The Hoya: October 25, 2019

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GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 101, No. 8, © 2019

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

The Music Issue

Enter the fascinating world of music, both on campus and across D.C., in this special issue.

EDITORIAL Georgetown must establish a permanent women’s and gender studies department .

HYPERLOCAL HAPPENINGS GeorgetownForum users will need to join a new site for neighborhood updates.

OPINION, A2

NEWS, A8

Harbin Hall Elevator Abruptly GUSA Fund Dissolved, Falls, Trapping Student Inside FinApp Absorbs Resources HANSEN LIAN

Special to The Hoya

Two elevators in Harbin Hall malfunctioned Tuesday night, with one elevator falling one floor and trapping a student inside for nearly two hours. An elevator car in the freshman dormitory dropped from the sixth floor to the fifth floor around 11 p.m., according to eyewitnesses Micah Hamilton (COL ’23) and Araya Zackery (COL ’23). Giovonni White (MSB ’23), who was riding the elevator at the time, was stuck in the elevator from around 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Hamilton, who was stand-

ing near the elevators on the sixth floor when the accident occurred, said that shortly after White entered the elevator, he heard a loud crashing noise from the elevator shaft. Several other residents also heard the crash and contacted the Georgetown University Police Department. Zackery, who was in the lobby when she saw that the elevator was stuck on the fifth floor, said students in Harbin have experienced the two elevators malfunctioning since the beginning of the semester. “I enter the dorms and see 3-4 people waiting for an elevator,” Zackery wrote in a message to The Hoya. “I ask

MICHAEL HOWARTH FOR THE HOYA

A faulty elevator car in Harbin Hall suddenly fell one floor, trapping a student inside for two hours late Tuesday night.

if the elevators are broken or not because it’s such a common occurrence.” White, who was stuck in the elevator car without his phone and computer, said he ended up napping during the long wait as GUPD, the Office of Planning and Facilities Management, and the fire department worked to free him. “I was going down — down the elevator — and I got stuck, and I was just sitting there for like two hours. I was there tired, sleepy — it was late at night.” White said. “It just fell down and stopped working. It was crazy.” The facilities employees addressed the issue by freeing the student and bringing the elevator back into operation in what they believed to be a timely manner, according to Vice President for Planning and Facilities Management Benjamin Kuo. “We promptly responded to a report of a student trapped in a Harbin elevator,” Kuo wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Facilities was able to successfully release the student and identified the problem as an improperly functioning governor’s switch.” The governor’s switch, which acts as a stopping See ELEVATOR, A6

HARRISON MCBRIDE Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown University Student Association Senate unanimously voted in support of a bill to dissolve the GUSA Fund, a committee that redistributed a small part of the student activities fee to clubs that request additional funding, at its weekly meeting Oct. 20. Senators voted to amend the GUSA bylaws to eliminate the GUSA Fund, an executive-appointed, fivemember committee to the senate finance and appropriations committee, according to GUSA senator Harrison Nugent (SFS ’20), who introduced the legislation. Under the new system, all clubs will apply directly to the FinApp committee for ad hoc funding. Granting funds will be up to the discretion of the 12-member FinApp committee, which votes on a majority basis whether to approve a request. The FinApp committee is the body that allocates the student activities fee, an $84 semesterly fee paid by students to fund seven student group advisory boards, the Georgetown Program Board, the Georgetown University Lecture Fund and the GUSA executive. The GUSA Fund historically managed approximately

4 Parents Plead Guilty in College Scandal CLARA GRUDBERG

MOAKLEY COURTHOUSE

the scheme. Hodge’s daughter was accepted to Georgetown as a tennis recruit in 2008 but never played tennis at the university. Two of Hodge’s children were also accepted to the University of Southern California as fake athletic recruits. Michelle Janavs, whose uncle and father invented Hot Pockets, allegedly paid $400,000 for her son, Grant Janavs (COL ’21), to be admitted as a fake tennis recruit to Georgetown, according to an April 2019 indictment. Michelle Janavs is accused of perpetrating a similar scheme to admit her daughter into USC as a fake beach volleyball recruit, as well as paying for her children to use a fraudulent proctor for the ACT in 2017 and 2019, according to the April indictment. Attorneys for Janavs did not respond to a request for comment. Grant Janavs also did not respond to a request for comment. During his appearance in court, Manuel Henriquez, who became visibly emotional, conceded that he was guilty but maintained that he did not willfully participate in a bribe, according to The New York Times. Henriquez said he believed he was making a legal

Four Georgetown University parents implicated in the college admissions scandal who had previously pleaded not guilty changed their plea Monday in a Boston federal court.

See SCANDAL, A6

Hoya Staff Writer

Four parents accused of bribery and fraud to gain their children’s acceptance to Georgetown University pleaded guilty for their roles in the college admissions scandal Monday. Manuel and Elizabeth Henriquez, Douglas Hodge and Michelle Janavs, who all initially pleaded not guilty, changed their pleas to guilty in a Boston federal court. The

FEATURED

plea change comes as trials from the March 2019 scandal are expected to begin soon; prosecutors have warned their clients about potential new charges that might come against parents who do not enter a plea deal, according to The New York Times. Prosecutors alleged that the Henriquez parents paid $400,000 for their daughter, Isabelle Henriquez, to be fraudulently admitted as a tennis recruit to Georgetown in 2016, in addition to paying

for both of their daughters to use a fraudulent test proctor on their college entrance examinations on four separate occasions. Attorneys for Manuel Henriquez, former CEO of a financial firm, declined to comment for this story. Attorneys for Elizabeth Henriquez did not respond to a request for comment. Hodge, former CEO of a global investment management firm, also pleaded guilty to participating in

$15,000 and distributed it to various student organizations that applied directly for additional need-based funding, according to its Facebook page. The GUSA executive’s discretionary funds, which fluctuate yearly based on FinApp committee deliberations, determined the fund’s resources.

“I think that this bill will truly increase the oversight of the money GUSA allocates.”

HARRISON NUGENT (SFS ’20) GUSA Senator

In March 2019, GUSA’s total funding, which includes the GUSA Fund, faced a drastic cut, receiving only 11% of the money requested from the FinApp committee during the club funding process. GUSA executives Norman Francis Jr. (COL ’20) and Aleida Olvera (COL ’20) were awarded just $1,735 in the budget approved by the FinApp committee March 17, with the money for the GUSA fund coming from that

amount. The previous year, the FinApp committee granted the GUSA Fund $13,955. Dissolving the GUSA Fund will not negatively impact campus organizations that use it for additional club support, Nugent wrote. “I think this bill helps clubs in the long run because, if Club X keeps having to request ad hoc funding from FinApp, members of FinApp are specifically equipped to provide a long-term solution to this club by adjusting their advisory board’s allocation,” Nugent wrote. “If clubs are keeping good financial records and show a demonstrated need for ad hoc funding, they will have nothing to worry about.” The ad hoc funding will still be set by the president and the senate speaker at an annual budget summit, according to Nugent. Though Francis and Olvera plan to sign the legislation, the pair expressed concern over the FinApp committee’s ability to fulfill GUSA Fund’s role as an executive-appointed funding source. “We made it clear that we want to preserve GUSA Fund as a power that is held within the exec, but we want to respect the Senate’s decision and work with them to find See GUSA, A6

FOSTERING PEACE SOLUTIONS

NATALIE REGAN FOR THE HOYA

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the current United Nations under-secretarygeneral for peacekeeping, visited Georgetown on Oct. 21. Story on A5.

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

MSB Millions The McDonough School of Business received a $12 million donation for academic scholarships and local education programs. A5

Therapy Stipend A Georgetown student urges the university to continue supporting the Student Mental Health Fund to bolster student resource access. A3

Back Line Bullying Men’s soccer shut out Xavier 1-0 for its fifth-consecutive game without allowing a goal. A12

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

Rallying for Periods Georgetown student organizations and clubs participated in the world’s first National Period Day. A8

Intersecting Identities Carlos Luna Luna (COL ’20) shares how his communities have been affected by President Donald Trump’s administration. A3

Aerial Aggression Football took down Lafayette 14-10 at home behind 21 completions and two passing touchdowns from Gunther Johnson. A12

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