The GW
HATCHET
August 25, 2025 Vol. 122 Iss. 4
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
Total contributions to GW dropped $25.6 million in FY2024, tax forms show GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Total contributions and grants to GW dropped roughly 26 percent in fiscal year 2024, with non-governmental donations falling 41 percent, coinciding with activist-led campaigns to withhold funding at the onset of the war in Gaza. Contributions and grants totaled $74 million in FY2024, down from $99.6 million the previous fiscal year, according to GW’s tax filings for July 2023 through June 2024. The form also reveals that GW’s non-governmental donations — which includes gifts from families, alumni and faculty and are reported on the form as fundraising events, noncash contributions and all other contributions, gifts and grants — fell just over 41 percent, from $88.7 to $51.9 million. The drop in non-governmental donations coincided with an academic year defined by calls from both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel community members for the University to better address campus activism following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, along with alumni threats to withhold donations if officials failed to respond adequately. The drop also concurred with the 13-day pro-Palestinian
RYAN SAENZ
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
GRAPHIC BY AN NGO
encampment protesters staged in University Yard in April 2024, where demonstrators called on GW to disclose and divest from companies with ties to Israel, among other demands. University spokesperson Shannon McClendon declined to comment on whether officials attributed the drop in contributions and gifts to calls from pro-Palestinian protesters urging community members
and graduates to withhold donations, as well as threats from Jewish and pro-Israel alumni to pull or withhold gifts. GW’s Form 990, which annually reports the University’s revenues and expenses, reveals School of Medicine & Health Sciences Dean Barbara Bass was the highest compensated employee at the University from January 2023 to December 2023 and received the second-
highest bonus out of any University employee in the past 10 years. The form also shows that two former officials — former School of Nursing Dean Mei Fu, who resigned after two months at the University, and former Chief Financial Officer Mark Diaz, who left in June 2022 — received over $700,000 in severance payments. See GRANBERG Page 4
Officials ‘in contact’ with DOJ after investigation finds GW deliberately indifferent to campus antisemitism RYAN SAENZ
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
As the Friday deadline passed for GW to indicate interest in a voluntary resolution agreement with the Justice Department over its antisemitism investigation findings, a University spokesperson confirmed that officials are “in contact” with the department. The acknowledgement that GW is communicating with the DOJ followed the department’s Aug. 12 conclusion that the University violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by acting deliberately indifferent to reports of campus antisemitism. In a letter addressed to University President Ellen
Granberg, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said the DOJ will enact “enforcement” measures against the University “in the near future” unless they enter into a voluntary resolution agreement, which they gave officials until Friday to indicate interest in. Dhillon in the letter told officials to contact the department by Friday if GW is interested in “a dialogue” about entering a voluntary resolution agreement. The spokesperson declined to comment on whether GW indicated interest in a resolution agreement but said officials have “worked diligently” to combat antisemitism on campus and will review these actions with the
LEXI CRITCHETT | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR The Department of Justice on Pennsylvania Avenue.
DOJ. The DOJ declined to comment on whether GW expressed interest
Fraternities expand fall rush eligibility to first-year students RYAN SAENZ
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
GW’s fraternities will recruit firstyears during the fall semester for the first time since 2017. The Interfraternity Council, the body that oversees social fraternities at GW, announced the change for eight of the nine chapters in an Instagram post earlier this month. IFC President Trex Jones said the council and each of its nine member chapter presidents made the decision to expand eligibility in order to provide more rush opportunities for first-year students who want to join Greek life, with the options to rush in the spring and in the fall now available to firstyears. The IFC said in the post that firstyears can only rush for eight of its nine member fraternities, except Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The IFC declined to comment on why the eligibility shift does not apply to SAE. In 2017, a task force — including Greek and non-Greek affiliated students, parents, faculty and staff — recommended the University add a requirement that students must complete 12 credits before joining any Greek life on campus, which the Division for Student Affairs then implemented. Then-Director of Student Life and Greek Life Christina Witkowicki WHAT’S
INSIDE
Students for Justice in Palestine disaffiliates from GW amid further sanctions
said the shift was made to allow time for first-year students to acclimate to campus before joining Greek life. The only exception to the policy came in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in fall 2021, when officials temporarily lifted restrictions during the 2021-22 academic year to help firstyear students better acquaint themselves with GW’s campus following a year of social isolation. The shift applied to all Greek life chapters that hosted formal recruitment, mostly social fraternities and sororities in the IFC and Panhellenic Association. University spokesperson Skyler Sales said officials support the IFC’s decision to permit fall rush for firstyears. She said Greek life councils and individual fraternities and sororities have their own specific eligibility requirements, like GPA minimums, but all potential new members must also complete requirements set by the Division for Student Affairs, including an online module on fraternity and sorority life and a registration process, a policy that has been in place in years past. “Allowing first semester students to participate in recruitment or intake can have a positive impact on their student experience, provided that councils and chapters have a well-developed and intentional recruitment process,” Sales said in an email.
NEWS Professors fear drops in international student enrollment could strain the University’s budget. Page 3
in entering a voluntary resolution agreement by the Friday deadline. The department also
declined to comment on what “enforcement” measures against GW could look like.
Students for Justice in Palestine disaffiliated from the University after officials suspended the group through spring 2027, marking their second sanction in the past four months. Officials revoked SJP’s organization status through spring 2027 for disorderly conduct related to the group’s push to fire economics professor Joseph Pelzman, University spokesperson Katelyn Deckelbaum confirmed. The sanction comes on the heels of officials’ April decision to suspend the organization through spring 2026 for an outcome violation and prompted the group to disaffiliate from GW, according to a member of SJP who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the University. Deckelbaum said Conflict Education and Student Accountability received a report on Feb. 25 of physical posters targeting a faculty member. She said CESA subsequently investigated a social media post and postering by the organization and entered into conduct proceedings with the group. Pelzman authored and sent to President Donald Trump a plan proposing the economic redevelopment of the Gaza Strip, which prompted SJP in February to demand that GW fire him. Pelzman’s plan called for mass excavation of Gaza and the creation of a “sovereign demilitarized green economy” in the territory. As a part of their petition for officials to fire Pelzman, SJP posted photos on Instagram from anonymous students showing about 20 “notice of eviction” flyers strewn around his office door in Monroe Hall. Deckelbaum said the group underwent a panel-level process, one of two typical conduct processes available to students and organizations, and officials offered them the opportunity to appeal the decision. SJP did not appeal the decision. The member of SJP said the organization disaffiliated so the group doesn’t waste time undergoing conduct proceedings and can instead focus on pressuring University officials to end financial support for companies tied to the war in Gaza and not resist capitulating to Trump. “Because SJP has never consistently received the privileges extended to other student organizations – including funding and the ability to book space on campus – we are choosing to disaffiliate from GW, and we’re doing so because it will allow us to be more active in combating Zionism on campus,” the member said in an email. In April, University officials suspended SJP after the group hosted an event without advisor approval in March. Officials required that the organization receive adviser approval for all on-and-off-campus events as a part of their sanctions from the conduct proceedings after the April 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard. The SJP member said CESA first contacted the organization about their new conduct charges in early April.
Campus Chick-fil-A opening in limbo after failed health inspection ELIJAH EDWARDS
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
The opening of the Chickfil-A in Mitchell Hall, initially set for Monday, is uncertain after plumbing and equipment issues caused the restaurant to fail its health inspection earlier this month. The Chick-fil-A garnered five violations during a D.C. Department of Health’s preoperational health inspection on Aug. 5. University spokesperson Julia Garbitt declined to comment on what specific steps officials are taking to remedy the issues or provide an updated timeline for the Chick-fil-A’s opening, which has faced several delays since officials initially projected its opening for Fall 2024. “The University is working to resolve plumbing and building issues as quickly as possible, and once rectified, will be able to open the Chick-fil-A,” Garbitt said in an email. The inspection found one priority violation, two priority foundation violations and two core violations. The violations are too serious to allow
OPINIONS The Editorial Board argues GW’s student loan task force should prioritize students’ interests over graduate school revenue. Page 5
LEXI CRITCHETT | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR The entrance to the Chick-Fil-A in Mitchell Hall.
the restaurant to open and must be remedied and reinspected before the department permits the Chick-fil-A to open, per the health inspection report. According to D.C. Health records the department has not yet reinspected the restaurant. The department determined that the mop sink lacks a backflow preventer — a required piece of plumbing to prevent sewage backflow
SPORTS Meet the women’s soccer goalie launching her collegiate career after a run in the Australian professional league. Page 6
into the kitchen area. The report states that the Chick-fil-A must install a new plumbing system, which prevents the backflow of contaminants into the water supply system before it will be cleared to open. GW first announced plans to open a Chick-fil-A in Mitchell Hall in February 2024, and construction began that summer with a projected Fall 2024 opening, but the project hit several delays, pushing the opening date to this year.
CULTURE From first-year tips to sandwich celebrations, peruse The Hatchet’s 2025 Welcome Back Guide. Page 7-8