The GW
HATCHET
May 19, 2025 Vol. 122 Iss. 2
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
‘The world needs you right now’ — University President Ellen Granberg
GW investigating speaker’s call for divestment from Israel at CCAS graduation TYLER IGLESIAS
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
Graduates stand for the national anthem on the National Mall Sunday during University Commencement.
ARWEN CLEMANS | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Commencement speakers impel Class of 2025 to lead with conviction, question status quo BRYSON KLOESEL
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
For Natalia Anzaldúa, trouble has been a constant companion. Speaking on Sunday before the more than 8,000 graduates on the National Mall, the occupational therapy doctoral graduate recalled spending long stretches in the principal’s office as a child, questioning why things had to be done “one way and not the other.” Anzaldúa said GW was the first place that didn’t just tolerate her questions but helped shape her “trouble making tendencies” into advocacy. “At GW, I was always encouraged to keep asking
why,” Anzaldúa said. Anzaldúa said she learned how to “tone it down” over time for her “mother’s sanity,” but she had the “gut feeling” that something was “off” whenever she did. She said she encourages the Class of 2025 to keep asking “why?” and, when they hold positions of power, to lead by keeping “the door open for others.” Anzaldúa drew on John Lewis, a civil rights activist, to tell students to “get in good trouble.” She told graduates that getting in “good” and “necessary” trouble can “redeem the soul of America.” “Let’s continue to do things the GW way, changing the world one revolutionary idea at a time,” Anzaldúa said. Commencement arrives as students conclude an academ-
ic year marked by continued protests over the University’s response to the war in Gaza, with demonstrators renewing calls for divestment from Israel, more than a year after local police dismantled the proPalestinian encampment in University Yard. Toward the end of the ceremony, about 40 students stood in the center aisle and unfurled banners at the beginning of University President Ellen Granberg’s charge to the Class of 2025, protesting the University’s handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. The demonstration also comes one day after student speaker Cecilia Culver condemned the University’s refusal to divest from Israel and disciplinary actions against pro-Palestinian protesters in her speech during the Co-
lumbian College of Arts & Sciences first graduation ceremony on Saturday. University spokesperson Kathy Fackelmann said on Saturday that Culver’s speech was “materially different” from her approved remarks and officials are investigating whether Culver violated the University’s event protocol or Student Code of Conduct. During her charge, Granberg pushed graduates to “go boldly” and “raise high” as they enter a world in need of what she called “revolutionary” leadership. She said her two-year tenure as president has taught her three important lessons about GW, which include the importance of respectful dialogue and active listening. See GRADUATES Page 5
A student speaker condemned the University’s refusal to divest from Israel and disciplinary actions against pro-Palestinian protesters during Saturday’s Columbian College of Arts & Sciences graduation ceremony — an act officials are investigating for policy violations. Cecilia Culver, an economics and statistics graduate, used her speech to criticize the University for suppressing proPalestinian activism related to the war in Gaza and urge graduates to withhold donations from GW until officials disclose all financial investments and divest from companies tied to Israel. University Spokesperson Kathy Fackelmann said Culver’s remarks were “materially different” than the speech she submitted ahead of the ceremony, and officials are investigating whether Culver violated the University’s events protocol or Student Code of Conduct. “I am ashamed to know my tuition is being used to fund this genocide,” Culver said during her speech to nearly 750 graduates at the first of two CCAS undergraduate ceremonies in the Smith Center. Culver said the University has “repressed” community members who had the “courage” to point out the “blood” on officials’ hands, rather than engaging in negotiations with students to divest from Israel. “I hope, in time, I will be proven wrong, that those in power will shed their selfinterest and finally commit to a University free of ties to genocide,” Culver said. Culver said she cannot celebrate her graduation without a “heavy heart,” knowing that students in Palestine have been forced to abandon their studies, displaced from their homes or killed amid the ongoing war in Gaza. “The horrors unfolding halfway across the world may be easy to ignore, for those lacking a moral backbone,” Culver said. “For the rest of us, these atrocities cause us to take stock in our own complacency in the imperialist system.” Culver’s speech was met with cheers from the crowd and other graduates. CCAS administrators, faculty and other guests on the dais behind her either clapped in response to her comments, began whispering to each other or did not react.
Pro-Palestinian protesters march to commemorate anniversary of Nakba
GW’s endowment remained steady at $2.7 billion, trustees report
AIDAN FARRELL
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
RYAN SAENZ
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Pro-Palestinian activists held a rally near the Washington Monument and marched toward the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, commemorating the 77th anniversary of the “Nakba” — when around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled by Israeli forces during the Arab-Israeli war. About 200 protesters gathered near the Washington Monument at 3 p.m., standing on a patch of grass adjacent to 15th Street with over 10 Palestinian flags and a flurry of posters calling for an end to the war in
KAIDEN J. YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest on the National Mall Sunday.
Gaza. Members of the DMV chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party
and a recent GW graduate spoke about the history of Palestine and called for an end to the war in Gaza and the liberation of the Palestinian people.
The University’s endowment held at $2.7 billion between January and April, trustees shared at their triannual public meeting on Friday. Outgoing Board of Trustees Secretary Ave Tucker said the University’s endowment, a pool of funds and investments gifted to the University by donors and managed by Strategic Investment Group, “remains high” at $2.7 billion as of March 31. The University’s endowment has grown by nearly $1 billion since fiscal year 2020, despite fluctuations — including a $200 million drop in fall 2024 from its $2.8 billion peak to $2.6 billion, a level GW has
yet to fully regain. The University’s endowment is invested in several areas, including hedge funds, private equity and real estate. Its continued growth is driven by investment returns and philanthropic contributions from alumni, faculty, staff, students and other supporters. GW’s endowment ranked 60th nationally in FY2021, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ most recent data. Among its peer institutions, seven — including Georgetown and Boston universities — held higher endowments than GW, while five had lower-ranked endowments, per the data. University President Ellen Granberg said in her report that the University
has “not yet” experienced federal disruptions on the same scale other institutions of higher education have despite the National Institutes of Health’s cancellation of some federal research grants. She said officials continue to take proactive steps to “store” the University’s resources and monitor federal developments. Provost Chris Bracey, Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes and Chief of Staff Scott Mory said in an email late last month that GW will cut its FY2026 total expense budget by 3 percent to address a “structural deficit” after the University’s expenses surpassed their current revenues in recent years. See STAFF Page 5
GRADUATES CAP OFF JOURNEYS AT COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES
KARSYN MEYERSON | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Graduates walk into the Smith Center for the Elliott School of International Affairs’ graduation ceremony Thursday.
WHAT’S
INSIDE
ARWEN CLEMANS | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Graduates sit during the School of Engineering & Applied Science’s Commencement ceremony Friday.
NEWS GW changes course to host student orientation for first-years and transfer students in small groups during June. Page 2
ARWEN CLEMANS | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Pro-Palestinian protesters walk out of University Commencement Sunday.
OPINIONS The editorial board urges officials to clarify vague language in the University’s strategic framework. Page 6
CULTURE A Washingtonian helps install a book vending machine in Western Market featuring works from local authors. Page 7
ARWEN CLEMANS | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR A graduate is hooded at the School of Medicine & Health Sciences’ Commencement celebration Saturday.
SPORTS Rowing placed second at the Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday, closing out the team’s spring season. Page 8