Monday, March 6, 2023 I Vol. 119 Iss. 22
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INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904
What’s inside Opinions
The editorial board writes GW’s “pandemic era” has come to a close after officials dropped the mask mandate. Page 6
Culture
Meet the alumna who is teaching local Washingtonians the art of acting. Page 7
Sports
Check out our coverage of women’s basketball’s final game this season and a recap of their year. Page 8
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ELIMINATED AFTER COMEBACK YEAR Women’s hoops wraps up best year since Season comes to close in A-10 2018 with run to A-10 quarterfinals women’s tourney after loss to URI BEN SPITALNY REPORTER
ZACH BLACKBURN
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
They weren’t going down without a fight. Women’s basketball lost to Rhode Island 68-56 in a physical quarterfi nals battle in the Atlantic 10 tournament Friday evening, putting an end to GW’s best season since 2018. The secondseeded Rams outmatched the sevent h-seeded Colonials for most of the game, but a furious GW run in the fourth quarter cut the lead to 4 and put the Colonials within striking distance. But the Rams, led by junior forward Mayé Touré and sophomore guard Sophie Phillips, never gave up their lead as the minutes ticked down. The game was physical – a total of 39 fouls were called and the teams combined for 37 turnovers. But the Rams, with a height advantage and fresh legs after a double-bye, maintained pressure on the Colonials, limiting GW, who never led, to 30.6 percent shooting from the field.
“I’m just really proud of our team today, playing 40 minutes through a lot of adversity throughout the game,” Head Coach Caroline McCombs said after the game. “Rhode Island’s a really good team – the top team in the league – so we knew it was going to be a huge battle for us.” Senior guard Nya Lok led the Colonials with 21 points, making seven of her 17 attempts and capturing six rebounds. The Rams held graduate student guard Mia Lakstigala, who nailed Thursday night’s game-winning shot to send GW to the quarterfi nals, to just 4 points on 1-12 shooting. Touré, the A-10’s Most Improved Player, kicked off the scoring for Rhode Island with a layup just 18 seconds in. But the game quickly settled into a defensive slugfest – neither team made a field goal for the next 3:44 – until Touré banked in a jumper for her second basket of the night. GW started 0-6 from the field and wouldn’t earn a basket until senior forward Faith Blethen sunk a 3-pointer with 3:56
RACHEL SCHWARTZ | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Freshman guard Nya Robertson was able to sink two clutch threes, with GW’s press defense forcing the Rams to cough up the ball multiple times.
left in the quarter to cut Rhode Island’s lead to 3. Taking advantage of Rhode Island’s also-tepid offensive output, a steal by redshirt senior forward Mayowa Taiwo set up Blethen perfectly for another 3 which she sunk to tie up the game. The fi rst quarter ended in despair for the Colonials when junior guard Asjah Inniss fouled graduate student guard Sayawni Lassiter while she heaved a half-court desperation shot. Lassiter would sink each of her three free throws, and Rhode Island would enter the second quarter leading 13-8.
The Colonials shot 2-12 in the fi rst period, and the Rams made just four of their 14 attempts, with 11 turnovers between the squads. See TOURNEY Page 8
BEN SPITALNY REPORTER
ZACH BLACKBURN
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
A squadron of established seniors and high-scor-
ing additions led women’s basketball to their most successful year since the 2017-18 season, when the team last reached the NCAA tournament. The Colonials (18-13, 9-7 A-10) finished the year tied
Students take to runway in Delta Lambda Phi’s fourth annual drag show, honoring late alumnus CLARA DUHON CULTURE EDITOR
Editor’s note: This post contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know has experienced suicidal ideation, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or reach the Student Health Center at 202-994-5300 and ask to speak to a counselor. The members of Delta Lambda Phi took to the spotlit runway in the University Student Center’s Grand Ballroom Saturday night in their fourth annual drag show, honoring their late brother and transgender rights advocate, Henry Berg-Brousseau. The queens strutted out in corsets, glamorous makeup and heels higher than the heavens, lip syncing and dancing to songs from the likes of Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse to raise money for the Trevor Project – a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth. The Henry Berg-Brousseau Memorial Drag Show celebrated the legacy of BergBrousseau, an alumnus who died of suicide in December following a long struggle with mental illness and “difficulty finding acceptance,” according to a release his mother issued after his death. Graduate student Jeffrey Fralick, the philanthropy chair for DLP and the executive producer for this year’s show, said the fraternity sent proceeds from the event to the Trevor Project. Fralick said the nonprofit was “near and dear” to Berg-Brousseau, who was the deputy press secretary for politics for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, and his family chose the Trevor Project for donations in his memory following his death. Fralick said
for sixth in the Atlantic 10, and a triumvirate of players earned conference awards in Head Coach Caroline McCombs’ second year at the helm of the program. The Buff and Blue exceeded expectations in this year’s campaign, highlighted by a heroic 3-pointer from graduate student guard Mia Lakstigala in the A-10 tournament that sent the team to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, GW lost a hard-fought battle against Rhode Island, putting an end to a season that players said bound them together as a cohesive unit in the game and off the court. “We’re very connected on the court as well as off the court,” senior guard Nya Lok said after the elimination loss. “We love each other so much, and we push each other every day, hold each other accountable.” The team instituted a new program before the start of the season based on NBA star Stephen Curry’s daily practice routine in an effort to bolster the team’s subpar 3-point shooting – and the program paid dividends. GW led the A-10 in 3-pointers made, shooting at a .332 percent clip after finishing
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Berg-Brousseau, one of the founders of the rechartering of DLP’s Alpha chapter at GW, performed at the inaugural show in 2018 as his drag persona, Inita Richman. “Henry had participated originally as a performer, and now, five years later, we’re now honoring him with this iteration of the drag show,” Fralick said. “So it’s a full circle moment.” Partnering with WRGW – GW’s student-run radio station – to put on the drag show, DLP gathered more than 200 attendees as the fraternity’s biggest philanthropy event of the year. The drag show follows a recent series of pieces of legislation Republicans have introduced across the country attempting to limit public drag events, largely in the presence of children, and targeting LGBTQ+ individuals. Closer
to campus, locals feared the neo-fascist Proud Boys group would infiltrate a drag storytime brunch in a Capitol Hill restaurant last month, like the group did at similar drag events for children and families around the country. Hundreds of residents gathered to defend the story time, holding up rainbow umbrellas and playing Disney songs in solidarity. Fralick said the recent attacks are “frightening” and “disheartening” to see, but DLP did not want to let hate get in the way of their performance. “Carrying on with the show as we had planned and just honoring Henry – which is the ultimate goal of that – I think it’s an attempt to kind of rebuke a lot of the hatred out there about drag shows and just the LGBTQ community, generally speaking,” he said.
Fralick said to prepare for the show, the consecutive 2018 and 2019 crowned winner, Anna the Hole Smith, portrayed by Jonathan Kvilhaug, gave the queens dance lessons to help enhance their performances. He said he hopes the event introduces newcomers to drag and inspires attendees to support drag queens and LGBTQ+ businesses around the District. “It’s great – if there’s anybody out there struggling with their own identity – that they can kind of look to DLP as this brother community or also just introduce them to a broader concept that drag is here, it’s in the District and that it is an open and accepting community for anybody who is willing to put themselves out there or just say hello,” he said. See QUEENS Page 7
See SENIORS Page 8
Biden to overturn D.C. crime bill pending Senate vote GRACE CHINOWSKY
LILY SPEREDELOZZI | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Partnering with WRGW – GW’s student-run radio station – to put on the drag show, Delta Lambda Phi gathered more than 200 attendees at the fraternity’s biggest philanthropy event of the year.
third to last in the conference in made 3-pointers last year with a measly .271 rate. GW skyrocketed from 207th in deep balls among Division I teams to 16th in just one year as of Monday. But the team didn’t let their aggressive presence outside the arc deter them from dominating the boards after flinging up a shot – the team ranked second in the A-10 and 35th in the country in offensive rebounds with nearly 14 per game. Freshman guard sensation Nya Robertson came off the bench to headline the year for the Colonials, breaking onto the scene to lead the team in scoring with 14.4 points per game and securing the A-10’s Sixth Woman of the Year honor. Robertson, who secured a spot on the A-10’s All-Rookie team, found a steady role on the team off the bench. The Texan freshman lit up the scoreboard in the regular season – she finished second in made 3-pointers and 10th in scoring among all D1 freshmen. Robertson said her work in Foggy Bottom wasn’t done after the loss to Rhode Island.
President Biden announced he will sign Congress’ override of the D.C. Council’s revised criminal code in the likely case it passes the Senate. Biden said in a tweet Thursday that despite backing D.C.’s ability to self-govern under home rule, he is against signing the code into law because parts of the legislation reduce sentences for property crimes like carjacking. The announcement comes after the GOP-led House of Representatives voted to overturn both the code and a local bill that allows non-citizens to vote in D.C. elections last month with bipartisan support, which the Senate is poised to vote on as early as next week. Biden’s support of the House’s measure means members of Congress may successfully block a D.C. bill from becoming law for the first time in more than three decades, infringing on the District’s home rule, outlined in a 1973 act aimed at allowing D.C. residents to control their own local affairs. “I support D.C. Statehood and home rule – but I don’t support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections – such as lowering penalties for carjackings,” Biden said in a tweet.
The revised code would reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for carjacking from seven to four years and drop the mandatory maximum sentence for more severe instances of carjacking, like those involving weapons, from 40 to 24 years. But the city judiciary frequently does not hand out maximum sentences for carjacking or other property crimes, meaning the proposed mandatory maximums are already higher than what the city judiciary is implementing right now. 31 House Democrats backed Republicans’ opposition to the crime bill in the floor vote earlier this month. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s non-voting representative in the chamber, said Biden’s resistance to the local bill was “news to her” after his seemingly-staunch support of D.C. statehood previously and that she was “very disappointed” with the announcement, according to The Washington Post. “[President Biden] believes that every city should have the right to self-government. But this is different,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a conference Wednesday. “The D.C. Council put changes forward over the mayor’s objections.” See WHITE HOUSE Page 5