The Hoya: December 8, 2017

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 99, No. 14, © 2017

friday, DECEMBER 8, 2017

HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

DONORS UNDER SCRUTINY Two Georgetown donors have made headlines for their involvement in Middle East conflict.

EDITORIAL The university shuold make up for lackluster transportation alternatives.

Georgetown’s holiday season is a time for traditions and interfaith connections.

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OPINION, A2

NEWS, A4

University Declines To Recognize Graduate Union ERIN DOHERTY Hoya Staff Writer

The Office of the Provost declined to recognize the efforts of a group of Georgetown University graduate student workers Monday afternoon, setting back nearly yearlong efforts to establish a union, after saying the university does not regard graduate students as employees protected by its Just Employment Policy.

About 100 members of the Graduate Alliance of Graduate Employees, a group of graduate students that began organizing last January, marched through Red Square and the Intercultural Center on Thursday afternoon, calling for recognition and fair treatment.

Provost Robert Groves told GAGE organizers that the Just

Employment Policy did not apply to graduate students in a Monday morning meeting. Adopted in 2005, the policy is intended to ensure fair compensation packages for university employees and fulltime contract workers.

GAGE said it will continue to fight the decision and will draw on support from the American Federation of Teachers, an education-focused union affiliated with the University of Vermont and the University of Chicago that has been designated as the labor advocacy group’s bargaining agent.

With the assistance of AFT, GAGE plans to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board and call for an election. The NLRB takes action to safeguard See GAGE, A6

ALI ENRIGHT FOR THE HOYA

Interviews with nine graduate and undergraduate students, faculty members and former diplomats reflected a growing attitude of disaffection with State Department leadership and the administration of President Donald Trump in the School of Foreign Service.

Losing Faith in Foreign Service Careers Amid State Department cuts, students pursue private sector paths jeff cirillo

Hoya Staff Writer

ANNA KOVACEVICHTHE HOYA

About 100 protesters marched across campus Thursday against the university’s decision to not recognize a graduate union.

As turmoil in the Department of State and widespread disaffection with the Trump administration’s leadership drive away top students from careers in foreign service, educators are sounding the alarm about the future of the nation’s diplomatic corps.

Interviews with nine graduate and undergraduate students, faculty members, administrators and former diplomats reveal that dwindling opportunities in the State Department have prompted some aspiring foreign service students to look elsewhere.

Meanwhile, former diplomats and faculty at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service worry that a long-term devaluing of diplomacy could dissuade future students from pursuing public sector careers, potentially thinning the ranks of the U.S. Foreign Service for years or longer.

Under Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s term, the number of prospective foreign service officers has dropped dramatically: 9,519 people took the Foreign Service Officer Exam this year, a 34 percent drop from two years ago according to State Department records.

A State Department spokesperson wrote in an email to The Hoya that the drop in applicants for foreign service jobs “corresponds with an improving economy.”

But SFS Dean Joel Hellman said he is deeply concerned that students at one of the nation’s largest State Department feeder schools in the nation may be beginning to lose faith in the foreign service.

“There’s no question what’s happening at the State Department has caused concern across the entire community, and the diplomatic community,” Hellman said.

Dwindling Opportunities Three members of faculty and staff say they’ve spoken to hun-

Career Center Unavailability Draws Ire SOPHIE ROSENZWEIG AND YASMINE SALAM

Special to The Hoya and Hoya Staff Writer

Forty-five Georgetown graduates enrolled in law school in 2016, one of the top fields of study for those going directly to graduate school according to the Class of 2016 First Destination Report released by the Cawley Career Education Center.

Like these students before her, Corine Forward (COL ’19) plans to apply to law school.

Forward’s future plans prompted her to visit the Cawley Career Education Center her freshman year, seeking guidance on how best to seek out legal internships in Washington, D.C. Upon arrival at the career center’s “drop-in hours,” Forward was turned away.

Though she had checked the Cawley Center’s website to confirm when these informal hours were, Forward was told

featured

no one was available to speak with her that day.

“The woman at the desk referred me back to the website and making an appointment to see someone. I was a little bit thrown off because I just wanted to chat with her or maybe someone else,” Forward said. “She just kept referring me to the website and wasn’t being communicative like I thought she’d be. My impression then was that she was just there to deflect.”

Forward’s experience with the career center is not uncommon among students, and highlights just one of many issues students have taken with the Cawley Center.

A void in the Cawley Center There are currently no available scheduled appointments for the rest of fall semester, nor are there any posted for the spring semester, according to the career center’s website.

The Cawley Center currently offers 15-minute “drop-in”

sessions between 1 and 4 p.m. every weekday. These sessions do not require a scheduled appointment and were created as an attempt to make the center’s services more accessible to students, according to Beth Harlan, associate director of the Cawley Center.

However, when Kiren Chaudry (COL ’20) tried to drop in after failing to find an available online appointment, she was turned away.

“They told me I couldn’t make an appointment in person, and that I had to make one online, but every time I went online it said there was no appointment available,” Chaudry said.

The Cawley Center’s use of an online platform called Handshake, a website where students can look for employment and sign up for appointments has streamlined the sign-up process for students.

However, the ease of Handshake has caused the limited amount of appointments to fill up fast.

dreds of graduate and undergraduate students who voiced doubts, amid opposition to Trump administration immigration policies and dwindling opportunities for new jobs and promotions, that public service is a viable career path.

The State Department has frozen almost all hiring since early 2017, a part of Tillerson’s extensive restructuring campaign to significantly reduce the department’s size. Intake of entry-level foreign service officers for next year is set to be around 100, nearly 75 percent lower than in 2016.

Hellman said the school has not yet seen evidence that smaller numbers of students are applying for foreign service roles. The university does not keep records regarding students who take FSO exams, a prerequisite for foreign service jobs.

But members faculty and staff say reports of Tillerson carving out his department’s ranks are leading students to doubt they would be

valued at the State Department.

The department’s leadership has held up promotions and pushed out career diplomats while top political positions remain unfilled.

Three of the department’s five career ambassadors, a rank equivalent to a four-star general, have retired in the past year.

Ambassador Nancy McEldowney, director of the SFS Masters program and a former career foreign service officer of three decades who resigned her post in June over objections to Trump administration policies, said the gaps in leadership are “tremendous.”

“When you pull all of this together, along with Tillerson’s very distant and distrustful management style, it’s not a surprise that morale is low at the State Department,” McEldowney said. “So of course it’s not a surprise to me that the number of people taking the foreign service exam is going to drop.”

See STATE DEPARTMENT, A6

Contraception covered

“Our move to Handshake has provided convenient online appointment scheduling and has also meant appointments are booked well in advance,” Harlan wrote in an email to The Hoya.

International Students left in the dark Earlier this semester, international students voiced concerns over the Cawley Center’s Sept. 15 Career Fair, criticizing a perceived lack of employers who sponsored work visas for international students interested in working in the United States after graduation.

Of the 103 companies listed on the Cawley Center’s website participating in the event, 38 claimed to offer visa sponsorships, 23 reportedly accepted candidates who possessed a valid student visa and the remaining 52 required proof of permanent work authorization from

FILE PHOTO: SUBUL MALIK/THE HOYA

The university announced Monday student health insurance plans are continuing to cover contraception. Story on A5.

See CAWLEY, A6

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

Alumna in the Cabinet Kirstjen Nielsen (SFS ’94) was confirmed as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

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Making Headlines Our country may be in bad shape but Hoya journalists are making an impact.

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Corboz Era Concludes The Hoya reflects on the careers of the Corboz sisters, who changed the landscape of Georgetown soccer.

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NEWS Amending Club Exclusivity

opinion Getting Your Attention

SPORTS Seven in a Row

A forum on club culture last Thursday discussed the roots of club culture and selectivity on campus.

A7 Printed Fridays

In order to be an effective activist for feminist causes, one must first be heard.

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Georgetown men’s basketball won its sixth and seventh straight games this week.

A12 Send story ideas and tips to news@thehoya.com

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OPINION

THE HOYA

friday, december 8, 2017

THE VERDICT

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Founded January 14, 1920

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EDITORIALS

Alleviate Transportation Costs C C C

From weekend trips to downtown Washington, D.C. to internships on Capitol Hill, university admissions officers and Blue and Gray tour guides extol the social, academic and professional opportunities that students gain from living in the nation’s capital.

They portray access to the nation’s capital as one of the defining features of the Georgetown experience.

But they are wrong to take pride in giving students access to everything D.C. has to offer.

The lack of readily accessible public transportation services beyond buses operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority makes venturing off campus both more timeconsuming and more expensive than it is for students at other D.C. universities.

The university’s current resources for providing efficient and cheap transportation are insufficient.

Georgetown University Transportation Services buses may be useful for transporting students to major hubs near the university, such as Dupont Circle and Rosslyn, where access to Metro stations is readily available. But, like their WMATA counterparts, GUTS buses are susceptible to traffic conditions – particularly during rush hour – limiting their reliability for expedient transportation to the city.

Because their routes have a limited reach, students travelling to locations beyond those covered by them – such as Tenley Town and Adams Morgan – must spend more time and perhaps even more money in commuting.

Students are missing out from taking advantage of valuable opportunities for education and camaraderie, from living in a city as dynamic as D.C. and from making the most of their time at Georgetown.

This editorial board recognizes that Georgetown cannot do much to resolve the issue of timeliness.

Previous efforts to construct a Georgetown Metro station have been inhibited by high costs, concerns regarding the practicality of its implementation and skepticism on behalf of neighborhood residents.

But the university should address the financial aspect of the problem. With the university aiming to make progress in alleviating hidden costs of attendance, it should consider providing subsidized SmarTrip cards through WMATA’s U-Pass program, which grants college students in the D.C. area unlimited use of WMATA transportation at a fee of $1 per day, for the duration of a semester.

With WMATA bus and Metro fares starting at $2.00 per trip, respectively, the program proves a costeffective alternative, particularly for students who need to use these services repeatedly on a daily basis.

Other universities in the D.C. area have already

implemented such a program successfully. American University piloted the program in the fall of 2016, and with 90 percent of enrolled students taking advantage of it, continued providing fulltime undergraduate and graduate students with cards for a flat fee of $136 per semester. All American University students, unless they are studying abroad, must enroll in the program.

If Georgetown institutionalized a similar initiative, however, it should take advantage of its professional resources on campus to ensure that only the students interested in the program pay for it, making it even more cost-effective.

As academics and extracurriculars demand a large time commitment from students and as Georgetown’s attendance cost increases year after year, students need efficient and cheap alternatives to travel off campus.

Georgetown should pilot the program through the Cawley Career Education Center. Students with internships off campus are more likely to take the full advantage of a subsidized SmarTrip card — it would make sense for the Cawley center to offer the service as an alternative to supporting these students, particularly those whose internships provide no monetary compensation.

The Cawley Center should dedicate part of its newly-approved internship stipend to cover the cost of the cards for students in a financial strain.

Were the program to attract a substantial amount of students without internships, Georgetown should analyze offering enrollment into it through MyAccess, in a similar way that students enroll in a meal or health care plan and pay for these services together with tuition.

Such a service would not only benefit the student body, but also the university and WMATA. The program would legitimize the university’s claim that it takes advantage of its location to provide students access to unique opportunities and advance the administration’s goal to reduce hidden costs. And for WMATA, the subsidy is a chance to obtain revenue it is currently not capturing — for instance, it made $2.3 million from its partnership with American University in 2016 — without having to make significant investments in its infrastructure to accommodate a relatively small increase in users.

A lack of accessible transportation alternatives should not be a reason that sudents miss these opportunities, and Georgetown, as a premier university in the D.C. area, should strongly consider reducing the barriers for students wishing to advance their education by engaging with the city.

Too Cheesy — Chipotle announced that Dec. 12 it will give a free side of queso to anyone who comes in with a “cheesy” sweater.

Need for Weed — Five of the seven Maryland licensed medical marijuana dispensaries are almost out of a key ingredient used to make marijuana. Patients will have to wait 60 to 90 days before legal cannabis growers are able to meet the demand.

Over-Caffeinated — Starbucks opened its largest store to date in Shanghai, housed in a 30,000-square-foot space, which includes three bars, one of which is 88 feet long.

Galactic Royalty — Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince William and Prince Harry will attend the premiere of Star Wars next week.

Cadet Captain — Simone Askew will lead West Point’s 4,400 Cadets onto the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia as the first black woman to hold the highest position in the Military Academy.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Elinor Walker

Renew Support for Austin Tice As Hoyas prepare to return home for the holidays and be with family and friends, we must remember those who are not as fortunate as we are to enjoy the spoils of the season.

This situation is the case for Austin Tice (SFS ’02), a freelance journalist, who remains captive in Syria more than five years after being taken hostage by a yet unidentified group.

This editorial board previously brought attention to Tice’s plight in 2016 (“Free Austin Tice,” The Hoya, April 8. 2016, A1). Since then, CIA officials had reportedly set up a back channel with Syria’s National Bureau intelligence service to request assistance in finding Tice.

But cooperation ended in April, after the United States responded to a nerve-gas attack carried out by the Syrian government through a missile strike.

In lieu of back-channel negotiations, it is critical to keep Tice’s name in the media, in public consciousness and alive in the Georgetown community to sustain momentum for his case.

Tice is a not only a fellow Hoya, but he also embodies the values Georgetown instills in us every day and is a testament to the university’s educational mission.

After serving seven years in Iraq and Afghanistan as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, Tice entered Syria on May 23, 2012. At this point, the situation on the ground in Syria was unknown to most Americans, as major U.S. news outlets had already pulled their journalists out of the country due to safety concerns.

Tice went to Syria with the intent to use his stories to portray the dire nature of the conflict and to raise awreness of the human costs of the then-escalating war by bringing attention to the stories behind the despairing mortality statistics that dominated U.S. headlines.

Tice selflessly risked his life for people he had never met, committing himself to the broader quest for social justice, which is at the core of Georgetown’s Jesuit values. He is an inspiration, not only to student jour-

nalists, but to all Hoyas looking to take make a meaningful contribution to the world.

Tice’s character should compel us even more to keeping his memory alive.

In 2016, this editorial board called students to support The Washington Post — for which Tice freelanced — in publicizing his case. More than a year after that editorial, the board commends the student activism that has taken place on behalf of Tice.

Whether through protests at the White House, participation in public ceremonies, or letter-writing campaigns and events on campus, Tice has remained present in the Georgetown community over the course of his captivity.

Most importantly, these efforts have not been in vain. Less than a year ago, a group of Georgetown students, alongside journalism program Director Barbara Feinman Todd and Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Scott Fleming, delivered a petition signed by more than 5,000 students calling the Trump administration to take a strong stance in Tice’s case. Marc and Debra Tice, Tice’s parents, recently informed this group that the petition was presented to members of the National Security Council, who used it to demonstrate support for him at the U.S. State Department.

As we take a break from our classes, jobs and other pressures to reflect on our gifts and blessings, let us also reflect on how we can help Tice return home, be by joining larger-scale movements like Reporters Without Borders’ #FreeAustinTice campaign, getting involved in events organized by Georgetown’s own journalism department, or gathering a group of students to pressure U.S. government officials to continue pushing for Tice’s return.

To Marc and Debra, we hope this holiday season renews the spirit of the fight for Tice’s release, and that in a matter of a year’s time, this paper can report his return.

Let us not forget him.

Ian Scoville, Editor-in-Chief Maya Gandhi, Executive Editor Christian Paz, Executive Editor Emma Wenzinger, Managing Editor Jeff Cirillo, News Editor Hannah Urtz, News Editor Dan Crosson, Sports Editor Mitchell Taylor, Sports Editor Kathryn Baker, Guide Editor Mac Dressman, Guide Editor Alfredo Carrillo, Opinion Editor Lisa Burgoa, Features Editor Anna Kovacevich, Photography Editor Saavan Chintalacheruvu, Design Editor Sarah Wright, Acting Copy Chief Katie Schluth, Social Media Editor Charlie Fritz, Blog Editor Anne-Isabelle de Bokay, Multimedia Editor

Will Cassou Madeline Charbonneau Erin Doherty Yasmine Salam Yasmeen El-Hasan Allie Babyak Ben Goodman Josh Rosson Noah Hawke Will Leo Noah Levesque Julia Yaeger John Crawford Yumna Naqvi Will Simon Elinor Walker Will Cromarty Amber Gillette Subul Malik Caroline Pappas Grace Chung Anna Kooken Mina Lee Susanna Blount Catriona Kendall Juliette Leader Joshua Levy Laura Bell

Academics Desk Editor City Desk Editor Events Desk Editor Student Life Desk Editor Deputy Features Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Cartoonist Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Blog Editor

Editorial Board

Alfredo Carrillo, Chair Habon Ali, Alan Chen, Michael Fiedorowicz, Elsa Givan, Joseph Gomez, Josh Molder

HOYA HISTORY: Dec. 5, 1980

$3700 Stolen from Office of Residence Life Approximately $3700 was stolen from an open safe in the Office of Residence Life last week, according to sources at the GU Protective Sources.

GUPS informed The Hoya that the money, which represented collection from laundry ticket sales, was taken some time between Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon.

Sources at both GUPS and Residence Life stated there are no suspects or any leads which might lead to an arrest.

“I was quite surprised,” admitted Dean of Residence Life William Schuerman, when asked if it was common procedure to keep such funds in his office.

Schuerman said that he has taken several measures, including moving the safe, establishing regular procedures for de-

positing monies collected, and restricting access to the safe’s combination. “Obviously, supervision must come from the top,” the administrator stated, adding, “such was not the case previously.”

“The thief is probably still around, but I doubt we will find him or her,” commented Protective Services Officer Lt. Jeffrey Horton.

Horton suggested that the lapse in time between the money last being seen and the theft being reported, the relatively easy access to the safe area, plus the fact that the safe was unlocked all combined to make the chances of ever finding the perpetrator “relatively small.”

“One person needed to have control. Obviously the fact that

Ron Klain Hoya Contributing Editor

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Sagar Anne, General Manager Karen Shi, VP of Corporate Communications Andrew DeFriece, Director of Alumni Relations Tara Halter, Director of Financial Operations Mark Tremoglie, Director of Human Resources Nicole Crilly, Director of Sales Eliza Hayes, Director of Sales Galilea Zorola Tara Halter Brian Yoffe

several persons had the combination compromised that control and led to the safe being kept open for long periods of time,” stated Dean Schuerman.

“I think the steps we have taken will alleviate some of the problems,” he added.

GUPS officials told The Hoya that they were drafting an overall policy as well as specific recommendations for the Residence Life Office in attempts to prevent future incidents. In the words of GUPS Lt. Horton, “We know where each safe is on campus because they have all been hit in the past two years.”

“When it’s holiday time people go for the big hits-and this was a prime one,” he said.

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OPINION

friday, December 8, 2017

THE HOYA

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VIEWPOINT • FEINMAN TODD

THE ACCIDENTAL FEMINIST

Molly Cooke

O

Being Her, Being Heard

ne of the greatest challenges I’ve faced with writing this column has been taking a specific stance in each column. It seems fundamental that a piece running in the opinion section of a newspaper contain an opinion, but it’s harder to achieve than expected, at least for a former news writer who has worshipped at the altar of objectivity for the majority of her experience as a student journalist.

I’ve sought to balance being relatable and assertive in my writing and in doing so, I’ve realized that this struggle to be firm in my stance without alienating others is a common struggle among all feminists, columnists or not.

In a society that otherizes the feminine, treating it as something inherently different or alien, to be a feminist advocate means that we must find our own voices and believe that they deserve to be heard.

“Being heard” is a concept I learned from a good friend of mine. She used to answer all of her text messages with “heard” rather than “yeah” or “OK.” When I asked her why, she said, “‘Heard’ is the new ‘word.’” Never mind that she was reading with her eyes and not her ears — when we write something, we are saying it; we should likewise be hearing when we read.

“Being heard” has always been an interesting phrase to me, because it is not the same as “being listened to.”

Within this juxtaposition, “heard” suggests power on the part of the hearers.

Though they may hear all the noise surrounding them, they choose what they listen to and judge what to agree with, as is their right.

While hearing may not be the same as listening or agreeing, we nonetheless acknowledge the importance of what is being said, learn things we didn’t know before and expose ourselves to different ideas about how to make the

world a better place. Then, we respond. Feminism uses these conversations to amplify the voices of women and validate their experiences.

But quieter voices expressing new ideas and different perspectives can be drowned out over time by remarks like “You belong in the kitchen!” or more targeted attacks like “Why don’t you write about something less trivial?”

Neither feminists nor journalists can afford to worry about what people think of them outside of their immediate circles or let critics detract from their right to be heard. I consider myself lucky to be writing for such an encouraging and supportive network of people at a time that many are already calling the next feminist revolution.

When I set out to write this column, I hoped I would have a chance to teach my readers and learn from them, and I can honestly say that I’ve done more of the latter than I anticipated.

It is often said that Georgetown University provides a bubble of safety for its students, be it physical, spiritual, emotional or intellectual.

I’ll grant that it is a better environment than many for an accidental feminist to find her footing and take a stance, but by no means has it protected me from criticism, be it from Twitter trolls or university professors.

I wouldn’t have it any other way. At least I know I’m being heard.

I called this column The Accidental Feminist because it was always intended to be aspirational in tone. I am accidental no longer, but I am still evolving in uncertain ways. Despite that uncertainty, I can now picture the feminist I intend to become. And I know that to be her, I must be heard.

Molly Cooke is a junior in the College. This is the final installment of the ACCIDENTAL FEMINIST.

There is an army of former students out there developing sources, gathering facts and filing solid, ethical stories.

The Value of Teaching Journalism

I

am leaving the Hilltop after 25 years.

Typing that sentence is at once both painful and exhilarating. Leaving a place that has been so good to you is hard, but it is important to always be pushing yourself to try new things. That is what I tell my students — and now, I must take my own advice.

One thing keeps me going, and that is knowing that, even though our country is a divisive mess right now and that it is tough to scroll through Twitter some days without sinking into despair, there is an army of former students out there developing sources, gathering facts and filing solid, ethical stories.

They are at all the major networks, the best newspapers, magazines, blogs and social media companies. You name it, and there is a Hoya there.

Over the years, I have talked dozens of students out of going to law school and into pursuing their journalism dreams. Many of them have thanked me for it, years and even decades later. Each time I hear from one of them, I am reminded of the enormous responsibility that we have as educators in influencing our students. So many of my stu-

dents had enormous promise when they came to me. Sometimes, they did not know it, and my job was just to hold up a mirror. Other times, they were talented but undisciplined and needed some tough love.

I have demanded that students attend class, not because I think that what I have to say is so important — it is, though, and, do you really need to sleep in until noon?

— but because showing up is what journalism is about. And because making deadlines matters. Excuses do not work in a newsroom, so I have felt that they did not belong in a classroom either. I tried to get my students to function even when they had personal problems. Life is tough, and bad things happen, but stories still need to be finished: I have always believed my job was to make sure that my students would be prepared to do theirs.

Before I go, I want to acknowledge the many amazing opportunities that this university has given me and to express my gratitude to the College deans, a group of people who are so committed to the students and faculty. Their service is an inspiration to faculty members like me.

With their support, I was

able to found the undergraduate journalism program in the College, which filled a curricular hole and provided students interested in journalism with an academic home. They also gave me the opportunity to found the graduate journalism program in the School of Continuing Studies, where I co-directed the Pearl Project, an investigative reporting seminar that turned into an award-winning, three-year deep dive into the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

I also co-taught a class called “How to Read a Newspaper” with my personal hero, legendary Watergate editor Ben Bradlee.

For the last four fall semesters, I have had too much fun co-teaching a course with my colleague and dear friend Maureen Corrigan. In “Washington Confidential,” we have explored, through literature and journalism, the many different ways to read this complicated city.

Fueled by the passion and energy of my students, our undergraduate program organized an ongoing campaign to bring attention to Georgetown University alumnus Austin Tice, a journalist who was captured in Syria and re-

mains there to this day, more than five years later. Every day, I wake up hoping today will be the day that he is returned, safe and sound, to his family.

Each these endeavors has been a privilege and an honor, and they are memories I will cherish. But what means more to me than anything is reading a newspaper or magazine and spotting a familiar byline; turning on the television and seeing a familiar face; or listening to the radio and hearing a familiar voice and associating this recognition with a memory of a classroom discussion, a meeting during office hours or a quick chat at Saxby’s or in Red Square.

I got an email two months ago from a former student who wanted to make sure that I had seen his byline on the front page of The Washington Post as well as his fellow Hoya’s story — covering the same issues — on the front page of The New York Times.

“I thought you would like to know and take a measure of pride in it,” he wrote.

For a journalism professor, it does not get much better.

Barbara feinman todd is the director of the Georgetown College journalism program.

VIEWPOINT • EBENBACH

As this jesuit sees it

Taking the Time to Reflect

Continuing to Venture Forward

B

etween the dizziness of recovering from Thanksgiving break and the pressure of oncoming finals, maybe it has not even occurred to you to pause and reflect on the semester that is drawing to a close.

But this moment is an opportunity — not just to review the material that is going to be on your final exam but to think about what you have learned and experienced in your classes and how it connects to other coursework and to your life.

This time is an opportunity to turn information into meaning.

If you are in an Engelhard class, you are probably already doing some reflection as part of the course. The Engelhard Project, administered by the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, was launched by a group of Georgetown University faculty and student affairs staff in 2005 with the support of Sally Engelhard Pingree to infuse issues of student well-being into the curriculum.

Reflection can help you understand the world and yourself better, and it can also become a process of discernment that helps you decide what to do.

Our Engelhard courses, which cover a wide range of disciplines at Georgetown, invite students to connect academic material to questions of mental and physi-

cal health, identity, personal growth and more — to the whole person, in other words.

What our Engelhard Faculty Fellows and the students in these Engelhard courses discover is that each of us brings our whole self into the classroom, whether we acknowledge it or not, and that reflecting on connections between self and study is quite powerful indeed.

First of all, there are academic benefits to be had.

In a thorough review of research in their book “Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning”, writer Peter Brown and psychologists Henry Roediger III and Mark McDaniel remind us that “reflection can involve several activities ... that lead to stronger learning.” Specifically, people remember better after reflecting, make more connections between facts and are better at expressing what they have learned.

But the benefits extend beyond things that can be measured by grades. Reflection can help you understand the world and yourself better, and it can also become a process of discernment that helps you decide what to do.

One of our core values here at Georgetown is contemplation in action; in this community, we are encouraged to see learning as more than an activity for its own sake but also as a guide to us as we decide what actions to take — in the next moment, semester, year and on and on into our unfolding lives.

And so: the courses you have been taking — how do they build on, complicate or even possibly conflict with what you have learned elsewhere?

What do the courses tell you about the world outside the

classroom, including major issues and concerns facing society today? What have these experiences taught you about yourself and your social identities? Do you end the semester with more questions, or is there something you now know you clearly need to do?

In this community, we are encouraged to see learning as more than an activity for its own sake but also as a guide to us as we decide what actions to take.

You do not have to be in an Engelhard course to ask these questions — and you do not need to have an abundance of free time, either. You can give your experiences some thought when you are just walking from one place to another. Or consider taking five minutes before bed to jot down some ideas and realizations. Or talk these issues over with friends while you are eating lunch or dinner.

Finals will soon be here, and the break might sweep all thoughts of this semester from your mind. Next semester you will immerse yourself in new experiences. So why not take a moment now to look back and ask yourself: “What did I learn this semester? And what might it all mean?”

David EbenbacH is a professor of the practice in the Center for Jewish Civilization and a project manager at the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship.

O

ver the stove in my kitchen, I have a small brass plaque that bears an inscription attributed to Michelangelo. It says simply, “I am still learning.”

My mother gave it to me on the day I received my Ph.D., offering it as a gentle, slyly humorous admonition to not let all this education stuff go to my head. In a deeper way, she intended the words to keep me grounded by reminding me of just how much I do not yet know and how unaware I am of this lack of knowledge.

When I came to Georgetown, I placed it in my kitchen with a similar humor, recognizing that cooking is one of the mysterious arts in which I find myself most in need of continued education.

Over the years, though, that phrase — “I am still learning” — has taken on new layers of meaning. It has become a refrain, expressing a desire that does not seem to go away even as I get older.

It is a posture that keeps me leaning forward into life, eager to find new meaning, new depth. And it makes times like the end of the semester, with their implicit sense of closure, a bit richer and more hopeful.

That word “still” makes all the difference. It reminds me, as I remind my students, that exams and final papers are not ends in themselves, but check-in points along the way.

The project is bigger than just a class or a grade, and what we are learning is more than a series of facts or skills.

The project is the person that each of us is becoming, and the community that we are creating and shaping together.

Dynamically, transformatively — through our courses

and internships and activities and relationships and reflection — we are becoming something new.

We capture glimpses of who we are becoming, especially during this time of exams and paper writing. In looking back at our class notes and blog posts, assignments and projects, all that we have studied and practiced, we also look forward, as each small step this semester has opened a door to a new experience in the future.

Our interests and gifts — and perhaps a few of our limi-

Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J.

What is even more exciting is what lies ahead — the part of ourselves and our community that we have not yet fully discovered. tations — have shown themselves to us, and they remind us about the glorious “more” that still lies ahead. We have made progress, and we are now closer to being the people we dreamed of becoming — or never dreamed we could be — when we first set foot on this campus.

What is even more exciting is what lies ahead — the part of ourselves and our community that we have not yet fully discovered.

There is a sweet beauty in that our period of finals does not occur in a vacuum.

Rather, it happens in the context of the arrival of winter — a time of hunkering down, when the earth goes quiet and new life lingers below the surface.

It also happens in the context of the Christian season of Advent, a time of hope and expectation, four weeks pregnant with possibilities leading up to Christmas. Nestled and nurtured in the darkness of short days and long nights, we await the light that even now is preparing to dawn.

At Georgetown, we are still learning, and we prize the newness that is “adventing” in our midst. As a research university, we are a community that thinks thoughts that have never been conceived or articulated before, and we uncover realities never observed before — miraculously, this even happens on the second floor of Lauinger Library.

In our Jesuit mission, we commit ourselves to fostering understanding and inclusion, celebrating the beauty of our diversity and affirming the dignity of each person in ever-new ways. Our experience here sends us forth into an emerging world that no one has fully seen, yet we feel called to serve and accompany in its yearning for justice and shared opportunity.

In these days of exams, of coming winter, of Advent, it is good to still be learning, and to be learning together.

Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., is an associate professor of government and serves as the director of the Center for Latin American Studies. AS THIS JESUIT SEE IT appears online every other Thursday.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Student-run startup Fiber Filter has created a fiber-catching laundry bag prototype.

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The administration should do more to forcibly condemn the incidences of anti-Semitism that continue to plague our campus.”

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GEORGETOWN CLUBS: CELEBRITY EDITION If you’ve ever wondered what club your favorite celebrity would fit in, have no fear. 4E sorts things out for you in its latest article.

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Georgetown Donors at Center of Middle East Strife YASMINE SALAM AND MEENA MORRAR Hoya Staff Writers

When Lebanese and Georgetown University elites filled an overflowing Lohrfink Auditorium in 2009 to celebrate a $22 million gift honoring former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the audience and school did not know that fewer than 10 years later, the Georgetown alumnus who gifted the amount would be at the center of geopolitical instability and scandal in the Middle East.

The gift of Saad Hariri (MSB ’92) led the university to officially dedicate the Rafik B. Hariri Building, the newly renamed home of the McDonough School of Business, on Sept. 16, 2009. The son of the former prime minister, Saad Hariri, served as prime minister of Lebanon until Nov. 3, 2017 when he unexpectedly resigned during a surprise trip to Riyadh, plunging the region into crisis.

Saad Hariri is at the center of strife in the Middle East, and he is not alone. Through its ties to a Lebanese political dynasty and the Saudi royal family, Georgetown finds itself uncomfortably close to conflict and scandal in the region as two prominent Georgetown donors and alumni make global headlines.

Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service campus in Doha, Qatar — a country with its own hectic role in regional conflict — ties the university closer to the complex events and relationships in the Middle East.

MIDDLE EASTERN POWER POLITICS With an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion according to Forbes, Saad Hariri made international

headlines after suddenly resigning from his position Nov. 3 while on a surprise trip to Saudia Arabia, and then resuming his post just as bewilderingly Dec. 5 after returning to Lebanon.

Saad Hariri officially rescinded his resignation Dec. 5 after a month-long political saga that threatened to destabilize Lebanon.

He had allegedly been coerced by Saudi Arabian political figures to resign after being kept under house arrest in Riyadh, according to The New York Times.

Saad Hariri blamed increasing aggression from Iran and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite Islamist political party and militant group, as his motivation to leave office in his resignation speech. The resignation announcement sent shock waves across the region as the Lebanese prime minister revived sectarian tensions between the Sunni majority of Saudi Arabia and Shiite majority Iran over Middle Eastern domination. Hariri had spent three weeks on the move after fleeing Lebanon, stopping in Egypt, Paris and Cyprus.

Michael Hudson, a retired Georgetown Arab studies and international relations professor, said Saad Hariri placed Lebanon in a compromising position.

“Lebanon is always kind of walking on a tightrope, and in the current situation where there is so much polarization throughout the region, between the Sunnis and the Shi’a, what they’ve tried to do is to thread the needle. They have to be in reasonably good terms with neighboring Syria,” Hudson said in an interview with THE HOYA. During his role as prime minister, Saad Hariri handled increasing regional tensions. With

Hezbollah rapidly gaining public support and expanding its presence, Saudi Arabia quickly grew impatient.

“The intent, I think, of the Saudis, was to break up the Lebanese government, in which Hezbollah, in their view, has too much influence,” Hudson said.

HARIRI’S GEORGETOWN LEGACY The Hariri family has left an immeasurable legacy at Georgetown.

Saad Hariri’s donation was the largest individual gift to support the construction of the building according to Bart Moore, vice president for Advancement at Georgetown.

The $22 million gift, along with gifts from hundreds of other donors totaling more than $80 million, enabled the Hariri Building to become the first building at Georgetown funded entirely by philanthropy.

In addition to the Hariri building gift, Saad Hariri endowed two new scholarship funds at the McDonough School of Business: the Hariri Family Graduate Scholarship and the Saad R. Hariri Undergraduate Scholarship. As a Georgetown parent, Rafik Hariri was also a generous supporter of the university and served on the MSB Parents’ Council, an advisory committee of the parents of MSB students. Georgetown awarded him an honorary degree in 1996 in celebration of his work to advance education and opportunities for the underprivileged.

Former MSB Dean George Daly, who served in the role from 2005 to 2011, said Georgetown had approached the Hariri Foundation, the charitable foundation of the Rafik Hariri family founded in 1979, to offer financial support for

the construction of the building.

Saad Hariri has engaged with the school on multiple occasions, including a May 2010 speech at the university during his first state visit to Washington, D.C. His delivery of the inaugural Rafik B. Hariri Lecture focused on the resilience of the Lebanese people in the face of a challenging geopolitical climate.

FLEXING SAUDI MUSCLES Saudi Arabia’s recent aggressive moves against its neighbors have also engulfed two other connections: prominent benefactor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and SFS-Q. Rooted in Sunni-Shiite sectarian strife, the tensions reflect Saudi Arabia’s fears of a loss of leverage over surrounding Shiite countries, according to Hudson. The Sunni Kingdom hopes to assert control not only over Lebanon, but also Iran, Yemen, Bahrain and Qatar, while its crown prince seeks to consolidate power.

Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s second most powerful leader, is at the center of increased Saudi-led domination. Saudi Arabia’s 32-year-old crown prince secured his ascension to the throne early last month through an alleged anti-corruption crackdown imprisoning potential opponents.

Among the dozens of influential businessmen, politicians and royals arrested was prominent Georgetown benefactor and Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed. He donated $20 million in 2005 to endow the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, a center dedicated to fostering interreligious dialogue established in 1993.

Crown Prince Mohammad’s efforts to consolidate power allude to his foreign policy aims for the future of his kingdom. A series of orchestrated moves and initiatives, such as alleged attempts to force Saad Hariri’s resignation and banning dialogue with Iran, forms part of his offensive foreign policy strategy.

“If you look at the initiatives that he’s [Crown Prince Mohammad] taken with foreign policy, you can see that he is moving Saudi Arabia from its very traditional role as quiet and passive to a much more aggressive stance,” Hudson said.

QATARI COLLATERAL DAMAGE While Saudi Arabia’s new royal authority favors aggressive foreign policy strategies, Qatar’s position in the region remains unclear after the annual Gulf Cooperation Council Summit concluded a day early on Dec. 6 according to Al Jazeera. The future of the GCC, a regional intergovernmental political and economic union with six gulf country member states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is under threat after a blockade against Qatar enraged tensions between Qatar and its Arab neighbors. Saudi Arabia along with five other Arab countries cut economic ties with Qatar in June 2017, imposing an air, sea and land blockade.

Despite both Qatar and Saudi Arabia being on opposite sides of the negotiating table in the GCC, Georgetown continues to maintain deep-rooted connections with both countries. Serving as an extension of the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown’s Qatar campus has not been affected by regional strife, according to current

SFS-Q Dean Ahmad Dallal.

“So far, the day to day operations of the Qatar campus have not been affected by the political developments in the region,” Dallal wrote in an email to THE HOYA. “The campus maintains a regular class schedule and there have been no interruptions to scholarship or research activities by members of our community.”

Robert Gallucci, the SFS dean at the time of SFS-Q’s opening, said Georgetown should continue to maintain a Doha campus because the region suits the university’s aim of promoting educational Jesuit values in the context of a rapidly developing Middle East.

“It is an important, vital region, where there has been chronic conflict and difficulty, and the idea that we, at Georgetown, could bring a first-class education in international affairs, that we could bring a liberal arts education, and indeed bring our Catholic, Jesuit values to an Islamic culture, made it an all the more tempting challenge,” Gallucci said in an interview with THE HOYA. Saad Hariri has resumed his position in a politically shaken Lebanon, having formally rescinded his surprise resignation. Prince Alwaleed’s status is unclear, but a Forbes report suggests he has rejected a plea agreement that would allow him to go free.

Despite its connections to ongoing Middle East strife, the university has not disclosed a public response to Saad Hariri’s spectacle and Prince Alwaleed’s arrest. A university spokesperson declined multiple requests for comment on Georgetown’s connections to the conflict.

GRAPHIC BY ANNA KOOKEN/THE HOYA

Two prominent alumni, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (MSB ’92) and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, are at the center of geopolitical tensions affecting Saudia Arabia, Lebanon, Iran and Qatar.

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Students Organize Feminine District Launches DCPS Hygiene Product Drive Investigation After Scandal Sophie Rosenzweig Hoya Staff Writer

A drive organized by Georgetown University students donated 810 tampons and pads to local homeless shelter Thrive D.C. on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1.

The drive was an assignment for a course, “The Political Economy of Entrepreneurship,” taught by professor Jason Brennan. Kelly Pysh (MSB ’20) and Beibei Jiang (MSB ’19) launched their campaign, The Period Project, to raise awareness about the lack of feminine hygiene products available to women experiencing homelessness and to collect products for donation.

Pysh and Jiang reached out to local businesses, including Saxbys coffee shop, The Tombs restaurant and Chaia restaurant, all of which sponsored tabling events in the Leavey Center. Students could donate money or drop off individual tampons and pads, picking up a free Saxby’s coffee in return.

Brennan asked the class to “do something good with $1,000” provided by alumni and a grant from BB&T Bank, just as he has for the past six years he has taught the course.

“The goal of this assignment is to push students to apply economic and philosophical concepts to action,” Brennan wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Feminine hygiene products are often not available to homeless women because of their cost, which can be prohibitive for women who are struggling financially.

Pysh and Jiang noticed the lack of conversation around the inaccessibility of menstrual hygiene products for homeless women and said feminine hygiene products are often overlooked when assessing the needs of the homeless.

“It’s on the top of the list for shelters partly because it’s culturally taboo, so most people feel uncomfortable talking about it,” Jiang said. “Secondly, it doesn’t occur to people as something important.

It doesn’t occur to them to bring tampons and pads.”

After the conclusion of the drive Dec. 1, Pysh and Jiang delivered the supplies to Thrive D.C., a shelter in the Northwest quadrant that focuses on feminine hygiene products as a main component of its aid to homeless people in Washington, D.C. The students worked closely with Thrive D.C. volunteer and in-kind coordinator Spencer Baldacci.

Thrive D.C. has dedicated considerable resources to help women gain access to feminine hygiene products and to spread awareness about an issue that is often not discussed. Thrive D.C. serves women from all different financial backgrounds, some with housing and

some without, but all in need of menstrual hygiene products.

Many women go without the tampons or pads because they’re too embarrassed to ask for them, forget to get them at a shelter, or were unable to obtain the type of product they need, according to Thrive D.C.’s website.

Baldacci noted the importance of having access to these products.

“It’s a huge need especially because it’s so expensive, and it’s not really something people treat as a basic necessity. It’s usually treated as a privileged product, when in fact it’s a product that’s completely necessary to have a sanitary lifestyle and to feel comfortable in public and to be able to live a normal life,” Baldacci said.

Pysh and Jiang said they came away from the two-monthlong project with a greater understanding and awareness of the homeless population and its needs.

“I hink we realized how much we can do, like our power to do something really big with not a lot of money,” Pysh said. “We did spend our class budget, but we raised all that money and collected all those pads and tampons without spending our own money. We can do a lot if we just care enough. It’s not like we need money to do something great.”

anne stonecipher FOR The Hoya

Georgetown students Kelly Pysh (MSB ’20) and Beibei Jiang (MSB ’19) started a drive called the Period Project to raise awareness and supply local homeless women with feminine hygiene products.

GU Insurance to Continue Covering Contraception Deepika Jonnalagadda Special to The Hoya

Georgetown University health insurance plans are continuing to cover contraception, despite a religious exemption from coverage requirements, following an advocacy campaign led by members of the pro-abortion rights student group H*yas for Choice.

Two rules issued by the administration of President Donald Trump on Oct. 6 rolled back a mandate of the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, which required most employers to cover contraception in employer-provided health insurance plans. The Trump administration’s rollback expanded the list of organizations that can claim religious exemptions from the mandate to include nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies and religious institutions of higher education such as Georgetown.

The decision was made public in an unannounced update to the student health website Dec. 1.

University funds will still not be used to fund contraceptive services provided in the plans under the university’s religious accommodation, according to Rachel Pugh, the university’s senior director for strategic communications.

“UnitedHealthcare will provide separate payments for contraceptive services that plan participants use, without cost sharing and at no other cost to plan participants.

Georgetown will not administer or fund these payments,” Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Georgetown has covered contraception in student health insurance plans since the Obama-era mandate took effect in 2013. The university had not previously provided contraceptive coverage in accordance with its Catholic identity.

The university’s decision follows a campaign led by members of H*yas for Choice, an unrecognized student group, who demanded the university maintain birth control coverage. On Nov. 13, students delivered an open letter to the office of University President John J. DeGioia and other administrators calling for continued contraceptive coverage.

Michaela Lewis (COL ’18), H*yas for Choice co-president, empha-

sized the importance of student involvement in the university’s decision-making process.

“What the letter told the university is that students are watching.

They do absolutely care about this process; they know what’s going on and expect accountability from the university,” Lewis said.

The letter called on the administration to clarify its position by Dec. 1. The university updated the student health insurance website that morning, prompting H*yas for Choice to cancel a call-in campaign — planned for that afternoon — to demand a response from the university. The university has not publicized the change with an announcement.

Annie Mason (COL ’18), H*yas for Choice co-president, said the administration may have avoided speaking out about its continued contraception coverage to avoid unwarranted press attention.

“Frankly, what happened was that the policy didn’t change. They didn’t necessarily need to tell anyone about that. I think the reason we haven’t seen a statement — despite the fact that DeGioia has given out statements on tax policy, on DACA, on a whole bunch of other things, but not Title IX — I think the reason that he doesn’t want to give this big statement is because they don’t want to make a big deal out of it, because they do want to avoid that kind of press coverage,” Mason said.

Kamar Mack (COL ’19), Georgetown University Student Association president, and Jessica Andino (COL ’18), GUSA vice president, said they support the university’s decision. Mack said the continued coverage removes financial obstacles for students.

“With student health, this issue really touches on affordability. The big thing is making sure health resources aren’t financially inaccessible,” Mack said.

Sylvia Levy (SFS ’18), GUSA senate vice speaker, has advocated for Georgetown’s continued contraceptive coverage. Levy said that besides preventing pregnancy, contraception alleviates a variety of health issues.

“Georgetown’s Student Health Center does provide certain types of contraception to students if they indicate conditions including acne, irregular periods, heavy peri-

ods, cramps and polycystic ovarian syndrome,” Levy wrote in an email to The Hoya. “It only makes sense that the University’s health insurance plans would cover these critical services.”

More than 6,600 Georgetown students have enrolled in United Healthcare’s Premier Plan. Rima Mandwee (GRD ’18), Graduate Student Government president, said that graduate students constitute a large percentage of users.

“Graduate students in particular are a significant portion of the Georgetown insurance users, and birth control is, for many, an essential part of the reason they need insurance coverage,” Mandwee wrote in an email to The Hoya. “This coverage shows that Georgetown is genuine in its goal to take care of the whole person.”

Hailey Huget, a sixth-year doctoral student and member of Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees, a graduate student union launched last January, said many graduate students need coverage because Georgetown’s health care benefits are not sufficient for students with children.

“Even those grads who want to get pregnant and have children while in grad school find that the health care and benefits Georgetown offers to grads aren’t good enough to make that choice viable,” Huget wrote in an email to The Hoya. “So many of us need contraceptive coverage because Georgetown itself doesn’t do very good job supporting grad workers who are pregnant or parents of young children.”

Other Catholic universities have had to deal with the controversy over contraception coverage. The University of Notre Dame chose to end birth control coverage in October, but reversed its decision Nov. 7 following student backlash. Mason speculated that Georgetown might have taken the possibility of backlash into account when deciding to maintain its contraceptive coverage.

“I think one of the things that had the largest influence — and this is me speculating — is the fact that Notre Dame tried to change their policy and there was huge backlash, national coverage about the issue, and they ended up changing their minds and going back on it anyway,” Mason said.

Katrina Schmidt Hoya Staff Writer

A Washington, D.C. public high school graduated dozens of students in 2017 who did not meet necessary attendance requirements, according to a November report by NPR and WAMU prompting a District-wide investigation.

The report alleged that Frank W. Ballou High School, which has historically had low graduation rates, altered attendance records to allow students who missed far more than the allotted limit to graduate.

In response to the report, D.C. Public Schools and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education are conducting investigations of Ballou alongside a review of District-wide practices.

In 2016, Ballou’s graduation rate was 57 percent. Its jump to 64 percent in 2017 was celebrated by the community, and made national headlines. Ballou not only increased its graduation rate, but all 164 of its graduates were accepted to college for the first time in the school’s history.

In D.C., the maximum number of unexcused absences permissible to still receive course credit is 30 missed classes. However, NPR and WAMU obtained documents showing that over half of the 164 graduates missed three months of school. Records show one student even missed 150 days of school and still graduated.

According to an email obtained

by NPR and WAMU, only 57 students were set to graduate as of April 2017.

Teachers said pressure from school administrators to pass students was high.

Teachers described school policies designed to help students pass, according to NPR and WAMU. For example, students were placed in credit recovery courses — acceler-

ated classes intended for students who have failed a class — before having actually failed the corresponding course.

Another school policy that helps students pass classes, teachers told NPR, ensures the lowest grade a student can receive on an assignment is 50 percent, even if the assignment was never handed in or the student scored a lower grade.

Administrators control teacher evaluations, which the nearly dozen teachers interviewed by NPR and WAMU said enables administrators to respond to teacher criticisms with poor evaluations.

“If they don’t like you, they’ll just let you go,” said Monica Brokenborough, a former music teacher at Ballou.

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education aims to ensure their attendance policies are clear, transparent and consistently administered for all students in the District, Fred Lewis, community relations specialist for the office, wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Additionally, DCPS announced Dec. 4 that Ballou’s principal, Yetunde Reeves, was reassigned to another unspecified role.

“At this point, to be honest with you, I don’t know what mistakes were made at Ballou,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a Nov. 29 press conference. “We will hold everybody accountable for making sure that this school, just like any school in our system, is run in the way that meets our highest expectations.”

Ballou has been a struggling school for years. According to Ballou’s school profile on the DCPS website, 100 percent of Ballou’s students are considered “economically disadvantaged,” a designation based on family income. Ballou, located in Southeast D.C. is labeled a “priority” school, meaning it “needs intense support to address

overall low student performance.”

Despite these challenges, Ballou has made progress in student performance on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a standardized test used in various U.S. states to measure student progress. Scores in math increased by two points and English scores rose by 14 points in 2017 from 2016.

The allegations against Balloou come as a blow to Bowser, who launched the Every Day Counts! campaign in August to increase awareness about the importance of school attendance. She also noted in a public letter that all D.C. public school students can use Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority services for free, another measure aimed to minimize barriers to attendance.

While the allegations regarding Ballou are focused on attendance, they are reminiscent of a 2015 report that found approximately one-third of high school graduates in Tennessee failed to earn all necessary credits for graduation. The state’s education department initiated the audit because of the difficulty Tennessee students were having with college admission.

The D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education, in conjunction with an outside firm, is expected to deliver its report within 45 days. D.C. Public Schools said it is beginning its investigation immediately.

“We take this issue very seriously, and we know that policies must be explained clearly and implemented with fidelity,” D.C. Public Schools’ Chancellor Antwan Wilson said in a statement released Monday evening. “This investigation will restore integrity to the process by providing students, parents, and the broader community with answers.”

Georgetown Remembers Former SFS Professor Will Cassou Hoya Staff Writer

Anne Steen, director of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service Graduate Career Center, remembers the hours professor Howard Schaffer would spend in group sessions or in oneon-one meetings to walk students through the U.S. Foreign Service Officer Test, giving them specific advice on how to pass.

“Bottom line, he seemed to love the Foreign Service and wanted to help the next generation find their place in diplomatic public service,” Steen wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Schaffer, an adjunct professor in the SFS and former director of studies at Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, died Nov. 17 at age 88.

The former ambassador to Bangladesh spent 36 years working in the foreign service as a leading specialist on South Asia. After ending his career in diplomacy in 1991, Schaffer worked at Georgetown as an adjunct professor for over two decades.

Schaffer died from congestive heart failure, his son Michael Schaffer told The Washington Post. Schaffer is survived by his wife, Teresita Schaffer, who is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown and former ambassador to Sri Lanka.

In Diplomacy Schaffer, who graduated from Harvard University in 1950, joined the foreign service in 1955, where he worked as a political and economic officer in India and Pakistan, becoming an expert on South Asian foreign policy. He served two terms as deputy assistant secretary of state of South Asian affairs before his appointment as ambassador.

Schaffer was one of 29 diplomats to sign the 1971 “blood telegram,” a first-of-its-kind State Department dissent cable that criticized U.S. complicity in a brutal Pakistani crackdown in East Pakistan, which soon became the independent state of Bangladesh, The Washington Post reported Sept. 23.

In Academia Schaffer began his work at the ISD in 1996, where he ran several student programs including the Key Global Issue Seminar, a weekly seminar with speakers on global topics relating to diplomacy for foreign service graduate students and ISD associates. He stepped down from this position in 2011.

Schaffer also wrote two books on U.S.-South Asian foreign policy, as well as two biographies of American ambassadors to India.

Acting in his role at the ISD and

southasiahand.com

Former ambassador to Bangladesh and Georgetown adjunct professor, Howard Schaffer is remembered for his dedication to his students. as an adjunct professor, Schaffer also taught a popular class titled “Practicing Diplomacy Abroad,” which he was slated to teach this fall semester.

Arsalan Suleman (SFS ’03), one of Schaffer’s former students and current fellow at the ISD, said Schaffer’s expertise made his commitment to his students all the more valuable.

“He was an accomplished diplomat and serious regional expert, but also someone who was very humble and approachable, who appreciated various cultures, including campus cultural events like Rangila, and who took great interest in his students’ development and careers,” Suleman wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Beyond the Classroom Jim Seevers, the director of studies at the ISD, said Schaffer had a profound influence on the Georgetown community.

“This is really a great loss to Georgetown and the School of Foreign Service,” Seevers said.

“Professor Schaffer was a terrific professor, committed to teach his students about the art of diplomacy and foreign policy in South Asia. He was a wonderful colleague and a wonderful teacher, and he’s going to be missed dearly at Georgetown.”

Many of Schaffer’s colleagues and students highlighted his commitment to helping students and training them to pass the FSOT. Anthony Arend, senior associate dean for graduate and faculty affairs in

the SFS, also discussed Schaffer’s level of personal investment in seeing his students pass the FSOT. “He would always contact me afterwards and tell me how well they went, and he would be really excited when these students passed the foreign service exam,” Arend wrote in an email to The Hoya. “I just remember how devoted and how happy he was to work with students to prepare for that exam.”

Casimir Yost, former director of the ISD, said that Schaffer was also known for his positive relationships and interactions with those around him.

“When I think of Ambassador Schaffer, I very much think of the human dimension; he was an incredible people person with a wry sense of humor,” Yost said.

“I think there were echoes of that in his class, because every time I spoke to a student and said ‘How’s Ambassador Schaffer’s course going?’ invariably the answer was, ‘It’s just a terrific course, and he’s so invested in it.’”

Arjun Pant (SFS ’09), one of Schaffer’s former research assistants, said the former ambassador truly cared for and believed in his students, even trusting them to help him while he wrote his books.

“He will be remembered as a professor who was truly dedicated to teaching and to his students, and someone who was looked up to as a wise mentor for those aiming to enter the field of diplomacy,” Pant said.

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Provost Rejects Graduate Union, Students Protest GAGE, from A1

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The Cawley Career Education Center website displays no available appointments for the remainder of the semester, as well as no available appointments for the upcoming spring semester. Students say the center is unhelpful and understaffed.

Students Raise Career Center Concerns CAWLEY, from A1 companies that claimed to sponsored work visas denied that they did.

Ingrid Glitz (SFS ’18), an international student from Brazil who is leading a crowdsourcing effort to petition for additional resources for international students, said she was frustrated by the confusion and the inconveniences international students had to face to find out which employers might support them.

“When we got there, some of the companies were mad, actually. Some said they didn’t but they did, and some of the companies said that they did sponsor visas but they didn’t,” Glitz said. “So, the list was not completely correct.”

Cawley responds to students’ need Staff searches to offset the increased demand for career advice are currently taking place, Harlan said. The Cawley Center currently has eight full-time staff members listed on its website.

“As you know, demand for appointments is high this semester, as it is every semester,” Harlan wrote. “We are scaling our work and conducting searches to hire new staff to

increase our capacity to meet students’ needs.”

Harlan said the Cawley Center’s hiring process will include a new health/science advisor, whose scope will be more focused on strategy for careers in these fields and building relationships with employers rather than strategy for graduate school applications.

These hiring efforts come after the program review carried out by the career center last spring resulted in an “implementation committee,” according to Susan Campbell, the Cawley Center’s interim executive director. This implementation committee is tasked with creating innovative and effective ways to improve the center’s services.

Other efforts to improve The Cawley Center was recently designated to the Office of Academic Affairs, specifically under the Vice Provost for Education Randy Bass, a move from its previous designation under Division of Student Affairs.

“Given our recent move to Academic Affairs, as well as students’ strong affiliation with their schools, we hope to build closer relationships with academic councils, professors, and deans,” Harlan wrote.

Bass said his office will strive to equip the Cawley Center with better resources to help students gain access to informative and helpful services.

“Responding to students’ needs has been a top priority of the Provost Office, Cawley and many other University staff. Career Center staff are deeply committed to supporting students’ career development in a variety of ways,” Bass wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Other initiatives to support students as they seek career advice include one-credit academic professional courses such as “Personal Narrative and Professional Discernment,” and classroom visits to help students connect their learning to a larger career narrative and strategy.

Georgetown University Student Association has worked closely with the center to improve its offerings. Last week, GUSA announced its collaboration with the Cawley Center to launch a pilot program granting 10 students a $1,500 stipend for working unpaid internships this spring.

GUSA President Kamar Mack (COL ’19) encouraged students to reach out to GUSA with their frustrations or any issues they may be having with the Cawley Center.

“We encourage students who have experienced difficulties to get in touch with us directly so we can talk through solutions to the problems they see,” Mack wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“The Cawley Career Education Center is one of GUSA’s closest and most critical university partners; we are certain that they would be open to respectful, constructive feedback from GUSA channels.”

While the career center is engaging in initiatives to improve its services, some of these efforts have left students frustrated. In an effort to utilize peer support, the Cawley Center recently partnered with the Writing Center to host their tutors for resume reviews.

In her visit to the Cawley center this October, Jane Yang (SFS ‘18) was surprised to find the staffer reviewing her resume was a sophomore undergraduate student.

“I had a sophomore overlook my resume as a senior and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so invalidated. It was very jarring,” Yang said. “I was very much expecting a professional who worked their full time to go over my stuff with me, but instead it was just a student and I could’ve just asked any other student to go over it at this point.”

employees’ right to organize and to decide whether to have unions serve as their bargaining representative with their employer.

GAGE claims that a provision of the university’s Just Employment Policy establishes a basis for forming the union. The policy states that the university will “respect the rights of employees to vote for or against union representation without intimidation, unjust pressure, undue delay or hindrance in accordance with applicable law.”

It ensures a total compensation package “substantially greater” than minimum wage requirements in Washington, D.C., and the surrounding metropolitan area.

The university considers its relationship with graduate students educational and not akin to the relationship between an employer and an employee, according to Rachel Pugh, the university’s senior director for strategic communications.

“A graduate student’s relationship with the University is fundamentally an educational one and [Georgetown] has declined to recognize GAGE as a collective bargaining representative for a limited subset of graduate students,” Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya.

The announcement comes after a yearlong effort by GAGE organizers to persuade the university to formally recognize their union. GAGE said it was pushing the university “to respect the rights of employees to vote for or against union representation without intimidation, unjust pressure, undue delay or hindrance.”

Students have said that embracing a union would align with the school’s Jesuit values affirming the dignity of labor, thereby allowing them to negotiate more favorable wages and work conditions.

GAGE received support from more than half of gradu-

ate student workers at Georgetown, which constitutes about 800 graduate students in the bargaining unit, according to GAGE member and sixthyear doctoral student Hailey Huget.

“Georgetown University Provost Robert Groves stated that we are not workers, that the hours we put into the classroom, in the laboratory, in hosting office hours and preparing syllabi, is strictly something we would do to further our education as students and provides no value to the institution,” GAGE wrote in a Facebook post published Monday afternoon.

The push at Georgetown for better work contracts for graduate students serving as teaching assistants and research assistants started Aug. 23, 2016, when the National Labor Relations Board ruled that student assistants can unionize and collectively bargain.

Nelms remains optimistic about the future of GAGE’s efforts.

“We will do everything we can to push for a fair and swift election, and call on our faculty and student allies to support us,” Deidre Nelms, a third-year doctoral student, wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“We already have the numbers we need to win an election, and will continue talking to graduate workers, organizing, and moving forward.”

Nelms said she hopes the petition process with NLRB will move swiftly to avoid contention between the graduate students and university faculty.

“It would be horrible for our university to call on faculty and graduate workers to testify against each other, following UChicago’s example,” Nelms wrote.

Graduate students at the University of Chicago have voted to unionize, despite efforts from the school to delay the vote, according to a Chicago Tribune report. The University of Chicago students worked with NLRB to achieve this outcome.

In Tillerson Era, Enthusiasm for Foreign Service Falters STATE DEPARTMENT, from A1 Daniel Byman, SFS senior associate dean for undergraduate affairs, said he has received more “Should I go into government?” questions from students in the past year than ever before in his 15 years at Georgetown.

Retired Ambassador Barbara Bodine, director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at the SFS, said she has talked to “a couple hundred” students in the past year whose confidence in the State Department has been shaken. Many say they oppose Trump’s strict immigration policies, antagonistic approach to allies and support for autocratic world leaders in Russia and the Philippines.

“With the current administration there is a different calculation on, ‘Do I want to be a part of this administration?’ And that’s tragic,” Bodine said. “Understandable, but tragic.”

Graduate students are particularly hesitant to pursue careers in the State Department with current hiring at a slow trickle.

Anne Steen, the director of the SFS Graduate Student Career Center, which advises graduate students on career paths after graduation, said students routinely come to the career center to express doubts about the State Department and form alternative plans.

High attendance at State Department information sessions show that students are still interested in foreign service, Steene said. However, Steen said talented students are casting a wider net, pursuing alternative options in the private sector such as think tanks, media organizations and NGOs. “There is an awareness that the path is not as clear as it has been in the past,” Steen said.

Grappling with Doubts In a Nov. 29 op-ed in The Washington Post, Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state under President Bill Clinton (SFS’68) and an adjunct professor in the SFS, wrote that more and more of her best students are telling her they “do not see a future for themselves in government.”

“In some cases, this is because they disagree with administration policies, but more

often it is because they fear that their efforts and pursuit of excellence would not be valued,” Albright wrote.

Two of Albright’s graduate teaching assistants say the former secretary has been on a “campaign” to make sure her students are still considering government jobs, including weekly meetings with students over brown-bag lunches.

However, in the Trump era, affection for foreign service and the Trump administration’s undiplomatic lean are pulling students in two different directions.

Kirby Neuner (GRD ’18), one of Albright’s teaching assistants, said he always looked to the foreign service for his career. He recently applied to multiple State Department positions, including the U.S. Mission to Somalia. Over the last year, however, Neuner has grappled with deep concerns about the administration’s commitment to international cooperation.

“There are some conversations you have where you think ‘Yes, this is the right work to do right now even though it’s going to be hard,” Neuner said. “There are other conversations that sort of make me feel the opposite.”

While Albright and other administrators have argued fervently for Neuner not to become disaffected from public service, his mother, a Clinton voter in 2016, questioned why he would want to work for a government led by Trump.

Since before the election, Neuner had long planned to apply to the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, a small office in the State Department which April media reports suggested was on the cusp of being eliminated. Trump has not appointed an assistant secretary to lead the bureau, one of a majority of assistant secretary positions that remain unfilled.

The bureau still exists, for now, and Neuner is still applying. Still, he doubts whether now is the right time to be entering public service.

Meghan Bodette (SFS ’20), an undergraduate, said she enrolled in the SFS intending to pursue a career in the foreign service, but she can’t see herself working in government during the Trump administration.

“I look at the Trump administration and think, do I want to work for a government that’s trying to ban my friends from coming here? I think the moral and ethical answer to that, for me, is no,” Bodette said.

Diplomacy Devalued The broader concern for the diplomatic community, according to Hellman, is not Tillerson’s management, but the sense that the Trump administration is “devaluing the role of diplomacy and America’s commitment to diplomacy globally.”

“I do see that there is reason for students to worry, that the very notion of American leadership is being hampered or weakened. And that leads to concerns about what role they might want to play in the Foreign Service and as part of America’s diplomatic corps,” Hellman said.

Some worry that the diplomatic corps may suffer for years, if not decades, from an exodus of top talent and a lack of young talent to replace them.

“They could absolutely do long-term damage,” McEldowney “When you lose your seniormost expertise, people who speak the language and know the region intimately, and you don’t take in people at the beginning, you create massive gaps. And that will take some time to rebuild.”

McEldowney said there is “no question that President Trump doesn’t understand diplomacy, nor does he value diplomacy.”

While Trump is “edging us closer to nuclear war with North Korea,” she said, he has not appointed an ambassador to South Korea or an assistant secretary of state for Asia.

And amid flaring regional tensions, Trump has also left the assistant secretary post in the Middle East unfilled, as well as ambassadorships in Egypt, Jordan, Saudia Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Bodine said Tillerson and his top aides have a “very narrow idea of what diplomats do,” and don’t appreciate the complex, daily nature of diplomacy: From tailoring motorcycle standards in the European Union for U.S. manufacturers to making the case for the importation of Washington state apples to Yemen.

Rallying Troops Hellman, McEldowney, Byman, Bodine and Albright have all engaged with concerned students urging them not to count themselves out of public sector jobs.

“We’re working very, very

ryan bae for THE HOYA

Students in the School of Foreign Service are becoming disaffected with the State Department, telling faculty and career advisors they are pursuing options in the private sector instead. hard to talk with students, to engage with students, so that we keep the commitment to public sector and service careers as we always have,” Hellman said.

Hellman said, setting aside practical considerations, that students who oppose the administration’s approach to diplomacy should want to participate in government to advocate a return to their own values.

“It’s precisely at a time when you worry and are concerned about the direction of the country that you should commit even more towards changing it in a way you think it should go,” Hellman said.

Junior foreign service officers, McEldowney added, are less affected by policy decisions than senior- and mid-level officials.

At least one SFS graduate student is convinced that now is as important a time as ever to enter the State Department. Dineo Brinson (GRD ’18) said she had planned on a career in foreign service since her undergraduate work in the 1990s. She finally came to Georgetown last year – and then Trump was elected.

But unlike some of her peers, the tumult at the State Department has toughened her resolve to pursue public service.

“They’re gutting a lot of people who had knowledge and in-

stitutional memory, and I think they need people with integrity and experience who are prepared to be in the School of Foreign Service, as a woman and a woman of color,” Brinson said.

The five members of SFS faculty also encouraged students to start the foreign service application process now, noting the lengthy process for students considering State Department roles. Even in the rare case of students who pass the notoriously difficult three-part test on their first try, the security clearance and medical clearance extend the application process at least 18 months.

After the clearance process is complete, successful applicants are given 18 months to choose whether to accept a position, giving most applicants three years or more from the time they take the test to the time they enter the foreign service – jobs usually preceded by months of training.

“If you’re not taking the exam because you’re concerned about what’s going on now, and you don’t like Tillerson’s leadership now, and you don’t particularly like the Trump administration now, by the time you enter they’re all gone,” Bodine said.

Signs of Recovery Thirteen months since

Trump’s election, some members of the diplomatic community are hopeful that enthusiasm for the foreign service is set for a rebound.

“I think there was this initial concern that there would be no work so people stopped taking the test and stopped applying for the jobs,” Neuner said.

“My sense now is there may be a swing back in the other direction.”

Even as entries into foreign services roles have taken a dive, applications to the SFS undergraduate school have never been higher. Last year’s application pool was the school’s largest ever, and marked the largest single spike in applications from one year to the next, according to Hellman.

This year, the applicants for early admission also reached record heights.

As for Neuner, he said he still sees a career for himself in the foreign service, “even if the near future is a little bit murky.”

“The State Department and the foreign service will stick around after this administration,” Neuner said. “This is and always will be very important work. There is more than the little blips on the radar, which I hope is all this is.”

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GUSA Mental Health Stipend Proposal Moves Forward Chapel Puckett Special to The Hoya

A pilot program to subsidize off-campus mental health care has moved closer to implementation in the 2017-18 academic year after the Georgetown University Student Association presented Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson with a proposal Dec. 1.

University President John J. DeGioia committed to investing resources into making health care more affordable in a Nov. 20 meeting, GUSA President Kamar Mack (COL ’19) said. DeGioia’s support for the program includes encouragement for the formulation of a broader

strategy for increasing access to mental health services.

The GUSA plan, presented to Olson by Mack, would support 40 students’ off-campus therapy, providing up to $850 per student, or $34,000 to the program, annually.

The proposal also calls for Georgetown to allocate financial resources to fund off-campus mental health services for students who have demonstrated financial need. All students who receive financial aid and are enrolled in university student health insurance would be eligible to apply for the program.

Both DeGioia and Olson have expressed their commitment to

improving mental health care access, Mack said. However, both hope the pilot program will exist as a part of a broader strategy to serve a wide range of students and their mental health care needs, according to Mack.

The proposal comes after the GUSA mental health policy coalition, led by Kenna Chick (SFS ’20), launched a petition for improved mental health support Nov. 17 that garnered more than 1,000 student signatures.

While GUSA has not yet released details on the selection process for recipients of the stipend, the program is designed especially for students who are not members of the George-

subul malik/The Hoya

The mental health stipend proposal comes after the Georgetown University Student Association mental health coalition launched a petition Nov. 17 that garnered more than 1,000 student signatures.

town Scholarship Program but would benefit from its services, according to the proposal. GSP funding covers off-campus mental health care for students in the program, but students who fail to qualify for GSP may still struggle to afford the expensive market rate of mental health care in Washington, D.C., Mack said.

The average cost of therapy in D.C. ranges from $150 to $225 per hour. Under Georgetown’s student health insurance plan, the average deductible fee for off-campus medical services is $250 and the average copay is $25.

“If you’re not in GSP, all of those payments go through your GU student health insurance,” Mack said. “A big thing is the deductibles. A lot of times you have to pay $250 out of pocket just to have your insurance kick in.”

Under this program, eligible students would be referred to off-campus health care by Counseling and Psychiatric Services. They would then go to the financial aid office to discuss affordable ways to access their care. Student health insurance currently covers some, but not all, of these students’ mental health care expenses — the deductibles, for example, must be paid before insurance is used.

This stipend aims to reduce health care costs for students who cannot afford off-campus mental health care with their student health insurance package, according to Mack.

Members of the GUSA coalition drafted the proposal after meeting with the Student

Health Advisory Board, which consists of 10 student representatives, as well as Dr. Vince WinklerPrins, assistant vice president of student health, and Phil Meilman, CAPS director.

CAPS currently operates on a short-term model that provides service for up to two semesters.

After these two semesters, students are referred to off-campus resources for long-term psychiatric care, according to Rachel Pugh, the university’s senior director for strategic communications.

“Long term care is typically referred to community resources. Where finances are not an issue, such referrals work well,” Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya.

However, many students struggle with financial barriers to access to such long-term care, Mack said. Mack added that GUSA’s proposed stipend program is the best way to promote access to both short- and long-term mental health care.

“There are a number of students who, once referred off campus from CAPS, cannot afford the market rate for mental health care. They are being left in the dark, and the university needs to address that problem,” Mack said.

GUSA’s proposal is not seeking to replace CAPS services, according to Chick.

“It’s not an attack on CAPS. If anything, it’s a supplement to CAPS. CAPS is doing the best that they can,” Chick said.

CAPS’ short-term model provides immediate services for students if they are going through a traumatic situa-

tion or crisis, an important characteristic of a college counseling center, Chick said.

If CAPS aimed to treat students on a long-term basis, the wait to see a counselor would be extremely long.

Pugh said the short-term model is common on most university campuses, as they seek to avoid long wait times.

“Counseling directors are reporting three-to-four week waits and in some cases even two-to-three month waits despite ramping up staffing and finding new and creative ways to deliver services,” Pugh wrote. “Here at Georgetown, CAPS operates on a short term model and can provide a semester or two’s worth of services, consistent with what is typically done at other university counseling centers.”

GUSA is also set to be employing its own fundraising efforts in early January to show a commitment to this issue and garner attention from the university, so the program can earn proper allocation of resources.

The proposed pilot program will take some time to implement, Mack said.

“A big question is how are we going to serve students’ needs sooner than a couple months from now?” Mack said.

Mack plans to provide immediate access to affordable care through philanthropy.

“In GUSA, we’re going to try our own internal funding routes and also continue to push on the university to do things in the short term,” Mack said.

District Archdiocese Sues WMATA Exclusivity Dominates Club For Religious Advertisement Policy Culture, Student Leaders Say Deepika Jonnalagadda Hoya Staff Writer

The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., is suing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority over its policy banning religious advertisements on Metro-owned property.

The archdiocese filed the lawsuit in a federal court Nov. 28 after WMATA rejected an advertisement that the archdiocese hoped to place on Metrobus exteriors, promoting the archdiocese’s annual “Find the Perfect Gift” campaign.

The advertisement directs viewers to the campaign’s website and depicts the silhouettes of shepherds and their sheep underneath a starry sky. The campaign encourages individuals to share spiritual gifts during the holiday season and offers community members opportunities for charitable service, according to the Archdiocese’s website.

In the complaint, the archdiocese’s counsel argues that the Metro’s updated advertising policy violates the archdiocese’s right to free speech under the First Amendment by censoring the advertisement on “unreasonable, arbitrary, and discriminatory grounds.”

According to the complaint, Metro did not introduce formal regulations to direct the implementation of the ban or publish guidelines for distinguishing between permissible and impermissible advertisements, leaving the enforcement of the ban up to the discretion of Metro staff.

Ed McFadden, communications secretary for the Archdio-

cese of Washington, said in a Nov. 28 news release that the archdiocese was encouraged to modify the advertisement to serve a commercial purpose rather than a religious one in order to comply with Metro guidelines.

McFadden criticized the policy for allowing commercial depictions of Christmas, but prohibiting religious advertisements.

“But if Christmas means a little bit more, WMATA plays Grinch.”

Ed McFadden Archdiocese of Washington Communications Secretary

“But if Christmas means a little bit more, WMATA plays Grinch,” McFadden said. Metro contracts with a third-party vendor, Outfront Media, Inc., to market its advertising space, which includes bus and railcar exteriors in addition to inside Metro stations. When the archdiocese refused to make the suggested modifications or find an alternative space for the advertisement, their proposal was rejected.

Sherri Ly, media relations manager for WMATA, wrote in an email to The Hoya that the proposed advertisement was denied because it violated Metro’s recently updated restrictions against issue-oriented advertising, such as political, religious and advocacy advertisement.

These new restrictions were instated after a ban on issueoriented and advocacy advertising was extended indefinitely, following concern over potential safety threats to individuals who may oppose ad messaging.

Metro would make up the loss in revenue from issue-oriented advertising, approximately $1.6 million, through expansions in digital advertising and the introduction of purchasable advertisement space in Metro station entrances and train exteriors.

Prior to the ban, Chieko Noguchi, the archdiocese’s director of media and public relations, said the Archdiocese of Washington had a longstanding history of presenting advertisements that were explicitly religious in nature to WMATA, such as advertisements for an initiative where churches stay open later on Wednesday nights called “The Light is ON for You.” “We have advertised on Metro buses and trains for that initiative going back at least a decade,” Noguchi wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Noguchi said the archdiocese had not tried to advertise this Advent initiative since the Metro changed its advertising guidelines in 2015.

According to Washingtonian magazine, the archdiocese’s complaint against the Metro’s advertisement policy follows a lawsuit launched by the American Civil Liberties Union in August after advertisements for a women’s health clinic, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and right-wing critic Milo Yiannopoulos were also rejected by the transit agency.

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Jeff Cirillo and Chapel puckett

Hoya Staff Writer and Special to The Hoya

The problem of exclusivity of Georgetown clubs is the product of a competitive application process motivated by a quest for social capital, said Ricardo Mondolfi (SFS ’19), chair of the Student Activities Commission, at an open forum on club culture last Thursday.

The open forum was hosted by an informal group of student leaders working to address issues of club exclusivity on campus.

The group, convened by Assistant Dean for Student Engagement Erika Cohen Derr last spring, is an early effort to develop an understanding of the university’s clubcentered social scene and find solutions to resolve the impacts of club exclusivity.

Cohen Derr said she convened the unofficial and informal group in spring as “more of a focus group” to discuss matters related to club exclusivity.

It met at least twice this fall to organize last week’s forum and a closed summit of student leaders two weeks earlier, which sought to bring more perspectives into the effort. The group now plans to form focus groups to receive more feedback from first-year students.

The group includes Mondolfi, former Georgetown University Student Association Chief of Staff Ari Goldstein (COL ’18) and leaders from university clubs including the Georgetown University Alumni Student Federal Credit Union, Blue and Gray Society, Students of Georgetown, Inc., the Georgetown University Student Association, the Georgetown Program Board and the Lecture Fund.

Mondolfi said the campus social scene’s orientation around large clubs, some of which have low acceptance rates, creates a perception that clubs form a social hierarchy.

“There is a generalized perception that a few student organizations provide social capital, welfare and happiness and friendships and connections,” Mondolfi said.

This conflation of social capital and clubs is the root of the problematic campus culture, according to Goldstein and Mondolfi.

GUASFCU, Blue and Gray and The Corp form what Goldstein calls “the trifecta” — in his opinion, those seen, perhaps unfairly, as the large clubs most emblematic of the exclusivity problem in the eyes of the student body.

In fall 2016, GUASFCU accepted 7.6 percent of 290 applicants, while Blue and Gray, a group of student tour guides, accepted 10.2 percent of its 313 applicants. The Corp, which did not release its acceptance rates in 2016, had an acceptance rate of 18 percent in fall 2015.

All three clubs declined to release their acceptance rates this year in response to requests from The Hoya.

Goldstein, a member of Blue and Gray, said the three groups collectively decided not to re-

SUbul Malik/The hoya

Georgetown University Student Association President Kamar Mack (COL ’19) discusses club exclusivity with a student at a forum Nov. 30. lease the rates during a meeting of the informal working group this fall. Goldstein said that the acceptance rates are “not helpful in this discourse,” because focusing on only three groups oversimplifies the problem of exclusivity.

Goldstein also said coverage of the three groups creates a perception of the clubs that “furthers the problem that it makes them seem even more appealing to people.”

The efforts by the working group have been disorganized at times this semester, according to Goldstein. Goldstein and Mondolfi are seeking to create an official university working group that would include students and potentially launch this spring to address the problem over several years.

“I would love to see a working group that is open membership but also is effective enough in such a way that has positions,” Goldstein said. “Conversations need to start on the student level, and follow-up needs to happen on the administrative level.”

Cohen Derr said she is not sure whether the issue of club culture merits an official university working group, but that she will “work with those interested in the conversation to give it the structure and level of formality it needs to work towards the overall goals.”

Clubs such as the Lecture Fund, Japan Network and the Black Student Alliance have adopted openbody rather than hierarchical structures to create a more inclusive environment. Lecture Fund Chair Aiden Johnson (COL ’19) said opening membership to any student has benefited the club.

“Not only is being more inclusive the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, but it also enables us to do our job more effectively as a group that tries to bring speakers that are relevant to our student body,” Johnson said.

However, even if more clubs switched to a more open model, Goldstein said the problem will persist because the underlying cultural issues would remain.

“Even though a lot of groups can accept more people, that will not solve the problem that freshmen at Georgetown are lonely and sad their freshman year because there is such a social hierarchy around clubs,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein said to combat this system of perceived social hierarchy, there needs to be new ways to interact socially beyond clubs, such as more frequent or more meaningful events with freshman floors, mandatory first-year seminars with the same small group of people every week of the first semester or open events in the first few weeks where people can meet.

“The goal [is] to create a system of social capital that is fundamentally inclusive and accessible,” Goldstein said.

Mondolfi said identifying the club culture as the problem was the easy part of the task, but determining the next steps proves more of a challenge.

“Once you understand that [Georgetown’s culture] is the problem you almost freeze.

How do you change culture?”

Mondolfi said.

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New GUCR Leadership Marks Ideological Shift emily leng

Special to The Hoya

Jake Lyons (COL ’20) and Peter Hamilton (COL ’20) were elected president and vice president, respectively, of the Georgetown University College Republicans on Nov. 28, marking a shift in the club’s focus toward building a strong community among its members.

Lyons and Hamilton hope to increase GUCR’s membership and promote political discourse within the club to foster a community on campus for conservatism. The pair plan to launch a digital communications team and an editorial team and to host more community initiatives such as roundtable discussions and networking events.

Lyons said GUCR’s lack of community focus hindered the ability of club members to connect.

“Our lack of focus towards our membership, our lack of vision going forward, actually finding specific areas where we wanted to make a difference, we were lacking in that area,” Lyons said.

He added that a strong platform to express conservative ideas and rationales is the first step to increasing club membership.

Hamilton said that “conservative” has become a dirty word, so GUCR’s main objective is to reframe the conversation about conservatism to create a space for people to defend Republican ideals.

Lyons and Hamilton have been members of GUCR since their freshman years. Both previously served on the club’s board.

GUCR board positions were widely uncontested this semester, according to outgoing President Allie Williams (SFS ’19), which she said contributed to a lack of ideological diversity in the incoming board. Williams also raised concerns that the incoming board would not continue the club’s legacy of fostering positive campus dialogue.

“I was very disappointed by the election this year,” Williams wrote in an email to The Hoya. “If more people had run for positions this year I believe we would be look-

ing at a very different ideological makeup of the incoming administration.”

Lyons, who previously served as vice president, described himself as a “moderate Republican.”

He said his own political leanings would not curtail the diverse breadth of political opinions in the club as GUCR aims to unite all different facets of conservatism.

Hamilton, who previously acted as director of membership, said he identifies as a strong conservative, both fiscally and socially. He initially supported Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in the Republican primary and voted for President Donald Trump in the general election.

“I consider myself socially conservative because I support traditional family values,” Hamilton said. “I’ve always been tempted to describe myself as a moderate, but I wouldn’t say that that’s an accurate description.”

Under previous leadership, GUCR has been able to create constructive dialogue and contribute to a positive, optimistic and productive political climate on campus, Williams said. However, Williams said the new leadership may not continue this legacy.

“Unfortunately, I do not see the same level of commitment to discourse from the incoming administration. Nor do I see a commitment to recognizing that there is no set build for a ‘conservative,’ and that ideological diversity should be embraced and recognized through dialogue and debate,” Williams wrote.

Lyons responded that the incoming board has members “all along the conservative political spectrum.”

“As far as external dialogue – our leadership has been involved with diverse groups on campus and actively pushed for and helped organize events that foster dialogue,” Lyons said.

Maria Cornell (SFS ’20), the incoming chair of the Georgetown University College Democrats, said she wants to “foster a culture and conversation of respect between the two organizations, and move

forward together, and as a country more generally.”

A primary goal for Williams as president of GUCR was to create a dialogue on the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. Williams said she hopes the new administration will continue her efforts.

“One of the most frustrating parts of leading GUCR was the fact that certain members of my Board were unwilling to formally put the name of the organization on co-sponsorship opportunities regarding support for survivors,” Williams wrote. “I am hoping that the new administration will begin recognizing the importance of a nonpartisan fight for the rights and support of sexual survivors.”

Though the board has not discussed an official stance on how to support sexual assault survivors, Lyons and Hamilton insisted there is no place in their board for anyone who does not fully support survivors.

“Allie Williams personally has been a very good supporter of sexual assault survivors,” Lyons said.

“As a board, we have not had a discussion in the past about sexual assault survivors and the statement that some of the board members were not 100 percent behind sexual assault survivors is definitely false. I’ve had conversations with every person on our board, and our board is 100 percent behind sexual assault survivors.”

Hamilton said that although an advocacy structure may be developed down the line, he and Lyons did not originally campaign on any specific policy issues. Lyons and Hamilton said they are both optimistic about the future of GUCR and the creation of a positive and accepting environment to further intellectual diversity on campus.

“Every person has a story. And every person has a million reasons why,” Hamilton said. “Something I was told in one of my classes here is that in order to have a truly fruitful discussion with someone, always assume the best intent.”

Richard schofield/the hoya

Elected on Nov. 28, Peter Hamilton (COL ’20), left, is the incoming vice president of Georgetown University College Republicans, and Jake Lyons (COL ’20) is the incoming president.

Richard schofield/the hoya

Maria Cornell (SFS ’20), the incoming chair of the Georgetown University College Democrats, takes the reins of one of Georgetown’s largest clubs this spring, replacing former chair Larry Huang (COL ’19).

Incoming GUCD Chair To Prioritize Inclusion Caroline Gardner Hoya Staff Writer

Members of Georgetown University College Democrats elected a new executive board for the spring semester last week, producing a team that plans to work toward increasing diversity within the club.

Maria Cornell (SFS ’20) is set to replace Larry Huang (COL ’19) when his term as chair ends Dec. 31. Both Cornell and Huang said they are proud of what the club accomplished this semester and that they are looking forward to seeing what the new board achieves.

“There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of ways to get involved,” Cornell said. “I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with.”

Cornell also hopes to do away with the application to the club and implement an interest form to create a more welcoming environment for prospective members.

“I hope to affirm the reputation that the Dems are a very accepting group on campus and bring in new voices,” Cornell said.

Cornell also plans to build coalitions with other oncampus groups to expand the goals of the club and to work with off-campus groups through canvassing, lobbying and partnering with College Democrats chapters at other Washington, D.C. schools.

Other newly elected members of the board include Anusha Agarwal (COL ’21) as the director of speakers; Rebecca Hollister (COL ’21) as the director of campaigning and off-campus affairs; Jenny Xu (COL ’21) as the vice

chair and director of advocacy; Logan Arkema (COL ’20) as the membership director; Alvaro Carrillo-Sanchez (COL ’21) as the director of alumni and advancement; and Mark Massa (COL ’20) as the treasurer.

In addition to making improvements within the club, the new board members said they would work to support Democrats on the national level, especially in the upcoming 2018 midterm elections.

“Campaigning within GUCD is particularly important to me because, while protests are a wonderful way to express opinions, having the right people in the legislature will eliminate panic and protests over bad policy,” Hollister said. “That is why it’s so important to not only vote, but to work to support candidates that will be representing students like us in the national arena.”

Huang said that he is excited to see what Cornell does in her new position as chair.

“Everyone who meets Maria always wants to spend more time with her because she is the best human being ever,” Huang said. “I spent 20 hours on this a week — it was my life, and it takes a special human being to keep me sane in all of that, and that was her. She will be great.”

The all-underclassmen, majority-female board is representative of the general membership of the club.

GUCD has benefitted from a surge in membership, with over 1,500 members on its email listserv, according to Cornell. Sixty-eight people applied to be involved in the leadership departments in

spring 2017, and 201 applied in the fall.

Arkema also said he plans on working to diversify the club to ref lect the nature of the Democratic Party.

“Membership of College Dems is not ref lective of the people who vote for Democrats, it’s not ref lective of Georgetown as a whole and it’s not ref lective of the issues we need to be advocating for,” Arkema said.

The club struggles to keep its members through the spring and hopes to add more spring events and initiatives to raise retention.

Cornell and Jake Lyons (COL ’20), the recently elected president of the Georgetown University College Republicans, said they will work to increase collaboration between the two groups.

“At the end of the day, we all want to find solutions to the issues our country faces,” Lyons said. “By listening to different ideas instead of shutting them down, we’re going to find common ground.”

Cornell said she wants to “foster a culture and conversation of respect between the two organizations and move forward together, and as a country more generally.”

“As young people, Democrats really rely on us to go out and canvass, to call our representatives, to go out and volunteer and make sure our platforms are being heard throughout our community,” Cornell said. “We need to use our position as the future of the Democratic Party to start seeing the changes that we want to see in the current Democratic Party.”

DC Police Misusing Body Cameras, Report Finds Georgia Payne Hoya Staff Writer

The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department faces controversy after the release of the Office of Police Complaints’ annual report, which stated that officers misused body=worn cameras in 34 percent of OPC-investigated cases a year after the implementation of the BodyWorn Camera Program.

MPD policy asserts that officers are required to turn on their body-worn cameras whenever they are dispatched to a crime scene or engage with a member of the public in any way. Using the cameras makes it easier to investigate police misconduct reported to the OPC by allowing investigators to look at camera footage and determine the relevance of complaints and allegations against officers.

The OPC investigated 773 cases.

Use of the cameras benefits both civilians and the MPD by increasing accountability, transparency and trust between the two parties, according to MPD. The MPD and OPC piloted the BWC program in 2014.

Cameras were incrementally distributed over the next two years, and on Dec. 15, 2016,

the BWC program officially deployed 2,800 cameras to all uniformed officers for use.

In an email to The Hoya, Dustin Sternbeck, director of the MPD’s Office of Communications, said the OPC report of misuse was misleading.

Some categories of misuse cited in the OPC report, such as not informing a subject that they were being recorded, were “technically not a violation of policy, as officers are only required to provide that notice when practicable,” Sternbeck wrote.

Sternbeck said the OPC report of alleged BWC misuse is an inaccurate reflection of the MPD’s actions.

“MPD takes the failure to activate a camera very seriously, and we have worked with our officers who have readily accepted this technology to ensure that the cameras are activated when necessary,” Sternbeck said.

According to the 2017 OPC report, the overall effect of the BWC program on the efficacy of police complaint investigations has been positive. The cameras provide live footage and visible evidence, which help clarify the circumstances around arrests, reduce investigation times and allow the OPC to identify practices that will allow the police depart-

ment to improve.

Besides prosecutors assigned to specific cases, who have unrestricted access to all BWC footage, only parties involved with a certain case can view and use BWC footage. In their first six months of full deployment, footage from the cameras was used a total of 1,394 times in police complaint investigations: 857 times for internal affairs investigations and 537 for investigations by the public against officers.

“Having direct and immediate access to BWC footage has made our agency one of the leaders in the nation among oversight entities,” the OPC report read.

However, the OPC annual report found that just 63 percent of cases had useful BWC footage for the police complaint investigations.

“MPD can improve its BWC usage to better adhere to departmental guidelines,” the report read.

The OPC report cited multiple situations that would result in misuse of the body cameras, including turning the camera on late, turning the camera off too early, not turning the camera on at all, not notifying the subject that they were being recorded and obstructing the camera.

Richard Schofield/The HOYA

The Office of Police Complaints’ 2017 Annual Report found Metropolitan Police Officers have misused body cameras in 34 percent of investigated cases in the year since the implementation of the program.

news

friday, December 8, 2017

THE HOYA

A9

City Tears Down Foggy Bottom Homeless Encampment Stefan Broekhuizen Special to The Hoya

The dismantling of a homeless encampment in Foggy Bottom on Nov. 2 by Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is drawing concern over the issue of the District’s response to homelessness The encampment, located on E Street between 20th and 21st streets, contained around a dozen tents, all inhabited by persons experiencing homelessness, before it was dismantled.

The MPD’s actions were a part of District wide, regularly scheduled “cleanup,” according to a notice on a nearby streetlight.

Twice a week, the Department of Health and Human Services coordinates efforts to clear encampments across the District as part of Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser’s comprehensive plans to combat the problem of homelessness in the city, The Washington Post reported Nov. 27.

For those living in the encampment, the action was worrying, according to Mark, a homeless veteran who had been living in the encampment with his brother Tom. Both declined to give their last names.

“They called it a cleanup, but it wasn’t a cleanup. They didn’t clean anything up,” Mark said.

The notice also stated that police would claim and temporarily store “personal belongings, in plain sight, considered to be of obvious value,” including “significant personal documents.”

But Mark and Tom said their belongings were thrown into a dump truck.

“I lost my birth certificate, my social security [card],” Tom said.

Jay Melder, chief of staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, said that HHS protocol prohibits disposal of personal property when the owners are present and willing to comply in an interview with The Hoya.

Melder also said residents of these encampments can place their belongings in storage, free of charge. The city’s protocol requires two weeks notice before conducting encampment cleanups.

“We go and post signs at least 14 days prior to when we would be going to clean the area, and then we do outreach personto-person throughout those two weeks period to make sure people know that there is an encampment protocol coming on such-and-such date, but also to engage in health and services,” Melder said. “But our outreach is at encampments all of the time, not just when we’re preparing for a cleanup.”

The need for cleanups at encampments highlights the quality of homeless shelters in the District, according to those who reside there. Mark said that he and his brother Tom feel unwelcome at homeless shelters in the city, causing them to prefer sleeping outside in a tent.

“Have you been to a shelter?”

Mark asked. “Well, they don’t treat you nice.”

The cleanup draws much attention to the city’s recent efforts to reduce homelessness in the District. Homelessness has traditionally been a major problem in the District, and Bowser has made its reduction one of her primary objectives.

To this end, Bowser launched Homeward D.C., a five-year strategic plan to end homelessness in the District, in 2015. On Nov. 20, Bowser announced Home for the Holidays, a “city-wide effort to place 400 of the District’s most vulnerable households in permanent housing during the holiday season,” according to a Nov. 19 press release.

Bowser’s programs have met some early success. According to the 2017 Point-in-Time Count, which records how many people are experiencing homelessness in the District, there was a 10.5 percent decrease in the number of D.C. residents experiencing home-

lessness since the 2016 PIT Count.

“It’s just a continual process to keep our foot on the gas and make sure that people who need help get it, and get it quickly, and are back into a home of their own as soon as they can,” Melder said.

According to Melder, improving existing shelters is a priority for the city.

“Every day we strive to make sure that our low-barrier shelter systems are safe, that they’re clean, that they’re accommodating, that people can go and get a nourishing meal, and social service help, and take a shower, and be in a space that’s their own, and be out of the elements, which is really important,” Melder said.

Mark and Tom’s lack of permanent housing also draws attention to the inefficiency of existing programs to help the homeless. Mark and Tom said they signed up for a rapid rehousing program in May and have not yet received any help.

“It seems like everyone just keeps coming around and just getting all our information and signing us up, but nothing happens,” Tom said.

However, despite these growing pains, the city’s rehousing programs, a HHS program that works with local nonprofits to place homeless in long-term residences, has been successful in permanently placing individuals in housing.

“It has been successful in that, according to our data, 85 percent of the people who exit rapid rehousing — meaning they’re no longer in the program — 85 percent don’t return back into the homeless shelter system,” Melder said.

Mark, Tom and some of the other residents who had been living at the encampment returned shortly after the cleanup.

“All they do is come and take you to the sidewalk, and when they leave, you come back.

That’s pretty much the whole routine,” Mark said.

After 2 Months, No Suspect In Anti-Semitic Vandalism sarah mendelsohn Hoya Staff Writer

Department of Homeland Security

Kristjen Nielsen (SFS ’94), left, was sworn in as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday following a 62-37 vote to confirm by the U.S. Senate the same day.

SFS Alumna Confirmed as Homeland Security Secretary sarah mendelsohn Hoya Staff Writer

The U.S. Senate confirmed Georgetown alumna Kirstjen Nielsen (SFS ’94) as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in a 62-37 vote Tuesday.

Nielsen is set to fill the vacancy left by former DHS Secretary John Kelly, who left the department in July to serve as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. Nielsen, who served as Kelly’s chief of staff at the DHS, replaces the acting secretary, Elaine Duke, who has led the DHS since Kelly left.

A Florida native, Nielsen attended the University of Virginia School of Law after graduating from Georgetown.

The DHS, founded in 2002 and currently the third-largest government agency with around 230,000 employees, deals with national security concerns like immigration enforcement, transportation security, disaster response and managing the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Nielsen, a cybersecurity expert, said she views cybersecurity as the most important issue that the DHS will address under her leadership.

“It is my greatest honor to serve as Secretary along-

side the remarkable men and women of DHS,” Nielsen wrote in a Dec. 6 news release.

“Our nation faces a complex threat landscape that is constantly evolving. I will do my utmost to ensure that the Department meets the threats of today and tomorrow, and to ensure our frontline personnel have the tools and resources to accomplish their vital missions.”

Nielsen will be the first DHS secretary with experience working in the agency, which Trump said will assist her as she assumes leadership.

DHS is the youngest federal cabinet agency, created in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Previous secretaries have served as governors and federal counsels before leading the department “There will be no on-thejob training for Kirstjen. She is ready on day one,” Trump said in a news conference Oct. 12.

Nielsen is a “no-nonsense player and a policy wonk,” though her “regimented style” has frustrated some senior White House officials accustomed to a freewheeling environment, according to a New York Times story Oct. 11.

Nielsen faced challenges from Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Com-

mittee who said she lacked experience leading a large agency.

Sens. Maggie Hassan (DN.H.) and Kamala Harris (DCalif.) voted against Nielsen, voicing their concerns about her independence from the White House.

“Throughout her confirmation process, Ms. Nielsen failed to demonstrate that she would provide the steady experienced leadership — free from political interference from the White House — that the department needs,” Hassan said.

Nielsen received endorsements from Kelly and former DHS secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, who served under former President George W. Bush.

In his opening statement at a hearing for Nielsen on Nov. 8, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) said Nielsen’s experience in the DHS and time working with Kelly equip her well to lead the agency.

“Fortunately, when Ms. Nielsen served under Secretary Kelly, she witnessed firsthand how quickly and dramatically morale can be improved within DHS by providing its workforce the authority and support they need to perform the tasks they were hired to do,” Johnson said.

More than two months after a string of anti-Semitic vandalism incidents in two residence halls shook campus, the Georgetown University Police Department has not identified a suspect.

Swastikas were found painted in an LXR Hall elevator and bathroom on at least three occasions in September after a swastika was carved into an elevator of Village C West. GUPD increased security and installed cameras around LXR in response to the vandalism.

GUPD Police Chief Jay Gruber said campus police has conducted extensive investigations and interviews to identify the person responsible, but the investigation is still ongoing.

Jessica Keller (COL ’20), president of J Street U Georgetown, a pro-Israel campus group, said that the administration should have taken stronger action against the anti-Semitic sentiment on campus.

“The administration should do more to forcibly condemn the incidences of anti-Semitism that continue to plague our campus. It appears that actions of anti-Semitism and misogyny have only been bolstered by the inability of our society to condemn this hateful rhetoric, and I believe that more must be done, both by the administration and by other student organizations, to combat this threat,” Keller wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Rev. Mark Bosco, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry, and Todd Olson, vice president for student affairs, sent a campuswide email in response to the swastikas found carved in VCW, and University President John J. DeGioia sent another campuswide email in response to the swastikas found painted in LXR. The emails condemned the

acts of vandalism and promised those responsible would be held accountable for their actions.

Keller said although the university could do more, she appreciates its responses to the acts of vandalism.

“The administration’s efforts to vocalize their condemnation of anti-Semitism and efforts to stand alongside the Jewish community (i.e. attending Shabbat services in solidarity) went a long way in reassuring our Jewish student community that their safety and sense of community on campus are university priorities,” Keller wrote.

Tanner Larkin (SFS ’20), vice president of the Georgetown Israel Alliance, said the university addressed the anti-Semitic vandalism well but should have continued its campuswide updates to maintain Georgetown’s awareness of anti-Semitism on campus. The university initially sent campuswide announcements after each incident but stopped in September after incidents accelerated, apparently in response to widespread attention.

“Once students, faculty, and alumni stopped hearing about the swastikas, they wrongly assumed they had stopped appearing,” Larkin wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Larkin said the swastikas drawn in dorms reflect a larger problem with anti-Semitism on campus.

“It is important that people recognize that anti-Semitism is a bigger problem than just some graffiti. Swastikas are only the most glaring kind of anti-Semitism at Georgetown,” Larkin said.

Hasaan Munim (SFS ’18), president of the Georgetown University Muslim Students Association, said the Muslim community stood in solidarity with Jewish students at Georgetown and strove to provide support by

attending Shabbat services and co-hosting interfaith dialogues.

“The immediate reaction was to look for ways to support members of the Georgetown community who are Jewish,” Munim said.

Georgetown University Student Association Press Secretary Aaron Bennett (COL ’19) said that GUSA condemns acts of hate such as the anti-Semitic vandalism and continues to support Jewish students at Georgetown.

“GUSA holds firm that hate is not welcome at Georgetown, and we stand in solidarity with members of our Jewish community, as well as all other communities on our campus affected by these incidents,” Bennett wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Since the first swastikas appeared in VCW and LXR, many groups at Georgetown have organized events to raise awareness about anti-Semitism on campus and provide spaces for conversations about diversity and inclusion on campus. GUSA partnered with the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action to organize a lunch event called “Fostering and Promoting Interreligious Dialogue” on Nov. 2, according to Bennett.

GUSA, J Street U, the Jewish Student Association and other Jewish student groups on campus organized a “What’s a Hoya” event to discuss anti-Semitism at Georgetown. JSA President Claire Goldberg (COL ’19) said the group intends to continue spreading awareness about antiSemitism at Georgetown.

Nash Hale (COL ’20), a resident of LXR, said many people in the dorm have moved on from the anti-Semitic vandalism.

“At this point, it’s been a few months since the last swastika.

Everyone has moved on and put those events in the past,” Hale wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Ali Enright For The Hoya

Students are calling for stronger condemnation of anti-Semitism by university administrators in the wake of the incidents of vandalism this fall that the Georgetown University Police Department is continuing to investigate.

A10

sports

THE HOYA

friday, December 8, 2017

Men's TRack & field

Hoyas Begin Winter Season With Flurry of Top-5 Finishes Drew Sewall Hoya Staff Writer

Following intense training throughout the fall, Director of Track and Field Julie Culley said the Hoyas were eager to start the season on a high note. On Dec. 2, the Georgetown men’s track and field team suceeded, beginning its indoor season at the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Md., with four victories, including three individual events and a relay.

“This early season meet, we don't really look at times as much. It’s just good for a lot of the guys to get back out there and really compete so it’s good to see them. The times really are irrelevant.

The wins are kind of what matters and just [that they] really get out there and race again,” Culley said.

Georgetown had several individual successes in Annapolis. Junior Spencer Brown won the 800-meter run by over two seconds with a time of 1:54.23.

“Spencer had a little interruption of injury during the cross-country season. So [we got] to see him back at full strength and really just run for the win,” Culley said.

The Hoyas had three runners place in the top four in the 1500m run. Freshman Rey

Rivera finished fourth, while sophomore Joshua Bell finished second. However, it was senior Charles Cooper who took home the first place honor with a time of 3:48.97, edging out Bell by 0.35 seconds.

“It was great to see some of the younger guys, a bunch of freshmen, get to race for the Blue and Gray for the first time.”

Julie Culley Director of Track and Field

“Getting to see Charles run the 1500 was great, and Joshua did a lot of the work to push the pace in the 1500 after ‘the rabbit,’ Amos Bartelsmeyer, dropped out so it was fun to see those guys,” Culley said.

In the 3000m run, the Hoyas had another notable performance with two runners placing in the top three of the event. Freshman Ty Brownlow finished third and sophomore Eion Nohilly finished in first with a time of 8:30.40. Nohilly blew away the competition, winning the

GM'S Corner

race by over three seconds.

In the 4x400m relay, the quartet of Rivera, freshman Lawrence Leake, sophomore Quincey Wilson, and freshman Nate Alleyne claimed first place in the event with a time of 3:17.37. Despite trailing heading into the final leg, Alleyne anchored the team well and was able to lead the Hoyas to a win.

The Hoyas’ victory at the event marked the second consecutive year that Georgetown has come away with the win at the Navy Invitational.

“It was really cool that [Alleyne] was able to take over the lead in the final leg of the 4x400 and end up getting the win for the team. Great way to cap off the meet,” Culley said.

Overall, the 4x400m relay capped off a successful meet for the Hoyas in which they won four events and had eight marks among the top three.

“It was great to see some of the younger guys, a bunch of freshmen, get to race for the Blue and Gray for the first time. [It’s] always a good thing [to] get the nerves and jitters out and see how well their fall training went, so overall I think we were really really pleased,” Culley said.

With finals and the holiday

Sean Haggerty

Ryan McCoy is a senior in the School of Foreign Service. This is the final installment of GM’s Corner.

break coming up, this period is crucial for the Georgetown track and field season.

“They have to keep their foot on the gas now, which is hard because of finals and obviously the holidays. But that first meet you see who

worked really hard over break and was able to string together some good training. Consistency is really key for us right now, and making sure everybody is doing their job and comes back ready to get the new year and new season

really rolling,” Culley said.

Following the Navy Invitational, the Hoyas have a long layoff for the holidays before their next meet, the Nittany Lion Challenge in State College, Pa., which takes place after the new year.

Sailing Shines as GU's Best Program

Piston’s Improved Play Here to Stay W J Additionally, Drummond has demonstrated impressive defensive progress this season.

Drummond is gobbling up 35.3 percent of defensive rebounds while on the floor according to Basketball-Reference, ending opponents’ possessions without allowing them a second chance.

At the rim, Drummond accounts for 59.2 percent of the Pistons’ total blocks, but he has also shown more discipline when contesting shots. Instead of swatting at balls he has no chance of denying, Drummond has been more selective in his block attempts, leaving him in a better position to box out, rebound and defend possible second-chance shots.

Perhaps most importantly, Drummond has drastically improved his perimeter defense, moving farther away from the hoop and showcasing remarkable lateral agility for a player of his size. His newfound defensive abilities help keep opposing ballhandlers out of the lane and are essential skills in today’s NBA, where switching off your defender is the go-to strategy for defending screen actions.

To be clear, not all of the Pistons’ success this year is directly attributable to Drummond.

Point guard Reggie Jackson is back and healthy, bringing more competent ball handling and impressive pick-and-roll chemistry with Drummond back to Detroit’s offense. Small forward Tobias Harris has had a breakout year, shooting an astonishing 46.4 percent from three-point range, as compared to his 34.7 percent career rate.

Shooting guard Avery Bradley was brought in to replace the departed Kentavious CaldwellPope as well, bringing an elite perimeter defender and deadly shooter into the mix.

However, Drummond is the definitive centerpiece for the Pistons. Detroit goes as Drummond goes, and the Pistons’ intense defensive scheme and multifaceted attack are all based on his core competencies. His continued progress in those areas, as well as a dramatic uptick in his free throw percentage, have made Drummond one of the most dominant and valuable players in the NBA this season.

If the Pistons are to continue defying expectations and stay near the top of the Eastern Conference, rest assured that Drummond will be at the center of it all.

Junior middle distance runner Spencer Brown won the 800-meter run by over two seconds with a time of 1:54.23, one of three individual victories for the Hoyas at the Navy Invitational.

commentary

Ryan McCoy

ust past the quarter-season mark, the NBA has proven to be full of surprises. Some early trends have already begun to revert back to the norm, from the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers sluggishly starting 5-7 to the perennially maligned Orlando Magic storming out of the gates with a 6-2 record.

Cleveland has since embarked on a 12-game winning streak, while Orlando has dropped nine games in a row. The teams are now positioned more along the lines of last season, with initial dips and spikes in performance starting to flatten out as the season drags on.

However, not all early season revelations have petered out. In particular, the Detroit Pistons have continued to defy expectations. The Pistons currently have a 14-9 record and sit at No. 4 in the Eastern Conference, showing significant progress from their No. 8 finish last season.

Much of this improvement can be traced to the development of franchise cornerstone Andre Drummond, whose progression in several key areas has propelled the Pistons to new levels of success.

The first, most noticeable improvement in Drummond’s game this season has been his free throw shooting. With a vertical jump measured at 38 inches, the 7-foot-tall Drummond is one of the most talented rebounders the NBA has seen in years. Naturally, his ability to grab boards has put the former University of Connecticut center at the free throw line frequently.

In fact, Drummond attempts nearly five free throws per game, one of the top 30 figures in the league this season. After an offseason of intense and committed training, Drummond has managed to significantly improve his free throw percentage; he is now making 64 percent of his shots at the line, compared to 38.6 percent last season and 39.6 percent over the course of his career.

Drummond’s increased free throw percentage has not led to a major change in his scoring numbers, but Drummond is much more threatening for opposing defenders — simply sending him to the free throw line is no longer a viable means of defending against Drummond.

As an added bonus, Drummond is no longer a liability later in games, when “Hack-a-Shaq” strategies would undermine his value to the team down the stretch.

GUHOYAS

ith another impressive season under its belt, Georgetown sailing continues to prove itself as one of the best athletic programs on the Hilltop. As a team that featured four AllAmerican members last season, a No. 1 national ranking this season and a U.S. Sailing Team member in junior Haddon Hughes, Georgetown sailing does not face the question of whether it is the best athletic team in the school, but of whether it is the best in the country.

The ceiling seems limitless for Georgetown sailing

going into the spring, as the team regains its two best sailors who were abroad this semester, juniors Rebecca Fung and Campbell D'Eliscu.

As the Hoyas seek a national championship, they will ride on the successes of both their returning, seasoned AllAmericans, including senior Meaghan MacRae, and younger sailors such as freshman Carly Broussard. If the winds are right, the freshmen and sophomores step up and the seniors lead the way, the Blue and Gray is primed for a title run in the spring.

Sailing is currently the only Georgetown team to achieve a No. 1 ranking earlier this fall.

The team also had to maintain this top spot as it raced over three times every week, consistently putting its ranking to the test. The team travelled from Charleston to Florida to Boston to New York, fighting against many of the best sailing teams in the country be-

fore falling to the No. 4 spot by season’s end.

Georgetown recorded seven total first-place finishes as a team this season, with individual first-place finishes by Hughes and senior Lola Bushnell.

Although the fall season did not end how Head Coach Mike Callahan imagined, with no top-five finishes at the Atlantic Coast Championships, the return of upperclassmen and warmer winds in the spring bring hope for greater success. Unlike many northeastern schools such as Yale and Brown, the Hoyas tend to sail much better in warmer weather and in higher winds, ultimately giving the Blue and Gray an edge over its opponents in the spring.

Georgetown will also continue to enjoy the leadership of Callahan, who has coached in this spotlight before. Coming off a run for a national championship last spring,

Callahan has the coaching skills and leadership necessary for another title push. As a former Team USA sailor, he has the experience to lead the Hoyas to another trophy.

No other team on campus is as consistent as Georgetown sailing. During the team’s dominant streak in recent years as a perennial top-five ranked squad, the team has maintained a strong recruiting class, prominent upperclassmen sailors and continued victories, setting up a bright future for the Hoyas.

Although the team sails on the windy tides of the Potomac, Georgetown sailing has continued to succeed as the best program on the Hilltop.

Loosen the ropes and set sail with the new pride of Georgetown athletics — your 2017 Hoya sailors. sean haggerty is a freshman in

the College.

women's track & field

6 Total Wins Highlight Winter Opener Madeline Cusick Special to the Hoya

GUHOYAS

Junior sprinter Jody-Ann Knight set a facility record at the Navy Lid Lifter in the 800-meter dash with a time of 55.83 seconds.

The Georgetown women’s track and field team started the season off strong in its first indoor meet of the season at the Navy Lid Lifter in Annapolis, Md. The Hoyas won six individual events, including 400-meter facility record by senior Jody-Ann Knight.

Director of Track and Field Julie Culley praised the team’s overall performance at the season opener.

“It was great to see our sprinters, hurdlers and middle-distance athletes open tonight after a full fall of training,” Culley said in an interview with GUHoyas.

The highlight of the meet was Knight’s record-setting win in the 400m race with a time of 55.83 seconds, which also marked a new personal record for the senior.

Culley expressed optimism for upcoming competition in response to this race. “[Knight] opened her season with a lifetime best, breaking the Naval Academy Field House record,” Culley said. “It was an exciting way to kick-start the season and we look forward to resuming in January.”

In addition to the victory in the 400m race, the Hoyas found success in the sprints. With a time of 24.91 seconds, graduate student Taylor Williams scored a victory for the team in the 200m race.

Georgetown’s middle distance runners also found success in Annapolis. Freshman Olivia Arizin won the 1000m race with a time of 2:55.64 in her debut track meet for Georgetown.

The Hoyas dominated the onemile race, as every top finisher in the race ran cross-country

this fall. In this event, Georgetown swept four out of the top five spots. Senior Piper Donaghu took first with a time of 4:48.98, while teammate and graduate student Meredith Rizzo followed right behind in 4:49.40. Senior Josette Norris followed next at 4:53.63 and sophomore Margie Cullen earned fifth with a time of 4:59.90.

The 4x800m relay team — featuring Rizzo, Norris, sophomore Kate Gobi and sophomore Morgan Irish — secured a collective victory with a time of 9:21.67, marking the second win of the competition for Rizzo and Norris.

Gobi also placed third as an individual in the 800m race in 2:16.16, making her the only Hoya in the event to break into the top five.

The 3000m race also demonstrated an impressive return of competitors from cross country with first and second place finishes by Georgetown. Senior Autumn Eastman took first with a time of 9:43.99 and senior Madeline Perez placed second less than three seconds later in 9:46.52.

Culley noted the impressive nature of freshman Malika Houston’s fourth place finish in the 60m hurdles.

“In her first ever race for Georgetown, she ran 8.80 in the 60m hurdles, ranking fourth on the Hoyas’ all-time list,” Culley said.

Houston’s time also set a new personal record for the freshman.

Following this meet, Georgetown’s season will pause until next year. The Hoyas return to competition Saturday, Jan. 13 when the season resumes at the Nittany Lion Challenge.

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Corboz Sisters Create Lasting Legacy CORBOZ, from A12

AISHA MALHAS FOR THE HOYA

Junior forward Kaleb Johnson tallied 18 points against Howard on Thursday night, as the Hoyas defeated the Bison 81-67.

Govan, Johnson Fuel GU Past Howard paint first before we took those threes. We have to do a better job of that.”

Govan made his presence felt throughout the contest, recording his fourth double-double this season. The big man finished with 26 points, shooting 7-of-12 and a career-high 16 rebounds.

Govan’s 12.2 rebounds per game ranks first in the Big East and fifth nationally.

“I’m just trying to go hard,” Govan said. “Coach Ewing has been harping on me since day one just to go hard and play every possession like it’s my last, and every possession will take care of itself, and the rebounds just come.”

“He got 16 rebounds? He should have had 20,” Ewing said.

Coppin State’s transition defense also proved problematic for Georgetown. All five Eagles scampered back in transition after almost every shot attempt to prevent Georgetown from scoring easy points on the break. Senior guard Jonathan Mulmore continued to push the pace in Ewing’s new uptempo offense, but the Hoyas still finished with only 12 fast-break points .

Ewing continues to mix and match his guards to see which lineups can be most effective. Graduate guard Trey Dickerson, who returned against the Eagles from injury, has seen an overall increase in minutes playing alongside sophomore guard Jagan Mosely and freshman guard Jahvon Blair.

Ewing recognizes the importance of guards in his new offensive scheme.

“Trey did a better job tonight.

He did a better job of running the team and was able to get into the paint and get a few three-point plays, so he did a much better job tonight than he did in the past. I’m not sure what lineup you’re going

to see. It’s going to be all predicated on who’s playing well at that time,” Ewing said.

Mosely also reiterated the importance of playing on the same page as the rest of team’s backcourt.

“We’ve been working since the summer just building chemistry, so I’m kind of used to those guys now,” Mosely said.

However, when Coppin State went into a press late in the game, Georgetown struggled to adapt.

“We’ve been working on press breaks, but we’ve been working more on 2-2-1 formations and that was more of a trapping press,” Mosely said. “We’re just working to get better towards conference play, so we just got to work harder in practice.”

On Thursday night, Georgetown hosted crosstown rival Howard University (1-9) and behind 24 points from Govan, the Hoyas defeated the Bison 81-67.

The win marked the seventh straight victory for the Hoyas under their new head coach.

Georgetown led throughout the contest, but Howard cut the lead to five with four minutes left in the game before Georgetown closed the game on an 11-2 run.

“We should have put them away when we went up 20,” Ewing said.

Govan recorded his fifth doubledouble of the season in the contest by pulling down 16 rebounds for a second straight game.

Junior forward Kaleb Johnson also added 18 points on 6-for-6 shooting from the field.

“Kaleb did some big things in the second half, which helped us win,” Ewing said.

On Saturday, Georgetown takes on another Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent in North Carolina A&T (5-3) at Capital One Arena. Tipoff is set for 2:30 pm, and the game will be televised by Fox Sports 2.

appearances and accumulated 134 points over her four-year career.

Her 47 career goals still stand as the most goals in program history.

Luckily for Nolan, there was an equally talented Corboz beginning her recruiting process in 2013 during Daphne Corboz’s junior season on the Hilltop: her younger sister, Rachel Corboz.

“I had to go and basically recruit her all over. You would think the sister would help me out, but she wanted Rachel to make her own decision,” Nolan said. “We got her down for a visit because she would come to a lot of our games. She saw and liked how we played soccer.

Some kids want to blaze their own trail; they don’t want to be in their sister’s shadow or their brother’s shadow, but I honestly think that the one thing that helped us a lot was that the two girls went to different high schools.”

For Rachel Corboz, the decision came down to Georgetown or Rutgers, where her former club soccer coach was the head coach. In the end, she could not resist the chance to play on the same team as her sister, an opportunity she never had in high school. In fact, her older sister’s high school team defeated hers in the county finals when she was a freshman.

“A big part of why I came here was because Daph was here. I’ve been coming here to Georgetown in the fall since Daphne was a freshman here, so I kind of knew a lot about the school, about soccer, about Dave, so it was kind of an easy decision for me,” Rachel Corboz said. “Looking back, it might have been tough back then, but I couldn’t be happier that I ended up here.”

Playing together for a year was everything the sisters could have wanted. As a team, Georgetown only made it to the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, falling in overtime to Virginia Tech 4-3, after upsetting third-seeded West Virginia in penalty kicks in the first round. But talk to both sisters and you can tell that the season, though short-lived by program standards, was special because of the experiences they shared together.

“The first time Rachel assisted one of my goals, I remember being so happy that I directly went to celebrate with her, and I kissed her,” Daphne Corboz said. “She was not happy with me. For me, it was such a special moment that our bond created a goal.”

It was not always smooth sailing, for the two of them or for Nolan, who had to manage Daphne Corboz’s fiery personality with her more soft-spoken sister.

“Daphne’s far more vocal. Daphne would be more likely to have words with somebody if she felt something wasn’t being done to her liking,” Nolan said. “She was

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far more likely to confront somebody. Rachel’s a little softer. Rachel would be more likely to lead by example, but she also would talk to people, but in a nonthreatening manner. Daphne was a little bit short with people. Daphne intimidated people. I don’t think Rachel intimidated people, but I think both of them led by example and both of them were well-respected.”

In a game against Seton Hall in 2014, Daphne Corboz lashed out at her younger sister, and Nolan had to calm down the elder Corboz, who was known for being hard on her sister.

“Daphne made a play, didn’t work out, and she turns, and she yells at Rachel, basically a ‘What are you doing?’ type of thing, and it was right in front of the bench, and her mom and dad were also in the crowd,” Nolan said. “So, after the game, I pulled her over and said, ‘You can’t do that. You wouldn’t have done that to one of the regular freshmen, so you can’t do it to your sister.’ And she’s like, ‘She made a bad play.’ And I said, ‘She didn’t.’ And I brought her in, and we watched the video, and Rachel didn’t do anything wrong.

Daphne just got frustrated and she lost the ball.”

“I think Dave and Rachel would both agree that I may have taken it too far at times,” Daphne Corboz said. “But for me, I was pushing for the best for the team and for Rachel. Off the field, Rachel is my best friend — I love and miss her so much.”

Nolan knew that the tough love came from a good place.

“Daphne was Rachel’s biggest fan, and I think Rachel just adores her older sister, because she saw all the great things and the great career her older sister had,” Nolan said. “Daphne would work so hard, so Rachel would work hard too.

She kind of had that person that she could always see, not necessarily as role model, but she looked up to how hard Daphne worked.”

As the season progressed, Nolan saw Rachel Corboz settle in with the team and begin to assert herself more as she prepared for her sister to graduate after their lone season together.

“I’m sure she probably felt, at times, that Daphne was being a little bit hard. But by the end of her freshman year, Rachel was giving it back to her, which I was ecstatic to see. That was good, and I think it was part of the maturation process for her as a player, but also as a person,” Nolan said. “I think them playing together for one year was great. I think that if they had to play for two years they may have killed each other. So one year was probably just perfect.”

Rachel Corboz said that she appreciated the benefits of having an older sibling as a guide on the soccer team during her freshman year.

“It was so nice coming in — obvi-

ously I was a scared little freshman, but having an older sister on the team that’s a senior and a captain there was really, really helpful,” Rachel said. “There were times that obviously she would get on me a bit, but I think it was necessary and helpful, so I’m not angry about that.”

As Rachel Corboz has grown into a team leader, Georgetown women’s soccer has reached new heights, winning the Big East Championship in the last two seasons and advancing to the College Cup in 2016, bowing out to eventual national champion University of Southern California in the semifinals. This fall, the team made the NCAA Tournament again, but lost to Wake Forest in penalty kicks in the second round.

“It’s truly been amazing to see the progression of the Georgetown soccer program, and for Rachel to be a big part of that makes me very proud. Selfishly, the program’s current success is a positive reflection on the alums,” Daphne Corboz said.

For Nolan now, the task at hand is finding the next great Georgetown women’s soccer player. He may be able to replace the sisters’ on-field talent eventually, but he knows that it will be tough to find someone as special, both on and off the field, again.

“You miss them on the field, but you miss them off the field.

They’re really good kids, and they’re a lot of fun to be around,” Nolan said. “They’re a coach’s

dream because they want to win, and they’re competitive. They put soccer very high in their priorities of the day. They’re just good kids to be around, a lot of fun, never giving you trouble off the field, and that seems to be where we are as a program right now.”

As Nolan looks to keep his program rolling, the Corboz sisters are transitioning to professional soccer.

Daphne Corboz is currently on loan from the National Women’s Soccer League’s Sky Blue FC with FC Fleury 91, a professional women’s soccer team competing in France’s First Division.

With Rachel Corboz’s college soccer career now over and graduation approaching in the spring, she is looking to follow in her older sister’s footsteps.

However, she is unsure whether she plans to play professionally in the United States or in Europe.

In the meantime, Nolan continues to hold out hope that there is another Corboz sister out there somewhere, looking to keep the Georgetown tradition going in the family. In fact, he has had a little fun with his Big East coaching peers, telling several this season that another Corboz sister, by the name of Penelope Corboz, will be suiting up for the Hoyas next season.

“It is funny. I’ve told a whole bunch of people there’s a Penelope,” Nolan said. “She’s the best of the bunch.”

COURTESY MIKE CAREY

Senior midfielder Rachel Corboz led the Hoyas with nine goals, 12 assists and 30 points this season. Corboz tallied 34 goals in her career.

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Clattenburg Cost Tottenham League Title SANTAMARIA, from A12

Both Chelsea and Tottenham received record fines — totaling more than $800,000 combined — from England’s governing soccer body after the game.

In his interview on Monday on the NBC Sports “Men in Blazers” podcast, Clattenburg said that he allowed the Spurs “to selfdestruct so all the media, all the people in the world went, ‘Tottenham lost the title.’”

“If I sent three players off from Tottenham, what are the headlines? ‘Clattenburg Cost Tottenham the title.’ It was pure theater that Tottenham self-destructed against Chelsea, and Leicester won the title,” Clattenburg said. “I helped the game. I certainly benefited the game by my style of refereeing.”

Clattenburg’s statement encapsulates many issues that

strike at the core of the referee’s dilemma. In today’s game, officials hold significant power.

A single red card, which sends off and bans a player for three games, can squash a team’s title chances in an instant.

At the same time, the red card serves as a punishment for violence to protect other players. The fact that Clattenburg did not send anyone off, especially when it was clear that Tottenham was consistently and consciously making dangerous tackles, is shocking given how many Chelsea players could have been injured.

Beyond that, Clattenburg admitted that he purposefully jeopardized the integrity of a title-deciding game to protect his own reputation, once more striking at the heart of the predicament.

Referees are important, and they make important decisions,

but they do not play the games.

If more referees like Clattenburg start to feel as though they are bigger than any one game, the sport will lose its quality of fairness and chance. The cynics will win. Every decision will face tidal waves of scrutiny.

Every major American sport has faced some sort of refereeing scandal, whether it be simply replacement officials in the NFL missing calls or Tim Donaghy betting on the games he was officiating. As soccer continues to grow and as the world continues to fight for the end of the massive corruption in FIFA, officiating is one aspect that should be given attention.

Yellow and red cards — both punishments that directly affect the number of players allowed on the field at any one time — have always been a part of match-fixing scandals, and

those come and go.

However, to come into a game with an agenda of self-preservation, as Clattenburg has, is far more insidious. Refereeing with an agenda not only threatens the health of every player on the pitch, but it also undermines the very integrity that officials are supposed to protect.

If Clattenburg’s interview reveals anything, it is that soccer has a refereeing problem that needs to be addressed. Many more referees could be quietly altering outcomes according to their whims. Now, we know a little more about soccer’s referee problem — all thanks to Clattenburg being foolish enough to open his mouth.

Vanessa Craige and Paolo Santamaria are seniors in the School of Foreign Service and the College, respectively. This is the final installment of Nothing but Net.

commentary

Nonconference Foes Will Not Test Hoyas SCHEDULE, from A12

will roll his newly branded Hoya team into Big East play oozing with confidence.

Competition against so many mid-major teams has aided player development early in the season, as with junior center Jessie Govan, for example. Govan is having a career year, averaging a team high of 19.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.0 block per game. Govan’s rebounding ranks fourth in the nation thus far this season. The Hoyas’ offense is at its best

when Govan gets the ball in the post and takes his shot, or works the double team with his vision and passing ability.

Junior guard/forward Kaleb Johnson has also embraced his increased role on offense this season. Johnson is averaging a career-high of 12.0 points, 4.17 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Johnson’s vocal leadership on and off the court has helped give newcomers, such as freshman guards Jamorko Pickett and Jahvon Blair, the confidence to look for their shot

and know who to pick up on defense.

The Hoyas’ easy non-conference schedule has also allowed Ewing more flexibility in his coaching strategy and line-up adjustments. He has auditioned line-ups featuring speed and skill — such as senior guard Jonathan Mulmore starting with Blair — as well as those showcasing the Hoyas’ length, athleticism and versatility, with Pickett starting instead of Blair.

Though Ewing’s decision to create a soft non-conference schedule has paid dividends

in many ways, there remains work to be done. The Hoyas have turned the ball over an average of 15.5 times per game this season compared to their opponents’ 12.8. Such sloppy play will certainly hurt the Hoyas when they face tougher opposition in Big East play. If Georgetown wants to continue this season’s success, they will have to improve before time runs out.

Dan Baldwin is a junior in the McDonough School of Business.

Sports

Men’s Basketball Georgetown (7-0) vs. North Carolina A&T (5-3) Saturday, 2:30 p.m.

Capital One Arena

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woMEn’s TRack & Field The Georgetown women’s track and field team notched six overall victories at the Navy Lid Lifter this Saturday.

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Coach Ewing has been harping on me since day one just to go hard and play every posession like my last.”

JUNIOR CENTER JESSIE GOVAN

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Dan Baldwin

Ewing’s Schedule Breeds Complacency

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t was a risk — there were always going to be critics and naysayers, but Head Coach Patrick Ewing (CAS ‘85) did not care.

When Ewing pulled the Georgetown men’s basketball team out of the inaugural Phil Knight Invitational, a 16-team tournament held in Portland, Ore., many professional analysts claimed that the Hoyas’ schedule was too nonchallenging. Still, Ewing tuned out this criticism and focused on his plan: teaching his Hoyas how to win.

The Hoyas started out the 2017-18 college basketball season squaring off against midmajor teams at home, with only one away game at Richmond. Ewing faced scrutiny from all sides: His decision would hurt the Hoyas’ resume for the NCAA Tournament, it would not prepare them for the more rigorous talent level of the Big East and, in the end, would keep attendance at home games down.

However, Ewing has not let this criticism rattle his faith in his judgement. He stressed that players on this team learned how to lose the past two seasons, but now they needed to

learn how to win, regardless of who the competition is.

Seven games into the season, the Hoyas are one of only nine undefeated squads left in the nation. They have received four votes to be recognized in the AP Top 25 ranking and are slowly gaining national intrigue. Pundits are asking themselves: Are the Hoyas actually this good?

While this soft nonconference schedule has resulted in an undefeated team thus far, Ewing’s squad is far from done. In order for the nonconference schedule to be a success, Georgetown must enter Big East play undefeated.

A loss to any remaining mid-major team would show that these Hoyas are not ready for primetime and are unable to consistently compete at a higher level. A loss to Syracuse University on Dec. 16 will prove that the Hoyas are good enough to take down mid-majors, but cannot hang with bigger programs. By taking down Syracuse, its historic rival, and taking care of business against the remaining mid-major teams, Ewing See SCHEDULE, A11

FILE PHOTO: Claire Soisson/The Hoya

Senior midfielder Rachel Corboz, left, and her sister Daphne Corboz (COL ’15) were both All-Americans during their four years playing for Georgetown women’s soccer. The sisters led the Hoyas to a combined six NCAA Tournaments, two Big East Championships and a Final Four in 2016.

Sisters Leave Mark on Hoya Soccer Aidan Curran Hoya Staff Writer

Years before he started coaching college soccer, Georgetown women’s soccer Head Coach Dave Nolan coached at the club level, starting out at the Players Development Academy in New Jersey and later moving on to a club team in Bethesda, Md. Even after he moved to Bethesda, Nolan would come back in the summers to work clinics for the PDA. It was at one of these clinics where Nolan noticed a talented young

player by the name of Daphne Corboz (COL ’15).

“I remember doing a clinic, and Daphne was only a little kid in the clinic, and she just had this mop of hair. If you’ve never seen it, she has this mop of curly hair,” Nolan said. “She must have been only 12 at the time, and you could see that she was a special player even at that age.”

Nolan was hired to take over Georgetown’s program in 2004, which gave him the opportunity to recruit the same 12-year-old he had seen at the clinic many years ago.

By then, Corboz had developed into one of the top soccer players in New Jersey, and Nolan saw a player who could eventually step into the shoes of Ingrid Wells, the two-time All-American Georgetown midfielder who graduated in 2011.

“Originally, to be honest, Daphne was all set to go to Princeton. She was a very smart kid — had her whole life kind of figured out even at an early age,” Nolan said. “I persuaded her to come down for a visit, and then when she came down for the visit, I think she

saw what Georgetown was and sensed what would be a better fit for all of the things she was looking for — soccer, academics, quality of life — so we were able to get her in.”

Corboz had an illustrious career at Georgetown from 2011 to 2014. After being taken under Wells’ wing as a freshman, she spread her wings and became the face of the program over the next three years. The three-time All-American midfielder made 80 starts in See CORBOZ, A11

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men’s basketball

Govan’s Double-Doubles Lift GU to 7-0 Start George Brennan And Matt Sachs Hoya Staff Writers

Kicking off December, Georgetown’s men’s basketball remained undefeated, beating the Coppin State Eagles 76-60. Georgetown’s victory over Coppin State marks the team’s sixth consecutive win against a team with a sub-.200 record for the 2017-18 season.

Coppin State’s (0-8) onslaught of pick-and-rolls and shots from deep made it difficult for Georgetown (7-0) to put away the Eagles until late in the second half. The Eagles’ first eight shots of the game were all from three-point range, where they finished the game 9-33.

Head Coach Patrick Ewing (CAS ’85) noted Coppin State’s aggressive outside shooting when discussing Georgetown’s game plan at the post-game press conference.

“They played small ball, and they took 33 threes and were able to hit a fair number of them,” Ewing said. “We tried to get the ball into [junior center] Jessie [Govan] and [junior forward] Marcus [Derrickson], and they tried to double them. They went to the trap late.

We turned the ball over when we shouldn’t have. It’s still a work in progress.”

Although the Hoyas led the entire game, the Eagles cut the lead to five points midway through the second half. Derrickson responded with a three-pointer that kickstarted an 11-2 run for the Hoyas.

Despite the victory, Ewing criticized his team’s inability to find a consistent offensive rhythm.

“We settled too much,” Ewing said. “I’m for guys taking the shots when we have them, but they had no one who could check [Derrickson] or [Govan], and I thought the ball should at least touch the See COPPIN STATE, A11

Vanessa Craige & Paolo Santamaria

Referees Must Be Held Accountable

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AISHA MALHAS for the hoya

Junior center Jessie Govan recorded 26 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in Georgetown’s 76-60 win over Coppin State this Sunday. Govan currently ranks fourth in the nation in rebounding.

Visit us online at thehoya.com/sports

inding order in chaos is difficult in any part of life, but it is particularly daunting to serve as the beacon of order in a sea of chaos, which describes the everyday life of a professional referee.

Refereeing professional sports requires immense knowledge, focus and acute decision-making abilities. Yet given a referee’s power to control the outcome of a game, the most important attribute a referee must possess is humility. A referee’s job is to ensure that players follow the rules and to hand out punishments or fouls accordingly; they are not the stars of the show.

This humility does not always exist among referees, and there is no better example of an egotistical referee than Mark Clattenburg, who, over the past week, shed light on his time as an English Premier League official from 2004 to 2017.

Clattenburg has routinely called himself the best referee in the world — already a red flag — and only stirred up more disaster in his most recent interviews about the 2016 contest.

In the 2015-16 season, Leicester City won the Pre-

mier League in arguably the greatest soccer story of our generation. However, the title was decided not through a Leicester victory but rather by a game between Chelsea F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur.

Humility does not always exist among referees, and there is no better example than Mark Clattenburg.

Tottenham was right on Leicester’s tail in the table and needed to maintain the pressure with a win against Chelsea. Any other result would cost Tottenham the title. Clattenburg was the referee for the game, which saw nine Tottenham players booked.

The game was physical from the start, culminating in an incident that saw Spurs midfielder Mousa Dembélé banned by the league for six games for violence against Chelsea forward Diego Costa.

See SANTAMARIA, A11