The GW
HATCHET
October 27, 2025 Vol. 122 Iss. 11
HALLOWEEN GUIDE
Pages 7-8
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
GW halts search for top diversity post amid Trump DEI crackdown RYAN SAENZ
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
NICHOLAS WARE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Faculty Senator Anne Markus and Executive Committee representatives Jonathan Eakle and Arthur Wilson at Friday’s meeting.
Faculty Senate Executive Committee chair steps down after members request resignation GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Faculty Senate Executive Committee Chair Katrin Schultheiss stepped down from her role after committee members requested she resign over unspecified concerns, prompting heated commentary at the body’s Friday meeting over the nature of the committee’s request. Schultheiss stepped down from her role helming FSEC — a committee elected by the Faculty Senate and tasked with guiding the body’s work — sometime before Friday’s meeting at the request of six of nine FSEC representatives,
in lieu of the committee’s alleged threat to hold a vote of no confidence. The three FSEC members who opposed calls for Schultheiss’ resignation criticized the other members’ request, prompting Faculty Senator Jamie Cohen-Cole to draft a resolution to remove all FSEC members from their positions, though the motion never reached a vote after the meeting lost quorum. Based on comments made at the meeting, six FSEC representatives — Arthur Wilson, Jonathan Eakle, Scott Kieff, Amita Vyas, Sameh Badie and Rhonda Schwindt — called on Schultheiss
to step down, while John Warren, Jennifer Brinkerhoff and Jeffrey Akman opposed the way the six members handled the situation. The members cited a build up of unspecified concerns over several months as their reason for their request. The three representatives that backed Schultheiss — Warren, Brinkerhoff and Akman — declined to comment further on the matter, and none of the six who requested Schultheiss step down returned a request to comment. Schultheiss was not present at the meeting Friday and did not return a request for comment.
GW has paused its search for a vice provost to lead the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement as officials review programs in light of Trump-era policies, leadership changes and the University’s new strategic framework, a spokesperson confirmed. A University spokesperson said officials put the search on hold after launching it following the former vice provost’s departure 15 months ago, citing internal and external factors that prompted a reevaluation of programs, including updated federal guidance on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and the strategic framework GW released Tuesday. ODECE’s former vice provost, Caroline Laguerre-Brown, left GW in July 2024 after eight years, and officials have largely stayed quiet on the status of filling the position, last describing the search as “ongoing” in November 2024. “GW maintains a strong commitment to fostering within the bounds of the law a supportive, welcoming and inclusive environment for all members of our community, as such an environment is central to our ability to pursue our mission with excellence,” the spokesperson said in an email. President Donald Trump over the last few months has intensified his attacks on
DEI initiatives nationwide, starting with a January executive order directing the elimination of DEI positions in the federal government “to the maximum extent allowed by law” and warning that universities failing to comply could lose federal funding. More than 400 campuses in 47 states and the District have made changes to DEI offices, jobs, training and related activities since January 2023, with an uptick heading into the 2025-2026 academic year in light of shifting federal policies. Out of GW’s 12 peer schools, eight have shuttered their DEI offices — including the University of Miami, Syracuse University and Northeastern University — since the start of Trump’s second term. GW Law quietly dismantled their DEI website sometime between December 2024 and early March, but the remainder of GW’s diversity sites appear to be intact. In University President Ellen Granberg’s letter to the community earlier this month reflecting on the “convergence of challenges” GW is facing, she said officials are looking at a path forward for diversity and inclusion efforts on campus that is “fully inclusive” and “welcoming to all.” She said officials are working with the general counsel’s office and outside legal experts to “validate” that GW’s diversity initiatives meet federal law standards.
MATHYLDA DULIAN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR University President Ellen Granberg and Interim Provost John Lach at a sit-down interview last week.
KYRA WOOD | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR GW Police Department Chief Victor Brito poses for a portrait in the GWPD office.
Granberg wins community support for strategic framework
New GWPD chief vows to rebuild trust a year after department turmoil
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
GW is gaining community support for the strategic framework officials launched Tuesday, marking a divergence in public perception of the University’s priorities and engagement strategies after the former president’s plan faced criticism for sidelining stakeholder voices. Student, faculty and staff leaders said the strategic framework reflects their input over the last year and a half and marks a shift from the community backlash former University President Thomas LeBlanc faced for his 2019 plan, which included a goal of cutting undergraduate enrollment by 20 percent and increasing STEM majors by 30 percent. University President Ellen Granberg and Interim Provost John Lach unveiled the University’s first guiding framework since 2020 last week — a blueprint outlining plans to boost student success and expand GW’s WHAT’S
INSIDE
research enterprise over the next five to seven years, starting with three priorities. The framework outlines the three priorities on its website — generating scholarship with impact, preparing students to be strong and resilient leaders and strengthening the University’s foundation for excellence — along with 12 goals GW plans to accomplish in the next five to seven years, which officials will implement in a phased approach to ensure “clear progress” and adaptability over time. The website states that adopting a framework — rather than a plan, as GW did under LeBlanc — establishes broad priorities instead of specific actions, allowing flexibility in implementation amid ongoing changes in higher education. Chief of Staff Scott Mory said the Steering Committee — a group of 15 officials Granberg charged on Oct. 2 with overseeing the implementation of the framework
NEWS Students detail their experiences as furloughed federal interns and workers during the government shutdown. Page 2
and designing a process to source and evaluate phase two initiatives — will continue to work with the Faculty Senate, Staff Council and Student Government Association as the framework is implemented over the next five to seven years, and each working group will solicit community feedback. Officials announced last month the creation of three working groups to implement the initial framework initiatives, including enhancing GW’s interdisciplinary research ecosystem, better leveraging D.C. experiences as part of student learning and improving academic and career advising. Community members said their voices are reflected throughout the strategic framework and expressed anticipation for officials to advance its three initial projects and expand future initiatives, following concerns last year from some members that officials did not reflect their input in the draft framework.
JENNA LEE
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
RORY QUEALY
MANAGING DIRECTOR
More than a year after gun safety failures fractured the GW Police Department, triggering mass officer departures and the former chief’s resignation, new GWPD Chief Victor Brito is working to rebuild the department and restore trust with the community. Brito, who began his tenure as chief of campus police on Aug. 4, is inheriting a department that has faced years of high turnover, low officer morale and reports of insufficient training and safety violations — challenges he said he’ll study as he charts the department’s future. In a sit-down interview with The Hatchet, Brito outlined his plans to rebuild trust with the community following the department’s controversial arming rollout, focusing on building relationships with key campus stakeholders,
OPINIONS The editorial board urges GW to consider Universal Health Services’ anti-union stance when negotiating with the company. Page 5
hiring quality officers and bolstering officer training. “My clear focus is on the future,” Brito said. “I have to understand what happened in the past, but I can’t dwell on it. I have to dwell on things that are going to propel us to be successful in the future.” Brito has served as a police officer for 37 years, including as chief of police in Rockville, Maryland and Hagerstown, Maryland, and in several leadership roles within the Metropolitan Police Department. In each role, he said he forged close ties with the communities he served, some of whom previously distrusted police officers at large, including by making intentional efforts to visit African American communities in Rockville. He said his extensive policing experience — coupled with his stint as an adjunct professor of justice, law and criminology at American University, which he said made the intersection of law enforcement and academics natural to him —
SPORTS Director of Athletics Michael Lipitz looks to build a program that elevates GW Athletics and the entire University’s standing. Page 6
makes him the right person to repair the department’s reputation at GW. “I’ve done virtually everything I can in law enforcement, but my greatest feat, and my greatest thing that I’ve ever had is my ability to connect with people and create relationships in communities, ” Brito said. In March, officials released findings from a third-party review of GWPD, which confirmed a September 2024 Hatchet investigation detailing previously undisclosed safety violations. But Brito and Associate Vice President of Campus Safety Katie McDonald, who was also present during the interview, said their leadership of campus safety operations will mark a departure from the communication approaches of past leaders. “The chief, the leader of an organization, sets the tone, and this is a very different one than it has been in the past,” McDonald said.
CULTURE From DC WitchFest to mystical alumni authors, dive into The Hatchet’s 2025 Halloween Guide. Page 8