HATCHET
The GW
May 11, 2026 Vol. 123
Iss. 1
Co m Gu men i e ce me 20d 26 nt
pg.
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
House committee claims GW defrauded student veterans
Lach closes provost tenure proud of officials’ community engagement on DEI, strategic framework GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
Interim Provost John Lach knew his time in the role would be limited, but he said he was excited at the opportunity to involve himself in initiatives that will shape GW’s direction long after his tenure, tasks he said he was prepared to start on day one. Lach, who assumed the role of interim provost in July 2025 after former Provost Chris Bracey’s departure, said in a sit-down interview with The Hatchet that while he never had the intention of seeking the permanent position, he worked tirelessly to make progress on key University initiatives in his sole year in office, like the strategic framework’s rollout, budget model revision and transparency about GW’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies. As his tenure as provost ends on June 30, Lach said he recognizes community pushback claiming officials’ budget decisions have impacted GW’s academic enterprise and that officials could have been more clear in explaining the reasoning behind their decisions at times, but he always aimed to center his policies in GW’s mission and in discussions with community members. “This is a really big year for the University, big year for higher education in general, and to have a hand and steering the University through that, through some really important things was just a great opportunity,” Lach said. Lach said he feels officials have done “really well” in engaging community members in University-wide decisions,
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AMELIA NELSON
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Interim Provost John Lach during a sit-down interview Thursday.
particularly governing bodies like the Faculty Senate, Student Government Association and Staff Council. Though, he said officials are working to broaden their communication outreach to articulate officials’ rationale behind decisions. “The goal, of course, in the end, is that I don’t expect everybody to agree with every decision I make, but I hope that they feel like they’ve been heard during the process, and that they can understand and appreciate why I made the decision that I did, even if they would have preferred a different decision or made a different decision themselves,” Lach said.
The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs launched an investigation Friday into allegations GW has intentionally prevented student veterans from receiving promised housing and tuition benefits. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, sent a letter to University President Ellen Granberg requesting officials respond to allegations that GW intentionally withheld Department of Veteran Affairs benefits entitled to student veterans participating in the accelerated master’s of business administration program, causing them to face thousands of dollars in unexpected bills. Van Orden requested GW respond to the allegations by May 13, or potentially face a subpoena and provide a detailed plan covering how the University plans to resolve the issue and compensate past and present students they withheld housing and tuition benefits from. The letter claims GW intentionally provided incorrect information to the VA about the frequency students attend classes, causing students to receive insufficient housing allowances. Van Orden claims GW also led students participating in the YRP to believe their tuition would be fully covered through the GI Bill, but that students reported receiving notices “days before” the start of summer classes that they must pay between $14,000 or $20,000 out-of-pocket or withdraw from the program due to “exhausted” YRP funds. University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said the University plans to cooperate with the House Committee on Veteran Affairs, and the University fully reimbursed full-time student veterans in the accelerated MBA program who received part-time rate MHA for their housing this spring semester.
CARSTEN HOLST | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
During his time as interim provost, Lach has been involved with making several changes to GW’s DEI approach, first teasing officials were considering renaming its Diversity Summit to the Staff Council in November to broaden the event’s focus. Most recently, Lach earlier this month announced the dissolution of Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, which came about a month after he and West reaffirmed GW’s commitment to DEI. Lach said he understands potential mixed messaging with officials’ statements reaffirming their commitment to DEI, while simultaneously re-
moving terms like “diversity” from the name of the rebranded Community Summit and the Office of Community, Culture and Inclusion, which Lach announced earlier this month would replace ODECE. But he said the descriptions of these offices and programs still include words like “diversity,” “equity” and “inclusion” though their new names are a “better representation” of officials’ desire to create community and enable people from diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to come together and thrive at GW. See COMMUNITY Page 4
Faculty senators say officials must disclose central administrative budget cuts PARIS ALBRECHT
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
Faculty senators urged officials for transparency regarding central administrative budget cuts as academic schools face what they called increasingly unsustainable reductions. Faculty senator and School of Business professor Arthur Wilson called on officials to reveal data regarding financial metrics from a “sustained” period detailing budget cuts to the central administration, as units prepare to face expense reductions for the second fiscal year in a row. University President Ellen Granberg said she would speak with Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes about what information they can share, and that officials through the newly launched Foundational Excellence Initiative are working to make operational cuts in order to protect academic programs. “You tell us that the administration is also cutting, we would like to see the data,” Wilson said. “We’ve seen the data for our school, and I don’t know if the other deans have shared data for their schools, but at this point, there is a great need for transparency about
what is going on in the central administration.” Wilson pointed specifically to budget cuts within GWSB, which he said have been ongoing for 10 to 12 years, are “too deep” and faculty are “alarmed.” He said given the extent of cuts to academic units, officials must also be transparent about how much they are cutting from central operations. “We’re cutting into muscle and bone at this point,” Wilson said. “Is the same thing happening in the central administration? I’m sure, you can always say that. But we want to see the numbers.” Granberg said in response to Wilson that GW’s budget challenges reflect a national trend of financial strain in higher education, and officials are looking to the Foundational Excellence Initiative — a multiyear plan officials launched in February to strengthen GW’s long-term financial health amid shifting federal policies — to identify opportunities to increase operational efficiency to avoid additional cuts to schools. She added that the current limitations in higher education are an “existential threat”
CARSTEN HOLST | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Faculty senators listen during Friday’s meeting.
to the University’s financial model, and that schools across the nation are facing the need to restructure their finances. “We would be in much,
much worse shape if we had not been able to do a little work with our endowment and identify some other places where we could pull some cost out
that would not affect our core mission,” Granberg said. See GRANBERG Page 4
UHS seeks to shift control of Ward 7 emergency care center to GW Hospital ISAAC HARTE
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
LAKSHMI DEV
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
GW Hospital on 23rd Street. WHAT’S
INSIDE
CARSTEN HOLST | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
NEWS GW Dining is pulling reusable containers from the University Student Center following concerns about their environmental impact. Page 2
Universal Health Services is aiming to grant GW Hospital control of the development of a long-awaited new emergency department in Southeast D.C. as Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health’s operations continue to struggle. A UHS spokesperson confirmed the company is proposing transferring responsibility of the project, which would establish a standalone emergency department on the Fletcher-Johnson campus in Ward 7, to District Hospital Partners, LP, which operates GW Hospital. The construction project, which has yet to break ground, has faced significant delays while under Cedar Hill’s purview as
OPINIONS The Editorial Board urges GW to preserve diversity initiatives rather than replace them with community-focused alternatives. Page 5
the hospital continues to work to fill vacancies and combat leadership turnover. UHS proposed the change in a filing to the D.C. Department of Health’s State Health Planning and Development Agency on March 27. If the District approves the transfer, patients at the emergency care center who are in need of more serious medical care will likely be transferred to GW Hospital rather than to Cedar Hill, according to the filing. A spokesperson for UHS said the proposed transfer of control is “administrative in nature” and said it does not change the scope of the services the new facility will offer once it opens. Cedar Hill, which is set to operate the emergency care center, opened in April 2025 under an agreement between the District and UHS officials. The facility has since struggled with staffing shortages and high turnover in the hospital’s highest leadership roles.
SPORTS Senior distance runner Michael Bohlke reflects on a record-breaking career driven by relentless self-expectation. Page 6