Vol-122-Iss-13

HATCHET The GW

Men’s basketball edges out USF 99-95 in major early-season test

Men’s basketball (2-0) outlasted the University of South Florida 99-95 on Saturday in Uncasville, Connecticut, squeaking past the Bulls in a gritty, chippy game that featured five players foul out and 78 free throw attempts and solidified GW as a resilient early-season contender.

Displaying poise and depth across the roster, the Revolutionaries pieced together a balanced offensive attack that saw five players score in double figures and timely contributions from nearly every rotation player. Much of that strength came from graduate student guard Tre Dinkins, a transfer from Duquesne playing his first season at GW, who came off the bench four minutes into the first half to lead the team, scoring 22 points, 6 of 9 from the field and making four from behind the arc.

Saturday’s win against USF was a clear statement from the Revs about their ability to win the Atlantic 10 Championship. The Bulls are one of the toughest non-conference teams the Revs will play this season, ranked by Bart Torvik as the country’s 63rd best team prior to the game — four lower than GW, who sat at 59.

The Bulls were picked this offseason to finish second in the American Conference — a league of simi-

lar strength to the A-10. In a season which GW enters with their best roster in years and an A-10 conference that looks to be wide open, this win establishes them as true con-

tenders. As the team has struggled in recent years to schedule tough opponents and create a difficult non-conference schedule, USF is possibly GW’s only chance for a Quadrant

2 win before A-10 play, with the only team ranked above the Bulls being reigning-champions the University of Florida.

University-wide budget cuts force pause on GWSB

have set off a series of reductions across campus operations and resources since the start of fiscal year 2026.

Amid University-wide budget cuts, officials halted the School of Business’ peer mentorship program for the fall semester — another hit to student resources that mentors say leaves underclassmen without career guidance.

GWSB officials paused the F. David Fowler Career Center’s student coordinator program, which pairs underclassmen with paid upperclassmen mentors to help with resumes and cover letters, with plans to resume the program in a reduced capacity in the spring. Cassin Dyson, the center’s executive director, attributed the decision to University-wide budget cuts, which

Students and former coordinators said pausing the program deprives underclassmen of a valuable resource, limiting their ability to seek guidance from mentors with shared business interests and career goals.

Dyson, who joined GWSB in January, said officials paused the program this semester as GW works to reduce expenses, with plans to reinstate it in the spring. He added that officials did not terminate the program and “at no point” indicated such to coordinators or students.

“The decision was made after multiple conversations with senior leaders within GWSB,” Dyson said. “It was handled with the utmost sensitivity and was a painstaking process.”

Officials announced in April

they would cut the University’s expense budget by 3 percent during fiscal year 2026 to combat a yearslong structural deficit and broader higher education challenges and announced additional measures in July, including a hiring freeze. GW in September laid off 43 staff members across five schools and divisions, including “several” within GWSB, with most of the school’s layoffs coming from the undergraduate and graduate program offices.

As part of these broader budget reductions, officials closed District House and University Student Center dining options on weekends in September, ended walk-in hours for campus Counseling and Psychological Services in October and slashed Mount Vernon Express shuttle service by 50 percent at the start of the academic year.

Officials meet with National Guard, post signs amid campus troop surge

Officials have met twice with the National Guard since President Donald Trump deployed troops across D.C. in August to clarify campus access rules and posted signs reiterating that access to certain spaces is restricted to GWorld cardholders, a University spokesperson confirmed.

Students last month reported guard troops stationed inside Duques Hall — which is GWorld tap access restricted — the Gelman Library entrance vestibule and the Mitchell Hall Chick-fil-A and said officials were not adequately communicating with the community about campus safety policies regarding troops on campus.

Officials in their weekly federal update email Thursday said they are in “close communication” with guard leadership, and officials added signage in the University Student Center to inform community members that certain floors are only accessible through GWorld tap access — signaling that guard troops are not permitted to enter certain floors.

University spokesperson Julia Garbitt declined to comment on who initiated the meetings, when exactly the meetings started and which GW safety and guard officials were involved in the conversations. No further meetings are scheduled, a University spokesperson confirmed.

Georgetown, American, Howard and Catholic universities as well as University of the District of Columbia did not respond to a request for comment on whether they have met with the guard.

Garbitt said public streets and sidewalks that run through campus fall under both federal and local jurisdiction, but only authorized community members can enter buildings that require GWorld access. She said the

guard has confirmed their understanding that they are not to enter private property, but students should still make sure doors close behind them when entering campus buildings that require tap access.

“GW safety officials have met with National Guard leadership and discussed the distinction between public and private University property,” Garbitt said in an email. “National Guard leadership has confirmed they understand Guard members are not to enter private property.”

The update states signs are now located on the lower level, ground, second, fourth and fifth floors of the USC, while the first floor remains open to the public. Officials installed the signs in response to community feedback and to make students feel safer amid heightened federal law enforcement presence in the District, according to the update.

Officials have previously stated federal officers cannot enter the University’s private property without a warrant.

The USC first floor is open to the public seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. From 10 p.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday and 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Sunday, the USC requires GWorld tap access to enter. Tap access is not required to move between floors, making the enforcement of certain floors as private spaces unclear.

“Access to this floor is limited to GWorld card holders and their escorted guests,” the signs read. Officials have installed similar signage around other academic buildings and some residence halls throughout the semester including District House, Strong Hall, Corcoran Hall and the School of Media and Public Affairs building.

GW Hospital settles with DC attorney general over alleged illegal wage practices

GW Hospital reached a settlement agreement with the D.C. Attorney General on Tuesday, agreeing to pay nearly $100,000 to 39 nurses affected by the hospital’s alleged anticompetitive and unlawful wage deduction practices. The Office of the Attorney General for D.C. said the hospital violated District wage and antitrust laws by requiring nurses in its Registered Nurse Internship and Residency program to sign contracts obligating them to repay up to $7,500 in training costs if they left the program before completing a two-year commitment. GW Hospital agreed not to enforce the contracts and pay $96,998.40 in restitution to nurses, as well as a $15,000 penalty to the

District government, but did not admit any wrongdoing, per the settlement.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb on X called the settlement a “D.C. worker win” and said in a release Friday the agreement ensures a “level playing field” for employers.

Schwalb’s office also reached a settlement in August with the Hill Preschool near the Capitol over similar allegations that the school penalized teachers who left without completing their year-long contract.

Schwalb’s office referred to the agreements as “TRAPs” — training repayment agreement provisions — and said they violated District antitrust law and the city’s 2022 ban on noncompete agreements, which prohibit workers from joining similar businesses by dis-

couraging employees from seeking other jobs.

“These TRAP agreements restricted the job mobility of nurses and preschool teachers, financially penalizing them for choosing to change jobs,” Schwalb said. “The Office of the Attorney General will continue to fight to make sure that workers’ rights are protected and that law-abiding businesses can compete on a level playing field.” Schwalb said GW Hospital unlawfully enforced the repayment plan by deducting money from nurses’ final paychecks between Jan. 1, 2020, and July 1, 2023. Nurses who failed to make payments were sent to collections to cover the cost of routine onthe-job training if they left before completing their contracts.

Officials and experts backed the University’s heavy investment in real estate as a long-term strategy, even as GW’s credit agencies warn that the holdings create high illiquidity that could leave the University’s assets vulnerable to market swings.

GW’s real estate holdings comprise 40 percent of its $2.6 billion endowment portfolio as of fiscal year

2024 — a significantly higher allocation than is typical for higher education institutions — which Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings suggested in their reports earlier this year could hinder the liquidity of GW’s portfolio and pose a risk of loss if the market depreciates. Half a dozen experts in higher education said GW’s substantial investments in real estate fuel the endowment’s long-term financial growth, which helps officials achieve GW’s prolonged educational goals, also adding they weren’t worried about low liquidity because universities only pull a limited amount of funds from the endowment each fiscal year.

Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings, in their reports released in May and August, respectively, affirmed the University’s strong credit rating but revised their outlook from stable to negative, in part citing GW’s high real estate investments that limit liquidity and expose the University to changes in the real estate market. S&P noted that officials have strategies in place to improve returns and generate more income from real estate in the future — which makes it easier to turn property into cash — and also noted that officials will only further invest in real estate if the property has “clear” long-term benefits for GW and doesn’t compromise its ability to maintain enough cash on hand.

GW has long gobbled up real estate in the Foggy Bottom area, including three major buildings in the past three years — a 450,000-squarefoot office building from the World Bank in 2022, the Residences on The Avenue apartment building in 2023 and 2001 Pennsylvania Avenue in 2024, which officials called a “strategic investment” supporting the University’s academic mission.

A University spokesperson said GW’s real estate investments strengthen its financial position and help support the “key institutional priorities” like an effort to meet the full demonstrated financial need of undergraduate residential students by expanding GW’s endow-

ment — a goal set forth by University President Ellen Granberg in her strategic framework last month.

University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said campus properties and leased commercial spaces contribute to advancing GW’s educational and strategic priorities, also adding that GW’s real estate investments are long term and stable and generating income that helps sustain University operations. She said decisions about diversifying the University’s portfolio are made “thoughtfully” and in alignment with the University’s fiduciary responsibility, along with current and future obligations.

“While portions of these investments cannot be easily liquidated in the short term, the University’s portfolio is structured to promote longterm stability and equity,” McClendon said in an email.

Experts in higher education said GW’s real estate investments help officials grow its endowment, which in turn supports educational goals, like providing more financial aid to students. They said real estate, as an illiquid asset, ensures the endowment’s stable, long-term growth because officials don’t frequently cash out the investments.

Jennifer Delaney, a professor of education at University of California, Berkeley, said real estate investments are “very stable” and can preserve an endowment’s value over time, particularly in a high value and landlocked area, like D.C. She said the downsides of high real estate investments include its lack of liquidity and conversion into cash since selling property takes longer than pulling money out of something equivalent to mutual funds.

Moody’s and S&P have repeatedly raised concerns in their reports about GW’s large real estate portfolio in recent years, warning that such heavy investment may reduce the endowment’s liquidity and increase financial risk if the market were to decline.

Delaney said GW has strategically and intentionally acquired real estate in Foggy Bottom, pointing to the purchase of part of the Watergate Complex in the early 2000s as a key move that helped improve the neighborhood to attract students.

Between 1985 and 2002, GW acquired more than 35 buildings in Foggy Bottom, including apartment buildings and private clubs, which was met with resistance from residents because of their opposition to the University’s expansion into the neighborhood. Michael Thomas, the then-president of the Foggy Bottom Association,

urged the District’s elected officials in a 2001 Washington Post op-ed to protect the neighborhood’s non-student residents “at all costs” in response to the purchases.

“As you think about endowment mixes, if this needs to last for perpetuity, you want to have different kinds of investments in your endowment to make sure that the purchasing power today is going to be the purchasing power in the future,” Delaney said.

Gil Skillman, a professor of economics and social science at Wesleyan University, said the portion of GW’s endowment invested in real estate is meant for growth, and its illiquidity shouldn’t be cause for worry because growth is “vitally important” for an endowment. He said officials need to invest their portfolio of assets to grow the endowment over time to keep up with the rate at which the University’s expenses are increasing.

Skillman said the endowment’s growth over time is “critical” if officials want to expand their financial aid offerings, which she said they can only do by investing in assets with high anticipated rates of return, like real estate, even though it will reduce the endowment’s liquidity.

Granberg set the goal to meet the full demonstrated need of residential undergraduate students in GW’s new strategic framework, which officials launched last month. Granberg said last month it would take the length of the framework’s five-to-seven year implementation to implement the goal,

officials would in part, have to grow the endowment in order to get GW financially in a place where it could implement such a move.

GW currently meets the full-need of most Pell Granteligible students, though officials aim to expand aid to the remaining residential undergraduate students who have demonstrated financial need, a University spokesperson said.

“Your endowment, if it’s going to stay as a cushion for you and even grow so that you can do more and more over time, you’ve got to invest for growth,” Skillman said.

Christopher McHugh, an adjunct faculty member teaching economics at Tufts University, said many universities started investing in illiquid assets like real estate after Yale University started doing so in the 1980s and saw high rates of return. He said GW’s reliance on illiquid assets now poses risks, especially during market downturns, when it’s difficult to determine the true value of holdings or find buyers willing to purchase them.

D.C.’s office real estate market has experienced high vacancies since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as companies transitioned to remote or hybrid work schedules, leading to high levels of inoccupancies. Officials last year reported GW’s endowment dropped $200 million between April 2024 and July 2024, which Fernandes said was “entirely due” to a depreciation in value of the D.C. real estate

market and previous increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve between March 2022 and July 2023.

McHugh said it’s “natural and easy” for universities to invest in real estate as institutions grew and had to expand their dorms and academic buildings. He said it has become a natural progression for universities to be “big landlords” in their area. “Go back, like 50 years and universities weren’t big landlords,” McHugh said. “Now they are, and it just makes sense. Although, I do think that George Washington seems to be done it a lot more.”

CRIME LOG

THEFT II/OTHER, CREDIT CARD FRAUD

Off Campus 11/5/2025 – 4:29 p.m.

Open Case

A GW staff member reported their wallet stolen and subsequent unauthorized charges to his bank cards. Case open.

HARASSING TELEPHONE CALL, HARASSMENT: EMAIL

AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Townhouse Row

Multiple – Multiple

Open Case

A female student reported receiving harassing telephone calls and text messages from a male former acquaintance. Case open.

VOYEURISM

University Student Center

11/4/2025 – 5:48 p.m.

Open Case

A male student reported being the victim of voyeurism by a male while using the restroom. Case open.

THREATS TO DO BODILY HARM

Amsterdam Hall 11/2/2025 – 10:09 a.m.

Closed Case

A female student reported receiving threats from another female student over a group chat.. Referred to Conflict Education and Student Accountability.

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY/VANDALISM

Ross Hall

Reported – 11/3/2025

Open Case GW Police Department observed graffiti on the 24th Street-facing wall of Ross Hall. Facilities removed the graffiti. Case open.

ATTEMPTED FRAUD Off Campus

11/3/2025 – 10:25 a.m.

Open Case

A female student reported receiving a fraudulent email from a person impersonating the University requesting she purchase gift cards. Case open.

—Compiled by Bryson

MSSC director seeks to rebuild trust, stability after centerwide turnover

When students tell Vanice Antrum that the Multicultural Student Services Center has been their lifeline, she takes it as proof that her first year as director is making a difference.

Antrum assumed the role of MSSC director at the start of the 2024-25 academic year, following a period marked by years of staff turnover, structural changes within the center and student allegations that the University’s top leaders had censored events, along with reports of limited autonomy within the center. In her first year at the helm, Antrum said she has made it a priority to “meet students where they are,” weaving their feedback into the center’s operations to restore stability and create a stronger sense of support at the MSSC.

“This is the Multicultural Student Services Center, so we want to make sure that they are at the center of all the work we do,” Antrum said.

Last spring, Antrum added five extra community dinners to the center’s schedule after learning that students were running out of meal swipes before the end of the academic year, bringing the total number to seven for the semester. She also increased the frequency of office hours for other GW offices housed in the center, including the Center for Career Services and the Office for Student Outreach and Support, responding directly to student requests for more accessible resources and support.

Antrum also said she’s made a point of being visible and approachable, often sitting in the living room area

of the University Student Center’s fifth floor and striking up conversations with anyone who stops by.

“For students, I think just me being here, whether it’s early in the morning or late at night, I think they know that I’m going to be here to support them, and I think having that familiar face has been helpful in providing that stability,” Antrum said. Antrum took the helm of the 57-year-old multicultural center after Dustin Pickett resigned after a year on the job, resulting in a two–month-long period where the center had only one fulltime staff member.

Pickett’s departure was

not the first time the center had been left short on staff.

Former MSSC Director Michael Tapscott said in 2024 the center had been facing low staffing levels since 2019, when three administrators left their positions, and officials removed two coordinator roles from the center’s previously five-person fulltime staff.

Antrum said she has worked to create a collaborative environment at the MSSC, kicking off her first week with a staff development day and emphasizing the importance of listening to every idea, giving staff “an actual seat at the table” in decision-making to help

foster retention.

Antrum added that she hopes to expand the MSSC’s staff in the coming years, and officials are working to hire a new assistant director. Officials hired Hannah Youssef as the center’s assistant director alongside Antrum in August 2024, but she was no longer listed on the center’s website by midNovember 2024. In the wake of Pickett’s departure in February 2024, students worried the center’s autonomy from the Univer- sity would shrink, and his departure would foil the center’s ability to support cultural student organizations. Students involved

with the center also raised concerns about growing censorship at MSSC events since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, particularly regarding what could be discussed about the war in Gaza and issues related to Palestine.

Antrum said she has never felt any kind of censorship from officials when planning events, noting that the center has continued to host major traditions like Queer Prom, one of its largest annual events.

Officials also removed one of the center’s core branches focused on supporting religious and faithbased organizations and students at GW in June 2024 and

created a separate Center for Interfaith and Spiritual Life, which now hosts Universitywide programming, like Interfaith Week, which previously fell under the MSSC.

Antrum said the MSSC still acts as a “catch all” for cultural and religious services. She said the MSSC has partnered with CISL during religious holidays over the past year, and the MSSC itself has a non-denominational prayer and meditation space for student use. Antrum added that the MSSC works with religious and spiritual leaders, like University chaplain Kristen Glass Perez, to help coordinate events.

“While we might not directly do interfaith and religious programming, it is important for me to have a relationship with the center so that I can support students in getting access to that resource the same way we would with the Career Center, the same way we would with, you know, student outreach and support,” Antrum said.

Antrum said in light of Trump’s targeting of DEI at universities across the country, she’s looking at other institutions and professional development resources to learn what the center “needs to be doing” to support students from all backgrounds. She did not specify whether this means the center has implemented any changes in response to DEI rollbacks.

“I think just keeping at the core that the MSSC is here for all GW students, I think that there is always this misnomer that we only serve a certain population,” Antrum said. “You could come in here at any time of day and see students from all different backgrounds.”

Interfaith Week unites students in celebrating religious, spiritual diversity

The Center for Interfaith and Spiritual Life hosted its second annual weeklong celebration of religious diversity with participation from several student organizations last week.

Interfaith Week featured over 40 events between last Sunday and Saturday — from a dinner with students and religious leaders to presentations by religion students and a non-denominational pet blessing — all aimed at bringing the community together and fostering mutual respect across different faiths and spiritual traditions. Student leaders and attendees at the week’s programming said the events fostered connections between students with different religious and spiritual beliefs by sharing their traditions with each other throughout the week.

This was the second year CISL hosted Interfaith Week after officials established the office last summer to strengthen spiritual education and respectful dialogue in the wake of campus tensions caused by the war in Gaza. In creating the center, officials also moved religious and spiritual life programming under the office’s purview after it was previously housed under the Multicultural Student Services Center since the program’s inception in 2019.

University Chaplain Kristen Glass Perez said the week of programming aimed to unite GW’s religious, nonreligious and spiritual community and foster mutual respect between the groups. She said CISL and the Division for Student Affairs asked the GW community to submit proposals for events in September, ultimately receiving over 30 submissions, with officials hosting at least nine events in tandem with other religious and spiritual organizations, according to the schedule of events.

She said Interfaith Week is an example of the GW community uniting to be “stronger together,” a key tenet of this year’s Interfaith Week theme: “The Ties That Connect Us: Woven From Many Threads, Stronger Together.”

“As CISL continues to embark on its important mission to promote and support spiritual development, theological reflections, religious tolerance, social justice and social awareness among all GW community members, it is paramount that those community members are given opportunities to engage with the work we do,” Perez said in an email.

At Thursday’s Interfaith Dinner, Interim Provost John Lach said to the crowd of about 80 students — consistent in size from last year’s

dinner — that events like these are the hallmarks of his time as provost, allowing him to see more of GW’s diverse student body.

“I always tell people, when people ask me about GW and what kind of community are we are, I always talk about how it’s in our very DNA to create a welcoming and supportive environment for those with a variety of perspectives, identities and lived experiences and doing so in a way that we can all succeed and thrive here as our most authentic selves,” Lach said.

Natasha Halbfinger, the president of Jewish on Campus at GW, said she participated in meetings with CISL leadership and proposed a dialogue alongside multiple Jewish students that discussed their Jewish identity and how it connects to other aspects of their lives last Monday, which became part of the week’s programming. She said the event sought to provide a platform for Jewish students with diverse opinions to discuss their beliefs, highlighting the wide range of views within GW’s Jewish student population.

“The purpose was for dialogue and communication with each other and to highlight different

student perspectives. Because the Jewish community is certainly not a monolith,” Halbfinger said.

The MSSC used to host Interfaith Week since the event’s inception in 2019, with the center originally scheduled to host the annual event in January 2024 before officials canceled the programming and moved it to be under the control of the Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement. When CISL opened last summer and hired a director and a University chaplain that fall, officials moved Interfaith Week to be under CISL and the DSA’s responsibilities, though they did not specify a reasoning behind the move.

Junior Samuel Diaz, president of GW Catholics, said he has noticed a secluded nature and hesitancy to collaborate among religious organizations on campus, which he said has made Interfaith Week even more crucial for the community. He said the programing has encouraged more collaboration between organizations as CISL offers events that bring students together to discuss and share their traditions and customs with each other.

“Interfaith Week and the inter-

faith office in general is something that means a lot to me because, to put it plainly, a lot of people on the religious side of things keep to themselves,” Diaz said.

This year, GW Catholics hosted prayer and mass Tuesday at the Newman Center, followed by a dinner with home-cooked meals, which they encouraged people from other faiths to join. Diaz said GW Catholics hosts this event weekly Tuesdays and asked CISL to include it in their week of events in an effort to gain exposure.

Junior Simar Gill, one of two co-presidents of the Sikh Students Association, said the organization hosted Langar — a community kitchen in a gurdwara, or Sikh place of worship, where volunteers serve free meals — in Kogan Plaza on Sunday, with about 20 community members in attendance. Gill said the event highlighted the Sikh concept of seva, or selfless service. Gill said members of SSA provided free Punjabi food on campus to practice selfless service and connect with the broader GW community.

Senior Apaara Chawla, SSA’s other co-president, said the organization wanted to participate in

Interfaith Week because Sikhism is rooted in interfaith ties, including Sikh poems that were written by Muslim poets. She also said Sikhism promotes religious tolerance and acceptance of others, further encouraging them to participate in Interfaith Week.

“Our faith has always been one that wants to build community with others,” Chawla said. “And so interfaith is really, I think, a really tangible, great way of really implementing those lessons that are sharing our history.”

Nonreligious or spiritual organizations also participated in Interfaith Week, including GW Bhangra, an organization affiliated with a folk dance originating in Punjab, India that has its roots in Sikh and Muslim communities.

Junior Tanjila Tabassum, vice president of GW Bhangra, said the organization is participating in Interfaith Week to showcase the religious diversity of students on the team, adding the organization has Muslim, Sikh Punjabi and Hindu members.

“Anyone can do Bhangra, but in doing that we want to maintain respect for this really old folk dance,” Tabassum said.

Graduate SGA senators cite night classes, jobs as reason for meeting absences

Seven of the Student Government Association’s 19 graduate student senators have missed at least half of the body’s 10 meetings this year, absences they attributed to conflicting night classes, family commitments and professional responsibilities.

The SGA has 19 graduate student senators — nine of whom the Senate appointed in the last month to fill vacancies — and seven have missed at least five meetings before the term’s midway point on Monday, with the SGA’s vice president removing two others earlier this year for accumulating too many absences. The pattern underscores long-running concerns about limited graduate participation and representation in the SGA, a recurring issue dating back more than 25 years, as graduate students juggle academic, professional and family demands that often conflict with the responsibilities of serving in the SGA.

The SGA’s bylaws allow senators only three unexcused absences from full

senate meetings before they are considered in violation of the SGA Senate’s constitution. The bylaws also allow senators only six proxies — when an absent senator designates another to vote on their behalf — for the entire year before they are considered absent.

Only three of the seven senators who amassed four or more absences throughout the entirety of last academic year were graduate students, according to SGA Senate attendance records.

Several graduate senators have also shirked attendance at committee meetings this year, attendance records show. SGA Sen. Levi Todd (CPS-G) has been represented by proxy in all 10 of the Finance Committee’s meetings this year, while SGA Sen. Denise Ssettimba (Law-G) has been present for only one of seven Committee on Physical Facilities and Urban Affairs meetings and SGA Sen. Hari Prasannaa Thangavel Ravi (CCAS-G) has been absent from all seven PFUA meetings.

SGA Sen. Sneha Vijayakumar (SEAS-G) has also missed all but one PFUA

committee meeting and attended only one Committee on Student Life meeting this year, according to the committees’ attendance trackers.

Todd, Thangavel Ravi and Vijayakumar did not return multiple requests for comment about their absences. Ssettimba said she was unable to comment due to her limited availability.

SGA Sen. Zuleirys Santana Rodriguez (GWSB-G) — who has been absent for six of 10 Senate meetings and virtually present for one — said a majority of graduate classes take place from 4:30 to 7:10 p.m. or 7:10 to 9:40 p.m., which contributes to absences among graduate senators as SGA Senate meetings are held weeknights at 8 p.m. Rodriguez said her responsibilities as a married student and small business owner conflict with in-person meeting times, so she has relied on the option to attend virtually — a feature she said her fellow graduate student senators also use.

Six of 19 graduate student senators attended virtually at the last SGA senate meeting held Oct. 27, while another seven were absent and three

proxied, leaving only four graduates physically present at the meeting.

“I’m managing not only my class workload, that is mostly at night, but also my business, but also being there for the SGA, for my students,” Rodriguez said.

“It’s very important to know

Officials take steps to boost dining hall food safety after student complaints, advocacy

NATALIE NOTE STAFF WRITER

PARIS ALBRECHT REPORTER

Officials increased staff allergen training and added ingredient experts this semester to answer student questions about dining hall food after fielding years of complaints, which some students say led to improvement this year, while others noted a continued lack of proper labeling and lack of variety.

University spokesperson Claire Sabin said officials this semester required additional allergen training for dining staff, increased allergen-awareness signage in dining halls, anchored an “ingredient expert” at each dining facility on campus and added ingredient information displays on the dining website to boost transparency around food ingredients in response to feedback from students. Students’ continued complaints about GW Dining’s food quality, which have persisted since officials implemented all-you-can-eat dining halls in 2023, have led to internal University investigations and the creation of special committees, including the GW Dining Student Advisory Panel and the Student Government Association’s Special Committee on Dining Reform.

“GW Dining understands how critical it is for students with dietary restrictions to have clear, accurate information about the food served in our dining halls,” Sabin said in an email.

She said the University also collects student feedback at “HappyOrNot” terminals in each dining hall — options range from a dark green smiling face through a dark red frowning face — which dining staff review weekly. Officials launched the kiosks in April 2024.

“This multi-layered approach ensures feedback is reviewed regularly, addressed quickly, and integrated into ongoing menu development to align dining experiences with student preferences,” Sabin said.

Two inspections by the D.C. Department of Health this year

also revealed persistent cleanliness issues at Shenkman Hall. A February inspection stated that food safety officials observed evidence of droppings near dry storage areas, and the kitchen lacked a sink with hot water.

A September inspection found the same hot water violation and said cutting boards were not properly cleaned and sanitized, which staff corrected immediately.

“We work closely with D.C. Health and GW Facilities to address any inspection findings immediately,” Sabin said. “All items noted in recent inspections were promptly corrected on-site, and led to the dining halls passing inspection.”

More than two years after GW finished revamping its dining model, students say they are happy with the convenience and changes officials have made to improve the quality of the dining halls and think officials have been responsive to student feedback. However, after changes this semester, some students still have concerns about improper ingredient labeling and a lack of diversity within dining hall menus.

Junior Lilly Shaw — the president of GW Chronic Health Advocates and a member of the GW Dining Student Advisory Panel, which is made up of three students that officials selected to work directly with dining staff to help gather student opinions and ideas for improving dining — said she successfully advocated last year for more variety at the Pure Eats station in all University dining halls. The station offers food without the nine most common food allergens to accommodate students with dietary restrictions.

“It’s been really wonderful to see our feedback for more variety, pure-eat breakfasts, pop-up events that take students with allergies into consideration, desserts, etc. listened to and actualized,” Shaw said in an email.

Since its creation in 2022, the GW Dining Student Advisory Panel has implemented several initiatives, like introducing OZZI reusable containers in 2024 and bringing Beyond Meat, a plantbased meat alternative, to the din-

ing halls last year.

Andy Cheng, a senior studying art history, said he’s noticed some food labels in the Shenkman dining hall are uninformative, leaving him unaware of the ingredients in a given dish. Cheng said he knows students who have had allergic reactions to dining hall food due to inadequate information about the ingredients in dishes.

“With chicken nuggets, they will list breaded chicken,” Cheng said. “I don’t know what’s in the breaded chicken, and I don’t know what brand it is, what they put in it, and it’s just bad.”

Cheng echoed student concerns from 2023, when students reported that limited ingredient labeling posed a risk to students with allergies, eating disorders and religious dietary restrictions. Students observed that food labels in dining halls did not clearly correspond to each dish and did not disclose all ingredients, risking exposure to foods they are intolerant to.

Sabin said officials hired David Cox, a full-time quality assurance manager, in April 2024 to oversee food safety and sanitation across all University dining establishments in response to student reports of foodborne illnesses from dining halls in February 2024.

The Student Government Association created a Special Committee on Dining Reform in May 2023 to assess and attempt to address student dining concerns after a March inspection by D.C. Health revealed inadequate labeling, mice droppings near open dry food containers and improper cooling practices.

The University corrected all identified issues less than two weeks later, according to the follow-up report.

The SGA combined the legislative branch’s Special Committee on Dining and the executive branch’s dining team in March, but the body has fallen short of meeting requirements this semester, failing to appoint public members as they are still trying to raise awareness about the assembly, even after they hosted a town hall last month.

that there’s certain aspects of life as you age, as you grow older, that start adding additional responsibilities.”

SGA Vice President Liz Stoddard said SGA senator absences are only a problem when senators do not inform SGA leadership or their fellow senators of their absence in advance, an issue she said occurs each year, with this year being no exception. She said as long as senators designate a proxy or provide reasons like a class or work conflict for their absence, she has been largely understanding of senators having to miss meetings this year.

$11 million SEAS program grant to boost financial aid, service options: participants

ALLISON MAURY REPORTER

PARIS ALBRECHT REPORTER

Students in an engineeringbased scholarship and leadership program said a new $11 million investment from a DMV-based foundation will bolster student financial aid and create expanded service opportunities for participants, strengthening the program’s impact on future engineers.

Officials announced last month an $11 million donation from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation to expand the Clark Scholars Program, which provides GW engineering students with financial aid, leadership experience and professional development opportunities. Program participants and faculty said the grant will broaden the program’s impact by increasing the financial aid available to students, even after the Clark Foundation closes at the end of the year as it finishes paying out the late founder’s assets to philanthropic causes.

Royce Francis, the faculty director of the program and an associate engineering professor, said in addition to tuition assistance, the program also provides financial support when students study abroad, unpaid internship opportunities and need-based support for engineering projects they work on.

Francis said the program is offering a new course this fall focused on using engineering through community service, which the grant is helping to support. Students currently taking the class are working with So Kids SOAR, a local nonprofit that provides recreational and skill-based activities for people with disabilities, to audit the nonprofit’s systems and internal operations to suggest improvements to better support a mentor program at So Kids SOAR, Francis said.

“They already have a satisfaction survey that they do with the parents and the families of the mentees but looking at what they do concretely and what they do in their program,” Francis said. “That’s what they wanted the engineering students to do.”

The Clark Scholars Program started at GW in 2011 with an $8 million grant from the late A. James Clark, a former GW trustee who started the foundation, according to a University release. Before Clark died in 2015, he re-

quested most of his assets be spent in a philanthropic way within 10 years, which is why the foundation will close at the end of this year. The foundation donated an additional $18 million to the GW program in 2017.

Students in the program, who are eligible for both merit- and need-based scholarships, are required to engage in activities that reflect the foundation’s values of action, effort and giving back to the community, including a leadership boot camp at the beginning of each year. The program’s requirements also include all students studying abroad, community service, maintaining a minimum 3.3 GPA and attending social events throughout the semester.

Aidan Schurr, a junior studying biomedical engineering, said he was introduced to the Clark Scholars Program when he attended GW’s admitted students’ day and met students in the program. He said he wanted to be a scholar because he was interested in the student leadership opportunities, like the leadership boot camp and scholarship that the program provided.

“When I came to GW, I met a bunch of people on admitted students’ day who were in this, and they were the brightest, my most favorite people,” Schurr said.

Schurr, who is now studying abroad at Queen Mary University in London as part of the program’s requirement, said he is looking forward to how the funding will impact the program, particularly with the new course that focuses on identifying and building service-learning projects for the D.C. community. He said that the projects in the class will involve making a real impact in D.C. and supporting people in need.

“They have the bandwidth now to help us in some kind of way that we didn’t see before,” Schurr said.

Ilinca Hirtopanu, a senior studying computer science and math, said she received an email during her first year inviting her to the program as long as she met its academic and financial requirements. In addition to paying part of her tuition, Hirtopanu said the Clark Scholars Program gave her the opportunity to make new friends and connections in her major.

“A lot of it was the financial aspect, but I also love the community there, and I’m really lucky that I got to be a part of it,” said Hirtopanu.

DC government fines GW Hospital $15,000 over ‘unlawful’ employee contracts

From Page 1

Schwalb said GW Hospital subjected at least 39 nurses — 12 of whom paid a combined sum of $35,000 to the hospital for typical on-the-job training and 27 of whom the hospital sent to collections for failure to pay — to predatory agreements.

An OAG press release states employers in the District can only require employees to pay for train-

ing costs if the employees receive some benefit, like a certificate they could use to get another job. In this case, the nurses received no standalone certification, making the repayment plan illegal.

The agreement states GW Hospital denies the payment plan violated District antitrust laws and noncompete ban. GW Hospital did not return a request for comment.

GW Hospital must stop

all collections and repayments and notify all nurses who signed a TRAP agreement of the agreement, per the terms of the settlement. The hospital also must notify the District if it seeks to implement a similar payment plan within the next three years.

DCNA Executive Director Edward Smith said the D.C. Nurses Association, the GW Hospital nurses’ union, notified the Office of the Attorney General of the

hospital’s repayment practices more than three years ago, and the union is thankful the office resolved the dispute.

“As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, often stated: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” Smith said in a text message.

The agreement comes after years of struggle between the GW Hospital nurses union and Universal Health Services, the hospi-

tal’s owner and operator. The D.C. Nurses Association, which voted to unionize in 2023 after alleging the hospital stripped union representation from workers in 2018, reached a settlement to begin negotiating a fair contract with the hospital last year. In April they filed unfair labor charges against UHS for allegedly firing two nurses and disciplining another because they posted union materials.

Smith said the National

Labor Relations Board is investigating the charges, but the agency ceased all investigations on Oct. 1 due to what has become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The hospital also reached a settlement agreement with the NLRB in December 2024 over allegations of privately discouraging unionizing, surveilling workers and firing a nurse because of her pro-union activity.

Former coordinators warn shrinking GWSB program will strain resources

From Page 1

Dyson said GWSB is reassessing the center’s resources to “innovate” the program and noted that, despite the pause, the Fowler Center has reached or engaged “significantly more” students than it did last year.

Mitchell Sozio, a senior studying business and a student coordinator last year, said Dyson initially told coordinators in July officials were pausing the decade-old program — which employs 14 to 16 coordinators every year — for the fall semester due to “tough decisions” GW leaders had to make regarding the University’s budget.

Sozio said coordinators, led by then-junior Soleil Lech, met with Dyson in early August to discuss potentially continuing the program on a volunteer basis, with students not being paid for their work, to avoid changes to the program and allow it to continue despite budget cuts.

He said Dyson later reached back out to the coordinators at the end of October to announce the program would be returning in the spring at a “scaledback capacity,” with officials

hiring only four to five coordinators as compared to 14 to 16.

He said despite having conversations with Dyson over the summer, the coordinators hit a “dead end” in trying to keep the program alive and unchanged.

“The program, according to the new director, was just not going to function in the same way as it had in the past decade that it had been operating,”

Sozio said.

He said the program was helpful for students who felt lost and needed help starting the application process for jobs and internships. He said the program’s impact was “immense” because the student coordinators were more aware of the current job climate and evolving requirements — like understanding artificial intelligence — than GWSB’s professional career coaches, who have been out of school for longer.

“We’re the same generation,”

Sozio said. “We do things differently. We understand how AI works. We understand how to connect with alumni who are closer in age to us. There’s a million things. How to prep for interviews as a Gen Z person, like these are just things that

we were able to offer such great insight.”

GWSB and the University promoted the program heavily as a tool that should be used, Sozio said, as meetings were highly encouraged as students began their journey at the school. He said many coordinators visited GWSB Business Leader Foundations classes, which are required classes for first-year students that discuss the basics of how businesses function, to give guest lectures.

Sozio said he is excited about the program returning but thinks with the reduced capacity, the program will not “function efficiently” because of the higher student-to-coordinator ratio.

“These are students who have lives, who take a lot of classes, and it’s not just juggling, but when you put that pressure on just five students, I don’t know how it is going to function efficiently,” he said.

Lech, a senior studying international business, and the coordinator who Sozio said led the summer meetings with Dyson, said Fowler was a way for underclassmen who didn’t know many older students to

get in contact with them if they needed advice. She said the program’s scaling back will limit the impact it will have on students and decrease the level of support coordinators will be able to provide.

“To only have five people would really cut down on responsibilities in what we’re able to do and how we’re able to help people,” Lech said. “So I’m kind of sad to see that.”

Lech said incoming junior coordinators suggested volunteering instead of receiving pay, but senior coordinators expressed concern that turning the role into a volunteer position, even temporarily, could undermine their ability to earn compensation in the future if they were willing to provide the service for free.

“You’re getting paid to do this, you need to put in that time and effort to do it correctly,” she said.

Abby Hackman, a GWSB alum who graduated in 2025 and served as a Fowler student coordinator for two years during her time at the school, said the coordinators allowed Fowlers’ professional career coaches to focus on upperclassmen. She

said now that the program is paused, the professional coaches are “swamped,” and with fewer coordinators returning next semester, students will receive less personalized attention from coordinators and coaches.

“The more they have, the less direct attention they can give everyone,” Hackman said. “Whereas me, having maybe 10, 15 students I saw on a regular basis, could follow up with them and ask how things are going.”

Hackman said coordinators held over 430 meetings during the 2024-25 school year.

In addition to meeting with GWSB students, Hackman said student coordinators met with extracurricular clubs outside of GWSB that did not have access to a resource like Fowler. She said for these students, the coordinator’s advice was even more “impactful” as they provided students outside of GWSB a way to get structured career support.

“It was really helpful to kind of have us as people reach people outside of the business school to make sure that all GW students were equipped with these skills,” Hackman said.

New signage confirms USC floors restricted to GWorld card holders

From Page 1

Businesses around the country have also put up signs to deter Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from entering, which restaurant-owners in Foggy Bottom said has been a source of anxiety for their staff. Storefronts in Richmond, Virginia installed signs reading “ICE IS NOT WELCOME HERE” starting in August, and businesses in Evanston, Illinois put up signs reading “FEDERAL AGENTS DO NOT HAVE CONSENT TO ENTER” this month as ICE enforcement rises in the state.

Trump first deployed the National Guard to D.C. Aug. 11 as part of his crackdown on crime in the city, but troop presence in Foggy Bottom — located in Ward 2 and one of the lowest violent crime areas in the District — was initially sparse. However, last month, students noticed an uptick of troops in and around campus spaces, like Gelman, Duques Hall, the Mitchell Hall Chick-filA and in Kogan, which they said made them feel uneasy and want clearer communication from officials about where troops are allowed on campus.

Student Government Association President Ethan Lynne held up a picture of guard troops

inside Duques Hall, which requires tap access, at a Board of Trustees meeting last month, demanding University officials work to make students feel safe on campus.

“In addition to increased signage and enforcing authorized-only GWorld access to campus buildings, the University continues to evaluate each event in the current

threat environment and work with external partners to determine and adjust security measures as appropriate,” Garbitt said.

SGA officials also fielded student concerns about guard presence last month, with SGA Vice President Liz Stoddard saying officials should make it clear to the community that the guard is

not allowed on campus and create a reporting mechanism for students to report troops in buildings so GW Police Department can remove them.

Garbitt said students who see federal officials attempting to enter GW facilities should contact the GWPD and refer to the University’s posted resources on what to do in the case of unannounced

federal personnel visits.

Students also protested last month, reiterating demands that GW declare itself a sanctuary campus, which would require GW to institute policies aimed at limiting the University’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and ban federal law enforcement from campus spaces.

About 10 guard troops

Tracking FY2026 cuts to campus operations, resources

The Hatchet launched a tracker in late September to document University-wide budget cuts throughout fiscal year 2026. Since the initial launch, the community has faced continued cuts, including staff layoffs and a discontinuation of free counseling office hours. Below is an update on those rollbacks.

What: Officials laid off 43 staff members, marking the first time the University has

let go of staff en masse since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hatchet confirmed GW Law, College of Professional Studies, School of Business, School of Medicine & Health Sciences and GW Athletics were impacted by the layoffs. When: University President Ellen Granberg, Interim Provost John Lach, Chief Financial Office Fernandes and Chief of Staff Scott Mory announced the layoffs in an email to the community on Sept. 30, which was also the last day of the first quarter of fiscal year 2026. The layoffs quashed months of speculation over whether officials would cut personnel as GW worked to reduce its bud-

get. GW’s commentary on the change: University spokesperson Shannon McClendon declined to disclose the schools, departments and offices impacted by layoffs, citing respect for the employees’ privacy. Top University officials in the Sept. 30 email — sent exclusively to staff and faculty — attributed the layoffs to “continued pressures” squeezing GW’s finances. The top University officials said in the email they made the “very difficult decision” to lay off the 43 staff members in response to “continued pressures” squeezing GW’s finances. The announcement came

after Fernandes told the Faculty Senate in May that slashing GW’s FY2026 budget and freezing merit-based salary increases was the “least disruptive” way to avoid layoffs.

What: Officials ended Counseling and Psychological Services’ walk-in hours this semester, opting for an appointment-only model — a change student mental health advocates view as another cut officials are making to student resources on campus this year

When: Web archives show that since at least 2017, students could access CAPS without an appointment by walking into the Student Health

showed up in Kogan at the start of the protest, though they left after a speaker in the crowd mentioned the presence of guard troops in the city.

About 2,300 guard troops from eight states and D.C. remain in the District since Trump’s August order to deploy the guard to “rescue” the city from violent crime, which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth extended until the end of February last week to “protect federal property” and support federal and D.C. law enforcement.

The extension comes amid a lawsuit from D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb aimed at withdrawing the guard troops. A federal judge heard arguments from both the D.C. and federal governments last month but has yet to rule on whether the troops can stay.

Garbitt said officials are aware of the instances of guard troops stationed on campus and entering a campus building and said when officials become aware of federal officials in University facilities, they immediately follow up with the appropriate authorities.

“GW safety officials will remain in communication with the Guard to discuss any concerns received from our community,” Garbitt said.

Center or calling during weekday afternoon hours. Now, under the new system, students must schedule appointments in advance through the Student Health Portal.

GW’s commentary on the change: University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said CAPS introduced the new scheduling system to “better serve” the needs of students by allowing them to preview provider information and select one who “best aligns” with their individual needs and identities. She declined to comment on if the decision to end walk-in hours is due to broader University cuts or if there are plans to reinstate them in the future.

OPINIONS

We’re tired of writing staff editorials with the same thesis: GW needs to communicate more. Every week, when we sit down to choose an editorial topic, we comb through The Hatchet’s top stories looking for an issue worth digging into. Week after week, the seemingly obvious follow-up questions we have after reading the headline aren’t answered by officials in the piece. From staff layoffs to visa revocations, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to broader shifts in federal education policy, our editorial boards have centered around questions we were shocked officials declined to answer in news coverage.

To be clear from the outset, this editorial is not a debate over institutional neutrality. We are not asking GW to take a political stance or comment on every policy shift under President Donald Trump’s administration. Nor are we saying that, in the case of the education compact, the University should — or shouldn’t — have weighed in on its specific provisions. What we are saying is that GW should have clearly stated where it stood in the process, including what information it could share and what it could not. We recognize that GW cannot always disclose every detail or rationale behind its decisions. But when that’s the case, the University should say so directly. Silence or vague statements shouldn’t leave the community guessing whether GW is withholding information or simply doesn’t think its stakeholders deserve to be informed.

Over the past year, officials have shared little with their community about some of the most consequential decisions on campus. The semester began with the Department of Justice’s antisemitism investigation findings, which officials have continued to remain largely quiet on months later. When it came to

When GW began meeting with National Guard officials.

GW needs a new communications strategy

STAFF EDITORIAL

staff layoffs, GW disclosed the total number of employees affected but offered no details on which departments were impacted or how much money the cuts were projected to save. Similarly, the University has yet to inform the community — many of whom are students paying to be part of this institution — about the current size of the structural deficit or the rationale for withholding that information. Officials have rolled back security, made temporary changes to Gelman Library hours and shortened dining schedules without clear explanations, leaving the community to infer that these measures were linked to budgetary pressures. Transparency is also lacking around GW’s DEI

policies, with officials not clarifying their reasoning for postponing the Diversity Summit or halting the search for the vice provost of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids occurred near campus, GW relegated the update to a single sentence in an email, offering no additional context. The same was true for last month’s bomb threat, when University President Ellen Granberg did not issue a statement to the community. Officials may believe silence or vagueness on certain issues is the safer option. But silence is still a choice, and in a community that depends on timely and transparent communication, choosing not

This isn’t the time for the GW community to tone down its beliefs

Over the past few years, higher education institutions and much of the media industry and people who lean left have been dubbed “woke” by right-wing politicians. Political scientists often attribute this to anti-intellectualism, or the distrust and delegitimization of intellectuals and academic institutions. As a result, many people pursuing political-related work in the academic and communication spheres have toned down their ideas to make them more easily digestible to a broader audience, avoiding controversial topics. This creates the problem of simplifying content in a way that ignores nuance and accountability. I see this happening at GW, where students and faculty are often part of political conversations, and many want to pursue careers in politics, academia and journalism. At a time when educational institutions and media outlets are facing right-wing criticism, we must reject the pressure to tone down our views and how we present them to make them more palatable to critics.

People all along the political spectrum should avoid subduing their own opinions as it creates a toned-down representation

of what is important to society. If students and faculty give in and tone down their ideas, college campuses will become less vibrant in thought, hindering the process of critical thinking and education.

This ideological attack also affects journalists as individuals and news outlets have come under intense scrutiny from the right. This has been perpetuated by the continuous use of terms like “fake news ” to delegitimize news stories, especially ones that criticize Republican-backed initiatives. These actions contribute to the growing anti-intellectualism sentiment common amongst the American right, as they encourage distrust in the media.

These direct actions against higher education and journalism create an environment where individuals feel the need to censor themselves to avoid backlash and claims of illegitimacy from the right. Many fear their credibility will be called into question if they share their unabridged ideas called into question by the general public. Rather than prioritizing creating a strong, supported argument, people often focus on less controversial topics or tone down their views to make them more well received.

It’s important to acknowledge the argument that in a deeply polarized, divided society the only way to convey your message to a broader audience

is by tailoring language and content so it appeals to more people. This approach does have merit as it can be beneficial to meet people where they are ideologically, but it doesn’t justify eliminating important information. A toned-down version of an idea may garner more support, but it will not contribute productively to the actual cause at hand.

GW’s administration has been guilty of self-censorship to avoid disagreement, evidenced by their refusal to take an official stance on institutional neutrality or speak out directly against Trump’s educational compact. In spaces dominated by opposing viewpoints of either side, it is important for those with a different perspective to resist the urge to self-censor, especially in industries that are consistently under attack.

As GW students we must push against the urge to tone down our ideas to make them more easily digestible and instead focus on harnessing our strong beliefs to promote progress. To combat attacks on anti-intellectualism, we must thoroughly develop these ideas through robust discussion and evidence collection. Standing up for what you believe in is an essential part of being politically engaged as progress requires discomfort.

—Willow Harrington, a sophomore majoring in political science and psychology, is am opinions writer.

to communicate is itself a decision that speaks volumes. When we examine communication from GW’s peer schools, it becomes clear that while many universities employ similarly polished public relations language, they are often far less vague. For example, when the University of Southern California updated its community on Trump’s education compact, it clearly stated that it had “declined” and even included the letter officials sent to the administration. As one of the original 10 universities directly offered the compact by Trump’s administration, USC’s decision to decline was significant, and we were not expecting GW to do the same. But this level of transparency — providing the commu-

nity with a decision, reasoning and proof with a copy of the response — is something we wish we saw more of at GW.

For example, officials have not shared a summary of the University’s response to the DOJ’s campus antisemitism findings. Earlier this semester, officials indicated interest in negotiating with the DOJ but offered no details, despite several requests from The Hatchet’s news team for information about GW’s plans and responses. We recognize that legal constraints may limit what the University can disclose. But when that’s the case, the community should be told as much. The University should not wait for the student newspaper or a governing body to press for a response before offering even basic context on significant developments. Proactive communication is essential to maintaining trust and accountability within the community. Providing the community with a copy of GW’s response to the DOJ — similar to how USC shared its letter about the education compact — would have gone a long way toward building trust and demonstrating transparency.

The current approach of vague, overly cautious messaging has never been effective and won’t start working now. In the past, the University has acknowledged, like with the Medical Faculty Associates’ financial challenges, that it couldn’t provide full details at the time. If that is the case, it should be communicated clearly. Obscuring information undermines trust, shows little respect for stakeholders and leaves the community in the dark about decisions that directly affect their lives. GW may be concerned about optics or internal challenges, but transparency with the people who invest their time, money and energy in the University is not optional.

As an international student, I can’t speak openly

As an exchange student from Switzerland, I feel privileged to study in the capital of a country.

Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940s said “We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.”

But in recent years, the international perception of the saying has turned more toward a myth than a perceived vibrant reality. In the United States, I am afraid of being monitored by the government, and my dependency on a visa renewal has made me hesitant to speak out.

I have to hope the most powerful man in the country, living a few blocks away from our campus, does not decide to put more obstacles in my way to maintain my guest status.

This hope already took some severe hits when President Donald Trump announced over the summer that the administration would search people’s phones and social media history to decide whether or not to let international students into the country. This compounded uncertainty over visa appointments

since earlier this year, the administration halted interviews for weeks. The logical consequence is that I self-censor myself both in person and online out of fear of the federal government’s scrutiny of international students.

When doing homework, I am still somewhat hesitant about what I can say or what I should say, even in discussion posts on Blackboard because of potential federal oversight. It is the same when it comes to my classes — often, I won’t say something that could potentially be seen as “antiAmerican” or Eurocentric criticism of the United States. I worry about the potential backfiring of my efforts to contribute with my perspective because people could feel offended and may have contacts in the government that could probe me and affect my visa.

In general, I’m very cautious with my social media presence, limiting it to LinkedIn. On this platform, I only post what I feel will not cause a blinking red light in the visa process for my second consecutive semester at Butler University in Indianapolis. From protests, I abstain completely, though I would love to have the experience of attending and comparing them to my experiences in Switzerland.

The small probability of being arrested or

even photographed in combination with unclear consequences — not always logically following the law — does not justify participating at all for me because it could get me arrested or prevent me from gaining reentry. In my WhatsApp Community channel with blog posts for family and friends, I do speak out about what I experience, but I cannot get out of the back of my mind that WhatsApp is owned by Meta, and my data may be passed on to government agencies. The current administration is putting more and more restrictions on all kinds of people who want to work, study or live here. In the short term, I’m looking forward to giving my Swiss perspective to GW students and enjoying and fingers crossed that I will get my second visa for the next semester. In the long term, I want to work in the renowned diplomatic services of Switzerland, so that, for example, future exchange students will feel confident to speak out about what they think. It is a matter of fact that international students have always had many hoops to jump through, but it has recently gotten more difficult because of the federal government’s new policies.

—Gregor von Rohr, a sophomore studying international affairs, is an opinions writer.

CULTURE

Palisades DC’s headbanging path to Battle of the Bands victory

SOPHIA

On Wednesday, the four members of Palisades DC fired up their amps for their weekly rehearsal, preparing to compete in WRGW’s annual Battle of the Bands. Representing the Revolutionaries, the metalcore band competed Saturday at GW’s music hub, Square 80, against bands from American and Georgetown universities and GW’s radio stations. After a week of practices, Palisades DC emerged victorious, beating out the other universities’ student performers for the DIY trophy made of CDs.

Devin Cox, a sophomore and Palisades DC’s guitarist, said the band came together through the canonical prefreshman year roommate search before last year. He said once he found out he and his future roommate Leo Nassar, a sophomore and the band’s drummer, shared the same taste in music, they decided to form a band, turning last year to GW’s Student Music Coalition discord server in search of a bassist and vocalist.

Vocalist Naveen Ramamurthy, a sophomore, and bassist Mathew Murray, a 2025 CCAS graduate, answered Cox and Nassar’s call, and the newly-formed group got to work. Eager to see how GW’s contender was prepping for the competition, we watched as the band prepared for showtime.

Three days competitionbefore

Ahead of Battle of the Bands, the four members of Palisades DC met for their weekly rehearsal in the SMC’s suite in the University Student Center on Wednes-

day night. With the competition just three days away, the band discussed which of their songs they would perform to ensure a GW victory. The sound of distorted vocal warmups, sporadic kick drum hits and driving bass licks traveled down the hall as the four piece warmed up. When the band commenced rehearsal with “Icarus Fell,” a new metalcore song written by Cox, the music became all consuming. In a 13-by-6-foot practice room adorned with posters of David Bowie, The Velvet Underground and Miles Davis, the band refined riffs and practiced transitions, preparing to represent the Revolutionaries with revelry at the forthcoming competition.

Day of the competition

As night fell on Saturday, bands slowly found their way to Square 80 and began unpacking their instruments. There was no sense of anxiousness in sight amongst the bands as they conversed amongst each other, throwing out jokes and snacking on food ahead of the performances.

WRGW general manager Kendall Larade said WRGW hosted the first-ever Battle of the Bands competition for GW students coming back post-pandemic in 2022. She said it wasn’t until 2023 that they decided to collaborate with Georgetown Radio, or WGTB, and in 2024, the competition expanded to include other schools from the DMV area. For the past two years, the competition has taken place at Georgetown University, with this year’s location on GW’s campus marking the first time WRGW has housed the cross-school battle.

Georgetown’s Jam! kicked off the competi-

tion, filling the yard with guitar-riffed renditions of songs like “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer and “Layla” by Eric Clapton and Derek & The Dominos. After the Georgetown band’s five-song set, American University’s Argo and The Violet Queens stepped up to bat. Their seven-song set of mostly original songs reverberated through Square 80 with a more funk-rock sound, as the lead guitarist danced to the rhythm of the saxophonist’s jazzy solos.

As the AU band’s set neared its end, the members of Palisades DC prepared to take Square 80 by storm. In the makeshift backstage — the west side of the lawn beside School Without Walls — Nassar silently practiced with only his drum pedals as Murray honed his bass licks unplugged.

After starting strong with “The Spire,” “Family is Elsewhere” and a cover of Botch’s “Dead for a Minute,” the band played “Icarus Fell,” having refined the riffs and transitions practiced days before.By the time Palisades DC ended their set with “I Choose Life,” and the crowd’s moshers were sufficiently out of breath, audience members turned to Instagram to vote for Fan Favorite on WRGW’s story, and the judges commenced their deliberation.

Post-show

The three bands all gathered on stage once the judges’ verdicts and poll results were in, and after a tie amongst the judges, Larade announced that Palisades DC would be crowned the winner after being voted Fan Favorite. The trophy, made out of broken CDs with abstract stars at the base, was given to the band to celebrate the metalcore victory. When asked about the perfor-

Students shuffle into mah jongg craze, rekindle centuries-old game

For a growing number of students, weekends at GW begin not with pounding music or waiting in lines to get into bars but with the rhythmic clack of tiles and the laughter of students chasing one more win.

Those students are playing mah jongg, a centuriesold game once confined to family tables that’s now booming among young people drawn to its mix of competition, ritual and charm. The revival — powered by TikTok trends and a renewed craving for in-person play — has carved out a corner at GW, where students apart of the student organization, The Dragon Party, meet each Friday to test their luck and skills.

Once getting past the first few rounds, the game becomes relatively simple, President of The Dragon Party Emme Seeley said. She said each member begins with a rack of tiles, with the number varying based on the player — the dealer picks up 14, while everyone else receives 13. From there, players take turns drawing and discarding tiles, trying to form complete sets like a three-of-a-kind, sequences or a pair. The first player to organize their tiles into a hand of 14 tiles wins.

Still, she said because the rules are specific and can restrict players’ options for the moves they can take, luck plays a vital role in the outcome of the game. Seeley said she started playing mah jongg with her grandmother and family around 8 years old as she is a part of a “game family,” learning to love the game. Coming to GW as a first-year, she said she decided to join the organization to continue playing on

mance, the band praised the crowd for their energy, grateful for the response to such a distinctive music genre.

“The best thing people have told me after we played

a weekly basis.

Senior and Treasurer of The Dragon Party Jacob Joyner said despite not knowing the rules of the game before, he joined the organization due to the original founder’s welcoming environment. Joyner said the founder of the organization handed leadership responsibilities to him and Seeley once she graduated, and they have since continued it because it is a “very casual” club.

“We did have plans to keep it going, in case anybody else wants to just have a chill Friday night, playing mah jongg, telling gossip, exchanging stories,” he said.

Joyner said he has taught several members over the years how to play the game with the first few rounds being difficult in terms of understanding the rules but that students ultimately gain an understanding with increased play and experience.

Mary Kate Craven — cofounder of DC Mahj Collective, a mobile organization that aims to build community through American mah jongg lessons, popup events and fundraisers in the District — said she opened her business in January 2024. After learning

the game herself as a gamelover, she said, she wanted to find a way to create consistent community with her friends to teach interested people how to play and find community in a “less assuming way,” opposed to athletic activities.

Craven said the majority of DC Mahj’s online following and event attendance has ranged from those in their 20s to some in their 80s, sometimes seeing grandmothers bring their granddaughters along to play.

She said when starting DC Mahj, she felt the game had the potential to be

come more than just a passing trend, gaining traction across generations opposed to trendy activities like pickleball, which surged in popularity in recent years.

Craven noted that vendors quickly capitalized on this growing interest, offering a variety of decorated tiles, while social media platforms like TikTok helped the game reach an even wider audience.

“I joked when we started I was like, ‘this feels like the next pickle ball,’” Craven said. “And it kind of is, because there’s now this whole multi-million dollar industry around mah jongg.”

is that they didn’t expect to like it, but they really enjoyed it,” Cox said. Even as the bands began packing up, there was still a spark in the air as

the crowd stuck around to mingle and catch up with the bands for photos and congratulate them on their electric performances.

Local booksellers unfazed

in keeping the publishing ecosystem afloat, funding a larger amount of books than an independent bookstore could. Barnes & Noble stores sells over 100,000 different books in stores and have over 1 million for online purchases.

As Barnes & Noble plots its next chapter in downtown D.C., independent bookstores said they’re not worried about the chain’s expansion because they’ve already written the city’s best story — one filled with loyal readers and neighborhood charm.

After previously closing its last District location in December 2015 after the bookstore giant wasn’t able to extend its lease agreement and reopening a Georgetown location last November, Barnes & Noble will open its second D.C. location — a two-level, 16,000-squarefoot bookstore — in the Woodward & Lothrop “Woodies” building near Metro Center in January after delays due to construction setbacks. Ahead of the store’s opening, independent booksellers across the District said they’re not worried about the move impacting business as they continue to engage with the local community through carefully curated sections and a mix of events.

Scott Abel, co-owner of Solid State Books, a bookstore with locations on H and 14th streets, said he didn’t celebrate when the chain abandoned their presence in D.C., and the opening of a second Barnes & Noble could help bring more readers into D.C.’s bookstore scene.

Abel said large chains play a key role

Kyle Burk — co-owner of Capitol Hill Books, an independent used bookstore on Capitol Hill that first opened in 1991 — said he continues to have high hopes for the future of independent bookstores and does not think they will be affected by the Barnes & Noble opening based on past trends of chain bookstores opening and closing in D.C. He also said Capitol Hill Books has been around long enough to withstand the previous rise and falls of bookstore giants, like Barnes & Noble.

Eliza Hamburger, assistant store manager at Lost City Books in Adams Morgan, said she has seen the store evolve since 2020 through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the opening of competing stores and is not “deeply concerned” about the competition as they have a loyal customer base. She said she’s interested in seeing how the new Barnes & Noble bookstore will compete with local independent bookstores as it plays a key role in the “bookstore ecosystem” by challenging both major online retailers like Amazon and smaller independent stores.

“I think there’s a lot of uncertainty, but I hope that we can just kind of ride out the next few years, and the bookstores continue to grow and do well,” Hamburger said.

SPORTS

NUMBER CRUNCH .250 Men’s basketball’s 3-point percentage through their first two games, the second-worst performance in the Atlantic 10

Water polo falls 14-11 to Navy, concludes regular season ranked third in conference

Water polo (14-15, 7-5 MidAtlantic Water Polo Conference) suffered a 14-11 defeat at the hands of the United States Naval Academy (20-8, 10-2 MAWPC) on Friday, marking the end of their regular season.

The matchup saw the Midshipmen take an early lead, and while the Revolutionaries’ offense fought hard to even the score, Navy’s goalies made enough key saves to preserve the victory for their squad. The game took the Revs just under .500 as they closed out the season ranked third in the conference, sending them to the conference championship as one of the top teams in the league, behind Navy and undefeated Fordham.

GW opened the year in the nonconference facing off eight opponents that were ranked in the top 20 nationally, including the University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Davis and University of Southern California. After the opening West Coast trip where GW ended with a record of 2-2, the Revs stabilized during conference play and secured wins against Long Island, Bucknell and Johns Hopkins universities, bringing their record up 7-9 roughly midway through their 29-game schedule.

Friday’s loss follows the Revs’ 12-9 defeat against Navy on Oct. 24. The Midshipmen also knocked the Revs out of last year’s MAWPC championship in the second round.

Midshipmen sophomore Orion Erwin started Friday’s action off with an early strike, scoring on the first possession of the game. Rev sophomore attacker Antonio Florena quickly followed up with a strike 2 minutes into the first quarter marking his 54th goal of

the season and briefly tying the game at 1 goal apiece. Fueled by two goals from junior Billy Zech and another from Luka Sekulic, the Midshipmen surged ahead early, finishing the first quarter with a commanding 4-1 advantage over the Revs.

In the second quarter, the Revs found flashes of rhythm with longer possessions that allowed sophomores Joseph McCreary and Yam Kabakov to get the scoring going. Still, the Revs could not close the gap before halftime because the Midshipmen more aggressively swam down the pool, scoring 3 more goals in quick fashion, heading into the half up 7-3.

The Revs opened the second half of the game with a more pugnacious energy and increasingly accurate passing, netting them 3 goals in the frame — their most successful offensive quarter of the game up to that point. Still, the Midshipmen kept their foot on the gas, scoring 4 goals

in the frame capped off by a goal from attacker Connor Cashman with just ten seconds left in the penultimate quarter, carrying an 11-6 lead into the final quarter.

On the first possession of the last frame, Revs attacker Anthony Ferneini found the back of the net, keeping his team alive. The Revs carried the energy of this goal forward, scoring two more goals, trailing 11-9 with five minutes and 25 seconds left in the match.

However, Midshipmen attacker Ryan Mondzelewski put an end to the Revs’ 3-0 run and answered with a goal that upped the match’s score to 12-9. But with 3:26 left on the clock, first-year Revs attacker Austin Nelson — who led the team throughout the match with three assists — struck back securing his first goal of the game and 22nd of the season.

With three minutes left in the match, Midshipmen center Maddox Garrahy responded with a pair of goals that secured the win for Navy. Despite a quick start to

the last quarter and strong team effort that allowed GW to score 5 goals in the quarter, Navy’s defense held strong, adding a total of 13 blocks and three saves from the Midshipmen’s three goalkeepers, sealing a 14-11 win marking an end to GW’s regular season.

Keeping up with his last performance against Navy, freshman Austin Nelson led the Revs with three assists and one goal, marking his 43rd of the season, while sophomore Connor Jermain contributed with five saves in net.

Before the opening swimoff, the Revs honored their two graduating athletes with a senior recognition ceremony. Assistant coach and former goalkeeper Luca Castorina escorted graduate student goalkeeper Vasilije Marinkovic, who played his first season as the primary goalkeeper for the Revs this season with 255 saves after transferring from Mount St. Mary’s University.

The MAWPC named senior

Temple routs women’s basketball 86-50 as Revs’ shooting flounders

Women’s basketball (1-1) failed their first road test of the season at Temple University (20), losing 86-50 Friday night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Revolutionaries’ first Division I opponent of the season proved too much to handle, as the Owls dominated GW by 36 points with a strong offensive and defensive output. While the Revs’ defense was able to stifle Temple early on, the Owls surged into the second quarter and beyond, outscoring 51 points in the second and third quarters combined.

Freshman guard Colleen Phiri repeated as the Revs’ top scorer with 11 points, tying with junior guard Kamari Sims. Still, the Revs were unable to repeat their successful 3-point shooting performance from their first game, going a mere

3-17 from three Friday after finishing 15 of 27 in the team’s 86-47 win against the University of the District of Columbia on Monday.

The Revs also failed to defend the 3-point line, allowing Temple to shoot 12-19 from three — good for 63.2 percent — and allowed Temple to win battle of the boards by pulling down 48 rebounds compared to the Revs’ 31. The Owls defeated the reigning Atlantic 10 champions George Mason in overtime in their opening game Monday before facing the Revs this weekend.

Both teams struggled to score early with the Revs going 3-11 and the Owls 2-17 in the first quarter. Although the Revs’ defense held the Owls to just two field goals in the first quarter, Temple went 7-7 from the charity stripe to close out the opening frame with a 13-9 lead.

Sophomore guard Jaeda Wilson fouled Temple sophomore Brianna Mead while shooting a 3-pointer with just 0.6 seconds in

the first quarter, allowing Mead to sink all three free throws and shifting the game’s momentum in Temple’s favor. The Owls picked up where they left off to open the second quarter, combining for a 9-3 run that extended their lead to 22-12. In the second quarter Temple found their offensive rhythm, shooting 10 of 18 from the field and knocking down three of their five 3-point attempts. With the Revs unable to match this offensive output, the Owls went into the locker room at halftime up 20 points at 39-19. Temple had 11 points off transition in the first half sparked by six steals. The Owls’ dominance carried over into the third quarter, starting the period off on an 8-0 run that widened their lead to over 25 points. The Revs were unable to cut into the lead, falling further and further behind as the game continued. The Owls’ strong shooting output continued in this quarter,

with Temple successful on 10 of their 17 shot attempts, compared to the Revs’ 6 of 16 clip. Sophomore guard Gabby Reynolds, who led the team in scoring last season, struggled against the Owls, notching just 6 points on the night off 3 of 12 shooting.

The Revs had their strongest offensive output in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points off 7 of 16 shooting as the game was out of reach. Even with this, they were outpaced by the Owls who added 22 points of their own and perfect in 3-point shooting at 4 of 4 in the quarter.

GW Athletics Hall of Famer and former women’s basketball player Jonquel Jones who now plays for the New York Liberty was in attendance. Athletics will honor Jones on Dec. 6 in a ceremony that will see her collegiate number 35, raised into the Smith Center rafters permanently. Next up, the Revs

Adonis Vlassis to their AllConference First Team and the AllTournament Second Team in 2024. Vlassis, who the program honored on Friday, played two seasons at GW, scoring 179 goals and netting 68 assists, after transferring from St. Francis College.

Head Coach Barry King led the Revs through his ninth season at the helm this year, previously leading the team to its first A-10 Water Polo conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance in 2017, which was followed by a repeat title and a first NCAA victory in 2018. During his time at GW, King has compiled a 12876 overall record, a 63-29 mark in conference play and has produced six All-Americans and 21 AllMAWPC First Team and First Team All-Tournament selections. Looking ahead, the third seed Revs will face off against six seed Mount St. Mary’s in the opening round of the MAWPC Championship Nov. 21 in New York.

Turnovers, fouls plague Revs despite USF win

From Page 1

Although 21 turnovers and foul trouble plagued the Revs throughout, the team flashed with signs that they could be good enough for contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the conference’s first since Dayton in 2024. This win opened the door to that possibility, although they can’t afford any missteps against bad teams if they want it to be their reality Junior guard Trey Autry added 16 points of his own with seven rebounds, and redshirt senior forward Rafael Castro scored 14 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals and blocks before fouling out with 4:19 to play in the second half. Graduate student forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. and junior guard Bubu Benjamin each tallied an additional 13 points.

GW as a team shot 54 percent from the field and knocked down nine of 24 3-point attempts. Notably, they were able to notch such a percentage without redshirt junior forward Garrett Johnson — the team’s top 3-point shooter — who has missed the first two games with a knee injury and didn’t travel with the team to Connecticut. From the free throw line, the Revs struggled enormously in the first half, shooting 6 for 13 before tallying a 24-of-28 performance in the second half, including 19 consecutive makes early in the second half.

For the second straight game, GW lost the turnover battle despite the victory. Facing constant pressure from the USF defense, GW had 21 turnovers total, allowing for 30 points off of them. By comparison, USF saw 12 turnovers and allowed 12 points off turnovers.

The Revs accumulated five turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game as they trailed 17-10 in the first half, struggling against the Bulls’ aggressive, tight defense. The team was able to answer back with an 8-0 run following the media timeout to give GW its first lead of the day. Pace of play increased from then on, with

both teams trading baskets before the Revs went on a 12-3 run in the final three minutes to enter the half leading 44-40. Defensively, the Revs held their own despite the high-scoring contest. USF was held to 43 percent shooting from the floor and an unimpressive 6 for 33 from the 3-point line.

The Revs built on their lead with a 15-9 run start to the second half, taking a commanding 59-49 lead with 14 minutes remaining. USF responded by ramping up the pressure defensively, forcing multiple turnovers in the backcourt and tying the game at 67 with nine minutes left after an 11-0 run of their own.

The Revs regained the lead, which they would maintain for the rest of the game, with a clutch threepointer from Dinkins, putting GW up 70-67. Both teams chipped away, USF narrowing the Revs’ lead to 83-81 with 3:52 to play in the second half, but Dinkins responded with backto-back threes to send the Revs up 89-81. Marshall, who went 8-9 from the line on Saturday, then made two free throws to help the Revs break the 90-point mark. After USF’s senior guard Josh Omojafo, who led the game with a career-high 33 points on the day, finished a layup and brought the Bulls to within one after multiple Revs turnovers and fouls. Autry then sank a pair of free throws to put GW up 9693 before Bulls’ sophomore guard CJ Brown answered back, scoring two from the line himself, narrowing the Revs’ lead to 96-95.

GW fended off the lastminute attack from USF with a pair of made free throws by Dinkins and one from Marshall to keep the Bulls at least 3 points away. Down 4 with four seconds to play, senior forward Izaiyah Nelson launched the ball into the sidelines on the inbound, handing the possession back to GW and securing the Revs’ win.

The Revs will next play cross-town rivals American University on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Smith Center.