The GW
HATCHET
April 28, 2025 Vol. 121 Iss. 27
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
GW not currently facing imminent federal actions, Washington Post reports GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI STAFF WRITER
KYRA WOOD | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Students protest United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for revoking international student visas in front of the White House Friday.
Visa status restored for ‘most’ students in wake of federal policy reversal: officials JENNA LEE
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Immigration and Customs Enforcement reversed “most” of GW students’ revoked visas after President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday restored thousands of international students’ legal statuses, the University confirmed Saturday. ICE has restored the Student Exchange and Information System status for “most” of the international student visas that the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies revoked since the onset of President Donald Trump’s second term, a University spokesperson said on Saturday. The restorations follow the Trump administration’s decision Friday to reinstate the legal status of thousands of international student visas, marking a policy shift
after mass revocations in recent weeks. Officials announced in a weekly “federal update” email on Thursday that the University is aware of four current students and six recently graduated students who have had their visas terminated by federal agencies. The University spokesperson did not specify which or how many of the current or graduated students’ visa statuses have been restored. “We will continue to monitor the SEVIS status of our international students as well as further administration developments,” University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said in an email. The SEVIS database is a system universities use to determine international students’ immigration statuses. Since Jan. 20, federal agencies have deleted the SEVIS records for
over 4,700 international students nationwide, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. More than 1,800 international students and recent graduates from over 280 universities nationwide have faced visa revocations since Trump took office in January, according to an Inside Higher Ed tracker. The Trump administration’s reversal comes amid a flurry of lawsuits from international students. The administration signaled that the reversal is temporary and records are being reinstated as the administration continues to work on a framework for reviewing and terminating international student visas. “We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation,” Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia
McLaughlin said. “What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked.” University spokesperson Julia Garbitt earlier this month said officials continue to assist students affected by visa terminations and provide immigration and safety information to students and community members. She said the University is aware that the revoked visas have caused “concern and anxiety” within GW’s international community. “The University continues to encourage community members to take advantage of available mental health and wellness support services, including GW Counseling and Psychological Services for students and the Employee Assistance Program for faculty and staff,” Garbitt said in an email earlier this month.
A senior White House official said President Donald Trump’s administration has no “forthcoming” actions against GW despite their federal crackdown on universities nationwide, The Washington Post reported Sunday morning. The Post reported a senior White House official — who spoke to the paper on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans — said the Trump administration has no current plans to take action against the University. The comment comes after the Department of Justice announced in February that a federal task force to combat antisemitism will visit GW and nine other universities to investigate alleged incidents of antisemitism since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Trump, during his first three months in office, has cracked down on universities nationwide that he alleges failed to protect students against antisemitism on their campuses. He’s also targeted schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion policies in an effort to curtail practices that he said have unfairly discriminated against white Americans. Trump officials earlier this month froze $1 billion from Cornell University’s federal funding and an additional $790 million from Northwestern University, pointing to allegations of antisemitism and racial discrimination from their promotion of diversity. His administration also froze $2.2 billion in grants and contracts to Harvard University earlier this month after the Justice Department task force visited the school. The Justice Department announced in late February that the same federal task force would visit GW to investigate whether the University failed to protect Jewish community members from unlawful discrimination and antisemitism but didn’t specify the timeline of their visit. The University could face “remedial action” if they are found responsible for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from incidents of antisemitism that have occurred on campus since Oct. 7, 2023, according to a DOJ press release. Four people familiar with University planning told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions that University officials have been “meeting regularly” to discuss action plans in response to Trump’s actions. University President Ellen Granberg said at a Faculty Senate meeting in April that she planned to attend a conference call in the coming days with other university leaders around the country to discuss a response to the Trump administration’s actions.
GW Hospital nurses’ union forms picket condemning pair of firings
One year later, community wrestles with fallout of pro-Palestinian encampment
ELLA MITCHELL
RORY QUEALY
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
NEWS EDITOR
The GW Hospital nurses’ union formed a picket line on Friday morning to condemn the hospital’s alleged “union busting” efforts and highlight unfair labor practice charges the union filed in recent weeks, months after reaching a settlement to begin negotiating a fair contract. The picketers began chanting and touting signs outside of GW Hospital at 6:30 a.m. on Friday morning, marching around chalk block letters reading “Safe staffing saves lives” as they condemned the hospital’s firing of two nurses. After the union and hospital reached a settlement in December, the District of Columbia Nurses Association filed five unfair labor charges earlier this month, alleging that hospital management violated the settlement by disciplining and firing nurses for posting union materials, with nurses fearing retaliation from the hospital. “We want to have UHS start treating these nurses with dignity and respect,” DCNA Executive Director Ed Smith said. “And that ultimately helps your patient care, and that’s why we’re here.” In the last month, GW Hospital fired two nurses — Elizabeth Grosh and Trevor Goss-Packard — and issued a final written warning to
RYAN SAENZ
WHAT’S
INSIDE
STAFF WRITER
TYLER IGLESIAS
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
SACHINI ADIKARI
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
RAPHAEL KELLNER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Nurses and advocates formed a picket line Friday morning in front of the GW Hospital to protest the hospital firing two nurses.
another, Mary Kelley, which Smith said stemmed from their union involvement. “We’re out here to picket to hold the employer accountable for its retaliatory action taken against the nurse leaders,” Smith said. The group of demonstrators — donning DCNA shirts, scrubs and street clothes — peaked at about 30 people. The group circled the entrance of the hospital with signs reading “Your family deserves safe care” and “Patient needs over UHS greed.” In bargaining meetings that occurred earlier this week between union leaders and Universal Health Services — the health care provider that manages GW Hospital — UHS and hospital management tenatively agreed to discipline employees only for “just cause,” and nurses are now subject to progressive discipline,
NEWS Outgoing Student Government Association President Ethan Fitzgerald and Vice President Ethan Lynne reflect on their tenures. Page 2
meaning they cannot be fired by the hospital immediately for “minor misconduct,” a DCNA bulletin distributed at the picket states. The picket line briefly paused at about 8 a.m., halting the chanting led by a demonstrator with a megaphone. Union leaders spoke in support of the nurses’ union, calling for the reinstatement of Goss-Packard and Grosh. “They fired Liz and Trevor,” Smith told the crowd. “You know why they fired them? They fired them because they were passing out literature in break rooms, union literature. Is that against the law?” “No,” replied the crowd. Smith referred picketers and pedestrians to sign a petition demanding UHS reinstate Grosh and GossPackard. See SETTLEMENT Page 5
On the morning of April 25, 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters pitched tents in University Yard, commencing a 13-day encampment thats memory still permeates campus culture, discourse and physical landscape a year
after local police dismantled the demonstration. The 13-day encampment exposed underlying issues that began festering at the onset of the war in Gaza, like free speech, shared governance and GW’s alleged financial connections to companies with ties to Israel. Community, Congressional and now federal scrutiny has forced the University to begin reckoning with the lasting campus divisions. Throughout the encampment, protesters called on University leaders to drop prior disciplinary charges against
pro-Palestinian student demonstrators, protect free speech on campus and disclose and divest from companies with ties to Israel, saying they would not leave U-Yard until their demands were met by officials. Faculty, staff, alumni and Foggy Bottom residents expressed an array of reactions to the encampment, with some supporting students’ rights to free speech and the pro-Palestinian movement and others raising concerns about antisemitism and campus disruption. See CAMPUS Page 5
RAPHAEL KELLNER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER An overview of University Yard on day four of the pro-Palestinian encampment after protesters overran the barricades.
OPINIONS The editorial board urges GW to heal campus wounds with humility one year after the proPalestinian encampment in University Yard. Page 6
CULTURE Meet the barista filling morning mugs and growing customer connections out of Foggy Bottom’s iconic coffee truck. Page 7
SPORTS Women’s basketball Head Coach Ganiyat Adenduntan shapes the team with hirings and transfer recruits. Page 8