The GW
HATCHET
September 15, 2025 Vol. 122 Iss. 6
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
GW to boost security for speaker events after Kirk killing: students RYAN SAENZ
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
its relationship with the MFA for the third time over the last thirty years. Most recently, GW under then-President Thomas LeBlanc in 2018 brought the MFA — which previously operated as an independent entity — under its governance, giving the University control over its budget and leadership. LeBlanc justified the restructuring as an attempt to strengthen the School of Medicine & Health Sciences’ national ranking, as the MFA’s physicians now teach its students, residents and researchers.
Political student organization leaders said officials vowed to bolster security measures at future speaker events in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Members of GW College Democrats and GW College Republicans said the University pledged to implement metal detectors and bag searches at their future speaker events during meetings with the student organizations, which took place hours after Kirk’s assassination at an outdoor debate on Utah Valley University’s campus Wednesday. Student leaders said the conservative activist’s shooting made them fearful to host speaker events, and they are continuing discussions with officials about increasing security to ensure both speakers and guests feel safe. University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said the Division for Student Affairs met with several organizations after Kirk’s assassination but did not specify which groups or what they discussed. She declined to comment on the safety measures officials pledged to implement at future College Democrats and College Republicans speaker events. Garbitt said GW is working with “external partners” to evaluate and make any necessary changes to security measures. She said officials will continue to meet with political student organizations on both sides of the aisle to “assess existing and arising needs.” Kieran Laffey, the chairman of GW College Republicans, said the organization’s members are frightened to host and attend large events on campus, both with and without speakers, in light of Kirk’s assassination. He said he’s seen members of the GW community, primarily on Fizz and other social media platforms, supporting Kirk’s killing, which left members fearful that people could target their future events.
See FACULTY Page 5
See OFFICIALS Page 5
MATHYLDA DULIAN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
University President Ellen Granberg at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday.
Officials in talks with UHS, attempting to disentangle GW from debt-ridden MFA ARJUN SRINIVAS
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
GW is negotiating with Universal Health Services in an attempt to end its financial support for the Medical Faculty Associates, a spokesperson confirmed after University President Ellen Granberg teased the arrangements at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday. Granberg said negotiations with UHS — GW Hospital’s owner and operator — are “progress-
ing in earnest,” marking the first time officials have publicly revealed talks between the two parties over the MFA and detailed efforts to cut financial ties from the medical enterprise, which has racked up more than $400 million in debt to GW and other entities. Officials have pledged for years that they are making progress to bring the MFA back to profitability, but the medical enterprise has continued to incur tens of millions of dollars per year in additional debt since fiscal year 2020. Granberg said officials anticipate providing a “substantive” update on the negotiations at October’s Faculty Senate meeting.
She did not specify that the negotiations with UHS related to the MFA until Faculty Senator Phil Wirtz asked if she had an update on the medical enterprise’s persistent financial losses, to which she responded that the reference she made to negotiations with UHS during her presidential report were about the MFA. University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said officials, UHS and the MFA are working to chart a “sustainable path forward” for all parties to eliminate the University’s financial support for the medical enterprise. Garbitt’s comments indicate GW is planning to restructure
GW Hospital sues HHS over decadeslong Medicare dispute AIDAN FARRELL
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
GW Hospital joined a lawsuit against U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last Monday, alleging the Department of Health and Human Services unlawfully cut Medicare payment rates to hospitals since 1986. The 48-page lawsuit filed in the D.C. District Court on Sept. 8 by 198 hospitals, including GW Hospital — argues HHS denied hospitals billions of dollars over decades in payments for their services and requests that HHS adjust its payment rates in future fiscal years. This marks the latest litigation against HHS’ 1986 decision to maintain budget neutrality for Medicare payments after fiscal year 1985, which the lawsuit
The GW Hospital on 23rd Street. WHAT’S
INSIDE
argues has erroneously reduced reimbursement since. GW Hospital spokesperson Susan LaRosa and Kennedy’s office did not return a request to comment on the lawsuit. Congress revised Medicare payments in 1985 to shift the model to an inpatient prospective payment system, where hospitals receive a set amount of Medicare for each patient’s hospital stay based on the diagnosis and needed procedures. The shift deviates from the 1965 statute creating the program that reimbursed hospitals for “reasonable costs” — the actual costs incurred by hospitals when providing care. To mitigate “disruptive payment swings,” Congress required that the transition to this new model be budget neutral,
ensuring that payments in fiscal years 1984 and 1985 would remain the same as under the previous system. In those fiscal years, HHS determined that payments would have been higher under the new system, so they reduced hospital payments to maintain budget neutrality. The complaint argues that HHS has incorrectly applied the budget neutrality provision to maintain the same payment rates since fiscal year 1986, despite the statute limiting this requirement to 1984 and 1985. From 1986 onward, payments should be made without regard to the old system’s rates. “While HHS has withheld these resources for the better part of forty years, HHS must at least correct its error going forward,” the lawsuit states.
DANIEL HEUER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
NEWS The flood in SEH earlier this month could rack up tens of thousands of dollars in equiptment replacement costs. Page 2
Officials up Vern security after staff post calling Kirk murder ‘fair’ prompts threats GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
GW increased security on the Mount Vernon Campus on Saturday morning after Fox News reported that a staff member called Charlie Kirk’s assassination “fair” in a social media post, which officials said prompted threats against some community members and led the staff member to leave campus. Officials told community members Saturday morning they were placing all Vern buildings on GWorld Safety Mode, restricting access to most campus entrances and boosting campus and Metropolitan Police Department police on both the Vern and Foggy Bottom campuses through the weekend after community members received “threatening communications” related to Vern Assistant Director of Academic Initiatives Anthony Pohorilak’s social media post. The advisory came the morning after Fox News reported on Pohorilak’s Facebook post, where he said he has “no thoughts, and no prayers” after Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. University spokesperson Skylar Sales said Pohorilak is “no longer on campus” due to the impact his social media post had on his ability to fulfill his professional responsibilities, adding that he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the University. She declined to comment on whether Pohorilak is still employed at the University or if officials fired him. His staff profile is no longer listed on GW’s website, and his LinkedIn has been disabled
OPINIONS The Editorial Board argues that the Board of Trustees must make more of an effort to engage with community stakeholders. Page 6
LARKIN FERMIN | PHOTOGRAPHER A GW Police Department officer sits outside the main entrance to the Mount Vernon Campus Saturday.
as of Saturday, but he is still listed on the GW directory. Pohorilak did not immediately return a request for comment. At least a dozen faculty and staff across the country have been terminated by their schools or are facing potential disciplinary action after they shared their opinions about Kirk’s assassination on social media. East Tennessee State University placed two faculty members on administrative leave after one faculty member allegedly commented on Facebook, “you reap what you sow,” and another one wrote, “This isn’t a tragedy. It’s a victory.” “If nothing else, it is fair, in a nation where children get massacred by gun violence on the regular, the people who advocate for continued gun ownership at the expense of those children are not immune from the consequences of their advocacy. No thoughts, and no prayers,” Pohorilak wrote in the Facebook post screenshotted by Fox News. Sales said GW “unequivocally condemns”
CULTURE Meet the artisans who spent their Friday night sharing dance, music and art with the D.C. community in Georgetown. Page 7
all forms of violence, and the University believes everyone is entitled to their beliefs without being subject to violence for expressing their views. She declined to comment on what specific community members received threats, when and what the threats entailed. Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Colette Coleman and Assistant Dean of the Vern Betsy Shimberg said in an email to Vern residents Saturday Pohorilak is “no longer on campus” but did not specify if he is still an employee of the University. Sales said GW’s safety teams are monitoring the situation and officials will provide community members updates on how long buildings will remain in GWorld Safety Mode when they have more information. GWorld Safety Mode restricts GWorld readers and only provides access to buildings for GWorld cardholders who normally have tap access, according to the GW advisory.
SPORTS Get acquainted with the freshmen identical twin players taking men’s soccer by storm this season. Page 8