The GW
HATCHET
September 8, 2025 Vol. 122 Iss. 5
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
Students blast yearlong freeze on student organization approvals
Thousands march through DC in protest of Trump’s takeover
RYAN SAENZ
DYLAN EBS
Students slammed the Division for Student Affairs’ move to freeze new student organization approvals through the 202526 academic year, saying the decision undermines community building and eliminates an opportunity officials touted to prospective applicants. More than a dozen students argue the pause, which officials quietly implemented at the end of the spring semester to “improve the support structures” that serve preexisting groups, will block their ability to fill gaps in campus life and find community on GW’s urban campus. Students reported not learning about the pause until they tried to submit an application, with many voicing frustration over losing access to an opportunity the University previously promoted during the admissions process and some saying they will launch their groups unofficially. University spokesperson Claire Sabin said in July that the Office of Student Life will revisit the application process after an “extensive review” of the academic year and will use the time to ensure the University is providing “equitable and well-rounded” support to the over 600 active student organizations on campus. The move appears to the be the first time officials have put a hold on student organization approvals, according to Hatchet archives. Officials updated the DSA’s student organizations webpage to reflect the pause by July, directing stu-
JENNA LEE
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
ARWEN CLEMANS | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Students walk through the breezeway between Rome and Smith halls.
dents to contact Org Help if they are looking for an organization that fits their interests. The website does not list upcoming New Student Organization Info Sessions on Org Help’s Engage page, which students are required to attend if they want to form a new student organization. Some students said they only learned about the pause while trying to form a student group, and many worry the move will make it harder to form communities not represented by existing clubs. “It makes me feel upset and angry and frustrated and very disappointed with this institution because this is supposed to be a school empowering students and uplifting their voices and making sure there’s all these organizations and all these events,” said Alex Villanueva, a sophomore studying biology and a member of GW’s Pre-Nursing Society. Villanueva said the society applied to become an official student organization at the end of the spring semester and didn’t hear from officials until the sum-
mer, when they informed the group of the pause to all applications. He said in not allowing students to form new groups, the University is failing to uplift students’ voices and support their efforts to form communities on campus. He said the pause is especially disheartening for the pre-nursing society, a group he sees as a vital resource for students pursuing nursing, which hasn’t previously had a presence on campus. The GW Pre-Nursing Society first launched on Instagram in June and advertises its mission to connect students who are interested in joining the nursing field. Villanueva said the organization plans to move forward with hosting some unofficial events, including tentatively scheduling a general body meeting but noted that attracting interest is difficult without official student organization status because the group can’t rent University spaces. “We’re still going to continue regardless because it’s necessary, but it’s very difficult because we kind of need to be a part of GW orgs,” Villanueva said.
Chants of “Free D.C.” and “Trump must go now” echoed through the streets of Northwest D.C. Saturday as thousands marched to demand an end to President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of the city. Scores of protesters gathered in Meridian Hill Park around 11 a.m. Saturday before marching down 16th Street toward the White House and then to Freedom Plaza where speakers from a slew of local advocacy organizations denounced President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and his takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, which is set to expire Wednesday. Since
Trump declared a “crime emergency” in the city on Aug. 11, resistance from local leaders and advocates has swelled, culminating in a protest that drew thousands resisting the federal policing of the city. Demonstrators waved banners and signs reading “Federal troops get out now,” “Send the soldiers home” and “No fascist takeover of U.S. cities” as they marched through the blistering heat, which reached 96 degrees and prompted one woman to spray protesters with a hose from her lawn on 16th Street. RJ Doroshewitz, a senior and the president of GW Democracy Matters, held an effigy of Trump equipped with a crown and cape as he marched. Doroshewitz said the people of D.C. are “resilient” as evidenced by the number of residents who
Protesters march up 16th Street toward the White House Saturday.
Officials reduce Vex shuttle service, exacerbating student complaints of long lines RYAN J. KARLIN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
GW cut the frequency of the Mount Vernon Express shuttle service by 50 percent and eliminated two buses, a move students say is worsening their yearslong reports of long lines and delays. Vex drivers and supervisors said the University reduced shuttle frequency from every five minutes to every 10 minutes and cut the number of buses in circulation from nine to seven, a decision University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said officials made because the University acquired a new shuttle model that holds 30 instead of 25 passengers. Garbitt said officials are now permitting students to stand on the shuttles to accommodate “surges” in riders, but students say they’re still facing longer waits in line. “The number of shuttles for GW was adjusted to coincide with our change to 10 minute departures this fall for The Vern Express,” Garbitt said in an email. Monday through Friday the
Vex now shuttles students from the Foggy Bottom to the Mount Vernon campuses every 10 minutes from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., compared to every 5 minutes last year, according to current and past versions of the University transportation website. The shuttles run every 20 minutes from 8 p.m. until 12 a.m. and every thirty minutes until the next morning. On weekends, the Vex runs every 20 minutes from 7 a.m. till 12 a.m. — up from every 15 minutes last year — and every 30 minutes from 12 a.m. to 7 a.m., compared to every hour last year, according to the website. The change comes after years of student reports of high wait times and unreliable shuttle schedules that date back to 2021, when students complained that long lines caused them to be late for class, work and plans on the Foggy Bottom campus. Ten students said this semester they’ve faced longer lines at peak hours during the morning and afternoon, which has caused some to arrive late to class and
attended the protest. He said the high turnout proved how deeply the District’s citizens care about the state of democracy and are determined to fight back against threats to the city’s institutions. “The residents of D.C., they’re gonna keep fighting until they’re out of the city and then they’re gonna bounce back,” Doroshewitz said. Trump invoked Section 740 of the Home Rule Act on Aug. 11 for the first time in history, allowing him to federalize the city’s police force. On the same day he ordered the National Guard to patrol the city, leading to over 2,200 troops currently in D.C. Shortly before 2 p.m., the large crowd of demonstrators moved to Freedom Plaza as speakers advocated for the end of troop deployments in the city.
KAIDEN J. YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
‘Significant’ flooding leaves select SEH spaces closed Monday ELIJAH EDWARDS
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
MATHYLDA DULIAN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Students wait to get on the Mount Vernon Express.
adjust their schedules to build in additional transportation time. Other students said they haven’t faced major setbacks due to longer lines but often wait or stand on shuttles during peak hours. Grace Satter, a sophomore who takes the Vex from Foggy Bottom each morning, said lines
this semester have been especially long, forcing her to add an extra 30 minutes to her commute to account for long waits. “I had to wait 20 minutes, and the line literally wrapped around the academic hall building all the way down to the curb,” Satter said.
Division of Safety and Operations officials said sections of the Science and Engineering Hall will stay closed Monday as crews repair damage from a burst valve over the weekend that caused “significant flooding” to parts of the building. Officials said in a University-wide email sent Sunday evening that they have carried out “all efforts” to ensure the building is safe for occupancy and that the “integrity” of scientific research housed in SEH is protected, although crews were unable to fully restore the building by Monday. Crews were still working Sunday evening in several laboratories and offices on the building’s west side, with some rooms showing signs of flood damage from what the email said was a broken water valve in the eighthfloor greenhouse, which caused flooding from Friday night into Saturday morning.
Cherished history professor, Eleanor Roosevelt researcher dies at 45 DYLAN EBS
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Christopher Brick, a history professor in the University Honors Program and head of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, died on Aug. 15. He was 45. Brick went to high school in Long Island, New York, and graduated from GW in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in history and international affairs and returned to GW a few years later to work on the project, which was established as part of the history department in 2000 in order to make WHAT’S
INSIDE
the papers of Eleanor Roosevelt publicly accessible online so that more people could learn about the former first lady’s personal accomplishments. Colleagues and friends remember Brick as a kind and generous person who went out of his way to ensure students excelled both in and outside of the classroom and as a researcher who was dedicated to bringing Roosevelt’s legacy to life. “His teaching, mentorship and warm smile will be greatly missed by everyone in the UHP,” Bethany Cobb Kung, a professor and director of
the honors program, said in an email. Cobb Kung said Brick taught his first course, which focused on the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights document, in the honors program in fall 2020. She said he was able to teach the course in the following years and also experimented with a new class which he first taught in fall 2024 titled autobiography and history that examined the memoirs of historical figures, like Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass, and the historical context of how they rose to promi-
NEWS Foggy Bottom’s local governing body cites persistent infighting and structural flaws as reason for single-member district vacancies. Page 3
nence in their time. Cobb Kung added that Brick “radiated” a passion for history and always attended the student-faculty dinner that the honors program held every semester, where she had wonderful conversations with him about his work and students. “Chris was a kind and generous teacher, and I always looked forward to bumping into him around campus,” she said. Brick is survived by his parents, sister, three aunts, three uncles and several nephews and nieces, according to his obituary.
OPINIONS The editorial board urges students to learn about GW’s budget cuts and advocate for the resources they care most about. Page 4
Christopher Brick poses for a portrait in 2019.
CULTURE Meet the members of GW’s Skateboard Club as they flip, slide and cruise throughout campus. Page 5
HATCHET FILE PHOTO
SPORTS As golf tees off their season in Japan, the team works to rebuild after a year plagued by injury and roster changes. Page 6