranteed to everyone in the United States.

“We believe in the 1776 American Revolution and what privileges it gave to humanity,” Khan Suri said at the event. “Ultimately, liberty, freedom and the rule of law and then the Bill of Rights. Of course, the First Amendment is part of that, which gives privileges and gives rights to every person, not just citizens.”

The federal government ruled Khan Suri deportable based on an uncommon provision of a 1952 law allowing the Secretary of State to unilaterally deem a non-citizen adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests.

Marc Van Der Hout, Khan Suri’s lead immigration lawyer, said the statute should not be used against people who speak out against the United States or critique foreign policy.

“It was never to be used against people who were speaking out for justice for Palestinians, wherever it may be in the world,” Van Der Hout said at the event. “Whether it’s calling what’s going on in Gaza a genocide, whether it’s stating that the United States is misleading people in this country, whatever it is you have a First Amendment right to speak what you think is really important on world policy and yet they want to silence.”

Mason Haynes (GRD ’27), who attended the event, said he was shocked the Trump administration is still attempting to deport Khan Suri, who he views as a positive force in the Washington, D.C. community and in education overall.

“I’m not surprised, from the way they’re handling immigration over these past few years,” Haynes told The Hoya. “It is surprising, though, that they’re coming for someone so involved in the D.C. community — someone who has a wife that is a citizen.” Since taking office in 2025, Trump’s administration has increased federal

immigration enforcement, increasing the number of criminally charged detainees by 79% and raising border enforcement spending in Trump’s first year in office.

Nader Hashemi — the director of Georgetown’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), which hosts Khan Suri as a post-doctoral fellow — said the federal government has altered American democracy by violating Khan Suri’s constitutional rights.

“What happened to Badar Khan Suri can happen to anyone at Georgetown, especially if they’re on a visa,” Hashemi told The Hoya. “His basic rights as someone who was legally residing here were violated. This is an issue that’s above and beyond just one person, so we want to make the case that this is a cause that matters for the future of our democracy — it affects everyone.”

Hashemi said community support is helpful to Khan Suri as he continues to litigate against the Trump administration.

“It’s not going to pay all of his legal bills, but it helps in raising the money,” Hashemi said. “Also it’s really just providing emotional support to the family, so Badar Khan and his family know that he’s not alone. That type of support is really valuable from people who don’t have deep pockets — of course we appreciate the money, but I think that type of human connection can go a long way.” Khan Suri said he is confident that most Americans support his beliefs of harmony and fairness, despite the federal government’s actions against him.

“I am just a vulnerable immigrant,” Khan Suri said. “As Professor Cole said — that he as a citizen can say what I cannot say — the system believes that, this administration believes that, but that is not true. I have full faith in the good offices, the good institutions here and in each and every American. I am 100% sure that not just a majority, but an overwhelming majority believes what I believe in — it is peace and justice.”

GU-Q Students Call for Increased Communication From DC Campus

QATAR, from A1

response has included collaborative efforts to ensure academic continuity, support and coordination for those who wanted to depart Qatar and overall life safety support for all members of the GU-Q community.”

The United States and Israel began joint attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, prompting Iran to launch retaliatory strikes on Qatar and other U.S. allies in the region. On March 29, following attacks on Iranian universities, Iran threatened to strike U.S. universities in the region. The threatened strikes did not occur, and the United States and Iran are currently in a ceasefire.

Since the start of the conflict, GU-Q has offered students a pass/fail option on their courses and helped students leave Qatar if they choose to.

Janna Alsulaiti (SFS-Q ’27), a GU-Q student who stayed in Qatar, said she applauds the GU-Q administration for its consistent communication with students.

“Our administration was very transparent with us through every step of the way,” Alsulaiti told The Hoya. “We’ve had dean community updates almost every week from the start of the war up until recently.”

“Overall, they’ve been very supportive and I have nothing but the highest of praise for them,” Alsulaiti added.

GU-Q students say they have received two messages about the conflict from Georgetown’s Hilltop Campus: a March 1 update Interim University President Robert M. Groves sent to both campuses that GU-Q Dean Safwan Masri forwarded to GU-Q students and a March 20 letter acknowledging the conflict and celebrating the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.

Omar Mousa (SFS-Q ’27), a GU-Q student studying abroad in the District., said D.C.-based students and faculty should actively recognize the ongoing risks the GU-Q community faces.

“The only thing we got was a lukewarm email,” Mousa told The Hoya. “We didn’t see any direct action taken from the main campus in response to the war.”

“It was just a ‘thoughts and prayers’ email,” Mousa added.

Sama Alissa (SFS-Q ’27), a GU-Q student who left Qatar, said she feels indifferent toward D.C.-based leadership since GU-Q administrators have more effectively responded to student needs.

“We quite simply do not care for them,” Alissa told The Hoya. “If anything, this last month and a half — almost two months — have proven that the only people that we trust and we look towards are our own campus leadership, the GU-Q leadership.”

Mousa said he thinks Hilltop Campus administrators should explicitly denounce the war.

“I would have liked to see, first of all, a very clear and direct statement from the university condemning this, because this is utterly unacceptable,” Mousa said. “An acknowledgement that their own students are in harm’s way and that this is not okay, would have felt a lot better than just ‘we hope you’re safe and we hope you’re okay and we understand this is a distressing time.’”

“All of that is true, but you as a university with students actively in an area that can be considered a war zone, you have the responsibility to make a statement and say, ‘This is not okay. You’re putting our students in danger, and we condemn this,’” Mousa added. In addition to calling for an official condemnation of the war, some GU-Q students said they feel forgotten by the Hilltop Campus.

Adeena Hossain (SFS-Q ’27), a GU-Q student who previously studied in D.C., said the GU-Q community has long felt detached from the rest of the university.

“I think most students were kind of just looking for more recognition from main campus, perhaps acknowledgement or awareness spread on main campus,” Hossain told The Hoya. “I think there already is an ongoing sentiment that GU-Q feels kind of separate.”

Mousa said he has felt unsupported by the Hilltop community since the war began.

“Another thing I’d like to add is my general disappointment and shock at the apathy from students here as well,” Mousa said. “There are absolutely students who are concerned about our people back in Qatar who are very attentive to this. But on a general scale,

people don’t care. The war started over spring break and then when people came back, I saw nothing happen — no mass action, no support.”

Alsulaiti said she anticipated seeing wide groups of students protest the war and is surprised more have not spoken out.

“Historically, students — not Georgetown specifically, but university students — have been the most outspoken group of people within crisis in the U.S., so I guess just not seeing that was a little bit off-putting,” Alsulaiti said.

Over 50 Georgetown community members gathered March 26 to condemn U.S. military action in the Middle East, including in Iran, and protest the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Since the start of the conflict, a growing body of lawmakers, experts and humanitarians have condemned the United States and Israel’s joint strikes on Iran. Pope Leo has also spoken out against the war.

Maurice Jackson, a history professor currently teaching at GUQ, said Georgetown should rely on its Catholic identity and Pope Leo’s statements to condemn the war.

“One of the best things the GU administration can say is, if it worries about Trump’s attacks against the university, is to say, ‘We agree with Pope Leo, who is a powerful voice against war and we condemn those who attack his righteous position and attack the Holy Father personally and who belittle him, as a man of vision, of profound integrity and who is steadfast in his belief that this is an immoral war,’” Jackson wrote to The Hoya Mosab said greater engagement between the two campuses and increased awareness of the GU-Q community’s struggles can improve relationships between D.C. and Qatar.

“I feel like it’s unrealistic for me to expect all the D.C. students to be constantly worrying and putting a pause on their lives just to worry about us,” Mosab said. “But I feel like it would be nice to see more proactiveness in recognizing that we are still existing — we do still exist — and to be spoken about more and maybe to be spoken about as humans, rather than just a physical campus in a certain place. I feel like we feel disposable, in a sense.”

Bus Pickup Agreement Resolves Monthslong GU, Union Dispute

GUTS, from A1

Alvaro Barberena, another bus driver, said the agreement is a return to the status quo for the drivers after a prolonged dispute.

“From the first day, this is what we have been doing,” Barberena told The Hoya. “Our place to work has been Georgetown, and now with the new contracting, they were forcing us to do this change.”

“This is what it’s supposed to be,” Barberena added.

Still, Barberena said he is afraid the university may make another change.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if more changes come,” Barberena said. “It seems like every week there’s something going on. There’s something that they want to implement, they want to change.”

Roy Linton, another GUTS driver, said he is hesitant to celebrate the agreement but is pleased with its terms.

“As long as I’m still an employee here, clocking in here and picking up my bus here, I guess I’m satisfied,” Linton told The Hoya Elinor Clark (CAS ’27), who helped lead the GUTS campaign in the fall, said the agreement demonstrates the importance of future collaboration between university employees and administrators.

“It is good that they are involving workersindeterminingtheirworking conditions,” Clark told The Hoya. “The workers have fought very hard to protect their jobs, and Georgetown giving in to this compromise is a testament to the success of the worker-led community campaign over the past year.” Fleming said the agreement relied on open dialogue, which he hopes can be a model for future negotiations.

“This should be a good learning tool from this right here,” Fleming said. “When the

managers go to their coworkers, go to the employees to talk to them and really listen to their ideas, and put their ideas or what they thinking, and just communicate with each other, things can get done.”

Grab said he aims to ensure GUTS drivers feel at home at Georgetown, especially those who have been with the university for a long time.

“I want to make sure that they look forward to coming to work and they do such a great job,” Grab said. “I’ve never had a driving staff with the amount of tenure and just dedication to a university like this. There’s folks that have been driving for decades here at Georgetown, so for us to all come together, talk, be able to laugh and joke, and look forward to going into the summer, I think it’s the right thing to do for everyone.”

RAs Allege Unfair Residential Education Practices, Retaliation

RAs, from A1

“Out of respect for this legal agreement between the union and the university, which establishes OPEIU Local 153 as the sole and exclusive representative of GRAC members, Georgetown will continue to use these channels to discuss and resolve any concerns through good-faith engagement,” the spokesperson added.

After violating a Res Living policy, such as by missing a meeting or failing to submit a duty log on time, RAs are required to attend accountability meetings with their supervising community director (CD).

Every RA that The Hoya spoke to said RAs face more frequent accountability meetings this year, often for more minor infractions than in previous years. The university spokesperson did not respond to a specific question about infractions.

Peter Sukstorf (SFS ’26), an RA in Ida Ryan & Isaac Hawkins Hall, said Res Living leadership is now holding RAs to unreasonable standards.

“We’re always expected to be perfect,” Sukstorf told The Hoya “We’re expected to do everything by the book, which is just not something that I’ve experienced at any other job. Any other place I’ve worked, there’s been a certain amount of acceptance that people make mistakes, and you learn from those mistakes and you do better next time.”

“But as an RA, there’s very little room for that, and the expectation is that you do everything perfectly the first time,” Sukstorf added.

Devan Varma (CAS ’26), who has been an RA for the last three years, said Res Living’s actions feel punitive.

“Getting on probation because you submitted a log late by a couple minutes is frankly insane,” Varma told The Hoya. “I definitely had that happen to me.”

In a Sept. 9, 2025 email to RAs, Heidi Zeich, the executive director of Residential Education, wrote that since RAs are “employees,” they must report concerns at all times, regardless of whether or not they are “serving in an official capacity at that moment.”

The petition alleges Res Living leaders justified recent policy changes by classifying RAs as employees rather

than student leaders, which RAs said disrespects their campus role. Seven RAs confirmed to The Hoya they have heard Zeich use similar language in internal meetings, which they view as evidence retaliation against their status as union members.

The petition says the change in language demonstrates retaliation, referencing a lack of clarity in RA application deadlines for next year.

“Management said they would have communicated the deadline more clearly to RAs if they were still ‘student leaders’ as opposed to ‘employees,’ a distinction that seems to indicate RA union membership,” the petition reads. “This is yet another clear example of retaliation against RAs for their decision to form a union.”

Niharika Emani (MSB ’28), a first-year RA in Darnall Hall, said Res Living’s language about RAs as both students and employees is contradictory because they are asked to always represent Res Living as students.

“It’s just a weird dichotomy of ‘student leaders’ being weaponized, and it’s the idea of we have to be leaders and present ourselves in a certain way all the time and respond to things all the time as an RA, but at the same time, we’re only employees, and we’re contractually obligated,” Emani told The Hoya

“It’s a very transactional relationship,” Emani added.

GRAC specifically alleges that the university is exploiting contractual gaps in the CBA to alter previous policies in ways that negatively affect RAs’ work and living experiences. The university spokesperson disagreed with this characterization.

Adi Vishahan (CAS ’26), a secondyear RA working in Kennedy Hall, said Res Living is ignoring the CBA’s goal to make working conditions across residence halls more consistent.

“It does feel like the CBA is being used more as a punitive measure, rather than a check to make sure experiences across different buildings are being treated equally,” Vishahan told The Hoya

“We’ve kind of taken the worst situation that could have been put in and made that the standard, rather than finding something more reasonable,” Vishahan added.

Victoria Allen (CAS ’27), a secondyear RA, said Res Living has consistently treated RAs differently than other students hoping to live in Washington, D.C., for the summer by delaying the release of summer RA decisions until April 23, when decisions have previously been released with RA offers for the upcoming academic year in January.

“I found it extremely distasteful for the university to leave people in limbo for something as important as housing for months, as people are deciding between taking the chance with an internship in D.C. and hoping Res Living can give them a concrete answer, but are facing continual delays in the announcement,” Allen wrote to The Hoya

Carmela Cadja (SFS ’28), a firsttime RA in New South, said she feels these changes disproportionately impact lower-income students.

“If you’re a student that is needing to stay in the role for financial reasons, you’re less likely to leave, and so that might impact your mental health,” Cadja told The Hoya. “Let’s say if you were in a stressful situation with some accountability issues that you might have, compared to someone that doesn’t necessarily need the financial benefits and might be able to leave easier, I think that’s an issue that administration should be more cognizant of.” Abigail Adane (CAS ’28), a first-time RA in LXR, said Res Living’s actions have made being an RA more taxing.

“I think Res Living is clearly union busting,” Adane told The Hoya. “It’s very obvious. I’m in full support of the petition, and I’m really proud of how the union has represented us. I think they’ve done an amazing job, and I just think, over this entire year, Res Living has given me a really bad taste in my mouth.”

Cadja said Res Living’s recent policies have impacted her ability to support her residents.

“It just feels like they are sometimes trying to target people or make an example out of someone, and try to get people on little mistakes, instead of encouraging people to do their best and be honest,” Cadja said. “It feels hard to come up to leadership and explain if you are struggling with something.”

GU Neighborhood Patrol Contacts Double Following Policy Change

SNAP, from A1 misdemeanor citation,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya In Fall 2025, proactive SNAP contacts — contacts resulting from patrols, not complaints — increased by almost 125%. Total SNAP contacts also rose by about 22%, reaching their highest levels since Fall 2021, when Georgetown returned to in-person operations after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nicole Abudayeh (SFS ’26) — co-director of the Student Advocacy Office (SAO), which advises students on disciplinary proceedings — said SAO has seen a marked increase in its workload after the citation changes.

“There was an uptick in students who came to our office for advice about off-campus housing — those are students who are preemptively asking our advocates, ‘What does a SNAP violation look like? How can we prevent getting a violation if we’re having a gathering off campus?’” Abudayeh told The Hoya. “I think there was a renewed interest in getting those answers preemptively and making sure that the process is understood before you actually go through it.”

Ethan Westbrook (SOH ’26), who had multiple encounters with SNAP in Fall 2025, said SNAP unfairly applies citations, discouraging him from hosting social events.

“Any time we have had any sort of thing going on at our house, SNAP has invariably showed up,” Westbrook told The Hoya. “By any sort of thing, I mean anything. We got contacted earlier this year for playing Wii bowling in my living room.”

“We’re not a frat house,” Westbrook added. “We’re not throwing parties three times a week. It’s been absolutely excessive and absurd.”

A SNAP citation could result in formal conduct charges, which appear on official university transcripts. Students living off-campus who receive three conduct violations for excessive noise may be required to relocate to on-campus housing.

SNAP incidents — contacts that are referred to the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) for adjudication —

have remained relatively consistent, according to data The Hoya reviewed. In Fall 2025, around 10% of all contacts and 40% of incidents resulted in a formal conduct citation.

Madeleine Callender (CAS ’26), the other SAO co-director, said OSC often chooses not to elevate SNAP reports to full conduct citations.

“If the Office of Student Conduct deems the SNAP report that was submitted to not be worth the level of escalating to something bigger, then the hope is that they won’t,” Callender told The Hoya. “That is something that has been true in the past — that every SNAP report doesn’t become something larger.”

Darius Wagner (CAS ’27), Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) president, said he has seen the Office of Neighborhood Life attempt to reduce SNAP incidents by waiving less-severe cases.

“It’s a really tricky situation where you’re balancing the needs of the neighborhood, but also you’re seeing how some departments on campus are making attempts to limit the amount of things that go to persecution,” Wagner told The Hoya Jack Hill (CAS ’29), GUSA’s neighborhood liaison, said neighborhood complaints have been more extreme than in past years.

“They’re getting their parties shut down more for way less noise and for way less activity than it was in the past,” Hill told The Hoya. “I think that it’s being used more as a means to shut down any kind of noise or anything that someone doesn’t like, and I don’t

think that’s exactly fair to many members of the community.”

“I think this is just another step in the wrong direction,” Hill added. Wagner said SNAP is putting unfair pressure on students to be perfect, harming their college experiences.

“Students deserve some alleviation,” Wagner said. “They shouldn’t be subject to such scrutiny and things like that. I deeply care about this because it’s college — you only have four years, and I want to make sure this is the most welcoming and safe environment for folks, and that includes being able to host comfortably and gather with friends.” Hill said since students have few on-campus social spaces, such as Village A, the threat of SNAP contacts stands to dampen student life.

“I definitely think it has a huge impact because I think that most of Georgetown’s major parties come either from Vil A or off campus, like at townhouses,” Hill said. “I think that with SNAP calls increasing, it becomes a lot harder for students to enjoy themselves.”

Westbrook said repeated SNAP contacts are beginning to weigh on his senior year experience.

“Now it seems like any time I have music playing through a speaker, even if it’s just the five of us in the kitchen, SNAP shows up,” Westbrook said. “Any time there’s any semblance of noise audible from the streets, SNAP shows up.”

“For me, living off campus, it’s starting to feel like you can’t have any sort of gathering whatsoever,” Westbrook added.

Law Enforcement Officials Call for Reformed Approach to Mental Health Care

Andrew Jiang Academics Desk Editor

A panel of law enforcement officials argued for the use of alternative methods of intervention during mental health crises at a Georgetown University Law Center event April 23.

Panelists analyzed the effectiveness of Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program and the Holistic Assistance Response Team (HART) in Harris County, Texas, programs that assign social workers instead of police officers to respond to non-violent calls over homelessness, substance abuse or mental health episodes. Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Harris County assistant police chief Saul Suarez and former Denver, Colo. police chief Paul Pazen argued that instead of relying on these programs, police departments should draw on mental health professionals in these situations.

Pazen said STAR was developed to de-escalate cases involving individuals suffering from mental health issues.

“The primary focus is certainly the mental health calls,” Pazen said at the event. “We want to make sure that we have the right resources going and helping individuals who happen to be in crisis, the best trained, the most equipped individuals to de-escalate those situations.”

Ellis said Harris County officials felt the government grew dependent on law enforcement to address public safety concerns.

“We were just asking law enforcement to do too many things,” Ellis said at the event. “So no matter what it is, the first thing you do is call law enforcement. And HART was one of the more effective ideas that we came up with.”

“Instead of law enforcement, you needed a trained professional to sort it out,” Ellis added. “So it saved law enforcement time, it’s given them the ability to focus more on the issues that only they can handle and let these other issues be handled by professionals in that area.”

STAR and HART began as pilot programs in 2020 and 2022, respectively and were limited to certain precincts, with both eventually expanding to encompass the entire jurisdiction.

Ellis said HART diverts calls to trained professionals without requiring additional funding from the county.

“They’ve collectively diverted hundreds of thousands of 911 calls away from police to trained behavioral health professionals in recent years,” Ellis said. “And they’ve done it by spending no more money than the district is spending right now on its community response teams.”

Suarez said police dispatchers communicate with the HART team to assess whether calls require first responders or HART-affiliated responders.

“Our dispatchers are in constant communication with the HART team,” Suarez said at the event. “They’re able to also take calls off the screen. However, if they do encounter a call where it might escalate to a situation

GU-Q Applicants Nearly Double as Admission Rate Hits Record Low

Jacqueline Gordon Senior Features Editor

Georgetown University in Qatar

(GU-Q) admitted 9% of applicants to the Class of 2030 from an application pool that increased by 92%, the school announced April 16. One year after Georgetown renewed its contract to operate GUQ, the campus had a record-low admissions rate, with the class representing over 66 nationalities.

Incoming students and Georgetown faculty praised the statistic as a reflection of increasing interest in the school from students around the world.

GU-Q Dean Safwan Masri said the low admission rate validates the university’s efforts to bolster its international and academic reputation.

“This year’s admissions cycle is a resounding affirmation that our efforts to elevate GU-Q’s reputation and deliver excellence in our academic offerings have borne fruit,” Masri wrote in a university press release. “I am deeply grateful to everyone across our community who has contributed to this achievement.”

Veronika Millena, an incoming student who lives in Qatar, said she has always wanted to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at GU-Q.

“Georgetown, for as long as I can remember, has always been my target university,” Millena told The Hoya. “It has been my dream university, even if I come from a STEM background, going into a liberal arts college as holistic as Georgetown and Georgetown University here in Qatar. It’s a dream that I was scared but also excited to fulfill, and obviously that dream came true.”

Moses Siregar, an incoming student from Indonesia, said GU-Q’s diverse student body was its most attractive quality.

“I grew up around people from different backgrounds so diversity is something that I’ve always lived with,” Siregar wrote to The Hoya. “When I discovered Georgetown in Qatar, I immediately knew that I belong there.”

“This diverse community at GU-Q closely resembles the community I grew up in,” Siregar added.

Millena said she felt honored to be part of the class of admitted students in a highly selective year.

“It’s a feeling of, ‘Oh my gosh, did I just really get in?’ And then it extended to the feeling of, when I learned about that statistic, I was like, ‘I get to be a part of a batch that’s very competent, that’s very well-versed in skills and it’s very diverse as well,’” Millena said. “I’m very happy, because I know that throughout my years in Georgetown, I’ll be able to surround myself with people who share the same interest.”

where they might need law enforcement, fire, EMS, we also have a good working relationship.”

Pazen said criticism of STAR came from different community organizations that were concerned with the program’s funding.

“The most resistance that we saw was when we had different competing groups that wanted, as we said, this is resources,” Pazen said. “There’s money attached to those resources; we had different groups that wanted to take control and ultimately utilize some of the money that we were setting aside for.”

Ellis said the success of dispatching HART teams to respond to non-violent calls prevented heavy opposition to the program.

“Politically, it takes some effort to convince people of that, but once we did it as a pilot program and people see that it’s working, it has good, broad base,” Elias said.

“This was a little bit of a challenge to navigate different groups that might have had different agendas and I know that this has hurt other attempts across the country,” Pazen added.

Ellis said it is unrealistic to put law enforcement into roles they were not trained for.

“It’s just not fair to expect law enforcement to have to become the therapist on every dispute that comes up,” Ellis said. “If it’s a violent one, we have to go so we want to free them up so they can handle those things that save lives, avoid bodily injury, but not those things when somebody is just having a bad day and when it erupts to something that’s

a bad tragedy, that’s when you need law enforcement.” Tahir Duckett — executive director of the Center for Innovations in Community Safety (CICS), a Georgetown Law initiative that aims to increase equity in the criminal justice system and the event’s host — argued that Washington, D.C., should adopt a similar approach. The CICS is currently

producing a blueprint for an alternate response approach in D.C. to advocate for the shift.

Duckett said D.C.’s law enforcement approach to non-violent calls has diverted resources.

Siregar said the admission rate is reflective of GU-Q’s academic rigor and small class size.

“I know well that admission to GU-Q is very competitive, but I was still caught by surprise by the statistics,” Siregar wrote. “I’m beyond proud to be part of GU-Q and Class of 2030. I think that so many people applied because of what GU-Q has to offer. Georgetown Qatar, just like its main campus, is known for its prestigious school of foreign service with experienced faculties as its educator.”

The increase in applications comes as GU-Q operates remotely for the remainder of the Spring 2026 semester as a result of the ongoing conflict in Iran. The United States and Israel initially launched joint attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, leading Iran to launch retaliatory strikes on Qatar and other U.S. allies in the region. On March 29, Iran threatened to strike U.S. universities in the region following strikes on Iranian universities. The threatened strikes never occurred, and on April 7, the United States and Iran reached a temporary ceasefire.

The GU-Q regular decision application deadline was Feb. 1, almost a month prior to the start of the Iran war.

Ian Almond, a GU-Q world literature professor, said he was surprised to see the increase in applications given the current geopolitical climate in the Middle East.

“It’s certainly impressive,” Almond wrote to The Hoya. “Also feels a little counterintuitive — most people outside of the Gulf feel it’s a volatile area, the perception of Qatar to my friends in the UK at the moment is that it’s a war zone — so you would think the endless coverage of the US/Iran hostilities would put people off, but clearly in some perverse way it has even put Qatar on the map and in the center of things.”

Siregar said Qatar’s role in international diplomacy appeals to students interested in foreign service.

“In addition to its quality and in-class experience, I believe that GU-Q situated in Qatar also plays a crucial role in this matter,” Siregar wrote. “Qatar is a country that’s actively involved in diplomacy, so I think it’s only natural for many applicants to be attracted by GU-Q.”

Millena said she is excited to meet students who share similar values at GU-Q.

“I’m most excited for the fact that it’s a place where I know I’m able to grow towards the direction that I want to, and I feel the same as with my seniors in Georgetown and my batchmates in Georgetown,” Millena said.

“It’s a haven for people who want to explore the world more.”

Sasha Wolfson

Special to The Hoya

Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) senators developed their agendas for the upcoming term after the announcement of election results April 19.

The senators’ priorities include incorporating student voices in dining contract negotiations, improving financial accessibility and reforming club funding policies.

The Class of 2027, 2028 and 2029 senators will serve through April 2027, while the at-large senator will serve until October 2026.

Several senators said the upcoming term will be an opportunity for dining improvements, because Georgetown’s contract with Aramark, the University’s primary food service and hospitality management provider, is set to expire in summer 2027.

Tyler Chase (SFS ’28), a returning senator and the current dining committee chair, said he will advocate for a deal students support.

“I hope to collect as much student feedback as possible during the final year of this dining contract,” Chase wrote to The Hoya “I believe this information to be instrumental for my role on the committee to assess the options for the next contract.”

“D.C. has primarily relied on police to respond to calls involving behavioral health crises, substance use and poverty,” Duckett said at the event. “It’s an approach that has drained police resources while failing to provide individuals in crisis the specialized help that they need.”

“There is another way,” Duckett added. “Today, we and our partners are releasing ‘Our Neighborhoods, Our Safety,’ a blueprint for a unified public health approach to community safety in Washington, D.C. It provides a path towards sending the right response to the right call for help in the District.”

New GUSA Senators Set Agendas for Upcoming Term, Urge Institutional Accountability, Campus Affordability

Vincent Barahona (SFS, MSB ’27), the newly elected senator at-large, said he wants students with dietary restrictions to have a meaningful voice in the process.

“These are people on campus who don’t really feel like they have a place to eat,” Barahona told The Hoya. “Oftentimes, they have to go get accommodation housing, because they don’t feel safe to eat in their own dining hall, which I think is such a shame.”

Sam Baghdadchi (CAS ’29), a returning senator and another member of the dining committee, said he is working to expand the university’s dining options.

“I’m really looking forward to try and figure out new ways,” Baghdadchi told The Hoya. “Whether that be expanding the meal exchange options, maybe getting boba on meal exchange or talking about how we can ensure that training is most effective to promote food safety.”

Affordability and accessibility were also major priorities for many senators.

Ayesha Murtaza (CAS ’29), a firsttime senator, said she plans to establish clearer financial aid policies.

“We’re going to develop a financial accessibility newsletter so that every student, regardless of their income, knows how to reach out to admin when they have problems

with financial aid, but also any additional resources, such as scholarships,” Murtaza told The Hoya Cameran Lane (CAS ’28), a returning senator and the body’s current speaker, said he hopes to achieve increased financial accessibility by communicating with the university to ensure realistic legislation.

“Every GUSA candidate ever has genuinely put up an effort to try to get free laundry,” Lane told The Hoya. “It’s not feasible — the water costs, it’s just too much for the university, and so is the ecological impact if we are able to use virtually unlimited water. That obviously presents a little bit of a problem.”

“I think the best alternative is free drying,” Lane added. “The university has signaled that they’re open to it. It is significantly cheaper.”

The senators also hope to tackle the bureaucratic hurdles that clubs face in receiving university benefits.

While student organizations are encouraged to gather interest through flyering and public tabling, organizations cannot receive official university recognition for their club without undergoing the New Club Development process and receiving approval from the Council of Advisory Boards.

James Nichols-Worley (CAS ’27), a newly elected senator, said the diffi-

culty of receiving recognition means many newer organizations are excluded from these advantages.

“There’s really three things that come with access to benefits: your floor minimum of funding for your club, the ability to use the university’s name, image and likeness, and the ability to reserve rooms on campus,” Nichols-Wolrey told The Hoya “I think those three things should not be stuck together.”

Barahona, who is involved in both recognized and unrecognized clubs, said the university’s access to benefits model is decreasing student life.

“You know how much easier our life would be if we’d be able to book a room,” Barahona said. “But, I think that there should be a pathway for clubs that don’t have access to benefits to book rooms, or at least to collaborate with clubs that do have access to benefits. Because I think that that’s what Georgetown’s student life is all about.” Lane said the incoming GUSA senate plans to hold the university accountable and ensure that student voices are well-represented.

“I want to keep on working to make this stronger as an institution,” Lane said. “That means making it easier for senators who have ideas to turn those into bills, for those bills we passed, and turn into action, with our partners and exec.”

Comedian Praises Storytelling Across Arab Culture

Michael

Shtrom Events Desk Editor

A Palestinian American actor and comedian reflected on Arab culture in the media at an event celebrating Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies’ (CCAS) 50th anniversary on April 22. Mohammed “Mo” Amer weighed the responsibility of accurately portraying Arab culture and identity as well as finding joy in his work in a conversation moderated by Ayman Mohyeldin, an Egyptian American journalist. CCAS, a center within Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, hosted the talk to celebrate the center’s 50th anniversary, along with the “The US-Israeli War on Iran: Perspectives from the Region” panel and an exhibit in the Joseph Mark Lauinger Memorial Library on “50 Years of Arab Studies” this month.

Fida Adely, the director of CCAS, said the event signified the culmination of the center’s work over 50 years.

“CCAS is itself an Arab American project in many respects and our mission, teaching and learning about the Arab world in ways that dignify the diverse experiences of its peoples and

center their rights to justice and prosperity, has never been more beautiful,” Adely said at the event. “It is fitting that the highlight of this year’s Arab American Heritage Month and our 50th anniversary celebration should be two of the most well-known Arab Americans today, Mohammad Amer and Ayman Mohyeldin.”

Amer said his Muslim and Arab identity has shaped his career in comedy, especially following the attacks on 9/11.

“It was pre-9/11 when I first started stand-up and then 9/11 happened,” Amer said at the event. “I was petrified to be myself and that was a scary moment for me.”

“I got offered to do shows for U.S. troops and I said to myself, ‘Man, I should do these shows,’ because if I could be myself in front of them, I could be myself in front of anybody,” Amer added.

Amer said he feels a weight of responsibility when representing his Palestinian identity through storytelling and media.

“I surely don’t feel burdened with Palestine,” Amer said. “I wanted to just be clear on who I am and where I came from and there’s plenty of other stories I’m writing right now. My mentor said, ‘writing is a savings

account, you don’t know when you’re going to withdraw.’”

Amer has performed in multiple shows and comedy specials, including his Netflix special “Mo Amer: The Vagabond” and the Hulu sitcom “Ramy.” In 2022, Amer created the Netflix series “Mo” about his experience as a Palestinian refugee.

Amer said producing a second season of “Mo,” which also deals with Palestinian identity and culture, was difficult following the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israel-Hamas war.

“The biggest challenge for me was not to quit; I wanted to just quit,” Amer said. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it. Being able to see so much death and destruction, it’s not easy to witness. So, for all those reasons, I just became extra focused on telling the most grounded possible story because this is my family’s personal experience.”

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel and killed approximately 1,200 people. In response, Israel launched an invasion and a successive war on Gaza, causing widespread displacement and 72,000 deaths since 2023. The Israel-Hamas war is the latest stage of a decades-long military and political conflict between Palestinians

and Israelis, following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Amer said he is disappointed in the media for its excessive focus on his race and religion as a Muslim and Arab American.

“As far as my show, they’re always pinpointing and focusing on particular things that are always labeled as ‘Arab American comedian’ and ‘Muslim’ — they never say ‘Christian, white comedian,’” Amer said. “That’s such an interesting thing that I’ve had to live with over the last 25 years. I don’t want my religion to be included in my art form. My art form is its own thing. It has nothing to do with Islam itself; although, I am conscious of it as a trying-to-be practicing Muslim.”

Amer said graduating students should foster their own intercultural understanding after attending Georgetown through experiencing other countries.

“Traveling the world has been my greatest education,” Amer said. “It has been absolutely my greatest education, being engulfed in so many cultures around the world. If you can safely go to these places and learn about these cultures and just people-watch, you’ll learn so much and be more inspired than you ever were.”

GU Students Praise GWU’s Plan to Cover

Tuition Costs for Lower-Income Families

Annie Quimby Campus Life Desk Editor

George Washington University (GWU) will be the first Washington, D.C. university to cover tuition for students with an annual household income below $100,000, the university announced April 15. Georgetown University, whose tuition for the 2026-27 academic year will be $74,520 — $2,520 more than GWU’s — currently pledges to cover all demonstrated financial need through a combination of grants, scholarships and loans. Georgetown students praised the new GWU policy and called on Georgetown to adopt similar measures. A university spokesperson said Georgetown is committed to supporting students of all financial backgrounds.

“Georgetown University continues to increase institutional support for financial aid and access across the undergraduate and graduate student bodies to ensure it meets the full financial needs of all eligible students,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya Approximately half of undergraduate Georgetown students receive financial aid, and 35% receive institutional aid, according to the spokesperson. During the 2025-26 academic year, the university gave $278 million in financial aid to undergraduate and graduate students.

Alessia Castro Garcia (CAS ’29) — a member of the Georgetown Scholars Program, a university initiative that supports first-generation and low-income students — said a similar poli-

cy would be hugely beneficial to Georgetown students.

“If an identical policy were to be implemented at Georgetown, it would honestly be a great help for my family and me,” Castro Garcia wrote to The Hoya. “A weight would be lifted off our shoulders. Hearing about this policy being implemented at GW made me so happy for the GW students because I know some students were stressing about how they were going to pay for their tuition.”

Roan Bedoian (CAS ’28) — the chair of the Georgetown University Student Association’s (GUSA) Financial Accessibility and Equity Committee, which helps students navigate the financial aid process — said she hopes incoming university president Eduardo M. Peñalver will prioritize financial accessibility.

“He’s going to be new,” Bedoian told The Hoya. “Are we going to be able to look at him and say, ‘Hey, Georgetown is one of the most expensive universities in the country. Students are struggling. Students aren’t feeling like their full needs are being met right now. Do you want to help partner with us on this? Is that something you want to prioritize?’ I’m hoping he’ll say yes.”

“But, on an institutional level, I hope that we can use this so that future students are the ones getting to celebrate that being given to them,” Bedoian added.

Ethan Lynne, president of GWU’s Student Government Association (SGA), said the new initiative will attract more students from diverse backgrounds.

“I think this will greatly broaden the amount of students

that apply to GW and will bring the school within reach to tens of thousands of more people across the country,” Lynne wrote to The Hoya. “The impact will result in a campus that better represents students from all backgrounds, instead of only a specific few.”

“I think students are largely excited and will also be watching their own financial aid packages very closely,” Lynne added. “To me, the most important thing this means is that our incoming classes will grow even more diverse.”

Asha Gudipaty (CAS, McCourt ’27) — the former vice chair of GUSA’s Resources, Accessibility and Inclusion committee, which works to expand the university’s financial equity — said accessibility should remain a priority for Georgetown.

“Things don’t happen all that quickly when it comes to big changes, but things along the lines of how can we assist our most financially vulnerable or financially disadvantaged students when it comes from the admissions process to when they graduate, I think are really key things for the mission of the university,” Gudipaty told The Hoya

Bedoian said she hopes Georgetown students are motivated by GWU to advocate for similar changes on campus.

“I hope other students want to get involved and want to push for it as well so that we can build a really broad coalition,” Bedoian said. “Because, at the end of the day, it’s going to take the whole university, I think, to get behind an initiative like this, because it is a huge financial commitment on behalf of the entire university.”

Litigators Raise Concerns About Current Supreme Court Cases, Shifting Precedent

Sophia Tully Deputy Features Editor

A former U.S. solicitor general and a principal deputy solicitor general analyzed the impact of the current Supreme Court’s changing of precedent under the Trump administration at Georgetown University’s annual Bernstein Symposium on April 20.

Paul Clement and Neal Katyal, who served in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, respectively, argued against current presidential advances in their recent cases and how this administration may affect the future of the court. The annual Bernstein Symposium — created in 1994 to honor the late Marver H. Bernstein, a Georgetown politics and philosophy professor — invites notable public figures to address the challenges that arise from confronting public institutions.

Clement said the Supreme Court’s use of the emergency docket, which is used for urgent cases that are heard without full oral arguments, has diverted resources from other decisions.

“My criticism is that the court is doing so much work now on the emergency docket that it does two things that I think are counterproductive,” Clement said at the event.

“One thing is, it further skews the cases towards cases that involve the government. Because you look at the emergency docket, it’s not even General Motors or Meta or whoever are the kind of big private players today that are getting a lot of use out of the emergency docket or getting cases granted, it’s almost all government.” Recent cases on the emergency docket include Tangipa v. Newsom, about the constitutionality of California’s congressional map for the 2026 elections, and Castro v. Guevara, which argues a 7-year-old girl

from Texas should be deported to Venezuela with her mother.

Katyal said decisions on the emergency docket can influence the court’s final decisions.

“When I went to argue the case months later, I’m convinced that that emergency decision distorted the way they thought about the case on the merits,” Katyal said at the event. “It wasn’t a free tabula rasa determination. It was one that was colored by the fact that the Solicitor General yelled emergency early, months earlier.”

Katyal said the major questions doctrine, a Supreme Court principle which requires clear congressional authorization on major administrative decisions, shaped his winning argument in a case challenging Trump’s tariff power.

“I strategically made the choice to litigate the case, not about this president, but the presidency and about general powers, and ask for the justices to imagine any other president, including a democratic president who wants to declare a climate emergency, and that there were tariff rates for oil-producing countries or things like that,” Katyal said. “I think that was critical.”

Clement said Katyal’s win demonstrated the judiciary’s strength despite the Trump administration’s arguments.

“What a great country to live in, where, despite all that, the Supreme Court still was able to make the decision that this was an invalid exercise of presidential authority,” Clement said. “I think that is sort of part of the lesson in this case.”

Clement, who is currently arguing on behalf of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, challenging the lawlessness of her removal from the board, said

GUSA Senate Certifies Spring Election Results, Selects Incoming Leadership

Joshua Lou GUSA Desk Editor

The Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) Senate confirmed recent election results and chose leadership for the upcoming term at its April 19 meeting.

The senate elected a speaker and vice speaker, selected three committee chairs and appointed new justices to its constitutional council, a three-member council which interprets GUSA bylaws. Senators also emphasized the need for greater voter participation and rigorous advocacy.

In the most recent GUSA election, the election commission recorded valid votes from 1,274 students — about 17% of the university’s undergraduate student body. In comparison, about 37% of eligible students voted in the fall cycle, which included elections for the GUSA executive.

Vibha Sanjay (CAS ’28), the GUSA Election Commission chair, said GUSA will work toward increasing voter turnout in future elections, pointing to lack of advanced warning from the election commission.

“That’s actually quite horrible,” Sanjay said at the senate meeting. “We’re working on that for next time. A lot of that had to do with just a break being right in the middle of the lead up period to this election. That wasn’t ideal.”

At the meeting, Cameran Lane (CAS ’28) was reelected speaker and Roan Bedoian (CAS ’28) was appointed vice speaker.

Lane said he hopes to improve the senate’s relationship with GUSA’s executive branch.

“I have always been singularly focused on improving the senate as an institution,” Lane said at the meeting. “That means expanding capac-

ity, that means asserting ourselves as a co-equal branch of GUSA, that means being in rooms you know our constituents expect us to be in, working diligently with exec.”

“Historically, we’ve always been operating as two organizations going about our own business,” Lane added.

“Now I think we are very much more integrated. We work more as a unified government, still asserting our independence, of course, when necessary.”

Bedoian — who has worked in the senate’s Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC), which develops GUSA policies — said she hopes to support senators working on legislation they care about as vice speaker.

“I’d also like to be here to support all of you,” Bedoian said at the meeting. “I have experience in the Policy and Advocacy Committee, so I can help you with legislation.

I can get you in rooms of admin.

I understand how to organize things and I want to help you all take on whatever projects you’re passionate about, because I see this role as a role that bridges the speaker and the whole senate.”

The senate confirmed Teresa Fang (CAS, McCourt ’28) as chief justice of the Constitutional Council and elected Manvi Tripathi (CAS ’28) and Molly Jenkins (CAS ’28) as co-justices.

Zadie Weaver (CAS ’28) was reelected chair of the PAC, which promotes legislation and other policy changes.

Sienna Lipton (CAS ’27) and Tyler Chase (SFS ’28), who both previously served as the vice chairs, were confirmed as the chairs of the Ethics and Oversight Committee (E&O), which oversees GUSA’s internal operations and Finance and Appropriations Committee (FinApp), which allocates the annual student activities fee.

Lipton said she hopes to continue improving the efficacy and accountability of the senate.

“I’m really just actually very excited about keeping that momentum going, seeing how we can improve our function and improve our body through the bylaws and also make it a better experience for us and newer senators,” Lipton said at the meeting. Chase said he hopes to make funding for student organizations more equitable through the McDonough Student Advisory Board (MSAB), which appropriates funds to clubs in the McDonough School of Business.

“A couple of big things that I’m looking to work on are going to be bringing MSAB under the Student Activities fee umbrella, something that we started last two cycles ago, but something that we’re definitely still actively working on,” Chase said at the meeting. “The other thing that we’re gonna get to do is revise advisory board constitutions and make them all even.”

GUSA plans to elect vice chairs for PAC, the Ethics and Oversight Committee and the Finance and Appropriations Committee in an upcoming April 26 meeting. Bedoian said she hopes to improve the Senate’s communication with students. “I think something we lack sometimes is actually meeting with members of the student body and not just ourselves,” Bedoian said. “It was important to me in that role that I was speaking to students who aren’t in GUSA and aren’t in our GUSA silos and are sharing their feedback with us. I’d like to take that culture to the rest of the senate. I would like to see us all reaching out to the student body more often.”

Trump has used executive powers for his own personal aims.

“One of the things that President Trump did in his second administration is he came in with a sort of very strong view that under sort of his theory of article two, presidential power, he could remove without even stating a cause most of the members of the so-called independent agencies — Federal Trade Commission, National Labor Relations Board,” Clement said.

“President Trump grew increasingly frustrated by the fact that the Federal Reserve Board would not lower interest rates, which he very much wanted them to do, and so at a certain point, one of his other government officials brought forth the idea that one of the board governors had some inconsistency in her mortgage application, and that was going to be a basis for the president to remove that governor from the board,” Clement added.

Clement said the current Supreme Court’s more expansive interpretations of legal precedents, such as the free exercise clause within the First Amendment, granting greater religious liberty, are due in large part to Chief Justice John Roberts’ legal background.

“I don’t think it’s an accident that two areas where I think the law has probably moved the most dramatically, those are areas of the law that the chief justice is fully on board the project and indeed has written a lot of decisions,” Clement said.

Katyal said the Supreme Court has also changed the way it addresses cases about race.

“I think there’s a fundamental difference in the way the Roberts Court is treating race,” Katyal said. “I do think this court is very focused on race neutrality in ways that its predecessor was not.”

Clement said that remaining open to challenges has helped him in arguments.

“It obviously takes a certain amount of self-confidence to go into the Supreme Court and argue a case like this, but I really do think one of the keys to doing it effectively is to have that humility, to really improve and really listen to the feedback again in those reports and internalize it,” Clement said.

Katyal said Georgetown students should focus on bridging partisan divides.

“My serious advice, as someone said earlier, is to be more like Paul,” Katyal said. “We need a little bit of bravery, a little bit more of reaching across the aisle and helping one another, understanding we’re in this thing together.”

English Professor Wins Guggenheim Fellowship for Research on Poetry

Liv Sanchez Graduate Desk Editor

A Georgetown University English professor received the 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship, a prestigious grant for independent academic and creative research, the university announced April 17. Sarah McNamer, an English and medieval studies professor, won the fellowship for her work on her upcoming book, “Affect and Audience in the Work of the Pearl Poet,” which explores the history of an anonymous English poet who wrote several prominent poems. The Guggenheim Fellowship, which awarded 223 fellows this year, sponsors scholars’ independent research pursuits with grants ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. McNamer said she was honored to receive the grant.

“I’ve long admired the Guggenheim committee and the scholars who have been honored with this fellowship before, because I think it’s very open in terms of the kinds of projects and kinds of people that they help support,” McNamer told The Hoya McNamer said, in her upcoming book, that she hopes to investigate the Pearl Poet’s identity through his writing.

“Part of my work is kind of literary historical detective work, and I’ve come up with what I think is his context, and so I’m proposing a new setting for this poet in 14th-century England,” McNamer said. “But it’s also about how emotion works in the poems, so how they work effectively. That’s always been another important aspect of my research. I’m interested in how medieval literature reflects and also generates affective experience in history.”

“For example, the poem ‘Pearl,’ which is about a father’s grief at the

death of his young daughter, has been called one of the most intricate poems ever composed in English,” McNamer added. “He’s writing at a really intricate high level, and yet we don’t know who he was, or where he was writing, or when he was writing. So there are all kinds of mysteries surrounding this poet.”

The grant will fund McNamer’s work on her upcoming book, which will focus on the life and work of the anonymous author of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and the use of emotive language in the poet’s works.

Chandler Paulk (CAS ’28), a student in McNamer’s “Ways of Reading” course, said McNamer helped him connect with Middle English literature.

“We read Beowulf first, and I just didn’t really connect with it,” Paulk told The Hoya. “After that, we moved to Gawain, and I just thought that it really changed the way that I was thinking about the course.”

“Also, the way that she’s teaching, it was so obvious that she has such a passion for everything that we’re doing, but particularly for Gawain,” Paulk added.

Camille Deschapelles (CAS ’26), a student and thesis advisee of McNamer, said McNamer’s research has impacted the work in her own thesis.

“In the short fiction class I took with her, we read Sir Gawain, and her love of it shines through in her teaching,” Deschapelles told The Hoya. “ I’m just so happy that she gets to study that more. And actually, she was one of my inspirations, via the work that she’s done on affect in the Middle Ages. Studying emotions in the Middle Ages was really foundational for my thesis.”

“The work she does on emotions in the Middle Ages and looking at emotions in medieval

texts is so fascinating,” Deschapelles added. “She has a really interesting article that I used for my thesis called “Feeling,” where she looks at how Gawain and the Green Knight provoke certain emotions in the readers or the listeners of the Middle Ages.” Paulk said he has enjoyed McNamer’s class.

“She’s so supportive in the way that she takes out specific time for us to meet with her about the papers or things like that. It’s sort of slotted within the class time, which I think is really nice,” Paulk said.

“And I think that overall, the class is just a win in terms of structure.” McNamer said she appreciates the flexible nature of the grant, as it also funds non-academic work and research.

“To me, it’s especially helpful to know that there are a lot of creative people who have received this award, you know, choreographers, artists, dancers, because that itself helps me think about my work as creative work, even though, in a lot of contexts, it’s not perceived as that,” McNamer said. “It’s perceived as academic scholarship, which is often separated out from what is creative. So in that sense, that’s partly why it’s meaningful to me.” McNamer said the grant will allow her to focus on writing her book.

“It also provides a certain amount of support that one can use in any way, and for many academics like myself, that can provide some time to write,” McNamer said. Deschapelles said she is excited to see McNamer’s contributions as a Guggenheim fellow.

“She has such a humanistic way of looking at people in the Middle Ages, and I’m thrilled to see what she’s going to do with the Guggenheim Fellowship,” Deschapelles said.

TENNIS

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

BothTeams Fail to Advance in Big East Hoyas Keep Perfect Record in Big East Play, Narrowly Defeat Wildcats

The Georgetown University men’s tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the Big East Tournament before losing to St. John’s University on April 18, while the women’s team narrowly lost to the University of Connecticut (UConn) in the quarterfinals April 17. The men’s team kicked off the action Friday morning, as the No. 4 seed Georgetown (8-15, 3-3 Big East) faced No. 5 seed Butler University (8-15, 2-4 Big East). In their regularseason matchup, the Hoyas dominated, taking the doubles match and 5 out of 6 singles matches to claim the overall matchup 6-1. In the postseason, the Hoyas lost the doubles point before sweeping singles. Following his loss in the doubles match, firstyear Joshua Lamm-Bocharov stormed out to a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 3 singles to tie the overall match 1-1. Sophomore Jacob Mann saved a set point before taking his first set in a tiebreak, and shortly after, first-year Cyrus Zia wrapped up a comprehensive 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 6 to give Georgetown the lead. Arthur O’Sullivan followed, triumphing 7-6, 6-1 at No. 1. The Hoyas now had potential clinching matches on courts No. 2, 4 and 5. After a long rally on match point, Mann’s opponent rushed the net and volleyed, popping it up just enough for Mann to advance and crush a forehand, winning the match. Mann celebrated with his teammates as they rushed the court. Graduate Burke Pablo’s post-match hug lifted Mann off the ground, while Zia emerged on the scene, crazily waving a towel in the air. Head Coach Freddy Mesmer said the moment was

a testament to the environment the team has cultivated this season.

“Our team really prides itself on being very tight-knit,” Mesmer wrote to The Hoya. “Obviously, in tennis, it’s such an individual sport, but our team does such a great job of supporting each other and understanding that in order to win at a high level, you need to come together as a group!” It was the fourth year in a row that the Hoyas had reached the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.

That afternoon, the No. 4 seed Georgetown women’s team (8-9, 4-2 Big East) battled the No. 5 seed UConn (12-8, 4-3 Big East). The Hoyas overcame the Huskies 4-3 in the regular season, and Friday’s was another tight match.

The doubles point, which the Hoyas crucially claimed in their regular-season victory over UConn, did not go Georgetown’s way. Seniors Paige Gilbert and Ashley Kennedy dropped their set at No. 1 4-6, while first-years Ruhika Bhat and Julia Chu lost at No. 2 with the same score.

The Hoyas fell into a 2-0 hole after Kennedy lost 3-6, 2-6 at No. 4 singles. Georgetown showed signs of life, winning the next two singles. Junior Emily Novikov stormed out to a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 1, before Chu prevailed 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 to tie the overall match.

Gilbert lost 4-6, 4-6 at No. 6 to bring the Hoyas’ season to the brink, but for a moment Georgetown had a brief path to victory, as junior Katie Garofolo-Ro was in the midst of a third-set battle on court No. 3 and Bhat was up 2-0 in the third at No. 5. Before Bhat could wrap up her match, however, GarofoloRo fell 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, giving the Huskies the 4-2 victory and ending Georgetown’s season.

The lone survivor Saturday was the men’s team, which was trying to

avenge their regular-season loss to No. 1 seed St. John’s University (19-6, 5-0 Big East). The Hoyas split No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, and Pablo and Hank Williams battled at No. 3, but trailed the whole set, eventually losing 6-3 to clinch the doubles point for St. John’s.

The Hoyas ceded five first sets in singles play, with Arthur O’Sullivan the only player to establish a lead. For a brief moment, Georgetown had a path towards the match.

Arthur O’Sullivan was cruising at 4-1 in the second, Lamm-Bocharov and Mann were up a break in their second sets, and Jonah Hill was battling on serve in his own second.

If O’Sullivan had pulled through quickly and the other three had won their second sets, Georgetown would have had a chance, but O’Sullivan lost his 4-1 lead, just as his brother James O’Sullivan lost 4-6, 3-6 at No. 2. Shortly afterwards, Zia also fell 4-6, 1-6 at No. 6.

Mann won his second set 6-2 as Arthur O’Sullivan still sat locked in battle, and Hill was on the brink of forcing a third with a 5-2 lead in the second set. However, LammBocharov fell 4-6, 3-6 in the next moments, cutting his teammates’ comeback efforts short.

The men’s team fell 4-0 to St. John’s, marking the official end of Georgetown men’s tennis 2025-26 season.

Mesmer said that despite winning only one Big East Tournament match across both tournaments, he was proud of both teams’ effort and is excited about where the programs are headed.

“I was very proud with the fight of both of our teams and although we did not get the results we wanted, the program is moving in the right direction,” Mesmer wrote. “I couldn’t be more excited for next season.”

ART PITTMAN/GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

The Georgetown baseball team won two out of three games against Butler University April 17-19, scoring 26 runs across the two victories, one by a single run and the other in the 13th inning.

BASEBALL

Hoyas Snag Thrilling Series Win Over Butler With Shock 9-Run 13th Inning

The Georgetown University baseball team hit the road for Indianapolis April 17-19, facing the Butler University Bulldogs for a Big East series. The Hoyas came out on top, winning an entertaining 12-11 opener and a marathon 14-5 finale in 13 innings despite dropping game two 0-6. With the wins, Georgetown jumped to 22-18 (4-5 Big East), while Butler dropped to 15-24 (5-4 Big East). In both victories, the Hoyas’ offense was unstoppable, combining for 26 runs. After a disappointing middle game, they responded with an all-around performance where seven players recorded multiple hits, wearing down the Bulldogs after 13 innings.

Georgetown scored first in the opener, plating a run in the first inning before Butler briefly evened the score with a solo home run in the second. In the third, the Hoyas pushed across 5 runs and jumped firmly out in front.

Junior outfielder Ashtin Gilio worked an RBI walk, sophomore outfielder Dylan Larkins followed with a 2-RBI single and senior infielder Jordan Kahn capped the inning with an RBI knock to give Georgetown a 6-1 lead.

Butler answered immediately with a 4-run inning on a grand slam, cutting the Hoyas’ lead to one.

Georgetown responded in the top of the fourth, as graduate shortstop Connor Peek launched a 2-run home run down the left-field line. The Hoyas extended their lead in the middle innings. Senior outfielder Travis Ilitch drove in a run in the fifth, part of his strong 3-for-4 performance, while Kahn stayed hot at the plate, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

Georgetown commanded the game

12-7 in the eighth after Kahn’s 2-RBI double, seemingly deciding the game.

Butler made one final push, using a 3-run homer and a solo shot in the eighth to pull within 1, but graduate right-hander Griffin O’Connor closed the door in the ninth to secure the 12-11 win. Game two was a different story. The Hoyas were held off the scoreboard for the entire afternoon and never had much going in their favor. Through the first seven innings, the Bulldogs built a 2-0 lead before breaking it open in the eighth, adding on 4 more runs. Georgetown showed some fight in the ninth by loading the bases, but stranded all three runners to end the game.

Game three started with the Bulldogs striking first in commanding fashion. In the bottom of the first, Butler opened up scoring with a grand slam to right field from catcher Will White. The Hoyas found themselves immediately on their heels, trailing 0-4 before fans had even found their seats. Georgetown began to chip away in the third inning when graduate infielder AJ Solomon reached, and Ilitch followed with an RBI single to get the Hoyas on the board and cut into the early momentum.

Heading into the fourth, senior infielder Jeremy Sheffield led off with a double down the line and sophomore catcher Ashton Seymore brought him home with an RBI single to center. Later in the inning, with runners in motion, junior thirdbaseman Braxton Templin executed a sacrifice bunt that plated another run, trimming the deficit to 4-3 and shifting the energy back toward the Georgetown dugout. Butler answered in the bottom half, manufacturing a run to push the lead back to 2 at 5-3. In the fifth, Ilitch sparked another rally with a double, and Sheffield delivered again with an RBI single to make it a 1-run game.

The Hoyas’ breakthrough finally came in the seventh. Ilitch singled, Sheffield followed with another, Seymore came through again in the clutch, lining an RBI single that tied the game 5-5. From there, the game settled into a grind, with both bullpens shutting down any scoring opportunities.

Georgetown threatened in the eighth and again in the 10th, putting runners on base and creating pressure, but Butler’s pitching held firm, stranding key baserunners and extending the game deeper into extras.

Finally, in the 13th, it clicked for the Hoyas.Giliosingledtostartaweekenddefining inning. Solomon followed right behind with another base knock before both players advanced on a balk, and Ililtch was walked to allow Butler a force at the plate.

The Bulldogs cracked under the pressure as a fielding error let Peek reach first, giving Georgetown its first lead of the game. From there, the Hoyas blew it wide open.

Sheffield knocked a 2-RBI single to extend the lead, and Butler continued to spiral as Georgetown kept the line moving. Seymore reached on a fielder’s choice, sophomore center Dom Cafferillo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in another run, Larkins drew an RBI walk and Templin added a 2-RBI single.

To cap it all off, Solomon singled for the second time in the inning, bringing in the two final runs of the game and giving the Hoyas a massive 14-5 lead.

Graduate right-hander Trajan Lee closed it out with a 1-2-3 inning, winning the game and taking the series for Georgetown.

After the weekend victory, the Hoyas fell to George Washington University 9-7 on April 22. They face the University of Connecticut (22-20, 7-5 Big East) for a three-game set starting April 24 at Capital One Park.

The No. 25 Georgetown University women’s lacrosse team extended its Big East winning streak on Saturday, April 18, narrowly defeating the Villanova University Wildcats 9-8.

Momentum swung violently between the two teams, but the Hoyas’ third-quarter surge and late defensive stand helped them hold on in a closely contested game. With both teams trading defensive stops and struggling to convert early, Georgetown’s ability to capitalize on key offensive stretches proved decisive.

Throughout the first half, Georgetown and Villanova traded goals, but neither team created meaningful separation.

The Wildcats scored first, but the Hoyas answered quickly. With a man-up free-position goal, sophomore attacker Sophia Loschert got Georgetown on the board, kicking off a game-long scoring streak.

After Villanova grabbed the lead again, junior attacker Anne McGovern assisted firstyear midfielder Betsy Burton to knot the score, and first-year attacker Molly Davies’ goal gave Georgetown their first lead at 3-2. Villanova did not quit, however — with a minute left in the quarter, they tied the game from a free-position shot.

As the second quarter began, defensive pressure intensified on both sides, and both teams struggled to find the back of the net. With 3:47 left in the period, Villanova briefly took a 4-3 lead, but Georgetown kept creating opportunities, especially on freeposition shots. Following several near-misses and vital stops by the Villanova goalkeeper, Loschert converted a free-position shot to tie the score going into halftime.

Georgetown found a new energy in the third quarter. Loschert found junior attacker Lauren Steer early, again delivering the Hoyas a lead. Shortly after, junior midfielder Reagan Ziegler finished a feed from Steer to extend their advantage to 6-4. With nine minutes remaining in the quarter, Davies scored her second goal of the game to cap a 3-0 Georgetown run.

COMMENTARY

Villanova reacted swiftly, seizing consecutive man-up opportunities to erode the gap.

After 2 extra-player goals, the Wildcats were near even at 7-6 at the close of the third quarter.

With 12:30 remaining, Loschert completed her hat trick and, just a minute later, McGovern followed with a goal of her own, giving the Hoyas a seemingly comfortable 9-6 lead.

But Villanova clawed their way back into the game once more.

After a man-up goal reduced the deficit to 2, the Wildcats scored again with little over four minutes remaining, reducing the Hoyas’ lead to just 1 goal.

In the game’s final minutes, Villanova pressed for an equalizer, but graduate goalkeeper Leah Warehime made a vital save on a free-position effort with just seconds remaining on the clock.

With 3 goals and an assist, Loschert topped the score chart. Davies notched 2 goals, and McGovern racked up a goal and 2 assists. Steer and Zeigler completed a well-rounded Georgetown attack with a goal apiece and an assist for Steer.

Senior attacker Gracie Driggs was also vital in the midfield, helping the Hoyas retain possession at crucial moments and control the draw, adding to her season-high 63 draw controls. Despite the Wildcats’ success on man-up opportunities, Georgetown’s defense disrupted possessions and held Villanova in check, with Warehime totalling 8 saves in goal. The Hoyas outshot Villanova 29-25 and took advantage of crucial opportunities, especially in the third quarter. Georgetown’s ability to convert offensively and execute defensively proved to be the difference, though Villanova outperformed the Hoyas in overall draw controls. The victory keeps Georgetown atop the Big East standings and fuels the team’s momentum going into the regular season finale against the No. 18 Denver University Pioneers on April 25. With both teams 5-0 in conference, the winner will clinch the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament the following week.

Ovechkin Notches No. 900 During Potential Farewell Season With Caps

The Washington Capitals closed the 2025-26 season with a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 14. Despite an 113-2 record in the final month, the Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time since 2023.

Despite the season’s disappointing result, an incredible record was established. Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin became the only player in NHL history to score 900 career goals, notching his 900th goal in an early-season rout of the St. Louis Blues.

Ovechkin said it was a special moment for him and he was thankful it came on home ice.

“It’s a huge number,” Ovechkin said in a post-game press conference. “No one ever did it in NHL history, and to be the first player ever to do it, it’s a special moment. So yeah, it’s nice it’s over and it’s nice to get it at home, so the fans and family can be here.”

The goal came early in the second period. Ovechkin batted a pass out of the air and passed it to Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who shot wide of the net. The puck rebounded right to Ovechkin, who spun around and backhanded it into the net. It was a rather unorthodox goal for Ovechkin, who is known for his one-timers from the top of the left circle, aptly named his “office.”

Capitals Head Coach Spencer Carberry — the 2025 Jack Adams Award recipient, an award given to the league’s best coach — said goal 900 proves how uniquely talented Ovechkin is.

“It finds a way in, in true ‘O’ fashion,” Carberry said in a post-

game press conference. “I think that’s among many qualities that he’s demonstrated over his career as a goal scorer, the different ways that he’s scored.”

“Next thing you know, it’s in the back of the net and he’s got 900 goals in the NHL, which you just can’t wrap your head around that,” Carberry added.

The Capitals started the season strong, posting a 15-9-2 record through the first two months. A lackluster December and January left the Caps with a slightly aboveaverage 29-23-7 record heading into the Olympic break.

Three Capitals players were selected for the Olympics — forward Tom Wilson and goaltender Logan Thompson made Team Canada while defenseman Martin Fehérváry represented Team Slovakia. Wilson and Thompson earned silver medals after Canada’s 2-1 overtime loss to the United States.

While the Capitals’ 95 points would normally have been good enough for the third spot in the Metro Division, this year they fell short. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers both finished ahead of the Caps with 98 points, capturing the second and third spots in the division, respectively. The Eastern Conference playoff race was much more competitive this year, with many teams recording a higher point total than usual, in part due to an increase in overtime losses (teams are awarded one “loser point” in an overtime loss) and a weak Western Conference.

The Capitals hosted the Penguins for their final home game of the season, shutting them out 3-0 in front of a soldout crowd April 12. This was

potentially the last matchup in a storied rivalry between Penguins forward Sidney Crosby and Ovechkin, dating back to their memorable race for the 2005 to 2006 Calder Trophy, the NHL’s rookie of the year award. It also may have been Ovechkin’s final game in Washington. Crosby and Ovechkin have played each other 100 times in the regular season and playoffs. The most recent Caps-Pens playoff matchup came during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs second round, where the Capitals beat Pittsburgh in six games. The Capitals won their first Stanley Cup that season after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals. That year, Ovechkin won the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s playoff MVP. Now that the season is over, speculation remains on whether it was Ovechkin’s last or if he will sign another deal with the Capitals. After the season finale against the Blue Jackets, Ovechkin hinted that he would play again next year.

“To be honest with you, I’m pretty sure it’s not my last game,” Ovechkin said in a postgame press conference. “I hope it’s not my last game, against Columbus. The kids are already asking me, ‘Dad, are you staying or no?’ And I tell them, ‘We’ll see.’ They want me to come back. They love the city, they love the team, they love the boys.” Whether or not this was Alexander Ovechkin’s last season in the NHL, the Capitals have been blessed with the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history and have a Stanley Cup to show for it.

Portal Departures Put Cooley’s Roster in Limbo

PORTAL, from A12

for the 2026-27 season. Walk-on junior guard Hashem Asadallah entered the portal in April.

The departures at guard made Georgetown’s early portal additions particularly important.

The Hoyas landed junior guard Jaland Lowe on April 13. Lowe played nine games last season at the University of Kentucky before a season-ending shoulder injury, but previously averaged 16.8 points and 5.5 assists at the University of Pittsburgh during the 2024-25 season.

Three days later, Georgetown added guard Elmarko Jackson, who previously spent three seasons at the University of Kansas, redshirting the 2024-25 season following an injury. In his most recent season with the Jayhawks, the former McDonald’s All-American averaged 4.8 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

Tyler Turnpaugh (CAS ’29), a fan of the men’s basketball team, said these backcourt additions gave him early optimism.

“I was overjoyed last week this time,” Turnpaugh told The Hoya “Signing Jaland, signing Elmarko, are great deals. Those are quality players, ton of potential.

I have a lot of belief in them.”

Now, Georgetown’s biggest need appears to be in the frontcourt.

Sophomore forward Isaiah Abraham entered the portal in early April after starting 32 games last season and has since committed to Kansas State University. Sophomore forward Jayden Fort also entered after averaging 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in all 34 games last season.

Junior forward Austin Montgomery entered the portal April 10 after three seasons with the program.

Sophomore center Julius Halaifonua, known by fans as Juice, initially announced he would return to the Hilltop before later entering the portal. Senior center Vince Iwuchukwu, who is awaiting an NCAA waiver for an additional season of eligibility, became the final member of last season’s roster to enter April 20.

Georgetown’s current 2026-27 roster contains just one center: sophomore Seal Diouf, who averaged 3.2 minutes in 12 games played last season.

Turnpaugh said the lack of forwards and centers has created concern.

“With Juice transferring, especially, it’s worrisome, because we don’t have many big men at all,” Turnpaugh said. “I think that getting the big, big guys, big physical guys, is how Cooley coaches, so I haven’t really seen a Cooley team that thrives on anything other than size and physicality.”

Georgetown will retain a few key contributors from last season’s roster.

Sophomore forward Caleb Williams confirmed his return April 8 after averaging 8.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in 34 starts last season.

Sophomore guard Kayvaun Mulready, a key rotation player for the Hoyas last season, will also return. Mulready averaged 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game. Additionally, Brazilian first-year guard Gabriel “Gabe” Landeira remains with the program after redshirting his first season with the Hoyas.

Gabe Ciralsky (SFS ’29), another fan of the team, said the returners offer some much needed stability.

“I’m very glad, very glad Kayvaun is back,” Ciralsky told The Hoya. “Glad Caleb’s back.”

“I’m excited about Gabe, excited about Jaland Lowe and Elmarko, but definitely early,” Ciralsky added.

While the portal has closed, Georgetown’s offseason work is far from over. Players already in the portal do not have a hard deadline to commit to a new school, and programs will continue to finalize rosters deep into the summer.

For Georgetown, the backcourt has taken clearer shape with the additions of Lowe and Jackson alongside returners Mulready and Landeira. But with a frontcourt consisting of just one inexperienced center, Williams and incoming first-year forward Justin Caldwell, Cooley and his staff’s next moves will likely be focused on adding size inside.

SOCCER

US and Marseille Face Off at GU’s Shaw Field

MCCOURT, from A12

Team broke the deadlock early in the first half. Marseille came close with a volley off a corner, which was saved, and later the U.S. goalkeeper made a brilliant save in a one-onone with OM’s striker to keep the match scoreless.

Despite having few clear-cut opportunities throughout the half, the U.S. team was the first to score. In the 14th minute, a deep cross came in and was propelled off the bottom of the left post. The ball bounced out to the top of the penalty box before it was fired in to give the United States a 1-0 lead.

As the half wound down, the American keeper made another great save as a shot destined for the top right corner came flying in from outside the box. His save preserved the U.S. lead going into halftime.

The second half began like the first in terms of scoring. This time, the U.S. got the first feasible chance at a goal. In the 22nd minute, the U.S. National Team captain, Nico Calabria, was fouled hard at the edge of the box and awarded a free kick, which was ultimately saved.

The captain of the French national amputee team, Jérôme Raffetto, equalized for OM in the 26th minute, running through on goal before chipping the ball over the U.S. keeper to secure a draw for the French side.

Raffetto played in Ligue 2, France’s second division, before he lost his right

leg after being hit by a car in 2005.

After the match, Calabria, who is founder of the New England Amputee Soccer Association in addition to the U.S. men’s national team, said that amputee soccer requires a different skill set than able-bodied soccer.

“It’s a full-body sport for sure,” Calabria told The Hoya. “It’s a lot of stability training, a lot of core work, a lot of arm work, like, do dips, do parallel bars, do handstands, planks, all that stuff. And then the actual just plyometrics for the one foot is, like, that’s a lot too. So it’s really leg, arms and core.”

Calabria played able-bodied soccer growing up through the high school varsity level and continues to play able-bodied soccer today to stay in shape. Amputee soccer gave Calabria a space to play without feeling different, which he said is very valuable.

“I think sport and adaptive sport are really good ways of having people be comfortable with who they are and see a pathway, see people that look like them, that are being competitive and being athletic and wanting to be in that group,” Calabria said.

Calabria said adaptive sport is also a way to foster connection and understanding between ablebodied and disabled individuals.

“We saw the Paralympic movement grow, which really started to put disability on display for humanity in a way that wasn’t about sympathy or

pity or disgust,” Calabria said. “It was about how we can celebrate the fact that disability is part of the world that we live in. Here’s how people with disabilities compete, and I think it shows a different side of the humanity of people with disabilities, that this drive to compete and be athletic and win is inside everybody.”

Kenny echoed Calabria and

Venet’s views on the importance of sport and said that sport can be essential to building culture. “Sport is a really important catalyst for social change, for bringing people into a deeper awareness of how exciting and transformative the disability community and culture can be,” Kenny said. “I think we’re just getting started on what disability and sport can do together.”

Seniors Leave Cooper Field Victorious Over St. John’s

SENIORS, from A12

also scored. To close out the period, senior midfielder Patrick Crogan assisted sophomore midfielder Kevin Miller to put the Hoyas up 16-7.

Bickel kicked off the fourth period by completing his hat trick with an assist from Liam Connor. The Red Storm capitalized on a lull from the Hoyas’ offense, scoring 4 straight goals midway through the period.

Sophomore attacker Zach Chari scored his first goal of the year with just 56 seconds remaining in the game to secure an 18-11 victory.

After the game, Head Coach Kevin Warne said the departing seniors had been indispensable to the team.

“You’ve got to look at it as a four-year journey,” Warne told The Hoya. “Our goal is that they become better lacrosse players, students and people when they leave than when they got here.”

“Hopefully, they take those lessons into the next 60 years of their life. I hope they learned a thing or two, and maybe a funny joke from me,” Warne added.

Senior midfielder Jordan Wray, the team’s captain, said the team’s community has been the most memorable part of his time at Georgetown.

“The things that I’ll remember most are the things that

happened off the lacrosse field, whether that’s bus rides, sitting at home with my roommates, or making dinners,” Wray told The Hoya. “You work your whole life to achieve a goal, and that’s special.”

“But what makes that even more special is the group that you do it with, the challenges you overcome,

and the way you grow,” Wray added.

The Hoyas will wrap up the regular season next Friday, April 24, in Villanova, Pa., against the Villanova University Wildcats (6-6, 3-1 Big East), who prevailed April 18 over Marquette University (66, 2-2 Big East) 16-15 in overtime. Friday’s game against Villanova

will be Georgetown’s last before the Big East tournament, with whoever emerges victorious securing the No. 1 seed in the tournament. While the Hoyas could get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, a conference championship would automatically qualify them.

1

BIG EAST, from A12 and purpose,” Reed wrote in a statement. “Beyond her accomplishments, Val has been an exceptional partner and leader, working closely with then President DeGioia as they navigated a complex time for the league. She has consistently demonstrated integrity, vision and a deep commitment to both the student-athletes and the values that define the Big East. Working alongside her has been both a learning experience and a privilege.”

Rev. Brian Shanley, the chair of the Big East board of directors and president of St. John’s University, said he was grateful for Ackerman’s leadership, which was crucial in saving the conference.

“When we re-founded the Big East in 2013 as a basketball-centric conference, our first task was to find a commissioner who could provide the strategic vision needed to position us as a basketball peer with the power football conferences and compete with the country’s best,” Shanley said in a press release. “We found that visionary leader in Val Ackerman.”

As the Big East makes the first leadership change since its

reorganization, the conference now faces the difficult task of navigating new territory for college athletics. As restrictions on transfers and player compensation have fallen by the wayside, student-athletes now move between universities freely.

These changes have shifted the balance of power and money away from universities and toward players and have sparked lobbying pushes to return to restrictions on player movement and compensation. The Big East, along with every other Division I conference, has endorsed the SCORE Act, a federal bill that would do just that by granting the NCAA immunity from antitrust laws. However, that act has stalled in Congress and the conferences continue to lobby.

Fans and analysts say the next commissioner must be a capable leader who can advocate for the conference at a federal level and withstand the rapid changes as college football continues to surge in popularity and profitability.

Shanley said he recognizes the steep task ahead for the conference.

“She leaves big shoes to fill,” Shanley said.

TENNIS

Both tennis teams competed in the Big East Tournament April 17, with the men’s team advancing to the semifinal April 18. FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2026

TALKING POINTS

Signing Jaland, signing Elmarko, are great deals. Those are quality players. I have a lot of belief in them.

After Portal Dust Settles, Cooley Has Work to Do

Maddie Taylor Contributing Editor

In the 15 days the transfer portal was open, 10 Georgetown University men’s basketball players entered. The Hoyas added two experienced guards during that time, but saw much of last season’s roster depart, leaving Georgetown Head Coach Ed Cooley with just seven scholarship players currently committed for next season and major uncertainty remaining, particularly in the frontcourt. Georgetown lost four-star recruit Alex Constanza, who announced he was reopening his recruitment April 15 after committing to Georgetown in November 2025.

Junior guard Malik Mack, a twoyear starter, announced that he would enter the portal March 31 before committing to Big East conference rival Providence College, which Cooley left for Georgetown three years ago. Mack averaged 13.3 points, 4.2 assists and 3.3 rebounds during his two years with the Hoyas, serving as a primary offensive option in both seasons.

Junior guard KJ Lewis, Georgetown’s first portal departure, entered after one season with the Hoyas. Lewis led Georgetown in scoring last season with 14.9 points per game before suffering a season-ending injury in the Feb. 24 loss to Marquette University. He committed to the University of Southern California on April 14. Junior guard DeShawn Harris-Smith, who appeared in six games last season before stepping away from the team due to personal reasons in December, also announced his departure March 27. Additionally, graduate guard Langston Love entered, seeking an eligibility waiver from the NCAA

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Jacob Nolan

Deputy Sports Editor

The No. 10 Georgetown University men’s lacrosse team beat the St. John’s University Red Storm 18-11 April 18, recording a season high in goals and marking a special occasion for 12 players. It was senior day and their final home game at Cooper Field. Georgetown’s (7-4, 4-0 Big East) victory over St. John’s (2-11, 0-4 Big East) closed out the Hoyas’ home slate as they remained undefeated in Big East play. The Red Storm struck first, as St. John’s midfielder Brody Hergott snuck a pass through Georgetown’s defense for attacker Owen Rogers, who scored from point-blank range. Graduate attacker Rory Connor responded just two minutes later, scoring off a feed from first-year midfielder Jake Bickel. Less than a minute after his brother tied the game, junior attacker Liam Connor emerged from behind the net and spun around to find the back of it, giving the Hoyas the lead. Midway through the period, firstyear attacker Natty Mason assisted Rory Connor’s second goal to put Georgetown up 3-1. Late in the period, attacker Adrian Nowak scored to put the Red Storm within 1, but just 5 seconds later, sophomore attacker Jack Ransom ripped a shot past the St. John’s goalie to restore the Hoyas’ 2-goal advantage. Ransom’s second goal of the game came after Liam Connor found him right in front of the net at 2:13. But the Red Storm weren’t going down without a fight, as face-

Georgetown @ UPenn

April 23-25

Philadelphia

NUMBERS GAME See A10

Tyler Turnpaugh (CAS ’29)

The Georgetown University baseball team scored 9 runs in the 13th inning to beat Butler University on April 19. 9

GASSOSO/THE HOYA McCourt Global and French soccer club Olympique de Marseille partnered to bring four top-class amputee soccer exhibition games to Georgetown University on April 19. The Marseille team played three friendly matches, including against the U.S. National Amputee Soccer team, drawing 1-1.

GU Hosts World-Class Amputee Soccer Match

Madeline

Wang Sports Staff Writer

Shaw Field played host to worldclass sport April 19 as the U.S. Men’s National Amputee Soccer Team faced off against the Olympique de Marseille (OM) men’s amputee team. The game was part of the McCourt Global Amputee Soccer Invitational, an event put on by McCourt Global LLC and Treizième Homme, Marseille’s foundation — which executes the club’s social and philanthropic objectives — alongside Georgetown University’s Disability Cultural Center.

Amy Kenny, director of Georgetown’s Disability Cultural Center, said the purpose of the event was to showcase top-quality sport and raise awareness for amputee soccer and adaptive sports overall.

“Sport is a really important part of culture and community building,” Kenny told The Hoya

“It’s one of the only places where people from different generations, beliefs, backgrounds come together to build a community, to cheer folks on and hopefully to have a great time together and build traditions together. And disability is absolutely a part of that culture.”

Lucie Venet, the executive director of Treizième Homme for two years, said that since Frank McCourt (CAS ’75) started the OM Foundation in 2017, the group has focused on implementing its mission’s pillars — education, sports, environment and solidarity — through sport.

Venet said expanding amputee soccer is a vital part of the club’s mission.

“You need to have an impact to do things, to do concrete things, for the territory, for the inhabitants, for the inhabitants to maybe be strong after your communication,” Venet told The Hoya. “That’s the purpose with

our project. We really want to give awareness and to put light on the discipline and help people discover it.” That is exactly what happened Sunday afternoon, as the Amputee Soccer Invitational played out on Shaw Field. After hours of rain, the sun — and spectators — came out right as Marseille kicked the ball off to begin the gala matchup against the U.S. Men’s National Team. Each of the four matches featured two 15-minute halves, a shortened version of a regulation World Amputee Football Federation match, which consists of 25-minute halves. The rest of the rules were consistent with

regulation, played seven-on-seven on a reduced 60-meter by 40-meter pitch. In amputee soccer, outfield players have a lower limb difference and use forearm crutches to move around the pitch. Forearm crutches and residual limbs cannot be used to control or directtheball;bothresultinahandling violation and a direct free kick for the opposing team. Goalkeepers have an upper limb difference and play with one arm, defending a smaller goal than is used in able-bodied soccer. In the flagship match of the day, neither OM nor the U.S. National

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The Georgetown University

the

off specialist Ethan Wiegand won the ensuing face off and raced down the field to score. With just 23 seconds left in the first period, St. John’s scored again to make it a 5-4 game heading into the second period. Bickel started off the period with a sprint around the defense and a top-shelf finish to put Georgetown up 6-4. Less than three minutes later, a St. John’s attacker sniped a high shot past junior goalkeeper Anderson Moore to cut the Red Storm’s deficit back to 1.

Midway through the period, Bickel assisted on 2 goals, growing Georgetown’s lead to 3. He dodged defenders to assist Ransom’s third goal of the game — and his first hat trick of the season — before finding Mason, who then spun around a defender to score. Liam Connor worked his way through defenders and managed to score a late goal at 1:58. Georgetown put more pressure on St. John’s but could not convert, leaving the Hoyas up 9-5 heading into halftime. The Red Storm were again the first to score in the second half,

capitalizing on a give-and-go play. Senior midfielder James Carretta responded with a goal of his own at 11:52 and just 14 seconds later, first-year face-off specialist Hayden Cody recovered the loose ground ball from the faceoff and ran down the field to score, giving Georgetown an 11-6 lead. After another St. John’s goal, Georgetown scored the final 5 goals of the period. The Connor brothers each had one, while Ransom and Bickel

See SENIORS, A11

Nate Seidenstein

Hoya Staff Writer

Val Ackerman, who steered the Big East out of its toughest period, will retire as the conference’s commissioner Aug. 31, she announced April 20. Ackerman served as commissioner since 2013, presiding over a period of dramatic change in the Big East and college sports as a whole. She was also a trailblazer, serving as the first president of the WNBA, the first woman to be president of USA Basketball and the first woman to be commissioner of a high-major conference. Ackerman said she was proud of leading the United States’ premier college basketball conference.

“It’s been an extraordinary honor for me to serve as the commissioner of one of the most prestigious and storied organizations in college sports,” Ackerman said in a press release.

“With our long-term business deals securely in place and knowing we have strong, focused leadership on our campuses, I am confident that the future of the conference, and Big East basketball in particular, is very bright, and I believe the time is right for me to hand off the baton,” she added.

In 2012, the Big East was on the brink. The conference was divided in two — between the small, basketball-focused East Coast Catholic schools that founded the conference, and the large FBS football universities. As this threatened to permanently end the Big East, a group of those basketball-focused schools, appropriately dubbed the Catholic Seven and led by Georgetown University, split off and purchased the conference’s name and rights to play its men’s basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden. Out of that period, Ackerman emerged as the conference’s leader, following in its history by prioritizing basketball and national television deals.

In that process, Ackerman worked closely with Georgetown President Emeritus John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95), who was the lead figure driving the push to save the conference. Lee Reed, Georgetown’s athletic director, said Ackerman was crucial to saving the Big East.

“Val was instrumental in not only stabilizing the conference during that moment, but in moving it forward with clarity