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Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 107, No. 10, © 2026
FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2026
GU Invested in Company With Ties to Fossil Fuels Years After Divestment Ajani Stella and Opal Kendall
Senior News Editor and Senior Features Editor
Nearly six years after committing to divest from fossil fuel companies, Georgetown University continues to hold shares in at least one company with close ties to oil and gas extraction. As of September 2025, the university holds over 3.3 million shares, or 6% of its public portfolio, in Granite Ridge Resources, an oil and natural gas production and exploration company, according to November securities filings reviewed by The Hoya. Georgetown has owned Granite Ridge stock since the fourth quarter of 2023 and increased its direct holdings by over 26% in the fourth quarter of 2024. In February 2020, the university’s board of directors pledged to immediately cease new investments, divest its public holdings in fossil fuel “exploration
or extraction” companies within five years and sell off private investments within ten years and “as soon as it is prudent.” Granite Ridge appears to fit the criteria, according to multiple investment experts who reviewed The Hoya’s findings. In October 2022, two private firms merged to form Granite Ridge, which then entered the public market. Granite Ridge defines itself as operating in “oil and natural gas development, exploration and production.” The company owns thousands of wells across six basins, which are operated by third-party partners. A university spokesperson said Georgetown is seeking to divest from Granite Ridge. However, the spokesperson said the university is not in violation of its divestment commitment since the company was a privately held investment until 2022, after the divestment policy passed. See FOSSIL FUELS, A7
HAAN JUN (RYAN) LEE/THE HOYA
Of the 10 departments whose chairs spoke with The Hoya, eight have finalized their Ph.D. admissions plans, which range from full suspension in Fall 2026 to partial cuts in each year as part of university-wide austerity measures.
Amid Cuts, Ph.D. Programs Remain in Flux Ajani Stella
Senior News Editor
KAYLA NOGUCHI/THE HOYA
Georgetown University remains invested a company with ties to oil and gas years after committing to divest from fossil fuel companies.
Georgetown University’s College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) will cut Ph.D. admissions for Fall 2026 and Fall 2027 as part of university-wide austerity measures, according to a dozen department chairs and faculty members familiar with the matter. In early December, CAS’s Office of the Dean met with department chairs to develop cost-cutting strategies, citing budget constraints and federal cuts to higher education. At administrators’ direction, chairs
overseeing doctoral programs proposed various plans to reduce Ph.D. admissions over the next two years, which the College’s dean and vice deans then assessed. Across the College, faculty members warned that decreasing Ph.D. cohorts could harm the university’s educational mission by eliminating potential researchers, teaching assistants and a future generation of professors. Throughout December and early January, The Hoya spoke with 10 of the 15 department chairs overseeing CAS doctoral programs and several faculty members to
understand how departments have begun to implement the College’s directives. For the Spanish and Portuguese department, this reduction meant cutting admissions for its two graduate programs by 25% after negotiating with CAS administrators. The philosophy department, meanwhile, suspended all Ph.D. admissions for Fall 2026, cancelling students’ applications one week after the deadline. The department of theology and religious studies expects to halve its incoming
cohort, repeating a similar costcutting measure from Fall 2025. David Edelstein, the CAS dean, confirmed the College-wide cuts, which have not been previously reported, and said they were the “regrettable” result of budget constraints and diminishing federal funding. “There’s nobody who is happy about this situation, and certainly that includes me,” Edelstein told The Hoya. “This is, unfortunately, a situation we found ourselves in because of the See PHD, A7
Tracking GU’s Budget Actions, Judge Rejects Motion to Dismiss Austerity Funding Measures Financial Aid Collusion Lawsuit Jacqueline Gordon Academics Desk Editor
As Georgetown University combats federal funding cuts and drops in graduate enrollment, various austerity measures, such as a hiring freeze and spending reductions, will continue into the Spring 2026 semester. In early December, the university projected a financial loss of between $91 million and $112 million throughout fiscal year 2026. To reduce spending, the university downsized Ph.D. admissions, instituted temporary hiring freezes for most positions and limited merit salary increases for faculty and staff beginning in April 2025. In two Dec. 9 town halls for faculty and staff, Groves said external financial challenges are compelling Georgetown’s costsaving measures. “We are collectively suffering from a set of very powerful forces that are out of our control,” Groves said at the town halls. “It’s not much solace, but Georgetown is not alone in this. This doesn’t comfort our families and ourselves; I get this entirely.” “In my current personal opinion, we don’t see a quick recovery from the actions of the current federal administration,” Groves added. The budget restrictions have come amid the Trump administration’s reductions in federal higher education funding and its immigration restrictions, leading to a decrease in international student
enrollment. In 2024, federal research funding accounted for $195 million out of the $1.8 billion the university had in that fiscal year’s budget, according to Groves. Groves first announced university-wide austerity measures in an email to faculty in late April 2025, including the hiring freeze and a pause on most merit salary increases. The April financial measures, initially instituted until Dec. 31, sought to cut $100 million from the university’s fiscal year 2026 budget. Compounding the university’s finances, Georgetown faces a $17 million decline in graduate student tuition revenue as of November, in large part due to a 20% decline in international student enrollment. The international student graduate population dropped to 1,780 students in Fall 2025 from 2,170 the previous year. Despite the drop in international student enrollment, overall graduate student enrollment decreased by only 3% in Fall 2025. Groves said changes in international graduate student enrollment are due to both immigration policies and tuition costs. “We have experienced new declines in graduate tuition revenue, although this outcome is not uniform across all graduate programs,” Groves wrote in a Nov. 24 email. “This trend is driven by a combination of new visa and immigration policies and broader economic pressures
facing prospective graduate and international students.” Groves detailed in the Dec. 9 two town halls that the university was still estimated to face a net loss ranging from $15 million to $36 million. By extending the austerity measures until the end of the fiscal year in June, Groves said the university could face a further $33 million loss or a $9 million surplus if additional budget plans are implemented. The hiring freeze, which applies across the university, honored outgoing formal employment offers and timelines for tenure promotions, but halted filling vacancies not considered “mission-critical” positions unless directly cleared with senior administrators, according to a document attached to Groves’ April email. The university also paused merit pay increases for the first half of the 2025 fiscal year for faculty and staff making more than $50,000 annually and for the entire fiscal year for executives and administrators earning more than $200,000 annually. At the Dec. 9 town hall, Groves said merit pay increases could be restored for faculty and staff making up to $75,000 per year in the second half of fiscal year 2026. Sam Halabi, the Georgetown chapter vice president of the faculty union American Association of University
Aamir Jamil Executive Editor
A federal judge rejected a motion by five universities, including Georgetown University, to end a financial aid collusion lawsuit and ruled that there was sufficient evidence to hold a trial in a Jan. 12 ruling. Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that the plaintiffs established sufficient evidence to bring the antitrust case to trial, rejecting the universities’ claims of immunity under the exemption and the statute of limitations. The lawsuit, filed in 2022 against 17 universities, alleges that the 568 Presidents Group, a group of universities including Georgetown that shared a financial aid formula, illegally colluded to use that formula, leading to price fixing and reducing the amount of financial aid for students. Kennelly said the universities in the 568 Group shared a formula, called the “Consensus Approach,” to keep financial aid offers low and avoid a price war. “In sum, a jury reasonably could find that the 568 Group created the Consensus Approach at least in part to avoid bidding wars, that members were expected or required to adhere to the approach, and that they did in fact partially implement it,” Kennelly wrote in the ruling. Georgetown is one of five reSee BUDGET, A7 maining defendants, along with
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Notre Dame, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, that have not settled. A university spokesperson said Georgetown would continue to contest the claims and that membership in the 568 Presidents Group was part of an effort to increase financial aid. “Georgetown respectfully disagrees with this decision, and strongly disputes the plaintiffs’ claims,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “Georgetown’s participation in the 568 Presidents Group was consistent with our ongoing work to ensure that a student’s economic background does not limit their ability to
attend Georgetown. We intend to continue to vigorously defend against plaintiffs’ claims.” Ted Normand, one of the colead attorneys for the plaintiffs, said Kennelly’s decision supports the plaintiffs’ claims. “We appreciate the Court’s analysis of the evidence, which substantiates our claims that for decades the defendants intended to and did benefit themselves at the expense of their students,” Normand wrote to The Hoya. According to the plaintiffs’ expert witness, universities in the 568 Group charged an average of $1,202 more per student per year due to the shared formula. The See LAWSUIT, A7
THE HOYA FILE PHOTOS
A federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss a financial aid collusion lawsuit involving Georgetown University.
NEWS
OPINION
GUIDE
SPORTS
Francesca Albanese Sanctions
Engage with Student Concerns
‘Stranger Things’ is Overstuffed
Men’s Basketball Falls to Creighton
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A12/A11
GU Students Protest at SCOTUS
GU, Join QuestBridge
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ Delivers
Women’s Basketball Beats St. John’s
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Georgetown University separated with an affiliated scholar and U.N. special rapporteur, citing U.S. sanctions.
Georgetown University students joined protests outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 in support of transgender student athletes.
The Editorial Board calls on the university to engage with students through The Hoya’s Opinion section.
Cody Baynori (GRD ’28) urges Georgetown University to be a QuestBridge partner and ensure socioeconomic mobility on campus.
The final season of “Stranger Things” falls victim to its massive scale, but ends on a solid note, writes Jasmine Criqui (CAS ’26).
The third mystery in the “Knives Out” series soars in its emotional weight, setting it apart from the first two films, says Grace Ko (CAS ’27).
Published Fridays
The Georgetown men’s basketball team blew an early lead to the Creighton University Bluejays 86-83 in overtime Jan. 13.
The Georgetown women’s basketball team delivered a 59-34 decisive win over St. John’s in McDonough Arena Jan. 13.
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