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Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 107, No. 8, © 2025
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2025
GU-Q Graduate, Public Policy Researcher Wins Rhodes Scholarship Nico Abreu and Ajani Stella was timely, in a way that was Events Desk Editor and Senior News Editor
A Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) graduate and public policy researcher won the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world, Rhodes announced Nov. 15. Fatima Yunusa (SFS-Q ’24), who majored in culture and politics at GU-Q, was one of 135 scholars to win Rhodes, joining over 30 previous Georgetown students and graduates who have won the award since its 1902 inception. The scholarship awards two years’ funding for graduate study tuition, fees and living expenses at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Yunusa, who was GU-Q’s valedictorian, said she sees Rhodes as the culmination of her efforts to study public policy as a source of social good. “Everything is coming together,” Yunusa told The Hoya. “My journey of trying to find out the best way to create this change in a way that was measurable, in a way that
tangible, led me to policy as a tool for creating change at scale.” Yunusa grew up in Nigeria, where she founded a high school program to teach young girls business and leadershipskills.AtGU-Q,shestudied education policy, socioeconomic development and global women’s issues while interning for various nongovernmentalorganizationsthat support economic empowerment initiatives and refugees. Yunusa said she aims to uplift people across Nigeria and worldwide through public policy. “I grew up very familiar with poverty, even though I cannot describe myself specifically as poor,” Yunusa said. “A lot of the people who I loved and cared about, I watched them work my entire life, from one job to the other, from one business to the other, without ever really finding something that, one, did justice to the intelligence and abilities that I know them to have, and, two, that gave them really a viable means of lifting See RHODES, A7
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Over 500 Georgetown University residential assistants (RA), students and other community members have signed a petition calling on the Department of Residential Education to suspend Fall 2025 policy changes affecting RA living conditions.
GU Community Members Petition for RAs
Nora Toscano and Maren Nov. 17, the petition has gained After voting to unionize in April “The collective bargaining 558 signatures as of midnight Nov. 2024 and accepting representation agreement (CBA) between the Fagan Executive Editor and Editor-In-Chief
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Fatima Yunusa (SFS-Q ’24), a public policy researcher, was one of 135 scholars to win the Rhodes Scholarship.
The Georgetown University residential assistants’ (RA) union is circulating a petition directed to the executive director of Residential Education (Res Ed), calling on the university to reverse RA policy changes made throughout Fall 2025. The petition asks Res Ed Executive Director Heidi Zeich to rescind a policy announced Nov. 7 that allows RAs living in suite-style apartments to choose only their direct roommate, rather than all of their roommates. Since its launch
21 from RAs, students and other community members. The petition urges the university to roll back the Nov. 7 policy changes. “We demand that the Department of Residential Education immediately reverse their new policy preventing RAs from selecting their roommates and being given their housing assignments when they accept their employment offer,” the petition reads. “We further call on the university to stop making unprecedented unilateral changes to RA working conditions.”
from OPEIU Local 153, the Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition (GRAC) and the university entered a year-long process during which GRAC and the university agreed on a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA created a stipend, an arbitration process for grievances and other policy changes for RAs. A university spokesperson said the university values RAs’ contributions to residential communities and will use channels established in the CBA to negotiate on the policies of concern.
university and the Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition (GRAC) established multiple avenues for both informal and formal discussion and resolution of issues of mutual interest and concern,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “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 See PETITION, A7
GU Observes Transgender Day Sanders, Computer Scientist Urge Of Remembrance, Hosts Vigil Caution, Regulation in Age of AI Sofia Thomas GUSA Desk Editor
GU Pride, a student organization supporting the LGBTQ+ community on campus, held a vigil Nov. 20 for Transgender Day of Remembrance to honor the lives of transgender people who died in the past year. Around 20 students and faculty members gathered to read the names of 67 transgender people who died in the United States this past year, as well as their ages, hometowns and a brief summary of their lives to remember each person as an individual. Since 1999, Transgender Day of Remembrance has been celebrated internationally each Nov. 20 to bring awareness to violence targeting transgender individuals. Ashley VanMeter, a professor of neurobiology who read names during the vigil, said sharing each person’s story helped to convey the humanity of those lost. “I think also the stories, each of them, we got as much information as we could, and I think the stories tell that these were real people that had valuable lives that were dreadfully cut short,” VanMeter told The Hoya. According to the Human Rights Center, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, at least 27 transgender or gender nonconforming people were killed in acts of violence in the past year. Jackie Early (CAS ʼ26), president of GU Pride, said the vigil
created a space for reflection by sharing the faces and stories of transgender people. “I think it is an important event to put faces to a lot of statistics, which I think a lot of us see about trans violence and trans death,” Early told The Hoya. “I think that this is an important time to reflect. We don’t really have a lot of events like this that take a more somber tone.” Allie Gaudion (CAS ʼ26), GU Pride’s director of advocacy, said she wanted the vigil to include poetry and artwork to connect with the lives honored at the vigil. “It was important for me to expand on past years by incorporating trans art, trans poetry and also the faces of the people that have passed to increase the impact and make sure we remember that they were actual people,” Gaudion told The Hoya. “I think it’s just important in this political climate that we show these people and who they were in their lives, because trans lives are so important.” Since the beginning of his presidency, President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders that target the transgender community, including the removal of an “X” gender marker on identity documents, which denotes people who do not identify as male or female. He further took strides to prohibit transgender people from military service and
cut funding for gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Gaudion said the vigil focuses attention on the people impacted by growing antitransgender political sentiments. “It’s really important that we recognize and we see these people as people and not just as a statistic, because it’s been getting so much worse since the reelection of Donald Trump,” Gaudion said. Transgender Day of Remembrance began to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman murdered in 1998 and continues to remember people who died from transphobic violence. VanMeter said the Georgetown community’s commitment to holding the vigil every year is important, especially as other universities roll back protections for transgender students and communities. “So many campuses around the country are folding and taking away rights and literally harming, in particular, trans people in the community,” VanMeter said. “So first, I’m just really proud of Georgetown for standing, and I think it’s really important that we continue to hold these events every year, because it just continues to remind us of how much is happening in the community.” Georgetown offers genderinclusive housing to students, allows students to submit a chosen first name and supports
Kate Hwang
Senior Multimedia Editor
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist known as “the Godfather of AI,” urged caution and regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) while reaffirming its inevitability at a Georgetown University event Nov. 18. Hinton, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for foundational work in machine learning, and Sanders argued that AI could disproportionately impact working class people by replacing jobs and redefining industries. Sanders, a left-wing economic populist, interviewed Hinton and moderated the lecture while contending that AI exacerbates existing economic inequality. Sanders said AI is not receiving sufficient policy attention despite having the potential to transform many aspects of society. “AI robots are going to have a very profound, transformative impact on our country and the entire world,” Sanders said at the event. “But despite that reality, we are not hearing the kind of discussion we need in Congress, in the media and within American society about what this consequential change is about and how we address it. So that’s what tonight is about. We don’t have all of the answers.” Sanders said the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, has the greatest income and wealth inKATE HWANG/THE HOYA equality in its history and AI U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and computer scientist Geoffrey See SANDERS, A7 Hinton called for conscientious artificial intelligence policy Nov. 18.
See REMEMBRANCE, A7
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A Wickedly Mid Sequel
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Outdoor Dining Fees
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Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook affirmed the strength of the U.S. markets at a Nov. 20 Georgetown University event.
The District Department of Transportation will impose outdoor dining fees, worrying local businesses about increasing costs.
The Editorial Board calls on the university to roll back its policy changes affecting residential assistants and uphold RAs’ labor rights.
In her latest column, Neha Jampala (CAS ’27) urges the university to consider its impact as a global institution for international students.
“Wicked: For Good” doesn’t always hit the mark, failing to defy gravity in the vein of predecessor “Wicked,” says Grace Ko (CAS ’27).
The Georgetown University department of performing arts’ production of “Orlando” is a stunning portrayal of introspection over time.
Published Fridays
The Georgetown women’s basketball team trounced Sacred Heart University, stealing a 77-44 victory Nov. 19.
Cara Martin’s dominant goalkeeping Nov. 20 pushed the Georgetown women’s soccer team to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
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