The GW
HATCHET
October 6, 2025 Vol. 122 Iss. 9
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
NICHOLAS WARE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
People walk outside the Medical Faculty Associates Ambulatory Care Center on 22nd Street.
GW LOOSENS REINS ON DEBT-RIDDEN MFA MFA bleeds $100 million in FY2025 as debt hits $444 million GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The Medical Faculty Associates lost $100 million in fiscal year 2025, suffering heavier losses in the second half despite officials’ March pledge that the medical enterprise would be in a better financial position at the end of the year, financial documents show. FY2025’s $100 million loss — which GW reported in their consolidated financial statements published at the end of FY2026 Q1 — marks the sixth consecutive fiscal year officials have reported the MFA operated in a deficit of tens of mil-
lions of dollars and the enterprise’s second highest loss ever on record following its $107 million loss in FY2024. Officials released the public disclosure of the MFA’s debt, which now exceeds $444 million owed to GW and other lenders, days before their Friday announcement that GW reached a preliminary agreement with Universal Health Services, GW Hospital’s owner and operator, to co-fund the MFA as both parties negotiate a deal to end the University’s financial support for the medical enterprise. The additional losses reported in the second
half of the fiscal year followed a March briefing by Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes and MFA CEO Bill Elliott to the Faculty Senate, which revealed the Medical Faculty Associates — a network of health care providers and faculty linked to GW’s medical school and hospital — lost $48 million in the first half of FY2025, which covered July 1 through Dec. 31, 2024. At the time, officials said they were confident the enterprise’s financial standing would improve by the end of FY2025 compared to FY2024 — and did reduce losses by $7 million. See MFA Page 5
GW strikes initial deal with UHS to co-fund MFA, shrink financial support FIONA RILEY
EDITOR IN CHIEF
HANNAH MARR MANAGING EDITOR
GW reached a preliminary agreement with Universal Health Services to co-fund the Medical Faculty Associates as both parties negotiate a deal to end GW’s financial support for the medical enterprise, officials announced Friday afternoon. The initial agreement will allow GW to significantly scale back its financial support for the medical enterprise — which stood at $444 million in debt to GW and other lenders at the end of fiscal year 2025 — as
UHS steps in to help fund MFA operations during the remainder of negotiations. Friday’s announcement did not detail when the co-funding structure will take effect, what percentage of the MFA’s current deficit and future spending the University and UHS, which also owns and operates GW Hospital, will shoulder or whether the preliminary agreement will alter GW’s control over the enterprise’s governance ahead of a finalized deal. Financial documents GW released this week show the MFA lost more than $100 million in FY2025, marking six consecutive years of losses — $107 million in FY2024, $78 million in FY2023, $78 million in FY2022, $48 mil-
lion in FY2021 and $43 million in FY2020. Officials have pledged for years to bring the MFA, a network of health care providers and faculty affiliated with GW’s medical school and hospital, back to profitability but have faced mounting pressure and skepticism from the Faculty Senate as the medical enterprise continued to flounder tens of millions of dollars each year. Friday’s announcement states GW will continue to fund the MFA’s clinical education under the preliminary agreement, as the enterprise’s physicians teach School of Medicine & Health Sciences’ students, residents and researchers.
GW Law, CPS, GWSB face layoffs as officials withhold full details of cuts GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Employees from GW’s law, business and professional studies schools were among the 43 staff members the University laid off Tuesday, according to information gathered by The Hatchet, as officials declined to disclose which schools and offices were targeted by the University-wide cuts. The 43 staff officials laid off at the conclusion of fiscal year 2026’s first quarter include seven of eight recruitment and admissions staff from the College of Professional Studies, at least one assistant dean from GW Law and several School of Business employees. Officials spared the Columbian College of
Arts & Sciences, Elliott School of International Affairs and Graduate School of Education & Human Development in this round of layoffs, according to emails obtained by The Hatchet, and the status of other schools remains unclear as faculty and staff did not respond to requests for comment. Officials warned of potential layoffs when they froze hiring in July to curb a persistent budget deficit, though Tuesday’s layoffs impacted only staff. In an email sent only to faculty and staff announcing the cuts, officials said the University would also leave several vacant positions unfilled, terminate the hiring freeze and reinstate the position management review process. University spokesperson
Shannon McClendon declined to specify where the layoffs occurred or who was affected, citing respect for employees’ privacy. She said unit leaders informed staff of their terminations Tuesday, with each employee receiving two weeks’ notice. The Hatchet contacted more than 230 staff, faculty and administrators requesting information on layoffs within their schools, departments and offices and received responses from about 30. The majority of respondents, all current GW employees, said they had no information or declined to comment, often deferring to the Office of Communications and Marketing. See CCAS Page 5
The tempietto in Kogan Plaza.
NICHOLAS WARE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Campus hate crimes, sexual violence incidents spiked in 2024: crime report RYAN J. KARLIN
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
A GW Police Department badge.
WHAT’S
INSIDE
NICHOLAS WARE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
NEWS A senior GW official filed a comment to the Department of Homeland security urging against a new student visa rule. Page 2
Officials reported last week an increase in hate crimes, sexual violence and disciplinary referrals for drug law violations across all of GW’s campuses from in the calendar year of 2024 in their Annual Security & Fire Safety Report. The report, which the University releases annually in compliance with federal law, showed significant spikes in certain crimes, with reports of rape and drug law violations across campuses more than doubling and hate crime re-
OPINIONS The Editorial Board argues GW owes its stakeholders transparency surrounding their decision to layoff 43 staff members. Page 6
ports climbing from one in 2023 to five in 2024. Hate crime reports, defined in the report as a criminal offense “motivated by the offender’s bias,” hit a three-year high in 2024 with three incidents of destruction of property and two incidents of simple assault compared to one report of assault on the basis of sexual orientation in 2023 and one report of vandalism based on religion in 2022. The report stipulates that 2024’s reported crimes were committed on the basis of national origin, religion or both as opposed to 2023 where the one incident
CULTURE Meet the firefighter bringing together the GW community and Engine 23 one tune at a time. Page 7
was on the basis of sexual orientation. Three of the five incidents occurred on campus. GW Police Department disciplinary referrals to the Office of Conflict Education and Student Accountability for drug law violations on campus property spiked to 105 across all GW campuses in 2024, after 45 were reported in 2023, and 89 were reported in 2022. The report also indicated a stark increase in sex crimes across all campuses, with the number of reports of rape climbing to 17, a jump from eight reports in 2023 and 14 in 2022.
SPORTS Men’s club ice hockey takes down Georgetown University at the annual Battle of DC showdown. Page 8