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Peñalver to Establish AI Framework, Committee Ajani Stella Executive Editor

Georgetown University will develop an artificial intelligence (AI) framework to govern teaching, research and university operations over the next two semesters, University President Eduardo Peñalver announced Sept. 3. Senior university officials and a faculty steering committee will create a “consolidated set of core values” by the end of Fall 2026 and an “operational framework” by the end of Spring 2027 to guide Georgetown’s AI use. Peñalver’s announcement is Georgetown’s first major attempt to establish broad standards for AI use as the university increasingly seeks to position itself as an AI leader. Robert Groves, a senior advisor who served as Georgetown’s interim president, and the Faculty Senate will nominate experts and faculty to the steering committee, which Peñalver said will examine the university’s values. “Given AI’s ubiquity and rapidly evolving capabilities, Georgetown’s

commitment to our Jesuit, Catholic values requires us to engage in thoughtful reflection on how best to align our practices with our deepest principles,” Peñalver wrote in his email to community members. Students, faculty and staff remain largely divided over how Georgetown should engage with AI. Vedant Srinivasan (SFS ’27) — co-president of the Georgetown AI Association, which leads AI policy conversations on campus — said Georgetown needs a unified institutional response to AI’s growing influence. “The university is reckoning with the fact that AI is completely changing what it means to be someone in the workforce, what it means to be a humannavigatingsociety,”Srinivasan told The Hoya. “In an ideal world, what these committees come out with is some sort of standardized guidance and norms that allow us to know, as students, what our expectations of a college education are.” See FRAMEWORK, A7

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Georgetown University stopped offering the Young Leaders in Education, Advocacy & Dialogue pre-orientation program in August 2025 amid the Trump administration’s increasing threats to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

GU Cut Multicultural Center’s Diversity, Inclusion New Student Program Last Year Chloe Taft

Senior News Editor

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Georgetown University will issue its first major guidance on artificial intelligence use over the next two semesters.

Georgetown University sunsetted an identity-driven pre-orientation program in August 2025 amid the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, an investigation by The Hoya found. The Center for Multicultural Equity and Access (CMEA), an office that supports Georgetown students who have historically experienced barriers

to higher education, ran the Young Leaders in Education, Advocacy & Dialogue (YLEAD) program for the final time in August 2024 before it was removed from the center’s website by May 2025. Starting in August 2025, the CMEA began offering the Total Hoya Readiness: Intro to Vocation and Experience (THRIVE) program, which does not include programming related to identity or diversity. The change came as the Trump administration directed universities to terminate their

DEI-focused initiatives or risk losing federal funding. A university spokesperson said the decision to end the YLEAD program was made independently of outside pressure. “The transition away from the YLEAD program was not driven by external forces,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “We are committed to providing an academic and work environment where all members of our community can thrive, are treated fairly, welcomed

and respected, and do their best work.” Solene DeGaynor (SFS, MSB ’27), who was a YLEAD participant and peer-leader and later a THRIVE coordinator in 2025, said the new preorientation does not contain the same focus on identity or diversity, which was a fundamental aspect of the program. “The DEI language was scrubbed from the THRIVE,” DeGaynor told The Hoya. “It’s not See IDENTITY, A7

Aid Lawsuit Continues as GU Cooley Earned $5 Million in 2024 Appeals Class Action Status As Highest-Paid GU Employee Noah De Haan Senior News Editor

As a financial aid price-fixing lawsuit against Georgetown University and several other elite schools enters its fourth academic year, some students have begun receiving payments from a settlement fund while five defendants appeal a key ruling. The 2022 lawsuit alleges that the 568 Presidents Group, a group of universities including Georgetown that shared a financial aid formula, illegally colluded to reduce admitted students’ financial aid packages. In June, a judge allowed the lawsuit to move forward as a class action case — expanding the number of student claims — but the defendants will now ask an appeals court to reconsider that decision. The developments in this suit came as University President Eduardo Peñalver begins his term with affordability as a key priority. In August, Peñalver said Georgetown will continue to provide meaningful student financial aid packages. “We don’t think that lawsuit has merit, but it’s ongoing litigation, so there’s not really a lot to say about it,” Peñalver told The Hoya. “That lawsuit and what it alleges doesn’t have an impact on our commitment to providing meaningful need and providing a competitive and generous aid package as deep into the student body as we can.” In July, class members across all 17 universities began receiving payments from a settlement fund paid into by the 12 schools

that settled. Georgetown and the other four remaining defendants continue to litigate the case, attempting to absolve themselves of the accusations. A Georgetown spokesperson denied wrongdoing. “Georgetown strongly disagrees with the plaintiffs’ claims and denies any wrongdoing in this matter,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “As this case proceeds, Georgetown remains confident in its legal position and the merits of its defenses.” The defendants who settled paid over $280 million to the fund, which will disburse payments averaging $2,000 to all affected students, even those who attended schools still involved in litigation. All students who attended defendant universities and received partial financial aid between Fall 2004 and June 30, 2023, are eligible to make claims as a class member. Roan Bedoian (CAS ’28), chair of the Georgetown University Student Association’s (GUSA) Financial Accessibility and Equity Committee, said the settlement distribution helps relieve stress for Georgetown’s class members. “To know that these students are getting that financial aid relief now — although the pressure never should’ve been put there in the first place — does make me really grateful, because a Georgetown degree is really powerful and we’re very lucky to be here, and we know that,” Bedoian told The Hoya. “But we also know that when it comes with a huge

financial burden, that makes the significance of the degree that much heavier because you have to be able to make it back after.” If the plaintiffs win against the five remaining universities, the defendants could be forced to pay additional damages, increasing the award amount. However, in late August, an appeals court allowed the five remaining defendants to challenge an expert testimony that led to the lawsuit’s transition to class action. Now that an appeals court will consider the case, the class action is potentially jeopardized, which could lead to the dismissal of thousands of claims. In an Aug. 24 motion to vacate the case’s November trial date, the defense said the expert testimony that was key to class certification should not have been admitted as evidence. Hal Singer, an econometrician and expert witness for the plaintiffs, had established a causal relationship between defendants’ alleged pricefixing and lower financial aid packages. Although defendants claimed Singer’s conclusions were unreliable, the district court ruled his methodology was dependable. The appeals court will now weigh in. The debate over Singer’s testimony has delayed the lawsuit. Although the case was set to stand trial in November, a recent order delayed further

Noah De Haan and Sam Fishman Senior News Editor and Senior Sports Editor

Georgetown University paid men’s basketball head coach Ed Cooley over $5 million in 2024, making him the second-highest-paid coach in the Big East Conference. Cooley’s was the highest-paid Georgetown employee in a single year since at least 2000, except former men’s basketball head coach Patrick Ewing’s $12.5 million buyout in 2023, according to public tax documents reviewed by The Hoya. Although many fans were frustrated by the Hoyas’ inability to appear in an NCAA tournament under Cooley, they remain hopeful he can return the team to national relevance. A university spokesperson said Georgetown declined to comment on Cooley’s salary beyond its public disclosures. “Employment contracts are confidential and we are not able to comment beyond what is required to be reported by federal law in the 990 form,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. Cooley’s compensation is close to his salary at Providence College before coming to Georgetown in 2023. Since 2000, the earliest year with digitally available tax forms, the university has employed four different coaches in Cooley’s position: Craig Esherick, the successor of championship-winning coach John Thompson Jr.; John Thompson III; Patrick Ewing, who was fired before Georgetown HAAN JUN (RYAN) LEE/THE HOYA hired Cooley; and now Cooley. Prior to Georgetown paid its men’s basketball coach over $5 million in See COOLEY, A7 2024, making him the second-highest-paid Big East coach.

See LAWSUIT, A7

NEWS

OPINION

GUIDE

SPORTS

Peñalver to Protect Independence

Show Up, Show Out for GU Sports

‘Tony’ Serves Up a Hit in Theaters

Virginia Tech Bests Women’s Soccer

A10

University President Eduardo Peñalver will confront federal attacks on higher education and declining international enrollment.

The Editorial Board encourages students to rally behind Georgetown athletics, regardless of teams’ records or likelihood of success.

Grace Ko (CAS ’27) argues that biopic “Tony” charmingly captures Anthony Bourdain and reinvents the genre.

The Hoyas were unable to overcome an early Hokie lead despite strong offensive pushes in the late game.

GU Expands Sexual Assault Support

Research GU’s Black History

Find Yourself in ‘Lost Weekend’

Hoyas Thwart Duke Blue Devils

A12/A11

Georgetown will add two confidential resource advisers and require students to attend an additional training seminar.

History professor Adam Rothman urges community members to immerse themselves in Georgetown’s Black history.

Phoebe Bridgers tackles love, loss and change with her characteric melancholia, Anandita Agarwal (SFS ’28) writes.

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Georgetown men’s soccer breezed to a 3-1 victory over Duke University to defend the Hoyas’ undefeated season.

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