Monday, March 4, 2024 I Vol. 120 Iss. 21
INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904
WWW.GWHATCHET.COM
What’s inside Opinions
The editorial board argues GW should consider current issues in planning for the future. Page 6
Culture
She proposed in a B-Dubs. They got married at GW. Page 7
Faculty senators reaffirm academic freedom, ask for input in speech plan RACHEL MOON
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
Faculty senators unanimously passed a resolution Friday that reaffirms academic freedom, a response to GW’s plan to clarify free speech policies and resolve on-campus tensions after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The resolution asks officials to involve community members when creating and communicating academic freedom policies, protect “liberal educational values” and alert faculty to demonstrations that may disrupt their classes. Faculty senators said they were not consulted before Provost Chris Bracey and University President Ellen Granberg unveiled a plan in January to clarify free speech policies and cultivate “productive” conversations, despite faculty repeatedly asking officials at senate meetings to consult them in the University-wide initiative. “In this volatile climate when clarity around rules and guidelines governing speech are essential, the University has been notably slow to articulate its free speech provisions, despite the fact there has been particular urgency around the issue since October of 2023 and despite repeated questions on the matter from the senate,” said Katrin Schultheiss, a faculty senator who advocated for the resolution on the floor. The University’s plan includes programming to reduce campus tensions through
DANIEL HEUER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Sarah Wagner, a faculty senator who introduced the resolution to the floor, addresses the senate during a meeting.
panels, support students affected by the war or victims of doxxing and clarify free speech policies that conflict with others. Granberg said at the meeting that the plan was spearheaded by a “leadership working group” that will continue to evaluate campus-wide measures. Schultheiss said the senate is unaware of any faculty members who serve on the free speech working group. The measure also requests officials include the Educational Policy and Technology Committee and the Professional
REPORTER
Staffi ng levels are still below their pre-pandemic numbers, specifically in student-facing offices, officials reported Friday. The University employed 3,484 fulltime staff in fall 2022, slightly more than the University’s low point of 3,338 staff in fall 2021 but lower than the 3,807 members in fall 2019, according to the annual core indicators report. Provost Chris Bracey said at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday that officials are working to fill roles in understaffed departments like Disability Support Services and the Multicultural Student Services Center and hire more academic advisers to close the gap in the student-to-adviser ratio. GW laid off 339 employees in December 2020 due to fi nancial stress from the
Ethics and Academic Freedom Committee in updating policies that affect academic freedoms and free speech since faculty senators said the appropriate committees were not consulted on the University’s plan. Schultheiss said the measure was “particularly pressing” due to officials’ disciplinary proceedings in response to student-led demonstrations on campus. “This resolution is offered in the interest of spurring meaningful conversation between faculty and administrators on the critical issue of academic
COVID-19 pandemic. As the number of University staff begins to recover, student-facing departments have remained underfilled, with turnover and staff shortages in departments like the MSSC and DSS, which have also seen its directors step down from their positions in recent months. Compared to a group of 13 peer schools, GW is 11th in the ratio between full-time employees per every 100 fulltime students at 21.49, the report states. Bracey said the University is “well aware” of the low staffi ng levels and is allocating GW’s minimal resources to units that need the most assistance like the academic advising office on advice for how to improve academic programs. “We know that the MSSC has been understaffed, and so we’ve made commitments to ensure that we have the requisite staffi ng to provide the supportive
Officials present annual academic metrics update NATALIE NOTE REPORTER
Faculty diversity increased from 2021 to 2023 after “intentional” hiring efforts, according to the annual core indicators report presented at the Faculty Senate meeting Friday. Provost Chris Bracey presented data at the meeting that showed the number of Black faculty has increased by 29 members and the number of Asian faculty increased by 17 members between 2021 and 2023. The report states that the number of Hispanic faculty decreased, with a decrease of eight faculty members between 2022 and 2023, while Native American faculty has remained consistent at two faculty members. “We’re struggling a little bit with Hispanic hires, but overall it does appear as though we are increasing the diversity of our faculty,” Bracey said at the meeting. The number of first-year students with a high school GPA above 3.89 jumped from 18 percent of the first-year class in 2014 to 34 percent in 2023, the report states. Bracey said the decadelong rise may
Officials to clear homeless encampment near campus in May CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
TYLER IGLESIAS
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Men’s basketball dropped its twelth-straight game amid injury woes. Page 8
MAX PORTER
freedom and freedom of expression throughout the University community,” Schultheiss said. University President Ellen Granberg at a Faculty Senate meeting last semester. Officials release plan to review campus free speech policies, bolster educational programming Granberg said community members can submit feedback on the plan to the leadership group through an online form. See FACULTY Page 4
Staffing remains below pre-pandemic levels, studentfacing offices stagnate
HANNAH MARR
Sports
be an indication of grade inflation at the high school level, particularly during the pandemic, but that it may also reflect a greater number of high-performing students entering the University because the first-year retention rate of 91.9 percent in 2022 indicates first-years are successful at GW despite potential grade inflation. An Ngo | Graphics Editor The University enrolled 1,593 international students in fall 2023, after falling from 1,614 in fall 2019 to 770 in fall 2020, according to the report. Bracey said the total number of international students has bounced back to near pre-pandemic levels but the number of international residential undergraduate students is nearly half of what it was in fall of 2019. Graduate, law, medical and nondegree international students have breached pre-pandemic fall 2019 levels, according to the report. “Our loss of Chinese students has been significant, there’s no doubt about that,” Bracey said. “But as you can see, we have backfill from areas such as India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Brazil and Nigeria.” See OFFICIALS Page 4
environment for our students,” Bracey said. “Within the Disability Student Services office, we’ve been hiring there because we know we have more students who are in need of support for disabilities.” Ilana Feldman, the chair of the senate’s Executive Committee, said the University’s staffi ng shortage is a “problem” and asked Bracey how to boost hiring using officials’ limited resources. “I think everybody in this room knows how much we and our students are suffering from the beyond-lean staffing situation,” Feldman said. Bracey said officials are focused on retaining current employees because GW’s staff “aren’t happy” and are leaving the University. He added that replacing staff costs more than hiring new staff. See CFO Page 5
National Park Service officials will conduct a cleanup of a homeless encampment that borders campus in May, according to a notice posted at the site. NPS officials will clear residents and their belongings out of the encampment in Triangle Park along Virginia Avenue between 20th and 21st streets May 15. The notice states that officials will temporarily fence off the portion of the park along Virginia Avenue until fall 2024 for “park improvement” and renovations in preparation for the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence July 4, 2026. The NPS notice near 20th Street and Virginia Avenue states that officials will resume enforcement of a federal regulation that prohibits camping in park areas of the National Capital Region — which includes D.C. and certain Maryland and Virginia counties bordering the District. The notice states that officials will place unattended property into storage during the May 15 cleanup and that residents can retrieve these belongings by contacting the U.S. Park Police Property Office within 60 days. A separate D.C. government notice at 21st Street and Virginia Avenue posted Jan. 11 states that District officials were supposed to clear the encampment Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. It is unclear whether officials are still planning the removal. District law states that officials must give encampment residents at least two weeks of notice before a cleanup. If a cleanup date is rescheduled, officials must give at least 48 hours notice of the new cleanup date and time. Lucy Medaglia — who has lived in Triangle Park since March 2023 after living in the McPherson Square encampment, the largest encampment in the District before officials cleared it last February — said she believes officials will only clear tents and belongings on the side of Triangle Park closest to Virginia Avenue, with her tent in an unaffected area. She said she feels officials have “neglected” aspects of Triangle Park, like the trees, and they want to revitalize the park before the 250th anniversary of the U.S. “That takes more power than anything,” Medaglia said about the 250th anniversary of the U.S.
DANIEL HEUER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A notice taped to a trash receptacle notifies residents of an incoming encampment cleanup.
Women’s basketball beats Ramblers on Senior Day, grabs A-10 tourney bye FAITH WARDWELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
GRANT PACERNICK REPORTER
Women’s basketball (13-17, 6-12 A-10) defeated Loyola Chicago (1415, 8-10 A-10) 50-43 Saturday afternoon in the Smith Center, ending their regular season on a threegame winning streak and grabbing a first-round bye for the Atlantic 10 tournament. The Revolutionaries were picked to finish sixth in the A-10 at the start of the season, and after losing nine of their first 10 conference games, the Revolutionaries now finish the regular season ranked 11th. A Dayton loss and Davidson’s withdrawal from the tournament cleared the way for GW to nab the 10th seed, giving them a first-round bye and setting the team up for a Thursday matchup against No. 7 Saint Louis. Saturday’s game was a low-scoring defensive battle with both teams shooting under 35 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Nya Robertson led GW in scoring with 16 points. She finished the season averaging 15.9 points per game, fourth in the A-10. Robertson got off to a quick start in the first quarter, scoring GW’s first 8 points of the game to give the Revs an 8-4 lead. The Ramblers pulled ahead to lead 17-15 at the end of the first quarter. The Revs responded at the start of the second quarter with layups
FILE BY JAMES SCHAAP | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Sophomore guard Nya Robertson drives to the hoop in a game against UMass.
from Brown and graduate student forward Mayowa Taiwo. Loyola briefly took the lead in the third quarter, but the Revolutionaries countered with an extended 11-0 run that stretched into the fourth quarter, giving the team a 42-34 lead, which they would hold on to for the rest of the game. Taiwo brought down 11 of those rebounds, contributing to the Senior Day victory for the Revs. Taiwo was honored before the game for reaching 1,000 career rebounds, the third-most in program history. She already holds the program record for games played. She’s also one of eight players honored before the game as part of Senior Day. Those honored included Brown
and graduate student forward Faith Blethen, a fellow five-year player. Senior guard Asjah Inniss, who played all 40 minutes of Saturday’s game, was also honored. Graduate transfers Madison Buford and Maren Durant capped off their careers in the Smith Center. Seniors Nya Lok and Taylor Webster rounded out the eight seniors whose time at the program is wrapping up. The Revolutionaries will face Saint Louis in their first A-10 tournament game in Henrico, Virginia, at 5 p.m. Thursday. The Billikens won 66-56 when the teams met earlier this season. The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to play VCU in the quarterfinals.