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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2025

GU Student Government Fundraises for Campus Workers’ Citizenship Tests Jacqueline Gordon Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA), Georgetown’s student government, is raising funds to help university workers take U.S. citizenship tests amid an uncertain immigration policy environment. The fundraiser aims to support immigrant workers who are seeking to become U.S. citizens but are struggling to pay the test fee, which exceeds $700. The fund — which has raised $275 as of Nov. 13 — comes as the federal government ramps up immigration enforcement efforts, prompting concerns among many members of the university community. Ignacio Loaiza Sandoval (CAS ’28), GUSA’s director of labor and financial accessibility, said the fundraising campaign aims to demonstrate GUSA’s support for Georgetown workers. “For a lot of people, it can be ignored that there are workers on this campus who are worried that they will be stopped by

immigration officials or National Guard or any of the number of federal agencies that are in D.C. and that their immigration status will be questioned even if they are lawful permanent residents,” Loaiza Sandoval told The Hoya. “We want to show them that the students support them; we are here for them.” To raise money for the fund, GUSA hosted a pieing event in Red Square Nov. 5, during which community members paid $3 to throw a pie into GUSA members’ faces. Loaiza Sandoval said GUSA hopes to hold additional events throughout the semester to expand the fund. Inés Molina (CAS ’25), who first proposed the citizenship fund, said the fund aims to ensure students understand the challenges workers face and uphold Georgetown’s Jesuit values. “It’s part of the larger invisibilization of the workers,” Molina told The Hoya. “It’s See FUNDRAISER, A7

HAAN JUN (RYAN) LEE/THE HOYA

Georgetown University residential assistants (RAs) criticized the Office of Residential Living for a series of policies implemented during the Fall 2025 semester that they allege will negatively affect RAs’ housing, employment and quality of life on campus.

RAs Denounce Residential Living Policies Maren Fagan, Nora Toscano and Patrick Clapsaddle

Editor in Chief and Executive Editors

KATE HWANG/THE HOYA

The Georgetown University student government is sponsoring a fundraiser for undocumented workers’ citizenship tests.

Throughout the Fall 2025 semester, Georgetown University has unilaterally implemented a series of policy changes affecting residential assistants (RAs), drawing criticism for anticipated impacts on RAs’ living situations and employment with the university. RAs denounced five policy changes, which date back to a Sept. 9 email, and include requirements that RAs living in suite-style housing may choose only their direct roommate and

must commit to being an RA before learning their building assignments. These changes went into effect this semester, and many RAs allege they will negatively impact their housing process and quality of life. Isaiah Vasquez (CAS ’27), the RA union’s vice chair and an RA for Copley Hall and Ida Ryan and Isaac Hawkins Hall, said the changes have made RAs distrustful of management. “It’s created a sense of distrust with RAs and with management,” Vasquez told The Hoya. “It just feels like there’s a loss of a sense of control.” This semester is the first in which the new contract between the university and the

Georgetown Residential Assistant Coalition (GRAC), the RA union, is in effect. The Office of Residential Living (Res Living) announced the roommate selection and RA commitment policy changes at a Nov. 7 all-staff meeting for RAs. The Hoya obtained a partial audio recording of the meeting in which Heidi Zeich, Residential Education’s executive director, explained the roommate-choice change. Zeich said Res Living made the decision in the interest of “equity” without RA input. “This was a decision that I will own. It’s a management decision,” Zeich said at the meeting. “I did

not consult RAs in making this decision because of the values that I already shared that were considered when doing this.” A university spokesperson said Res Living makes policy changes for RAs based on the university community’s needs and well-being. “The beginning of the academic year provides us with the opportunity to ensure that our policies and procedures reflect current best practices to serve the needs of our students, staff and community,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “Our goal is to foster intentional communities that nurture See RAs, A7

Big East Conference Renames Journalist Calls for Remembrance President’s Award for DeGioia Of GU272, GU’s Legacy of Slavery Ajani Stella and Nate Seidenstein

Senior News Editor and Senior Sports Editor

The Big East conference renamed its Presidents’ Award after Georgetown University President Emeritus John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95), the conference announced Nov. 12. The newly named John J. DeGioia Presidents’ Award, established in 2015, annually recognizes a Big East school for its accomplishments across academics, athletics and community service. Georgetown won the award for the fourth time this year. DeGioia, who stepped down last November after suffering a stroke, was a leader in college athletics administration throughout his tenure as Georgetown’s president from 2001 to 2024. He is known for reshaping the Big East conference, serving on the NCAA board of directors and supporting student-athletes. Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said DeGioia was an important figure in the conference’s history and deserved the honor. “The Big East Conference is deeply indebted to Jack DeGioia for his extraordinary contributions to our sustainability and success and for his thoughtful and collaborative leadership as our conference and college sports have navigated a decade of unprecedented change,” Ackerman said in a press release. “Jack implicitly understood the value of athletics in the context of higher education, and the many successes of

Georgetown student-athletes are a testament to his ideals,” Ackerman added. Joseph A. Ferrara, Georgetown’s chief of staff and representative to the Big East board, said DeGioia supported and valued studentathletes throughout his tenure. “Working alongside Jack for 13 years, I saw every day his deep commitment to intercollegiate athletics and his care for studentathletes,” Ferrara said in the press release. “This is a meaningful tribute by the Big East to Jack’s decades of leadership and his belief in the power of sport to bring out the very best in our students’ academic and athletic achievement.” The name change followed a unanimous vote of the 11-member Big East board of directors, composed of the presidents of the member schools. Braedon Troy (CAS ’27), an avid Georgetown basketball fan, said they were grateful the Big East board recognized DeGioia’s athletic influence. “It was a lot of pride to see someone who’s been really impactful in our personal Georgetown community being recognized for that on the athletic stage,” Troy told The Hoya. “It’s another feather in the cap of his legacy here.” In 2013, DeGioia, along with the presidents of six other Catholic universities then in the Big East, led an effort to save the conference when it appeared to be splitting in two — divided between schools that did and did not play in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The

seven universities — called the Catholic Seven — split from the conference and purchased its intellectual property and rights to the men’s basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden, restoring the Big East to a nonfootball, basketball-focused league. Since then, the Big East has undergone a renaissance and become one of the country’s premier college basketball conferences. Ackerman said she credited DeGioia’s efforts in 2012 and 2013 with saving the conference. “The Big East of today was made possible because of Jack’s vision and his long-standing determination to preserve the league’s priorities, values and history, and his continuing input played a critical role as we managed key decisions and steadily rebuilt our operation and standing,” Ackerman said. Mark Guerrera (CAS ’91) — president of the Hoya Hoop Club, the men’s basketball booster organization — said DeGioia has been a key figure in the history of Georgetown Athletics. “Georgetown Athletics is of extreme importance to the school and to its name and brand, and Jack DeGioia was one of the most prominent supporters of Georgetown Athletics across all sports,” Guerrera told The Hoya. “He was a huge proponent of the student-athlete experience — he was a student-athlete himself — and he appreciated

Sam Fishman Hoya Staff Writer

The journalist who first reported on Georgetown University’s history of enslavement urged community members to engage with the university’s complicated legacy at a Nov. 13 Georgetown event. In 2016, Rachel Swarns broke to the public the story on Georgetown’s 1838 sale of 272 enslaved people, known as the GU272, and later published a book about them and their families. Speaking on the sale’s 187th anniversary, Swarns argued that retelling the stories of the enslaved people Georgetown sold is vital to the Georgetown community. Swarns said that, although it is difficult to discuss the history of the GU272, doing so helps community members reconcile Georgetown’s history with its contemporary values. “I often say that this is hard history, and that is certainly true,” Swarns said at the event. “But it is also true that this hard history and the decision to reckon with it have brought so many people together, all of us here in this room, all of us here today.” The Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus sold 314 people, including the GU272, who were enslaved on plantations in Maryland to raise funds for what was then Georgetown College, which was struggling financially. The year before Swarns’ 2016 article, then-University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) announced the Working Group on Slavery, Memory and

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The journalist who first reported on Georgetown’s legacy of slavery See GU272, A7 urged community members to remember the university’s actions.

See BIG EAST AWARD, A7

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Georgetown University students called on incoming President Eduardo Peñalver to resist federal influence at a Nov. 7 protest.

The D.C. Council reinstated legislation Nov. 7 that requires underaged individuals in D.C. to observe an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

The Editorial Board calls on Georgetown University to expand opportunities for students and staff to shape curriculum.

Caroline Blake (CAS ’29) urges Georgetown University to accomodate students’ needs by implementing more substantial breaks.

In their production of “Heathers: The Musical,” Nomadic Theatre transports viewers to 1980s Westerburg High School.

Anandita Agarwal (SFS ’28) investigates the leading role people of Indian background play in comedy and stand-up.

Published Fridays

A fourth-quarter scoring blitz by the University of Maryland led the Georgetown women’s basketball team to drop the ball Nov. 9.

The Georgetown men’s basketball team delivered a decisive defeat to the University of Maryland Nov. 7.

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