The Hoya: March 3, 2015

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 96, No. 38, © 2015

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015

BULLDOG BOUT

The men’s basketball team will face Butler with seeding for the Big East tournament on the line.

EDITORIAL Rhino’s closing reflects a worrisome retail takeover of M Street.

DIVERSITY CONFERENCE Shaquille O’Neal gave the keynote at the Diversity Dialogue Conference.

OPINION, A2

NEWS, A5

SPORTS, A10

SPIRIT OF GEORGETOWN

A Look to the Past

Then & Now COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

Army Specialist Training Cadets do schoolwork in their dorm room in January 1945.

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, PLANNING AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT FILE PHOTO: EUGENE ANG/THE HOYA

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

The Mulledy Hall Chapel, photographed in 1893, provided a space for Jesuit prayer.

Reviving History With New Academy

Upon renovation, the Former Jesuit Residence will fill with student life — once again Owen Eagan

Special to The Hoya

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

The Mulledy community dining room allowed Jesuits and students to gather for meals.

Ryan Hall in 1904, top, and this year.

As more than 35,000 Civil War soldiers fought at the Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861, the blasts from the cannons could be heard 30 miles away at the Former Jesuit Residence on Georgetown’s campus.

When the 69th and 79th regiments of the New York National Guard travelled south to D.C., many of the soldiers stayed in the collection of buildings. And when President Abraham Lincoln himself came to campus to inspect soldiers, he no doubt passed by the buildings.

The buildings making up the FJR survived the Civil War, multiple fires and a smallpox pandemic.

And now the FJR, built in 1830, is poised to

A Storied Past The FJR is composed of three separate buildings — Gervase Hall, Mulledy Hall and Ryan Hall, built between 1830 and 1904.

Mulledy Hall formerly housed a campus dining hall, the College Chapel, an auditorium capable of accommodating more than 1,000 people and a study hall.

During the Civil War, Gervase and Mulledy Halls witnessed some of the country’s most transformative moments. Following the battles of Second Bull Run and Antietam, Gervase and Mulledy Hall were transformed into a military hospital for injured soldiers.

From 1957 to 2003, Jesuits lived in Ryan Hall before moving to the newly built Jesuit

enter its next phase of existence as construction is completed on the space that will house the newly developed Spirit of Georgetown Residential Academy, which will function as a Living Learning Community.

More than 380 students applied last month to live in the residence, and tonight the 148 students selected to live in the LLC will choose their rooms in a housing lottery.

The FJR complex, set to open this August for the 2015 fall semester, has been a widely anticipated new addition to the campus, with numerous university offices, committees and organizations working together with outside contractors since 2013 to shepherd the project to its current stage. The project aims to embrace the history and mission of Georgetown, while also looking toward the university’s future.

See RESIDENCE, A7

Netanyahu Talk Divides Groups Kristen Fedor Hoya Staff Writer

FLICKR

High school students participate in a mock trial competition at D.C. Superior Court to practice legal skills as part of GULC’s Street Law Program.

Street Law Program Connects GULC, DC Sarah Smith Hoya Staff Writer

Over the past year, national discussion has highlighted the criminal justice system’s discrimination and disconnect from local communities.

Georgetown University Law Center’s D.C. Street Law Program has tried to bridge that gap for over 40 years, inserting law students into D.C. public and charter schools to introduce high school students to legal concepts.

Each week, Georgetown law students

teach high school students about the law, including the criminal justice system structure, the basic rights granted to people and the operation of trials and other processes within the system.

Having shaped the experience of Georgetown law students for decades, the program has evolved into a central aspect of the school.

“When you speak to alumni of GULC, no matter whether they are in private practice as associates or part-

Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., to speak to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday sparked a national debate about the politicization of Israel’s relationship with the United States and drew criticism from student organizations at Georgetown.

In his speech, which comes in advance of Israeli legislative elections March 17, Netanyahu will address the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, urging the United States to take a stronger position in the talks. Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (ROhio) invited Netanyahu to speak in an unprecedented move, as it is customary for the president to invite foreign leaders to make speeches before Congress.

Accordingly, Netanyahu’s visit

has been criticized for dragging Israel into U.S. partisan divides, particularly as the relationship between the United States and Israel has largely remained a bipartisan priority despite increased polarization in Congress.

“From a bipartisan perspec-

“I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these threats.”

Benjamin Netanyahu Israeli Prime Minister

tive, Israel is one of the few issues that has bipartisan support in Congress and by accepting a predominantly right-wing based offer — as an individual not representing Georgetown Israel Alliance, my greatest fear is turning

Israel into a partisan issue,” GIA President Harper Weissburg (SFS ’17) said.

President Barack Obama will not be attending the speech and has declined to meet with the prime minister during his visit.

Forty-one congressional Democrats and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are reportedly planning to boycott the speech because of the politicization of the meeting.

J Street, a national organization describing itself as “pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-peace,” published a full-page advertisement in The New York Times that called for Netanyahu’s speech to be postponed until after the Iranian negotiations and the Israeli elections, which will both occur in the middle of March. Molly Wartenberg (SFS ’16), co-president of Georgetown’s J Street U chapter, the student arm of J See CONGRESS, A7

FEATURED NEWS Disability Day of Mourning

NEWS Cambridge Scholars

Two alumni won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study at Cambridge.

A4

Opinion Commentary

A Teach for America corps member reflects on the state of education.

A3

A vigil on Capitol Hill honored people with disabilities murdered by their parents.

A5

Sports Defeated at Davidson

The baseball team dropped the doubleheader against Davidson last Sunday. thehoya.com

MULTIMEDIA Tour the New JesRes

Explore the work currently underway to convert the old Jesuit Residence into dorms. thehoya.com

See GULC, A6 Published Tuesdays and Fridays Published Tuesdays and Fridays

Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com

A2

OPINION

THE HOYA

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

THE VERDICT Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

Retail Killed the Rhino

Walking down M Street amid the designer retailers and high-end restaurants, it is often difficult to remember that Georgetown is and will always be a neighborhood.

All of us value Georgetown for its history and unique character, but the community recognizes that this famous character is also rapidly changing.

Higher rents — and tenants willing to pay those rents — are forcing out establishments that have called Georgetown home for generations. In the past year, rising rents have forced bars like Modern and Mr. Smith’s to close their doors.

The spaces have since been replaced by retail locations.

Although these changes are expected to benefit the Georgetown community economically, those in charge of the process — including the Georgetown Community Board, Georgetown Business Improvement District, the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission and other local governing bodies — should preserve and protect the character of Georgetown, alive in its bars, restaurants and independent stores, especially along the M Street corridor.

This past week, Rhino Bar and Pumphouse closed, and while it will be primarily remembered for its rowdy

reputation, its closing is unfortunate because of its history. Since 1953, 3295 M St. has been a bar with a lease that has passed from owner to owner over the years.

However, the property on the corner of 33rd and M was purchased by a highend retailer, thus ending the bar tradition. This may be welcome news for those who think Georgetown is a shopping destination, but not for those that call it home.

As a transient population, students may not normally be expected to stand up to protect the town that they themselves spend comparatively little time in.

However, attending Georgetown not only instills great pride in our school, but also in the neighborhood that it has called home since its inception over 225 years ago.

The same neighborhood we have known during our time here is slowly being dominated by big-brand retailers.

At this pace, there will be little to distinguish M Street from any other commercial township within a few years. It is up to us to stand up for those distinct pieces of this town’s character and the places that make Georgetown a Georgetown we recognize.

While wandering the lower floors of the ICC, it is common to hear a multiplicity of languages — from those poring over upper-level Arabic texts to a gaggle of introductory French students reviewing new vocabulary.

Georgetown prides itself on the array of language programs available to students.

With over 20 languages offered, including the largest undergraduate Arabic enrollment of any American university, the university has maintained a commitment to language acquisition in line with its international focus.

The university, however, is not immune to current trends, having seen a 4.8 percent drop in foreign language enrollment across the board between 2009 and 2013.

It is significantly less than the 6.7 percent drop in foreign-language course enrollments at universities around the country, according to a recent report by the Modern Language Association.

Given that Georgetown is an institution that produces culturally savvy, internationally minded students and future professionals in any field, this trend is disturbing.

Unfortunately, many students treat

foreign languages as requirements, rather than powerful means of communication and tools for diplomacy.

There is an inordinate amount of talk on campus of filling general education requirements without much thought to the quality of those classes.

Georgetown’s approach to language is unfortunately being ignored. Language proficiency is treated as an end goal instead of merely one step in a lifetime of language learning.

With its proficiency exams, the university does its best to foster the continued work required in learning a foreign language. However, it is ultimately up to students to put in the work to continue their education.

Students should take language courses beyond those required for graduation and, in turn, academic deans and program heads should encourage students to pursue them, given the enrollment drop.

In an increasingly globalized world, language skills are one of the strongest assets that anyone entering in the workforce can possess. Georgetown’s foreign language programs are an invaluable resource of which students here should never hesitate to take advantage.

C C

Bipartisan Birthday — Both President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner recorded video messages addressed to Georgetown University on its 200th birthday.

C

We the People — Georgetown will host two town hall meetings this Tuesday and Thursday regarding the possible diversity course requirement.

Top-10 Threat — The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education recently ranked Georgetown University among the “top ten threats to free speech on campus,” alongside instutitions like The U.S. Department of Education.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Derek Nelson

Fading Fluency

A Valuable Elective Each student, at some point in his or her Georgetown career, has experienced the daunting task of walking home alone a little too late at night. Whether studying at the library at a late hour, or finding themselves suddenly split up from friends at a party, students take the risk and trudge home despite the safety tips, workshops and pamphlets that urge otherwise.

Although West Georgetown and Burleith are considered relatively safe neighborhoods, the walk home can end in disaster. In the past year, crime has risen sharply, according to reports from the Georgetown University Police Department. Sexual assault now ranks among the most common dangers facing students on campus.

In this dangerous new atmosphere, an obvious precaution for students is to avoid the walk home alone and always to make sure that they travel in groups.

However, this solution becomes unfortunately unrealistic because of late nights in the library alone, friends who live in faraway campus areas, and an unfortu-

Carolyn Maguire, Executive Editor Alexander Brown, Managing Editor Jess Kelham-Hohler, Online Editor Katherine Richardson, Campus News Editor Kshithij Shrinath, City News Editor Kara Avanceña, Sports Editor Hannah Kaufman, Guide Editor Jinwoo Chong, Opinion Editor Daniel Smith, Photography Editor Shannon Hou, Layout Editor Zack Saravay, Copy Chief Emily Min, Blog Editor Molly Simio, Multimedia Editor

Editorial Board

Jinwoo Chong, Chair

Madison Ashley, Kit Clemente, Francisco Collantes, Ed Crotty, Johnny Verhovek

nate pattern of SafeRides cancellations on especially icy days.

GUPD has recognized the reality of these dangers, and in a move to combat danger began to offer self-defense courses for women last semester. The classes had once been offered regularly starting in 2009, but were discontinued because of decreasing interest and a 12-hour training commitment for those overseeing the classes.

The program was expanded due to popular demand to include four-hour courses that focus on women’s self-defense, community self-defense and LGBTQ self-defense. The remaining classes offered this semester will take place March 18 and on April 8. It is reassuring, in the midst of a crime increase, to see that the GUPD not only understands the dangers our population faces but is also taking legitimate steps to give individuals the means to protect themselves.

We applaud these efforts and urge all students to take advantage of this opportunity, as one can never invest too much in safety.

This week on

[ CHATTER ]

Be sure to check Chatter, The Hoya’s online opinion section, throughout the week for additional opinion pieces.

Will Fonseca (COL ’16) examines a unique perspective on deadlines and watching them pass:

“

Fearing deadlines is an odd thing to do. They exist, require a certain amount of work and then they pass. They are a wholly known part of adult (and adolescent) life. ... I reluctantly regard deadlines with anything close to love, because they are forever the Devil’s grip on my life, but I’ve come to enjoy the same whooshing sound when I don’t end up making them.​​There is a sense of regret as another opportunity passes by. This feeling doesn’t last too long in me. Instead, it makes way for a kind of happiness and relaxation, like there is a cosmic peace in the fact that there’s nothing more I can do. .​..​This is, by most standards, is a terrible way to think about deadlines. But hey, at a school whose culture demands that you structure your life as a series of due dates, I’m happy to be the weirdo who smiles as they whoosh by unaddressed.”

T​ithi Patel (SFS ’18) uses satire to implore readers to reflect on the importance of acknowledging global warming: What reasons have I been given to care about something that is so completely and utterly irrelevant to my day-to-day life? So the atmosphere is trapping more heat. That just means a longer summer and more days to tan on Healy Lawn, which is great — I won’t emit as much carbon dioxide from my car on beach trips. .​.. ​On the topic of heat, though, we just had a snow day. Now, the snow has turned to ice, and it’s just everywhere. I don’t understand what the government is going to do about the fact that there’s global warming, but it’s still snowing here in Washington, D.C.​... The so-called “tragedy” of the commons is more of a poorly disguised blessing, if you ask me. I can buy some flowers and plant a tree or two as compensation, if it’s really that much of an issue. It all balances out in the end. Balance. Like yoga, which is natural, too. You see what I mean?”

“

Find this and more at

thehoya.com/chatter Corrections

A previous version of “Afghan First Lady Joins Council” (The Hoya, A4, Feb. 27) stated that the children of first lady Rula Ghani were fathered by former Afghan president Hamid Karzai. They were in fact fathered by her husband and current president, Ashraf Ghani.

Mallika Sen, Editor-in-Chief

Brian Carden, General Manager

Toby Hung Deputy Campus News Editor Andrew Wallender Deputy Campus News Editor Kristen Fedor Deputy City News Editor Elizabeth Cavacos Deputy Sports Editor Tyler Park Deputy Sports Editor Andrew May Sports Blog Editor Michael Fiedorowicz Deputy Guide Editor Gianna Pisano Deputy Guide Edtior Daniel Almeida Deputy Opinion Editor Parth Shah Deputy Opinion Editor Sarah Kim Opinion Blog Editor Isabel Binamira Deputy Photography Editor Dan Gannon Deputy Photography Editor Julia Hennrikus Deputy Photography Editor Cleo Fan Deputy Layout Editor Elana Richmond Deputy Layout Editor Matthew Trunko Deputy Layout Editor Katherine Cienkus Deputy Copy Editor Becca Saltzman Deputy Copy Editor Gabi Hasson Deputy Copy Editor Courtney Klein Deputy Blog Editor Reza Baghaee Deputy Multimedia Editor

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Contributing Editors & Consultants

Sam Abrams, Katy Berk, Zoe Bertrand, David Chardack, Nick DeLessio, Robert DePaolo, Ben Germano, TM Gibbons-Neff, Michal Grabias, Chris Grivas, Allie Hillsbery, Emma Hinchliffe, Emma Holland, Penny Hung, Nicole Jarvis, Sheena Karkal, Hanaa Khadraoui, Natasha Khan, Lindsay Lee, Charlie Lowe, Hunter Main, Jackie McCadden, Suzanne Monyak, KP Pielmeier, Eitan Sayag, Katherine Seder, Sharanya Sriram, Sean Sullivan, Natasha Thomson, Kevin Tian, Laura Wagner, Emory Wellman, Christina Wing, Michelle Xu, Janet Zhu

Board of Directors

Sheena Karkal, Chair

Brian Carden, David Chardack, Lindsay Lee, Mallika Sen, Zach Singer, Laura Wagner Letter to the Editor & Viewpoint Policies The Hoya welcomes letters and viewpoints from our readers and will print as many as possible. To be eligible for publication, letters should specifically address a recent campus issue or Hoya story. Letters should not exceed 300 words.

Viewpoints are always welcome from all members of the Georgetown community on any topic, but priority will be given to relevant campus issues. Viewpoint submissions should be between 600-800 words. The Hoya retains all rights to all published submissions.

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OPINION

TuesDAY, March 3, 2015

Culture Clash

THE HOYA

A3

VIEWPOINT • Pinn

The Teacher’s Work Tucker Cholvin & Thomas Christiansen

A Dangerous New Era of Groupthink H

ere’s a list of seven things that happened last week that deserved Facebook statuses longer and more emotional than those about a beaten horse cartoon: 1. The potential shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at the hands of the party that claims to value security the most.

2. The probable assassination of a major member of the Russian opposition party in the streets of Moscow.

3. The third season of “House of Cards,” which is just OK. 4. The implementation of net neutrality rules, which, among other things, means that I can continue to enjoy complaining about “House of Cards” without paying astronomical fees for streaming Netflix.

5. The dress (“It’s blue, goshdarnit.” –Tom. “Who cares? Also, who says goshdarnit?” –Tucker).

6. Kanye West apologizing to Beck, which is outraging mostly because Kanye was right for once (“Long live the Queen!” –Tom. “Who cares about the Grammys?” –Tucker).

7.

The end of unions as we know them in Wisconsin, and the frustration of Scott Walker getting his way with anything.

8.

Bonus: the series finale for “Parks and Recreation.”

The list could go on — in fact, just Google “this week’s news” and almost every return will be more deserving of sustained discussion than the horse cartoon published by the Georgetown Voice.

Now we are not saying this to suggest that the cartoon was not offensive, nor are we saying that hundreds of years of racially motivated violence should be ignored or forgotten. The consequences of those historic injustices are still much too real — think Ferguson, New York, or actually any municipality in the United States — and still much too deserving of our attention.

Likewise, violence against women is not a laughing matter, and Georgetown’s own history (so recent it could just be called “current events”) of sexual and other violence against women deserves real administrative action as well as dramatic changes in student, especially male student, attitudes.

The cartoon was in poor taste and merited an apology. The dialogue that led to the apology, as well as the apology itself, should have looked something like this: Georgetown: “Hey, I see what you were trying to do with your editorial cartoon, but you probably shouldn’t depict images of violence against black people or women, especially if they are being perpetrated by white males who are now our GUSA executives.”

The Voice: “Oh my gosh. We are so sorry. I can’t believe we didn’t catch that.”

End of dialogue. Everyone moves on to more important things, like videos of Youtube celebrity Alex Boye’s senior citizen remix of “Uptown Funk.”

(Note: Alex Boye is a Mormon. Super exciting.)

Instead, unfortunately, the dialogue looked something like this: Georgetown: “By publishing this you actively uphold a white supremacist order and the fact that you don’t understand this and did it either shows you don’t care or that you don’t understand — meaning that it passed through multiple editorial chains of command and all of them thought it was OK to publish.

“Have you no conception of the deep historical roots of white oppression via beating, lynching and killing, among other forms of brutal violence, of black people in our nation? And on our campus?”

The Voice: “I don’t want to contribute to racism, and I don’t want to make anyone feel afraid. It is not my intention to spread a message of hate. I want to help silence the message of hate, and it is apparent that I still have a lot to learn in order to do so. So I invite you, please come up, introduce yourself to me and teach me.”

This entire episode is reflective of a much broader, more malignant trend toward a “millennial liberalism” that emphasizes tweet-length logic over nuanced thinking, is wildly reflexive (and reactionary), and is — above all else — self-indulgent.

Most worrying, this form of groupthink shuts down dialogue without even contributing much in the way of new ideas. As a consequence, we espouse beliefs because we think them politically correct, not because of the robustness of their underlying logic.

This new strand of Twitter-driven progressivism manifests itself in many things, but particularly alarming is whitesplaining, where wealthy white people take upon themselves the cross of pointing out instances of oppression on behalf of the actually oppressed.

Now there’s an image worthy of a cartoon.

But, most dangerously, this new idea of millennial liberalism actually blinds us to the real issues at stake — instead of focusing on actual bigotry deserving actual condemnation, we instead pounce on proximate trivialities. Real bigotry — against ethnic minorities, women, the LGBTQ community or minority religious voices — deserves real vitriol. But not this.

The event is now over: apologies have been issued, the marchers have cleared and Forbes has already chimed in. We realize that by writing this we ourselves are probably guilty of, ahem, beating a dead horse.

But, then, maybe all of us are. #jesuisdeadhorse

Tucker Cholvin and Thomas Christiansen are seniors in the School of Foreign Service.

Culture Clash appears every other Tuesday.

T

his February, my students are joining their peers across the country to celebrate Black History Month.

They saw the movie “Selma”, shared their personal stories and have been asked to discuss the history of race in this country and its implications. I know that these are crucial lessons, because if I teach them honestly, as they learn about the struggle of the past, they’ll begin to recognize it in their own present — when a cashier squints suspiciously when they walk into a store, when they turn on the news and see another person who looks like them lose his life to senseless violence. These lessons are anything but history.

My students know this well. I have seen them harassed by cops multiple times, unprovoked. There are sometimes shootings outside our school; classes are routinely stopped for drug searches; the internet cuts out; we’re short on teachers; our textbooks are falling apart.

My kids are aware that these are not the conditions of more affluent and wealthier schools in our area.

In the face of these realities, we have no time to waste. This school year marked the first in which the majority of public school students are minorities. Our generation has a responsibility to work to ensure that each and every one of them is moving through a system that affirms their identities, shows them they’re valued and allows them access to the opportunities they have been denied for far too long.

While the “whites only” signs of the ‘60s have been taken down, the reality of separate and unequal endures. Alongside glaring gaps in educational, employment and economic opportunity, people of color

To fix the systemic oppression that has created the gross inequality of the present will take the hard, dedicated work of countless leaders and change-makers. in this nation face a variety of subtler, no less damaging assumptions.

A successful black lawyer hears whispers of affirmative action. A young black boy on a corner is seen as “lurking,” while his white peers “hang out.” A black college student is asked to give “the black perspective” to a seminar full of white students who are never asked to speak on behalf of their entire race.

I joined Teach For America because I used to be ashamed of where I came from. My family struggled, and nobody around me was the textbook definition of success. The statistics told me I was poised to drop out of high school.

But then I came to Georgetown, where I learned the true meaning of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s words: “Go forth and set the world on

VIEWPOINT • Lizza & Chan

The Value of The Act of Giving

I

ngrained in the educational philosophy, moral foundation and Jesuit identity of Georgetown University is the idea of giving.

In 1788, John Carroll wrote in a letter to a fellow Jesuit: “We shall begin the building of our Academy this summer … on one of the loveliest situations that imagination can frame. … Do not forget to give and procure assistance.”

Thus, even before the very first student set foot on the Hilltop, Georgetown had been built on a foundation of philanthropy. Today, in all aspects of our lives on our campus, Hoyas constantly give both their time and energy to other Hoyas.

This notion of a giving community does not end at graduation. Every student at Georgetown benefits from alumni philanthropy.

From the John Carroll statue in front of Healy to Regents Hall, from the Healey Family Student Center to the scholarships that make the Hilltop more affordable to so many, Georgetown as a place and as an experience is possible only through the generosity of its graduates.

In August 2011, we came to the Hilltop to begin our college experience, two freshmen on the sixth floor of Darnall Hall. We spent our time in class, running Model UN conferences, participating in Center for Social Justice activities, planning events for fellow Hoyas with residence hall councils, writing and editing for Georgetown’s Journal of International Affairs and working on job applications for our future.

Little did we know that three years later, philanthropy would draw us back together when we both joined the Class of 2015 Fund as an embodiment of our beliefs in supporting Georgetown’s future students and initiatives.

The Class of 2015 Fund, a student-run initiative, serves as one of the first stepping stones to the philanthropic tradition that extends beyond the Healy Gates and across generations. By creating an avenue for seniors to donate to virtually everything on campus, from academic departments and resource centers to student groups and scholarships, the Class Fund helps seniors with different backgrounds and interests highlight the aspects of Georgetown that matter most to them — those that have shaped their experiences on the Hilltop.

By making a contribution to the fund, each senior leaves his mark and legacy on Georgetown. The Class Fund encourages seniors to specify the recipient of their gifts

because this is the most direct way to help support and sustain the things that have made the Hilltop a transformative place for them.

Since every dollar of each gift goes directly to the designated recipient, seniors have a chance to maximize the impact of their philanthropic act when they give through the Class Fund.

As of mid-February, almost a third of the Class of 2015 has made a gift to Georgetown, amounting to a total of 568 gifts, 48 percent of which went to specific academic departments, varsity and club sports teams, student life initiatives and Student Activities Commission, the Center for Social Justice, performing arts, and Campus Ministry groups. The Class of 2015 Fund is on track to have a similar participation rate as in the past three years, but we can do better by building upon and exceeding these benchmarks.

Ideally, we would set a new record of participation to demonstrate our class’s passion for the Georgetown community.

Last week, the Class Fund started the Regents Challenge, an initiative supported by Georgetown’s Board of Regents, composed of advisors and leading philanthropic contributors to the university.

For every set level of participation achieved through the seniors’ collective effort, the Board of Regents will donate additional money on behalf of the senior class — up to a maximum of $75,000 if the class hits 1,300 donors. If that maximum amount is unlocked, the Board of Regents’ generosity and the seniors’ collective investment in Georgetown’s future will help fund three scholarships for future Hoyas. The Class of 2014 came just shy of that magic number, leaving it to the Class of 2015 to reach that milestone.

Ultimately, what matters is not the amount of money raised, but the joint act of philanthropy that connects students to the ethos of giving.

What matters is that Hoyas rise to meet the challenge laid down by those who have come before them.

What matters is that students start to pay it forward, to add to the philanthropic bedrock upon which this university continues to thrive.

After all, in the end, it’s the act of giving that counts, not the dollar amount.

Each senior can leave his or her mark and legacy on Georgetown by making a contribution to the Class of 2015 Fund.

David Lizza is a senior in the College and Lucas Chan is a senior in the School of Foreign Service. Both are seniors and the Stewardship and Impact co-chairs of the Class of 2015 Fund.

fire.” The mandate stands as a challenge and a call to action for every Hoya. We have been privileged with tools that have prepared us to take on the challenges of today. We must work for a better tomorrow.

Since becoming a teacher, I now have hundreds of little brothers and sisters who know they can call me, text me and see me whenever they need support, guidance or someone to listen to them. I’ve helped students get to college when they thought it was never an option for them. I’ve held mothers and fathers as they’ve cried with joy that their sons and daughters were the first to graduate from high school and attend college.

We have a long way to go as a country before we truly achieve justice for all. Fixing the systemic oppression that has created the gross inequality of the present will take the hard, dedicated work of countless leaders and change-makers. We must work toward these long-term changes as well as act on the immediate, urgent opportunities to change the way our students view themselves and their futures.

As teachers, we can play a central role. Every day, we can remind our kids that their thoughts, ideas, identities and opinions are important. We can share our own stories so that when our kids look to the front of the room, they see a little bit of themselves reflected back. We can remind them that they matter, that they always have and that they always will.

Justin Pinn graduated from the College in 2012 and is a corps member with Teach For America-Miami. He teaches chemistry at Miami Central Senior High School.

AS THIS JESUIT SEES IT...

Investing in the Hard Conversations

W

e live in a broken world. terlocutors. The Jesuit approach This semester, I have to the world is somewhat counbeen teaching a new ter-cultural today: Rather than course on the politics of inequal- being pessimistic, it is intensely ity. Each week my students and optimistic about what happens I try to better understand how when human beings encounter socio-economic status, race, reli- one another. It calls us to intergion, gender, education, geogra- pret the words of others in the phy, politics and history have con- best possible light. And even more tributed to the chasms we observe profoundly, it invites us to revere today. the other, not just for his words, At times, our conversation is but for his humanity. an uneasy one, because every disWe are at our best when we adcussion of difference cannot help mit that asking for, giving, and rebut implicate each of us, too, no ceiving forgiveness will always be matter where we stand on each of part of the process. Even with the these aspects. best of intentions, we will find that Sometimes there we sometimes misis a temptation speak, mis-hear and to avoid the hard misconstrue the poquestions. sition of others. This Our communityis where forgiveness here on the Hilltop becomes essential. experiences these As a professor divisions too, and and a Jesuit, I am in recent months increasingly conwe have seen them scious of how imflare up in particu- Matthew Carnes, S.J. perfect our words lar ways around isare (my own includsues of race, equal ed), and I have come treatment under to deeply appreciate the law, inclusion, conversations with political discourse students and coland satire. We leagues about how have seen that our speech and silence, speech and our acacknowledgement tions can reinforce and avoidance can existing biases, and injure or affirm, that they can lash lift up or cast down. out in new ways Honestly noting and create new hurts (whether our own failings opens the door intended or not). to forgiveness and a new start in Yet, our community is also building community. It reminds committed to the idea that we are us that hurt and division need at our best when we have the hard not ever have the last word; reconversations. The vision of the stored dignity, respect and mutual university is one of a relentless friendship are always possible and searching for the truth, one that worth striving for. believes that our study and reflecOur community at Georgetown tion and conversation can move will never be immune to the divius all to a greater,shared depth of sions and fractures of our world. understanding and knowledge. Yet this should not be disheartenThe mission of Georgetown, as in- ing. In fact, it is a crucial aspect scribed in the high reaches of Gas- of our mission. We invite in our ton Hall, calls us to seek wisdom planet’s brokenness and chasms, and virtue. This mission is an quite intentionally, in the diverse inspiration to us, and also a con- backgrounds and experiences of stant challenge. So, how might the members of our community. we try to live up to it?

And together, by having the hard We are at our best when we conversations, we seek to become commit ourselves to sustained better than we have been before, dialogue — often by listening and better than many of the more first, and then speaking. The pre- jaded voices around us would say amble to Georgetown’s speech is possible. Admittedly, we grapple and expression policy, crafted and mis-speak and hurt along the in the 1980s by Fr. James Walsh, way, but in a spirit of humility, S.J., emphasizes that “more is honesty and reflection, we also better” when it comes to speech. seek to move forward.

It insists on the idea that every By challenging ourselves to live voice have a space and invites us our best instincts as a commuto create lasting conversations to nity, we seek to model the recongenuinely build up our commu- ciliation our world so desperately nity. Ultimately, it holds that “the needs. exchange of ideas will lead to clarity, mutual understanding, the Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., is an tempering of harsh and extreme assistant professor in the governpositions, [and] the softening of ment department. He is one of hardened positions.” the alternating writers for As This We are at our best when we Jesuit Sees It … which appears presume the good will of our in- every other Tuesday.

By having the hard conversations, we seek to become better than we have been before.

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NEWS

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE The College Democrats visited Capitol Hill to discuss student loan reform with a legislative aide. See story on A8.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

RHINO EXTINCTION

verbatim

“

I like to call myself the master of the fun business. Anything that’s fun, I like to get involved with.”

Shaquille O’Neal on his investments and personal brand. Story on A5.

from

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

ISABEL BINAMIRA/THE HOYA

Rhino Bar and Pumphouse, a popular sports bar frequented by Georgetown students, closed after its lease ended Feb. 28. Owner Britt Swan chose not to renew the lease because of increasingly high rents, and the bar will not relocate.

OBAMA CONGRATULATES GEORGETOWN Lucky Hoyas everywhere got a special message from President Obama to mark the 200th anniversary of Georgetown’s charter. blog.thehoya.com

OWN IT Partners With GU Graduates Receive Gates Cambridge Scholarships ALICIA CHE

Hoya Staff Writer

OWN IT has partnered with Georgetown’s Office of Public Affairs and Strategic Development for its second annual OWN IT Summit.

The office will serve as an advisory body during the planning of the summit, a daylong conference scheduled for March 28 that aims to bridge the gap between successful female leaders and college students.

OWN IT hosted its inaugural conference in April 2014 at Georgetown, bringing together over 400 attendees and 30 nationally recognized speakers to discuss women’s leadership experience. Staff from the Office of Public Affairs and the President’s Office have been working with students for the past year to plan the 2015 summit.

OWN IT co-founder Helen Brosnan (COL ’16) said that the OWN IT team proposed the idea of formal partnership earlier this year.

“We have worked with some people in the Office of Public Affairs since last year,” Brosnan said.

“We had regular meetings with

them, and we keep them updated so that we can get people in the university interested in the summit [to] know about it. When we met at the beginning of the year, we pitched the idea [of partnership] to them and they kind of came to us. We both realized that this would be a nice fit.”

Office of Public Affairs members who are on the OWN IT Steering Committee meet regularly with the student organizers to discuss various issues, ranging from inviting speakers to acquiring sponsorships.

“It is like running a minibusiness we have no idea how to run,” Brosnan said. “And now we can have some professional advice in an institutionalized or formalized way.”

“However, at the end of the day, it’s still the students and the executive team that put this all together,” OWN IT co-founder Kendall Ciesemier (COL ’15) said.

Georgetown Associate Vice President for Strategic Communications Stacy Kerr said she believes that the OWN IT Summit aligns with the university’s commitment to fostering an environment

FILE PHOTO: SOFIA LAYANTO/THE HOYA

Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security Director Melanne Verveer spoke at the 2014 OWN IT Summit.

in which women can learn and grow.

“We saw this as an opportunity to create programming and content that can benefit and inspire members of our own community and young women around the country, as proven by the other universities who are now hosting OWN IT events on their campuses,” Kerr said. “We believe that OWN IT events are providing exciting content for our community and positioning Georgetown as a leader in inspiring young women around the country.”

The university also recently formed the Georgetown Women’s Alliance, which aims to bring together women and groups from across campus. According to Kerr, GWA will serve as a formal umbrella under which many current activities can be aligned to create greater visibility for work occurring across Georgetown.

“GWA intends to create a wide range of opportunities in which Georgetown students, faculty, staff and alumni may participate and find learning, development and growth experiences like the OWN IT Summit,” Kerr said. “[OWN IT] is very consistent with the programming goals for the Georgetown Women’s Alliance and the work that they support to inspire and enrich our community.”

Although the Office of Public Affairs will be taking full responsibility for the budget of the OWN IT conference, no direct funding will be provided by the university.

Instead, the budget will be completely covered by outside entities.

“We have a planning committee made up of just undergraduates, and one of our chief responsibilities is to cover our budget,” Ciesemier said. “Our sponsor this year is Bloomberg, who also sponsored last year’s conference.”

OWN IT founders said that their relationship with the Office of Public Affairs has been helpful and that the office’s experience and expertise are huge assets.

“We have been very grateful for this open partnership, and to have that kind of advice from people who do know what they are doing is just invaluable,” Ciesemier said.

“It also helps to have a structure in place that encourages us to push the boundary a little bit and do exciting things within the university.

This is really what makes Georgetown special — the fact that initiatives can happen here, and not just happen here but have the university say, ‘Hey how can I help you’ and ‘What resource can we offer you?’

It’s been unbelievable.”

EMILY TU

Hoya Staff Writer

Two Georgetown graduates, Carol Ibe (GRD ’06) and Aya Waller-Bey (COL ’14), received Gates Cambridge Scholarships in mid-February, which offer a full-time postgraduate degree in any subject at the University of Cambridge.

Founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship program is one of the most competitive scholarships in the world, with the goal of developing a global network of future leaders dedicated to improving the lives of others.

There are currently over 1,300 Gates Cambridge scholars and alumni from over 90 countries. Ninety-five new U.S. and international scholarships are awarded each year.

Out of the 800 annual applicants from the United States received scholarships, 40 were selected, including Ibe and Waller-Bey. Ibe and Waller-Bey underwent a rigorous selection process from September to midOctober, which culminated with interviews in January.

Ibe, who completed a Master of Science in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Georgetown in 2006, said that she was surprised upon being notified of her acceptance.

“It still feels likes I’m in a dream,” Ibe said.

“Even when I received the notification that I was shortlisted, I felt like it was unreal. For me, it’s been a wonderful experience, still unbelievable to some extent.”

At Cambridge, Ibe seeks to complete a Ph.D. in plant sciences to further her understanding of rice cultivars and agroecosystems in order to contribute to the improvement of food security in African nations.

In 2013, Ibe founded JR Biotek, a biotechnology education-based company dedicated to training scientists in Africa to utilize biotechnologies in improving agricultural productivity, human health and environmental sustainability.

“My passion is working with African nations to find more effective ways to improve food security,” Ibe said. “There is more that can be done to provide food for the millions of people who are suffering every day from hunger, malnutrition and poverty. With my Ph.D., I want to gain the skills I need to inspire and empower a new generation of scientists in Africa.”

Ibe emphasized the quality of education she received at Georgetown as a major factor in her academic and career success.

“Prior to coming to Georgetown, I completed my undergraduate degree in Nigeria,” Ibe said. “We did not have laboratories that were as well-equipped, or professors who really knew much about the important field of molecular biotechnology. I wanted to take what I learned at Georgetown back to Africa, and I would say that Georgetown was key in my interest in starting JR Biotek.”

Maria Chiara Monaco-Kushner, Ibe’s former colleague and scientist at the National Institutes of Health, said that Ibe had the initiative and desire to help others.

“I didn’t doubt she would receive this scholarship,” Monaco-Kushner said. “She’s an incredible, intelligent person, full of initiative, and I’m sure she’ll do well in the Cambridge program. One thing that struck me was her dream to help people in African nations. She had the possibility to start her company and she wanted to give back — that’s what I really admire about her.”

Waller-Bey completed a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a social justice concentration at Georgetown, and currently works in the university’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions as an admissions officer and African-American recruitment coordinator.

Waller-Bey echoed Ibe’s description of her initial response to receiving the scholarship.

“I’m still overwhelmed,” Waller-Bey said.

“I had different emotions, firstly disbelief, then joy. I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to complete my education and also be a part of a community of people who are passionate about their disciplines.”

At Cambridge, Waller-Bey is looking to pursue a master of philosophy by taking the Arts, Creativity, Education and Culture route in the Faculty of Education.

“I was drawn to Cambridge in particular because of that route,” Waller-Bey said.

“I was looking for an institution of higher education that would allow me to not just study education, but also something I’m very passionate about, which is music. At Cambridge, I’m hoping to re-examine how integrating elements of hip-hop music into the classroom can increase the participatory learning of students, especially lowincome students and students of color.”

Waller-Bey said that her Georgetown experience and her work in the admissions office has impacted the development of her long-term objectives.

“When I was a student, I was very involved in activism, particularly on the need for providing students of color with an environment conducive to who they are,” Waller-Bey said. “My activism and work at admissions ignited the passion I have now for creating more visibility for underrepresented, marginalized communities in education and in the media.”

Assistant professor of history Marcia Chatelain taught Waller-Bey as a freshman student and later developed a mentor relationship with the graduate.

“Aya blew me away with her passion for learning as a first-year student,” Chatelain wrote in an email to THE HOYA. “I have been absolutely privileged to be her teacher and mentor, because I learn a lot from her. I know that Aya will be an incredible force in changing the nature of education. She will not only represent the very best of U.S. students, but also the spirit of Georgetown.”

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Panel Discusses Access To Education in Iran Alicia Che

Hoya Staff Writer

Nine campus and community groups, including the International Relations Club, the Lecture Fund and The Hoya, hosted a documentary screening and panel discussion in support of Education is Not a Crime, a campaign for universal access to higher education in Iran, on Friday.

The event, which was held in the Intercultural Center Auditorium, featured a screening of Iranian-Canadian journalist and activist Maziar Bahari’s documentary “To Light a Candle” and was followed by a panel discussion with World Bank Global Indicators and Analysis Director Augusto Lopez Claros, Program for Jewish Civilization Director Jacques Berlinerblau, Tavaana Co-founder and Co-Director Mariam Memarsadeghi and University of Florida Institute for Human Rights and Peace Development Founding Director Winston Nagan.

The campaign seeks to address the religious persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran, who have been barred from studying or teaching in universities since 1979, in addition to unwarranted imprisonment, torture and execution.

Bahari’s documentary uses personal stories and archival footage to demonstrate the predicament of Bahá’ís in Iran and their non-violent advocacy for justice. The documentary also centered on the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education in 1987, an underground university for Bahá’í students and faculty members both in Iran and around the world.

Following introductory remarks by Claros after the film, the panelists spoke about the suffering and perseverance of the Bahá’ís as shown in the film.

Nagan described the film as extremely powerful in its depiction of the struggles encountered by the Bahá’ís.

“The resistance and struggle to stand up for the fundamental values reflected in the Bahá’í faith are universal values,” Nagan said. “It affirms the fundamental idea of the dignity of human beings.”

Memarsadeghi said that discriminatory educational policies would have negative implications for Iran. “[Iran is] losing out because they can’t retain their high talents. They end up taking people in the lowest ranks of society to put them at the top so that they hold on to power because the newly empowered group have a vested interests in their staying,” Memarsadeghi said. “But in the long term, they are not able to perform so the country falls apart, not just economically but in all aspects. It is the result of being afraid of merit, knowledge, progress and human fulfillment.”

The panelists then discussed the potential opportunities brought about by secularization in Iran.

Berlinerblau first said that having a clear notion of secularism and what it represents is important for the emergence of a respected secular power in the Middle East.

“The problem of the Middle East is that secularism is understood as atheism. The things that secular regimes deliver like expressive freedom and tolerance for minorities are traditionally interpreted as an agenda of an atheist regime,” he said. “But really, what happened in all secular regimes is that all secular states believe that although religion might be great, it must be subordinated to the power of the state.”

Memarsadeghi followed by commenting on the importance of teaching the public at large about human rights and democracy to inspire a transition to an open society.

“Iranians have come to appreciate at the most basic level of the wisdom of separating religion from the state so that all people can practice religion as they choose,” Memarsadeghi said. “If there is anything for the better, if there is hope, it’s because the people have resisted. There is a lot of lip service the government is doing, but it’s downright lie. What matters is real consciousness among Iranians.”

In addition, the panelists touched on the potential of technology and social media in empowering civil society. In particular, the panelists referenced to the Arab Spring and agreed that technology has had a profound impact on a global scale.

“Technology allows for the expression of values that shape expectations, which moves at a faster pace [than the] government can control,” Nagan said.

Memarsadeghi agreed that the impact of technology is observed in Iranian civil society.

“The kind of activities that Iranian society are engaging with has changed profoundly since the advent of the technology,” Memarsadeghi said.

Towards the end of the panel discussion session, the panelists addressed questions from the audience and also gave opportunities for attendees to share their thoughts.

Ayan Mandal (COL ’18) said that he was both saddened and inspired by the film and panel’s discussion on the Bahá’ís struggle.

“It really struck me how far the oppressed Bahá’í people are willing to go to make their education happen, and it inspired me as a student to take my education seriously because I am really privileged to be able to educate myself with ease,” Mandal said.

Sarah Moore (GRD ’16) said that she was able to relate the discussion to her own interactions with friends of the Bahá’í faith.

“This event is extremely interesting to me.

I grew up having a lot of Bahá’í friends but I didn’t know the level of persecution they faced and how much they have to fight for their education,” Moore said. “One thing I found particularly interesting was when after the panel discussion [Memarsadeghi] talked about how the Bahá’ís are not seeking revenge for the persecution and I think I really saw that in my friends because they never brought up all these terrible things that are happening to them, and they are always full of love to their country and also the new opportunities they have here.”

KATHLEEN GUAN FOR THE HOYA

NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal discussed his personal brand and his commitment to philanthropy as part of GAMBLE’s Diversity Dialogue Conference on Friday.

Shaq Headlines Diversity Forum Ashley Miller & Kshithij Shrinath Hoya Staff Writers

Four-time National Basketball Association champion Shaquille O’Neal spoke about brand management and his philanthropic ventures, serving as the keynote speaker of the second annual Diversity Dialogue Conference held in the Rafik B. Hariri Building on Friday.

The daylong conference, hosted by Georgetown Aspiring Minority Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, discussed the future of diversity and inclusion in conversations with corporate leaders, including representatives from PepsiCo, Under Armour, Accenture, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In a packed Lohrfink Auditorium, O’Neal’s address, which occurred during the middle of the conference and drew frequent laughs from the audience, took the form of a conversation with his agent Perry Rogers (MSB ’91) and professor of marketing Marlene Morris Towns.

Towns introduced O’Neal and emphasized his business savvy.

“He’s always been a first mover with technology, which many of you may not know. He was an early investor in Google and was the first verified account on Twitter,” Towns said. “He’s one of the largest sports brands, both literally and figuratively.”

O’Neal began by discussing his personal brand and how he makes investing decisions.

“I like to call myself the master of the fun business. Anything that’s fun, I like to get involved with. When it comes to the products I’m dealing with, I let Perry deal with the money. I always go to the story,” O’Neal said.

Reinforcing O’Neal’s devotion to relationships over money, Rogers explained that O’Neal, who is a television analyst for TNT, picked the network over media giant ESPN, even though ESPN had promised to make him the centerpiece of their basketball coverage. “[Shaq] knew … he’s got to have a relationship with them. He said he’s in the fun business because that is his personality, and so authentically, he wants to make sure he’s in partnerships that make sense,” Rogers said. “I am not allowed to tell him the numbers.”

Noting his status as a role model to children, O’Neal also

touched on his approach to philanthropy, which he said was instilled by his parents. During the question-and-answer session that followed the conversation, O’Neal invited two 10-year-old children up to the stage to ask him questions.

“I remember when I was that kid looking up to Magic Johnson.

To be from where I’m from and have kids looking up to me is a big social responsibility, so I think the best thing I can do is make them smile,” O’Neal said.

Rogers echoed O’Neal’s dedication to serving the less fortunate.

“He’s always been a size 23, but [the shoe company] called me up and said, ‘He’s a size 22,’” Rogers said. “[Shaq] said, ‘Yeah, but I wear size 23 … Perry, you don’t understand. I grew up poor, and my feet were growing fast, and I was always outgrowing my shoes.

When I was a kid, I promised myself I would be wealthy enough to have shoes that fit me, and so I wear size 23 intentionally to remind myself of the childhood that I had.’”

Matt Whang (MSB ’16), who attended the keynote, found O’Neal both entertaining and informational.

“Shaq’s a natural entertainer.

He definitely gave a lot of valuable life advice. I think the crowd loved him. I really enjoyed what he had to say,” Whang said.

Earlier in the conference, business leaders discussed shifts in diversity dialogues and the role of diversity in the creation of innovative ideas during the Chief Diversity Panel.

During the panel, MSB Dean David Thomas said that because of rapid progress in diversity seen in recent years, some question the need for any dialogue.

“Less than two miles from this room sits a man in public housing, whose name — nobody’s surprised when a black man is in public housing — happens to be Barack Hussein Obama,” Thomas said. “Do we even need to have a dialogue anymore, because all the things I couldn’t even imagine in 1956 [have been done]? Lots of people would say ‘dialogue done, conversation done.’”

Thomas also spoke about the shift in self-perception among minorities.

“I literally used to think of myself only as black,” Thomas said.

“Those other identities seemed irrelevant. Today, when I talk to young people like yourselves in my office, I’m often impressed by

how much broader you see yourselves.”

With recent events around the country sparking a national conversation about race, the focus of diversity dialogue has also shifted back to race, but PricewaterhouseCoopers Director of Diversity Cherrie Mallory McCoy said that diversity is multidimensional and ultimately offers a variety of thought that benefits firms.

“The shift has been a mindset of how we can tap into diverse populations and generate innovative thought,” McCoy said.

“We are looking at how we put our teams together because it is a scientific fact that more diverse teams create more innovative ideas.”

The panel also offered advice for students after they manage to land their first jobs. Pamela Culpepper, chief people officer of Golin, a communications company, said that getting hired comes with a responsibility of increasing opportunities for others by increasing access and visibility.

“It’s about helping others reach the levels that you’ve reached and then championing them on the way,” Culpepper said. “You’ve stepped on some landmines; tell them about the landmines you stepped on so they won’t have to.”

Additionally, McCoy said that diversity is not a concept that should only be reserved for one’s future workplace but should instead be embraced in everyday life.

“Spend time with somebody different than [whom] you typically spend time with,” McCoy said. “If you spend all your time with the same people who think like you, act like you, dress like you, walk like you, you’ll never going to get a feel of what is really happening outside of your small bubble that you’ve made.”

Mike Roland (MSB ’15) attended the event and said that it is important to embrace multiple identities and then use that to broaden perspectives.

“I definitely feel that it is beneficial, especially the way Dean Thomas was talking about when we talk about ourselves; we don’t just see ourselves as a race,” Roland said.

“Many races and ethnic groups, even within their own ethnicity, think very differently. It’s better to have people who think differently and are able to work as a team than having the same group of people because that could limit your progress.”

Vigil Recalls Disability Murders Kshithij Shrinath Hoya Staff Writer

People with disabilities murdered by their parents were honored in a vigil on the National Mall Sunday.

The vigil, which was held in front of the U.S. Capitol, commemorated the Disability Day of Mourning and was supported by prominent disability rights advocacy organizations, including the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, ADAPT, Not Dead Yet and the National Council on Independent Living.

First organized in Sunnyvale, Calif., in 2012 in response to the murder of 22-year-old George Hodgins by his mother, the Disability Day of Mourning is held annually to bring attention to the deaths of people with disabilities. The first rally in D.C. was held on March 30, 2012, and events have been held every subsequent year on March 1.

Twenty-two cities around the United States and three locations in Canada, Hungary and the United Kingdom held vigils Sunday.

According to Lydia Brown (COL ’15), a student activist for

disability rights who attended the rally and has participated in the Disability Day of Mourning every year since its inception, approximately 20 people attended the Washington, D.C., rally despite the icy conditions, although she was the only Georgetown student in attendance.

The vigil featured speeches from Autistic Self Advocacy Network President Ari Ne’eman, White House Associate Director of Public Engagement Taryn Mackenzie Williams, Disability Day of Mourning founder Zoe Gross and Brown.

After the speeches, the attendees took turns reading over 100 names of all the recorded victims of parental murders since the 1990s. According to ASAN, over 70 victims have been added to the list in the past five years.

“Part of the reason we hold these vigils annually is we keep reminding each other and the public that, even as we’re mourning our dead, more of us are murdered,” Brown said. “And the narrative is the same: that we’re better off being dead than disabled.”

Brown noted that for people with disabilities, the concept of

parental murder was particularly horrifying.

“Our family members [are] the people who you think should be the number one person supporting you. That should be the first person you should trust,” Brown said. “The first person you rely on to protect you is the one holding the gun to your face, is the one who is strangling you.”

By bringing attention to the issue, Brown said the organizations involved hoped to bring serious prosecutions against the perpetrators of such crimes, who often receive light sentences. She brought up the example of Charles-Antoine Blais, a sixyear-old autistic child who was drowned by his mother in 1996.

The mother received a sentence of six months at a halfway house.

“ASAN and the [American Civil Liberties Union], for example, are very much in favor of increasing prosecution under the Hate Crime Prevention Act, which includes being disabled as one of the classifications,” Brown said. “Those people were like me. What we hope to have one day is that the list of names hasn’t grown longer.”

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news

THE HOYA

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

New Living Community Home to History Speech Invokes Criticism RESIDENCE, from A1

Residence at Wolfington Hall. In addition, students lived in the halls of the FJR alongside Jesuits in Ryan Hall, which was originally built as student housing in 1904.

“It was a lot of fun,” Fr. Otto Hentz, S.J., said, as he reminisced about his experiences living in the FJR, where he lived beginning in 1962.

Hentz said one of his favorite features of the complex was the Georgetown Room, a large common room that Jesuits had to pass through as they moved from Ryan Hall into Mulledy Hall.

“On the riverside there were couches and chairs and newspapers and stuff, and on the Quadrangle side was a place where you could get snacks — beer, coke, coffee, you know, pretzels, stuff like that,” Hentz said. “So it was well placed in the sense that you had to pass through there, again, at different times in the day, and you kept bumping into people, depending on what you were up to, you could sit down and chat for a while and then move on. And in the evening people would group down there at different paces and have a beer and chat. It was a lot of fun.”

Hentz also recalled the friendly and lively conversation that took place within the space.

“One time there were a bunch of us arguing — I forget about what — but some visitor was going to walk around to the library and check the encyclopedia and we said: ‘Oh that’s forbidden, you can’t do research here, that’s unfair.’”

Theology professor Fr. Christopher Steck, S.J., moved into the FJR in 1999 said he would always remember the times the Jesuits would go out on the patio of the Jesuit Residence to watch fireworks during special holidays.

“There was a patio way up above and then we used to watch fireworks from that patio,” Steck said.

“You can still see it, it’s on the Gervase side, but we would gather, and I think someone would do mint juleps and we would watch the fireworks.”

Hentz also recalled more somber occasions in the Georgetown Room. He said he especially remembered the night Rep. Bob Drinan, S.J., (D-Mass.), one of two priests to ever serve in Congress, was ordered by the Vatican to leave after serving five terms due to his pro-choice political leanings.

“That was very hard on [Drinan] because he believed very deeply in what he was doing,” Hentz said.

“But he used to come home, you know, around 10:30 or 11 at night and there’d be a few people there having a beer — but a number of people who wouldn’t ordinarily be there were there to welcome him, knowing it was a tough day for him.”

Hentz said that the day President John F. Kennedy was shot was another especially memorable moment during his time in the Jesuit Residence.

“I walked into the Quadrangle

by Dahlgren and people were assembling from all over, secretaries and faculty and students, and they had set up an altar on the porch in Old North to say Mass for the president,” Hentz said. “ You had people kneeling on the bricks out there.”

Hentz also shed a different light on the events of that day.

“In those days, the Quadrangle was all freshmen, except for the Jesuit residence, and I was living on [third-floor] Healy and I was walking down third Healy to go to my room and a student saw me and he said, ‘Mr. Hentz, you’re

looking very sad,’ and I said, ‘The president’s been shot,’ and he said, ‘Who would want to shoot Fr. Bunn?’”

Rev. Edward J. Bunn, S.J., was president of Georgetown University between 1952 and 1964.

Fr. William McFadden, S.J., another former resident of the Jesuit community, who lived in Mulledy in the 1990s, said that he remembered the time President-elect Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) gave a speech from the steps of Old North in 1993. McFadden was told by the Secret Service that he could not move his blinds open or closed, or snipers on the roof might target the movement.

“I know that Clinton is coming and I’ve got a prime viewing spot, but I’m not going to open those blinds because they told us not to,” McFadden said. “I figure if I stand over against the wall and … if your eye is close enough and the blind is open a little bit and you see a lot.

So I looked through and I see these soldiers in battle dress carrying these guns.”

“So I thought, well I’m going to watch,” McFadden continued. “So I stood there, and I watched Clinton come down the steps and greet the diplomatic corps. But that was memorable. I’ll tell you, to be there and think that at any minute this window could explode — I didn’t think it was going to happen — but it could explode.”

Fr. Brian McDermott, S.J., spent his freshman year in 1954 on the fourth floor of Ryan Hall in a corner room overlooking the Potomac.

McDermott left Georgetown after his sophomore year to join the Society of Jesus. Years later, when McDermott was a teacher and administrator at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., he returned to Georgetown on his sabbatical and was placed in the same room he had lived in 40 years earlier as a freshman.

“They put me into my old freshman room, which was then part of the Jesuit community,” McDermott said. “And on the windows, on one of the windows there was etched a student’s name with a date in the 1930s. It was etched there when I was freshman and it was the same windowpane in 1997.”

The exact windowpane on which that student’s name was carved has since been replaced with a new one, but the window frame to McDermott’s old room in Ryan Hall has been refurbished and remains.

Constructing a New LIVING Space In 2003, Georgetown’s Jesuits moved to their new home in Wolfington Hall because of asbestos and poor conditions in the FJR. For over a decade, Ryan and Mulledy Halls sat empty, while Gervase became a location for university administrative offices.

It was not until 2013 that formal construction planning began on the Former Jesuit Residence student housing project. The new residence hall, the design of which is targeted to appeal to upperclassmen due to its apartment-style units, will occupy the Ryan and Mulledy buildings, which are connected. The renovations come as part of the 2010 Campus Plan to provide campus housing for 385 more students by summer 2015, and the new residence will provide 148 new beds for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors.

The residence was originally designed with space for 160 residents, but students expressed a strong preference for more common space in the building. That input influenced the design, decreasing that number to the current 148-person

living capacity.

The residence includes 18 apartment units in total, including one nine-person, five eight-person, four six-person, five four-person and three three-person rooms.

According to Vice President for Planning and Facilities Management Robin Morey, preserving the historical aspects of the buildings has been a significant aspect of the project.

“It really is, because it was an existent facility and not built up from scratch, respecting the past while making sure that we’re trying to meet the needs of the future,” Morey said. “All of that has to come together and you have to make compromises to get the best design that you can, and I think that the team’s done a really excellent job here in doing that.”

Fr. Joseph Lingan, S.J., who is the current rector of the Jesuit community at Wolfington Hall and who has worked as a major contributing consultant in the housing project, said he was impressed by the university’s commitment to preserving the historical value of the FJR. “They have been very sensitive to the fact that this was at one point our home,” Lingan said. “I think that they have been very sensitive in a very positive way.”

The fact that students will get to live in a place with so much historical significance is important for Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson.

“To have this opportunity for upper-class students to be in the heart of campus in this historic space that has such a long history with our Jesuits is just a real treat and it’s great opportunity,” Olson said.

One preserved feature of the complex is the great room in Ryan Hall.

The large space that was once the main dining area for the university and that later served as the Jesuits’ dining area, will now be converted into a group gathering and study space open to all students.

According to Olson, another plan for the FJR construction project is to make Georgetown’s campus more accessible to students with disabilities.

“We are creating better, accessible routes from the lower part of the campus up to Dahlgren Quad and to Healy Hall,” Olson said.

The construction will also include the addition of a new green space in front of Gervase and Ryan Halls.

“On a campus where we really need green space, we’ll gain green space with this project,” Olson said.

According to Morey, this addition will also help with sustainable water retention in the area.

The complex will also include an inter-denominational contemplative space, formerly the chapel for the Jesuit community, which will be managed between the Office of the President, Campus Ministries and the Office of Mission and Ministry.

“To have that [contemplative space] as a part of the building is a powerful signal that we take seriously both the history of Georgetown and our current focus on spirituality and on faith as important tenets of the Georgetown experience,” Olson said.

Fr. Gregory Schenden, S.J., Roman Catholic chaplain to the Office of Campus Ministry, said he is excited for the planned contemplative space.

“The fact that this sacred space, this former community chapel is being preserved as well, as sacred space, is key to the overarching philosophy behind the residence itself,” Schenden said.

Lingan said that the Georgetown

Jesuit community is happy about the development of the space.

“I also know that we’re enthused that the space is finally being used,” Lingan said. “It’s kind of nice to think that it’s being used for housing as it was for us — our house; and the living and learning dynamic that they’re putting focus on with regard to that building is, I think, especially appreciated by us.”

Building A Community Over 380 students applied for 148 membership spaces within the Spirit of Georgetown LLC. Ten percent were rising seniors, 42 percent rising juniors and 48 percent rising sophomores.

Students living in the LLC commit to engage in four aspects of community life. First, students must abide by nine tenets of the spirit of Georgetown, which include academic excellence, educating the whole person and cura personalis, among others.

The requirements behind the LLC have been developed since January 2014 by the Residential Academy Planning Committee, affiliated with the Office of Residential Education. The group is composed of student, staff and faculty members from across Georgetown’s campus, with representatives from the InterHall Council, the Center for Social Justice, the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access, the Campus Ministry Office and various campus organizations.

The second aspect involves student participation within cohorts — smaller groups of 15 to 20 students from the various living spaces around the FJR — that will meet once or twice each semester for reflection. The third aspect seeks to foster a broader sense of community within the building and asks residents to host programming related to the LLC’s mission.

The fourth aspect of the community involves the students’ education and engagement with an eportfolio program, an online record that displays a student’s academic and extracurricular work and commitments during their Georgetown careers as a showcase for future employers.

Courtney Maduike (COL ’17) was accepted to live in the academy in a group of eight applicants.

“I am honored and beyond ecstatic to be a part of the inaugural class of the Spirit of Georgetown Academy,” Maduike said. “The residence gives students a chance to not only learn about, but also take part in a defining characteristic of our great school — our Jesuit identity.”

The Residential Academy is modeled in part after the residential colleges of other universities around the country, which are typically academically focused environments that center around a particular discipline and that have unique program requirements. The Residential Academy will be the first of its kind at Georgetown, and the only one on campus for the foreseeable future.

Joseph Ferrara, Chief of Staff to University President John J. DeGioia, said he was especially proud of the project.

“The Spirit of Georgetown Residential Academy is an exciting new development for our community,” Ferrara wrote in an email to The Hoya. “It’s especially significant for this new aspect of our residential life to be located in the heart of our historic campus and to focus so deeply on the Jesuit heritage that animates our university. This is another example of the ways we are investing in the student experience, and providing new opportunities to engage our mission.”

CONGRESS, from A1 Street, noted the fraught timing of the speech.

“We would be happy for Netanyahu to come to Congress and present before them and speak to them but this moment in time it’s just not extremely appropriate essentially because there are these really sensitive negotiations occurring between U.S. officials and Iranian officials. Additionally, Israeli elections are around the corner,” Wartenberg said.

Netanyahu, however, addressed these contentions during a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Monday, maintaining that his speech does not aim to specifically aid any Republican agenda.

“As prime minister of Israel, I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these threats while there is time to avert them,” Netanyahu said. “My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to Obama or the esteemed office that he holds. I have great respect for both.”

Ari Goldstein (COL ’18), who serves as marketing and external secretary for GIA but did not speak on behalf of the organization, attended Netanyahu’s speech at the AIPAC policy conference.

He said that the speech did not reflect partisan issues.

“I think it sent a really strong message of unity and bipartisanship around the core interest and values which are so fundamental to the U.S.-Israel relationship, and that’s what he should have done,” Goldstein said.

Netanyahu’s speech coincides with the Georgetown Students for Justice in Palestine’s Israel Apartheid Week, an annual event held at universities around the United States that protests the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the construction of an apartheid wall in the Intercultural Center Galleria.

The week at Georgetown will run from March 2 to March 6.

SJP President Leila Shebaro (SFS ’15) also expressed discontent with Netanyahu’s invitation to Congress, although she was dissatisfied by the close relationship between the Israeli leader and the United States rather than the politicization of the partnership.

“I don’t know if you could find another leader with the same kind of record of human rights violations that consistently gets such a warm reception from American politicians,” Shebaro said.

As part of the week’s events, SJP members will gather on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building to protest Tuesday’s speech.

However, the SJP has faced criticism that the week, and especially the apartheid wall, is polarizing for the use of the word “apartheid” and its perceived accusatory nature.

“When an apartheid wall goes up on campus, it is an inflammatory symbol that polarizes the conversation, and it saddens me that it puts my club in a position to seem like we’re diametrically opposed to Students for Justice in Palestine, when we’re not,” Weissburg said. “We don’t get to say, ‘Oh, and I personally believe this about Netanyahu’s speech.’ We do not have the privilege of being nuanced.”

Shebaro emphasized that any open discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would bring up strongly opposing viewpoints but said the week would encourage honest reflection.

“I think that there is a difference between being antagonistic and simply being honest and being willing to have the physical conversations,” Shebaro said. “There’s nothing about what we do that we want to be unwelcoming to anyone. Our goal is really just to open up the dialogue so people feel they can have an honest conversation about the reality of the situation.”

Despite the national polarization of Netanyahu’s visit, J Street U Co-President Natalie Magioncalda (COL ’16) hoped that the university would be a place for finding common ground.

“There is so much rhetoric on both sides, and we are trying to find that space where people on all sides of the spectrum can find that common ground because there is a lot of common ground,” Magioncalda said. “It’s just very hard to see through it when you have these polarizing aspects.”

Hoya Staff Writers Emma Rizk and Kshithij Shrinath contributed reporting.

Clinic Links Law Students With DC High Schools GULC, from A1 ners, or in a district attorney’s office or in the federal government somewhere, so many of them have Street Law stories,” program participant Umar Sattar (LAW ’16) said. “To go into D.C. public schools and teach high schoolers different legal concepts and get them excited about school is a pretty amazing thing to do as a law student.”

The idea for the clinic originated in 1972 with student Ed O’Brien (LAW ’73) and professor Jason Newman, who also served as the director of the Harrison Institute for Public Law. “[O’Brien and Newman] had the idea of law students teaching about the law affecting young persons’ daily lives,” Street Law Director Richard Roe said.

Engaging students in public and charter high schools across the District, the program aims to teach practical skills to impact the students’ lives outside the classroom, in addition to the basic legal advice it offers. In 2012, the program involved 250 students in 11 local high schools.

“The Street Law experience on the surface can be fairly straightforward; learning practical law,” Roe said. “At the same time it can be profound and multidimensional; how people learn

and cooperate to move forward to understand and possibly shape a complex world using rules and principles consistent with fairness and justice.”

The high school students in the program choose to take the Street Law course as an elective course during school hours, and the program aims to engage students of all academic skill levels. The program begins with a one-week orientation in August introducing basic methods. Afterward, students can take the course, which includes weekly two-hour seminars and individual meetings with law students, in either the fall or spring semester.

In 2013, the District of Columbia had a high school graduation rate of 64 percent, one of the lowest in the country, and only 58 percent graduated from public schools. Roe said lessons learned from the Street Law clinic are able to help the high school students, many of whom originate from inner-city and underprivileged neighborhoods, in higher education.

“High school students learn selfgovernment — not only the principles of democratic rule, but also how to govern themselves, how to apply their thinking, how to listen, to take turns, to agree to disagree, to respect other views,” Roe said. “Street Law is an avenue to socialize students to the kind

of discourse they will find in college.”

Approximately 24 law school students per year are selected as teachers in the program after an application process that begins in March. The teachers, who receive course credit based on faculty reviews of their performance, are then linked to various D.C. public and charter schools based on their scheduling availability, planning extensive lessons that often including role playing and mock trials to engage students in conversation.

With the emphasis on active learning, students participate in an annual citywide mock trial tournament at the D.C. Superior Court, where actual judges and attorneys preside over the deliberations. This year, the tournament will be held on March 19 and 25.

Rachel Morris (LAW ’16), vice president of the Student Bar Association, worked with 10 high school students at Anacostia Senior High School in Ward 8.

“At first I was hesitant to take on the added responsibility of teaching high school students — it requires far more accountability and preparation than working with adults because teenagers are not as forgiving,” Morris said.

Despite her initial hesitation, Morris said that her experience with the students was rewarding in the end.

“Exposing students to new ideas

through the student-centered learning process and watching them achieve that ‘aha’ moment is one of the most fulfilling experiences you can have as a teacher,” Morris said.

Sattar echoed Morris, noting in particular the applicability of his teaching experience to his future as a lawyer.

“You always have to be on. You’re standing in front of 20 or so children and it’s your responsibility to make sure they are understanding what you’re teaching them,” Sattar said.

“These are things attorneys do in court day in and day out, simplifying legal concepts for a jury, being able to articulate ourselves in a manner that everyone can understand. … I think Street Law has taught me how to become a better person and without a doubt, a better lawyer.”

The Street Law Clinic, with its model of using law students as teachers and conducting outreach to students in urban neighborhoods, has found international popularity. According to Roe, staff members have been invited to run workshops about the implementation of similar programs in Ireland, Scotland, Russia, Hong Kong, Spain, Turkey and Peru this year alone.

The program has also expanded to teach legal skills to adults, running similar courses during the summer

in emergency housing facilities and correction shelters.

After noting the success of the Street Law Clinic, Roe and his students built upon the program by founding Thurgood Marshall Academy, a charter school in the Congress Heights neighborhood in Ward 8, incorporating exposure to the law into the curriculum in a manner similar to the clinic.

“The idea was to apply the Street Law methodology across the curriculum. It draws students from among the lowest performing junior high schools in D.C.,” Roe said.

Now the third-highest performing high school in the District, according to U.S. News and World Report, every graduating student in the academy’s 11 graduating classes has been accepted into college, according to Roe. Sattar said that the Street Law Clinic did not promise an instant fix to all of the problems facing high school students in the District but instead offered law students a chance to contribute to the community in what way they could.

“Education is a child’s greatest weapon against a life of poverty, and we are just doing our part to make sure these students will be well equipped in that department,” Sattar said.

news

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015

THE HOYA

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American Studies Professor College Dems Lobby on Hill Receives CAC Faculty Award Matthew Larson Hoya Staff Writer

Matthew Larson Hoya Staff Writer

Professor Erika Seamon of the American Studies Program won the 2015 College Academic Council Faculty Award, which she will receive during the Faculty Honors Ceremony on March 19.

This year, over 700 Georgetown College students voted to nominate their former or current professors who they felt impacted them during their time at Georgetown. Students could nominate up to three professors.

This year marks the ninth year of the award, as well as the first year that a professor from the American Studies Program has received the award.

“I cannot think of a higher honor than getting an award that is chosen solely based on student feedback,” Seamon said. “I can’t really ask for anything more.”

Seamon teaches many of the core courses in the American Studies Program, including American Civilization and senior thesis seminars. She believes she won the award because her students appreciate being challenged and forced to think critically in her classes, which makes for a better educational experience.

“I push my students really hard,” Seamon said.

“I think because they are intellectually curious and brave, they appreciate being pushed.”

Seamon also praised the American Studies Program for the opportunities it provides in the classroom. As it is an interdisciplinary major, it attracts students from a large variety of backgrounds, which contributes to its unique nature.

“It’s a unique major in the college in that it’s very flexible,” Seamon said. “It’s been a wonderful space to teach in because it attracts really curious students.”

Seamon was first notified that she won the award as she was gathering her belongings after her American Civilization class. CAC President Parnia Zahedi (COL ’15) approached her and told her the news.

“I had no idea [of the nomination],” Seamon said. “But it was a pretty nice way to end class. It was a pretty nice surprise.”

Each year at the beginning of the second semester, the CAC sends emails to all students of the College and asks them to nominate their favorite professors. Voting began on Jan. 20 and was extended from Jan. 27 to the 28th to allow for more voting, which brought this year’s vote total in line with last year’s. Over 400 members of the faculty were nominated.

“Whoever receives the top number of votes receives the faculty award,” Zahedi said. “Hopefully the professors really value being honored.”

After the end of the voting process, the council counts the votes and assigns different point values for each professor that received first, second or third place in a student’s nomination. Seamon received the greatest number of first place votes, which ultimately made her the winner of the award. She will receive the award at the Faculty Honors Ceremony, which will also be attended by the top 100 professors with the most votes.

According to Zahedi, while Seamon will be receiving the award, the top 100 professors also received a significant number of votes. Zahedi could not provide the exact number of votes that Seamon received. “[Seamon] had a significant majority of votes, especially from students who placed her number one,” Zahedi said. “She had the greatest majority by far. … [But] just being in that top one hundred is an honor to be voted upon by students.”

However, Seamon will be ineligible to receive the award again for five years because of a CAC policy that prohibits a faculty member from receiving a second award during the five year timespan.

Secretary of the CAC Casey Nolan (COL ’17) said the CAC Faculty Award was different from other honors that Georgetown bestows upon its faculty because of the fact that it is voted upon solely by students and is not limited to tenured professors.

“We want to give students a chance to formally thank professors for their hard work and dedication,” she wrote in an email to The Hoya. “College Honors is distinct.”

Students may attend the Faculty Honors Ceremony in Copley Formal Lounge for an entrance fee of $5.

Dani Bembry (COL ’15) took two of Seamon’s classes, American Civilization 1 and 2, as well as a year-long senior thesis class. She said she believes that Seamon’s success comes from her ability to appeal to a broad variety of students. “[Seamon] is able to be valuable to so many different students who are studying so many things,” Bembry said. “I think that speaks to her ability to convey information and empower students.”

Bembry noted that the topics from Seamon’s classes have directly affected her career path. For example, in American Civilization, she learned about how memory was preserved, which then led her to apply for a job at DropBox, where she will work after graduation.

“I feel like her teaching really inspired my post graduate plans,” she said. “If I didn’t have Professor Seamon, I definitely would have been on a different track.”

Laura Higbee (COL ’15) started as an American Studies major in the spring of her sophomore year and worked as Seamon’s teaching assistant for her American Civilization class this semester. She praised Seamon for her creativity, noting that the first paper assignment in the class asked students to design a museum exhibit rather than tediously analyze a passage from a book.

“I had a lot more fun writing that paper than I probably would have [in another format],” Higbee said. “She purposely designs different kinds of assignments than you would get from any other type of professor.”

Seamon said that she cares less about receiving the award than the fact that her classes have left a mark on her students.

“Sometimes it’s tough to know exactly what’s getting through,” Seamon said. “This award has great meaning for me because it means that my students are learning something.”

Five members of the Georgetown University College Democrats spoke with a legislative aide of Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) about student loan reform at the Hart Senate Office Building last Friday morning.

The group, comprised of Aditya Pande (SFS ’18), Tracey Zhang (SFS ’17), Matt Schneider (COL ’18), Tonisha Lewis (COL ’18) and Leo Zucker (SFS ’17), met with Ariel Evans, a labor legislative assistant in Murray’s office.

The group mainly discussed the Financial Aid Simplicity and Transparency Act, which was introduced by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) in June 2014. The act would eliminate the current Free Application for Financial Student Aid by consolidating the application into two questions, notifying families of how much they will receive in financial aid earlier in the loan process and reducing the six different federal loan programs into three.

Schneider said that the group agreed with the decision of condensing and increasing transparency of the act.

“We approve that the FAFSA application form should be shortened,” Schneider said. “We also talked about how the increased transparency part of the act is important.”

Pande noted that the elimination of the FAFSA provision was perhaps the most important point included in the FAST act, as it would allow for greater usage of the federal aid program for countless more citizens.

“Two million people who

could have applied for Pell grants last year didn’t,” Pande said. “It’s a hundred question form — there are some redundancies. It needs simplification.”

While the advocacy group agreed that the first two provisions of the FAST act were important, they disagreed with the third part of the act, which would eliminate three of the federal loan programs and limit the amount that students could borrow from $57,000 to $37,000.

“We expressed our concerns with things that FAST doesn’t address or would have negative consequences on students,” Zhang said. “By eliminating a bunch of student loan programs … we actually end up decreasing the borrowing limit for student loans by $20,000.”

According to the students, Evans concurred with many of the points were brought up during the 20-minute interview.

However, the FAST act faces an uphill battle to be passed. The advocacy group suggested that there is a one percent chance of the bill being passed outright.

Schneider said that he was hopeful that elements of the bill could be added to the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which provides federal aid, as a compromise.

“While it may not be likely that we get the FAST act passed, the things the FAST act stands for can be put into that reform,” Schneider said. “[They should] incorporate elements of the bill, essentially increased transparency and increased simplification.”

The advocacy group first decided to meet with an aide from Murray’s office, as she is the rank-

ing Democratic member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which oversees the drafting of the bill.

To set up the meeting, Zhang asked a few of her friends, who are Murray’s constituents, to request a conference with an aide.

“We put together a list of democratic senators on the committee who might be interested in hearing what we had to say about the bill,” Lewis said.

“Senator Murray was the ranking democratic member of the [HELP] committee, so we reached out to her.”

After arriving at the Hart Building an hour early, the group was able to tour the hallways and take pictures inside. Pande noted that they were impressed by the trip and that more groups should try to talk to their congressmen to make changes.

Pande also said that while most students do not believe they have influence on public policy, they should still reach out to policymakers.

“It’s equivalent to voting. If you think your vote doesn’t make a difference, then nothing will ever change,” Pande said. “So, you should do things that may possibly make a difference.”

Tracey agreed with Pande, explaining that students generally think that major policy decisions happen behind closed doors and out of reach for the typical citizen. However, the group felt that they made a difference by reaching out to Murray’s office.

“This was a really good opportunity for [us] to partake in and we hope to advocate for more national issues,” Tracey said. “Especially considering that we are here in D.C., we have so much access.”

Studies Review Climate Change Gaia Mattiace

Special to The Hoya

The Georgetown Climate Center released 100 new case studies Feb. 19 that detail the predicted impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure around the country and provide recommendations on how to mitigate these effects.

The center, which is part of the Georgetown University Law Center, created the reports over the past year and a half in collaboration with law students along with the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

Climate Center Adaptation Program Manager Jessica Grannis, a staff attorney at the Harrison Institute for Public Law, said that the Federal Highways Administration initiated the project to produce and compile case studies with the goal of determining possible changes to make infrastructure durable to the challenges of climate change.

Climate Center Executive Director Vicki Arroyo said the diversity of groups involved made the project enjoyable.

“We’re really pleased to partner with U.S. DOT and the Federal Highway Administration in providing this resource to states and communities across the country, and we are especially proud that our current and former Georgetown students played key roles in crafting and coordinating these case studies,” Arroyo said.

The reports highlight methods that various cities around the country are taking to mitigate the impact of climate change. Grannis said that the center chose studies that focused on tactical solutions that could be implemented while

building infrastructure.

“They had to have some climate change connection … where measures were being undertaken specifically with climate change in mind, or things that would have a resiliency benefit given future climate change scenarios and focusing on things that were transportation related,” Grannis said.

To provide state transportation agencies with a breadth of possible solutions, Grannis added that the center looked into several factors of climate change impacts. “[We looked at] what transportation agencies can do to prepare for flooding and sea level rise versus permafrost melt versus extreme heat in the Southwest, so looking for a variety of impacts in how transportation agencies were responding,” Grannis said.

According to Grannis, by making infrastructure more resilient, local governments could also protect the health of surrounding ecosystems.

“A lot of the types of strategies that you would employ to make your infrastructure more resilient to future impacts also have co-benefits that can … provide environmental benefits,” Grannis said. “Using street trees and planting vegetation along roads and highways also has environmental benefits retaining and cleaning storm water.”

The case studies noted that the costs of implementing the program would be immediately higher than the status quo, but Grannis said the changes could save transportation agencies money in the long run by making elements of the infrastructure sturdier.

“The hope is that if we are making these investments now, we’re making wise investments up front, so that those investments

will be sustainable over the long term,” Grannis said.

Arroyo highlighted the proposal’s structural and economic benefits.

“Putting more time and forethought into our transportation planning to prepare for climate change would save taxpayer dollars by avoiding the need to repeatedly rebuild the same infrastructure after extreme weather events,” Arroyo said in a GULC press release. “These case studies highlight some of the most innovative activities that are happening in the transportation sector to prepare for changes we are already experiencing, including more extreme weather and rising seas.”

The climate center opened at the law center in 2009. In October, it launched an online tool with a similar function to the case studies, allowing the public to note actions taken by their state legislatures in response to climate change.

Georgetown University Student Association Secretary of Sustainability Caroline James (COL ’16) praised the climate center for leading research into solutions that prevent further degradation of surrounding ecosystems.

“What is worthy of praise about many of the suggestions about the Climate Center’s proposals is that many of them contain both adaptive measures. It is crucial that our infrastructural projects over the next 10 to 25 years address not only how we will survive effects of climate change, but also provide ways we can diminish its effects in the first place,” James said. “I’m simply glad to see that the Climate Center is being used for on-the-ground projects and research like this.”

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SPORTS

THE HOYA

Tuesday, MARCH 3, 2015

WoMen’s Lacrosse

Out of Our league

East Opens Up for Cavaliers When the Cleveland Cavaliers arranged for their blockbuster signings this past offseason, they had their doubters.

Trading their No. 1 overall draft pick, Andrew Wiggins, for All-Star forward Kevin Love opened the door for comparisons to the Charlotte Hornets trading Kobe Bryant for Vlade Divac in 1996. Successfully courting LeBron James in free agency resulted in worries over chemistry between him, alpha-dog point guard Kyrie Irving and rookie NBA coach David Blatt.

With an opening-night loss to the New York Knicks, the Cavaliers looked destined to suffer from the same growing pains that the Miami Heat encountered in 2011, when James first decided to form a “big three.”

However, five months after their 95-90 loss to the Knicks, the Cavaliers are seeing the Eastern Conference open up in front of them as they hit their stride while teams slowly drop off from their early glory.

The Toronto Raptors burst out of the gate and into the No. 1 spot of the Eastern Conference’s power rankings by the end of November 2014. Unfortunately, things were never the same after DeMar DeRozan tore a groin muscle in the Raptors’ game against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 30.

In the ensuing 21 games without DeRozan, the Raptors went a decent 129, but never returned to the level of success they saw in their hot start. February had been an especially taxing month for the organization, when it dropped seven of its 11 games, leading All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry to comment on how they were “playing like trash.”

The Raptors still hold the No. 2 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, but at the rate they are playing at right now, it

seems highly unlikely that they will end the regular season in the same spot.

The decline of the Raptors appears tame in comparison to the tumbling of the Washington Wizards. Though they were poised to be serious title contenders with a 19-7 record by the end of December, the Wizards have since seen their spells wear off, posting a mediocre 9-8 record in January and a terrible 3-9 record in February.

Unlike the Raptors, the Wizards have

Max Fiege not been harried by any specific injury that they can point to in explaining their slide. Since December, their offensive efficiency has inexplicably dropped by nearly 10 points per 100 possessions, leaving them ahead of only the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets and the Philadelphia 76ers in that category.

The Wizards’ All-Star point guard John Wall has been doing his best to right the ship, but his teammates simply are not champion-caliber players. Bradley Beal has been battling nagging injuries all season, leaving him averaging the same 13.9 points per game that he was putting up as a rookie. Paul Pierce is past his prime, averaging a career-low 12.6 points per game and constantly being harried by wear and tear on his body. Nene, Marcin Gortat and Kris Humphries have not shown the consistency necessary to keep the offense from sputtering out on a

nightly basis.

The biggest domino to fall for Cleveland, however, will be the Chicago Bulls.

Currently hanging on by a thread to the No. 3 seed in the East, the Bulls are likely to be eclipsed by the Cavaliers in the near future, as their roster has been decimated by injuries. Derrick Rose and his torn meniscus are out until at least the beginning of the playoffs. Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson will be sidelined for the majority of March with a hyperextended elbow and a sprained ankle, respectively.

The Bulls’ now-defunct backcourt had been averaging an explosive 38 points and eight assists per game, providing an added dimension to a team that has been characterized primarily by its defensive efficiency in recent seasons under the leadership of head coach Tom Thibodeau. It is hard to envision the Bulls keeping up their winning ways with the burden being placed on rookie Nikola Mirotic and All-Star Pau Gasol, who struggled in Los Angeles when the ability of the teammates around him declined.

Now that the Cavaliers have James, Irving and Love all healthy and playing well with each other, they appear to be on their way to locking down the No. 2 seed in the East. Sporting a pristine 10-0 record in their last 10 games at home, as well as a league-leading 112.7 offensive efficiency in their last 19, the Cavaliers are slated to shake off the weight of their slow start and to give the Atlanta Hawks a run for their money in the Eastern Conference finals.

Max Fiege is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service. OUT OF OUR LEAGUE appears every Tuesday.

indoor track & field

9 Runners Earn Big East Titles CHAMPIONSHIP, from A10

the time you eat dinner and get back to the hotel, you’re wired up and you’re not going to fall asleep when you’ve got to get back up at six in the morning and race the next day.”

Despite the unfavorable timetable, the Hoyas won eight different events on the day en route to another gritty performance by a program that has continued to show great strides in improvement this indoor season. Of the many big performances, sophomore Samantha Nadel’s first-place effort in the 3000-meter race, one day removed from running the 1200-meter leg of the girl’s relay, stood out.

“I actually felt better my second race [Sunday’s 3000m event] than my first race with the relay,” Nadel said. “A lot of people were asking me, ‘If you want to run fast in the 3k, why are you running in the DMR?’ I think if anything, it warmed me up for the Sunday’s race.”

Nadel’s still-fresh legs carried her to her first Big East Championship title as she clocked in at 9:05.97, a personal record that would best her previous record time by over 12 seconds. Instrumental to Nadel’s phenomenal finish was teammate Katrina Coogan, who set

the pace in the event.

“Katrina already had a time that would get her into the NCAA meet in the 3000, so the plan was for her to set the pace for Nadel to get an NCAA qualifying time,” Henner said. “Katrina did a great job and led Samantha for the vast majority of the race until Samantha took over and had an incredible finish to win the race, set the break the Big East meet record and post a time that’s going to get her into the NCAA national meet.”

Nadel was also quick to credit Coogan with her crucial role in the event.

“Katrina Coogan she helped me so much,” Nadel said. “I don’t know if I could’ve run that fast if she hadn’t been in it with me.”

Coogan, despite coming off an 800m race earlier in the day, posted a third-place finish to make the podium alongside her teammate.

“A lot of people wonder how in track and field teamwork comes into play,” Henner said. “This was just a great example of it.”

The men’s team also turned in several impressive performances, including sophomore Nathaniel Gordon’s convincing comeback race in the 500m event.

“I’ve been working back from an injury, and this was only my third or fourth week actually training,” Gordon said. “I strained my hamstring over Christmas break and I’ve been struggling with that all semester. It was really cool that I could even race on Sunday.”

Gordon turned in a dominant performance on Sunday, beating out the nearest competitor by more than two seconds en route to his first Big East title. Gordon also picked up another first-place finish as a part of the men’s 4x400m relay team, when he joined a Georgetown squad made up of middle distance runners Ryan Manahan, Joe White and Billy Ledder to take down the favored DePaul team with a time of 3:16.11.

“We knew we could push ourselves,” Gordon said. “We were expecting DePaul to take it out early and we would have to play catch-up the whole time.

But in the first leg after I passed [DePaul], they never really came back.”

In total, the Hoyas nabbed Big East titles in nine different events, as the men’s team would place third and women’s team place fourth overall.

Hoya Staff Writer Kara Avanceña contributed reporting.

MEN’S TENNIS

3 Singles Matches End in 3 Sets DEPAUL, from A10

Daniel Khanin played at second doubles, but their match went unfinished because DePaul already had won the majority of the doubles matches.

“That’s a really close doubles score and probably could have gone either way, so it could have set the tone for the rest of the match,” Tropiano said.

“As far as how we started in singles, I think we started really well. … I think if we could have taken a couple more first sets in those first few matches it could have turned around.”

Three of the singles matches went into three sets and the remaining

contests were similarly close ones.

Khanin fell at first singles to DePaul senior David Vieyra 2-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Freshman Marco Lam competed in the second singles slot for the Hoyas, falling to DePaul junior Sten Leusink in a 7-5, 6-4 result. Senior Shane Korber’s third singles match was close as well, though he also fell in straights in a 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) finish.

Freshman Peter Beatty’s fourth single match against freshman Alex Galoustian went into three sets, concluding in a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 finish. Graduate student Andrew Dottino lost 7-6 (4-2), 7-5.

“It was just one of those things that’s crazy,” Ernst said. “We lose 7-0, yet I

JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA

Junior Daniel Khanin was one of three Hoyas who lost their singles matches in the third set. Khanin fell at first singles to DePaul senior David Vieyra.

figure that maybe six or seven points decided that match. Usually you lose 4-3 and then you can say ‘Oh it was just a few points,’ but it was actually just a few points here and we lost 7-0. DePaul just won all the big points, so I give them credit.”

Tropiano’s sixth singles match was a true three-set battle. DePaul junior JanWillem Feilzer took the first set 7-5, but Tropiano quickly took the second 6-3.

The third set went into a tiebreaker, but ultimately Tropiano fell to Feilzer 14-12. “[Feilzer] was good, he was very solid,” Tropiano said. “I think there was a different feel to it because the match was already over, but we were still both trying to win obviously. He was good; I don’t think I did too much wrong, other than maybe getting a little tight at the end, but it’s all a learning experience.”

Though the sweep may look disappointing on paper, the match’s closeness exhibited a strong competitive nature.

“My guys competed,” Ernst stated. “[They] competed harder than I’ve seen in years, as a whole team. That’s what I’m so proud of. They played fearless, they didn’t get intimidated. … The overall attitude and competitiveness of the team was what I was most proud of.”

The team may only get one match at Yates per season, and because the old courts are no longer available for use, this match worked as the Hoyas’ “Senior Day” for its spring 2015 season.

Seniors Tropiano, Brosens, Korber and Dottino all celebrated their last match on Georgetown’s campus. “[Ernst] tried to get all the seniors to play in that match because that’s the closet thing to a home match for us,” Tropiano said. “That played a part in trying to get everyone involved.”

STANLEY DAI/THE HOYA

Senior attack Caroline Tarzian led Georgetown with three goals in the team’s loss to Princeton. Tarzian is tied for the team lead in goals.

Hoyas Drop Home Opener to Princeton Chris Balthazard Hoya Staff Writer

In many respects, the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team’s performance against No. 11 Princeton represented a welcome departure from its effort against Delaware on Feb. 14.

Georgetown committed just nine turnovers against Princeton, an improvement from 17 against the Blue Hens two weeks ago. Also unlike in its first game, Georgetown started strong against Princeton, with a pass intercepted by senior defender Adrianne Devine leading to a goal from senior attack Caroline Tarzian within the opening three minutes.

However, the small differences between Georgetown’s (0-2) first two games were not enough, as the team failed to claw back from a 7-1 halftime deficit on its way to an 11-7 loss to Princeton (3-0) on Saturday in its home opener.

Head Coach Ricky Fried recognized the team’s improvement from its opening game, but said that despite the team’s solid second-half performance against the Tigers, there was no such thing as a moral victory.

“It was a good three quarters,” Fried said. “The second quarter, we fell apart defensively. I think a lot of that had to do with [the fact that] when [Princeton] scored a couple of goals, we got tentative. We were tentative on the draw in the first half; we knew that they go hard, they’re aggressive to the ball. And frankly, there were 50-50 balls, and they were just out-hustling us.”

The Hoyas held the Tigers to just two goals through the opening 20 minutes of play, but then conceded five in an eight-minute stretch at the end of the first half, largely due to controlling only two draws in the first two periods of the game.

A 6-5 advantage in second-half draw controls spurred the Hoyas to more possessions and greater control of the game.

“In the second half, we didn’t make an adjustment tactically, but our players on the field got hungrier and decided we weren’t going to just give them the ball,” Fried said. “The problem with that is, in some respects, it’s easy when you’re down 7-1 to go hard, because you can be [the] loser, and you don’t have anything to lose.

We have to find a way to bring that same intensity level to practice every day on a consistent basis so that we’re prepared for that aspect of the game.”

After the halftime break, the Hoyas showed signs of improvement by pressing harder on the defensive end and being more active offensively. A few critical saves from sophomore goalie Maddy Fisher also helped keep the game in the balance.

Tarzian was disappointed in the chances left on the table after the first half.

“We’re just not consistent right now,” Tarzian said. “We kind of sat back on our heels. I think we have to take more advantage of the possessions that we do have. Like in the first half, we didn’t have that many, but we still had nine shots. You have to be able to make sure we’re not going one for nine on every possession, especially when the other team likes to hold the ball longer.”

Tarzian said that she is generally unfazed by the number in front of a team’s name, which, for Princeton, rose to No. 11 after beating No. 9 Loyola Maryland last weekend.

“I don’t think the rankings mean anything, to be honest,” Tarzian said.

“Every week they come out with new rankings. And especially now, when recruiting is so much more widespread and the game is played in more regions of the country than ever, you never know what you’re going to get.

You can be ranked No. 1 and lose to team 35, and the next week it’ll be a whole new set of rankings.”

Though Georgetown held Princeton midfielder Erin Slifer to one goal, sophomore midfielder Olivia Hompe tallied five against the Hoyas.

On the Georgetown side, several players impressed in the team’s overall improved performance.

Tarzian finished with a team-high three goals and sophomore attack Colleen Lovett tallied two.

“Colleen Lovett obviously stepped it up and really was a spark offensively, with her dodges,” Fried said. “We need to shoot better across the board, because we were 7-for-26, but I thought she did well offensively. … I thought [senior defender] Megan Marinelli did a great job off the draws, and was scrappy and hustled. And Tarz always leaves it out on the field. And like what she does or don’t like what she does, you know she’s trying to win.”

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Completed applications are due Friday, March 20, 2015. If you have any questions, please email Interim Director David Lipscomb, dcl@ georgetown.edu.

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SPORTS

tuesday, MARCH 3, 2015

THE HOYA

Men’s Lacrosse

A9

around the district

Early Lead Carries GU to 13-11 Victory Wizards’ Wins See HOFSTRA, A10

the first half. Davis put his team on the board first and finished with three goals, two of which came in the first half, while Malave notched two of his five total goals in the first 30 minutes. Llinares also added one goal for Hofstra at the outset of the second quarter.

However, the second-quarter comeback was the closest Hofstra would come. Georgetown pulled back ahead to end the half at 7-5 and maintained a lead throughout the rest of the game.

“The guys battled, and [Hofstra is] a heck of a team,” Warne said. “We knew they were going to fight back, and they did. Our guys wavered a little bit, but they talked their way through some things, and they just did what they needed to do today.”

The trio of Davis, Malave and Llinares continued to lead the Pride offense in the second half, but the Hoyas warded off their efforts. Freshman goalie Nick Marrocco anchored the Georgetown defense in the net and had a strong performance with 17 saves, earning him the Big East Defensive Player of the Week honor.

On the offensive end, Georgetown kept its lead through the third quarter largely due to graduate student midfielder Gabriel Mendola’s performance with the faceoffs. Mendola won 4-of-6 faceoffs during the period, generating several offensive possessions that resulted in quick goals. The

Pride snuck in two goals during the quarter, but the game went into final period with the Hoyas leading 10-7.

Hofstra threatened Georgetown’s lead throughout the fourth quarter, outscoring Georgetown 4-3 with one goal coming in the form of a goal by Llinares with 38 seconds left in regulation.

Moreover, a faceoff following Llinares’ goal had the potential to keep the momentum rolling in the Pride’s favor, especially since a non-releasable penalty meant Georgetown was a man down on the defensive end.

However, Mendola forced a turnover after Hofstra won the faceoff, and Georgetown ran down the clock to hold onto its first win of the season.

Overall, O’Connor credited the win to fluidity and execution on offense.

“I think the unselfishness and the commitment to our game plan that we had in place … really paid off today,” O’Connor said.

“We had a great game plan, and I thought we executed really well and made a great start.”

Warne agreed that Georgetown’s offensive effort was crucial to the win.

“I don’t think that [our performance] last week is what we are,” Warne said. “The old coaching cliche is that you are what you emphasize, and we emphasized sharing the ball and being smart.”

From here, the frequency of Georgetown’s games will increase. The team will take to the

Dissipate in February See RAAB, A10

CLAIRE SOISSON/THE HOYA

Senior attack and co-captain Reilly O’Connor scored three goals and added one assist in the Hoyas’ 13-11 home win over Hofstra. road for a midweek game Wednesday when it matches up against Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md., followed by a game at home against Hobart on Saturday.

As more games loom in the distance, the team is prepared to take on the challenge of improving its

on-field performances.

“Are we perfect? No. But are we getting better? Yes. And I think that’s the exciting part, and I’m looking forward to getting to practice on Monday and tinkering with a few things, because now we have shorter weeks,” Warne said.

mEN’S bASKETBALL

Hoyas Hunt for 2nd Victory Over Bulldogs See BULLDOGS, A10

24 Providence (20-9, 10-6 Big East), currently tied with Georgetown for third place in the conference, will also have a say in how the seeding shakes out. Depending on how the final week of the regular season goes, any of the three teams could end up behind No. 1 seed Villanova in the No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4 position.

With so many factors out of their control, the Hoyas are, as always, just focusing on one step at a time.

“Next game, next game, next game, next half, next possession.

That’s how we approach it,” Head Coach John Thompson III said.

The victory over Butler at Verizon Center signaled a breakout moment for Copeland — the matchup marked his first regularseason game with more than 20 minutes of playing time, his first

game scoring in double digits and his first game winner — but he played down the moment in a press conference on Monday.

“They recruited us here for a reason,” Copeland said. “I look at [Butler] as every other team and every other game, I just happened to make a big-time shot. I have a lot confidence against them, but I have a lot of confidence in my game as a whole, so I just look forward to playing another good team.”

Originally picked to finish second to last in the Big East, Butler shot to the top of the conference thanks to huge contributions from junior guard Kellen Dunham and junior forward Roosevelt Jones.

Dunham is third in the Big East in points per game and Jones, who scored 28 points against the Hoyas in their last meeting, earned high praise from Thompson.

“He’s so tough. He has — in a positive way — one of the most unortho-

dox games that I’ve seen in a long time. He makes off-balance moves, he makes off-balance shots. For someone who doesn’t shoot threes, you know he’s coming at you and you still can’t stop him,” Thompson said.

Georgetown will rely on team defense to slow down Jones.

“It has to be a group effort — everyone has to deter him,” Thompson said.

In addition to putting a lid on Jones and Dunham, the Hoyas will have to contend with Butler’s home crowd in an arena close to half the size of Verizon Center.

“It’s a crazy arena, it gives them an advantage,” senior forward Mikael Hopkins said.

Last season, the Hoyas beat the Bulldogs in overtime at Hinkle Fieldhouse. When asked if that win last season gave the team confidence they could repeat the feat, Hopkins answered in the affirmative.

“I’m going to say yes,” Hopkins

said, smiling.

The Hoyas will need that confidence as they prepare to head to Indiana. Though the most recent result of the bulldog matchup is on their side, the last four times the two teams have met, the final scores have been decided by eight points or fewer, with two of the games going into in overtime.

Last time, it was Copeland with the heroics, but Thompson says that when the game is on the line, there’s one player who will get the ball: Hoyas leading scorer and Big East Player of the Year contender D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera.

“At the end of the day, [the ball] usually ends up in D’Vauntes’ hands,” Thompson said.

Georgetown tips off against Butler at 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on Fox Sports 1.

Hoya Staff Writer Tom Schnoor contributed reporting.

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Regular Season Ends With 2 Losses Molly O’Connell

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Matt Raab is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service. AROUND THE DISTRICT appears every Tuesday.

WOmen’S basketball

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in dire straits. Washington’s average point total fell to 93 in February, down from the team’s season average of 98, as the team was forced to depend on Rasual Butler and Garrett Temple to fill in on the first team.

Therein lies my biggest gripe with this team.

The Wizards’ front office has assembled an impressive group of starters — a dynamic group that was built to be able to adapt to the changing cast around it. Beal and John Wall, at their best, are one of the top backcourts in the game, with some pundits arguing that Wall and Beal are as good as or better than the Warriors’ standout backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Months later, that suggestion sounds like a joke. Golden State left Verizon Center Feb. 24 with a solid victory over a struggling Wizards squad, as Curry burned Washington for 32 points while the home team turned the ball over 26 times.

The reality is that a subpar roster cannot be sustained by a couple of hotshots in the backcourt. Paul Pierce led the Wizards in that game with 25 points. His veteran presence is fantastic, something that any professional team needs to be successful at the highest level. But at his age, he cannot be the guy the team relies on to step up when one player goes down with injury.

Despite personnel problems, the trade deadline passed with very little action. It never appeared that the Wizards were ever in any serious trade discussions. Point guard Ramon Sessions, who is averaging a mere 5.5 points per game on 33.6 percent shooting from the field, was the sole pickup, shipped over from Sacramento.

My attitude toward this team has been nothing but positive. This is a fun team to watch, a memorable group of NBA talent.

Despite all of this, it is hard not to wonder where it goes from here. For some, the answer lies in a certain future free agent who is currently playing in Oklahoma City. I do not want to enter that conversation; I think it is fantasy to do so.

Others say that Head Coach Randy Wittman needs to go. To me, that is a discussion for the offseason, and it would be impulsive to make that decision now.

Instead, I join with the critics who believe that this team needs to deal with the very real problem of what the rest of its roster will look like in coming seasons. The roster feels cobbled together, and players like Nene and Pierce will not be contributing for much longer.

This team still has the chance to prove itself this year. There are two months left to play, Beal is back and the Eastern Conference is weak.

However, the month of February has proven that the Washington Wizards still have a lot of hurdles to jump to be considered part of the upper echelon of the NBA. Rather than flying through a breakout season, the Wizards now must prove that they have mettle, and that they can bounce back. What happens will have serious implications for the identity and composition of this team.

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Hoya Staff Writer

When the Georgetown women’s basketball team started its season, it was hopeful, but it understood that there was a tough road ahead. Georgetown was a young team without any seniors to look to for leadership and was pegged to finish eighth in a conference of 10 teams.

When the Hoyas (4-26, 2-16 Big East) ended their regular season this past weekend, they finished in 10th place — at the bottom of the Big East — with a losing streak that extended to 14 games.

Georgetown played Creighton (17-12, 10-8 Big East) Friday in its final home game, then travelled to play Providence (623, 3-15 Big East) in their regular season finale. The Hoyas fell to Creighton 71-62 on Friday and were defeated by Providence 81-66 on Sunday.

Georgetown’s defense shined in the first half against Creighton. Sophomore guard Jade Martin came off the bench and sparked Georgetown’s defensive intensity early. The Hoyas forced eight Creighton turnovers and were able to capitalize on those miscues, scoring 15 points off turnovers in the opening period.

“Jade Martin was great,” Head Coach Natasha Adair said. “She rises to the challenge. She is tough as nails and I think she showed that.”

Offensively, freshman center Yazmine Belk led the way for the Hoyas in the first half. Belk poured in nine points before the break and helped to fill the scoring void left by freshman guard Dorothy Adomako. Adomako, who is Georgetown’s leading scorer this season, was held scoreless through the first 20 minutes of play.

The Hoyas started the second half trailing by a seven-point margin, but were able to claw their way back into the game despite trailing for the vast majority of the final period. A 9-0 run brought Georgetown within one point of the Blue Jays with just under four minutes left to play.

However, the Hoyas were unable to overtake Creighton down the stretch.

Three Georgetown turnovers in the last three minutes of the contest allowed Creighton to extend their lead once more for a nine-point victory.

Freshman guard DiDi Burton contributed four points and a steal to the Hoyas’ late-game run. She finished the game with a team-high 13 points to go along

STANLEY DAI/THE HOYA

Freshman guard DiDi Burton contributed a 13 points, a team-high, four assists and three steals in the Hoyas’ loss to Creighton.

with four assists and three steals. “[DiDi] led the team tonight,” Adair said. “I think she had very good floor balance and focus. She put the team on her back down the stretch.”

Junior guard Katie McCormick also stepped up for the Hoyas. McCormick hit three three-pointers on her way to scoring 11 points.

Adomako contributed for the Hoyas after finding her rhythm in the second half, finishing with eight points.

“Coach told me that I needed to be patient and execute,” Adomako said. “I had to have more discipline on the court and I tried to come in the second half and do those things.”

Against Providence, the Hoyas trailed for the entirety of the game. The Friars scored their first basket 15 seconds after tipoff and never looked back. Georgetown trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and could only cut the deficit to nine points before heading into the locker room at halftime.

Georgetown pulled within six points of the Friars early in the second half, but could not maintain that momentum.

Providence eventually extended its lead to a comfortable 22-point margin.

Providence earned a 15-point win despite a valiant effort by McCormick. McCormick sank four three-pointers and exploded for a team-high 19 points, tying her season-high.

“Katie is one of our hardest workers, if not the hardest worker,” Adair said of McCormick, one of the team’s co-captains.

Sophomore forward Faith Woodard also shined for Georgetown against Providence. Woodard scored 17 points for the Hoyas, nine of which came at the free throw line.

Georgetown will look to build on these impressive individual performances as it prepares for the start of the Big East Tournament. Despite the team’s recent struggles, Adair is optimistic about the Hoyas’ postseason prospects.

“We are not done fighting,” Adair said.

“This is not a team that has checked out.

This is not a team that is not hungry anymore.”

SPORTS

Women’s Lacrosse Georgetown (0-2) vs. George Mason (2-1) Wednesday, 6 p.m.

Multi-Sport Facility

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015

TALKING POINTS

SOFTBALL

NUMBERS GAME

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Are we perfect? No. But are we getting better? Yes. And I think that’s the exciting part.”

Inclement weather disrupted Georgetown’s weekend at the Citrus Classic in Florida.

See thehoya.com

MEN’S LACROSSE HEAD COACH KEVIN WARNE

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S LACROSSE

GU Beats Hofstra, Earns 1st Win ELIZABETH CAVACOS

CLAIRE SOISSON/THE HOYA

tices last week in an effort to improve on its 6-0 slow start against Towson.

Their improvements were evident, as the Hoyas came out strong against Hofstra and built a 4-0 lead through the first 10 minutes of the first quarter.

“I think the guys were excited, because I think they understood [the importance of] when you put in work during the week,” Head Coach Kevin Warne said. “We really harped on getting out to a really strong start.”

From the beginning of the game, the Hoyas composed methodical possessions on offense and had little trouble finding open looks against the Pride defense.

Senior attack and co-captain Reilly O’Connor was first to strike for Georgetown when he scored off an assist from senior attack Bo Stafford at 11:52 in the first quarter. Freshman attack Stephen Quinzi followed two minutes later with a goal of his own.

O’Connor and Quinzi played crucial roles in the Georgetown offense — each had a hat-trick by the end of the game, and O’Connor added one assist.

Hofstra sophomore attack Brier Davis, senior midfielder Mike Malave and junior attack Sam Llinares steered the Pride offense through the first half. Davis put his team on

Freshman attack Stephen Quinzi recorded his first career hat trick in his team’s 13-11 win over Hofstra. Quinzi has six goals so far this season.

See HOFSTRA, A9

Hoya Staff Writer

A quick start and patient offensive possessions were crucial to the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team’s (1-2) home victory over Hofstra on

Saturday. The 13-11 decision marked the Hoyas’ first win of the season and was a noticeable improvement from a tough 9-6 loss to No. 15 Towson (3-1) last weekend.

Georgetown worked on establishing a fast pace throughout its prac-

The number of events that runners on the indoor track and field team won at the Big East Championship.

FILE PHOTO: MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA

AROUND THE DISTRICT

Matt Raab

Junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera tied his season-high with 29 points in Georgetown’s loss to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.

INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Hoyas Finish 3rd Seeding at Stake And 4th in Big East In Bulldog Battle JIMMY MCLAUGHLIN

Wizards’ Struggles Continue

T

he month of February has been an unmitigated disaster for the Washington Wizards. Since Jan. 19, the team has plunged from a 29-13 record and a topthree spot in the NBA’s Eastern Conference to a 34-26 record that leaves them in fifth place. In February alone, the Wizards lost nine of their 12 games by an average margin of 10.2 points.

The poor stretch of results is not because of the team’s schedule. While some

to run many of their crucial preliminary races late Saturday evening, only to have to turn around and Following a regular season full race in their final heats early Sunday of record-setting and noteworthy morning. performances, the “The schedule was Georgetown track not a good one this and field team emyear,” Director of barked for New York Track and Field Pat City with high hopes Henner said. “Typifor the 2015 Big cally you’re going East Championship to give the athletes NATHANIEL GORDON meet. close to 24 hours [of] Sophomore runner However, there rest between qualifywas one glaring issue for the Hoyas; ing and finals, but if you run at 10 facility limitations at the 168th o’clock at night [on Saturday], by Street Armory spelled disaster for the team. The Hoyas would be forced See CHAMPIONSHIP, A8

Hoya Staff Writer

“We knew we could push ourselves.”

LAURA WAGNER Hoya Staff Writer

In November, when the Georgetown men’s basketball team (18-9, 10-6 Big East) and Butler (21-8, 10-5 Big East) squared off at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas, Butler came out on top 64-58. When they faced off during conference play at Verizon Center in January, freshman forward Isaac Copeland drained a threepointer with five seconds left on the clock to seal the 61-59 win for Georgetown.

On Tuesday night, the grudge match will tip off at Butler’s fa-

mous Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The third and final installment of regular-season bulldog-versus-bulldog action is far more than a tiebreaker.

Fresh off a 22-point loss to St. John’s (20-9, 9-7 Big East) and preparing to play a game weighted with postseason implications, senior guard Jabril Trawick said it best: “We just need this win. It’s a simple as that.”

The winner of Tuesday night’s meeting will be in a prime position to snag the No. 2 seed going into the Big East tournament. No. See BULLDOGS, A9

MEN’S TENNIS

Home Match Ends in Tough 7-0 Loss MADELINE AUERBACH Hoya Staff Writer

The Washington Wizards face a two-month stretch that will determine the the team’s playoff seeding, future roster and coaching situation. of the Wizard’s losses came against the likes of the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, others were against the league’s bottom dwellers. The Wizards lost twice to a weak Charlotte Hornets team, suffered a 20-point drubbing to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and, most recently, fell to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The lesson of the month is that the Wizards’ roster is simply not deep enough. Shooting guard Bradley Beal struggled at the beginning of the month.

In the four games he played in February, he shot 34 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc. But for an eight-game stretch that comprised the majority of the month, he was left out of the lineup. Leg and toe injuries kept the standout perimeter shooter on the bench and left an already struggling offense

In the team’s first of two matches at home, the men’s tennis team (32, 0-2 Big East) fell to DePaul (8-3, 3-0 Big East) this past Friday, losing 7-0 to a Big East rival on the Hoyas’ home courts at Yates.

Nonetheless, the match was much closer than the 7-0 score makes it seem. Both of the doubles matches were tight, concluding in 8-6 and 8-5 finishes for first doubles and third doubles, respectively.

“It was just heartbreaking because we played so, so well,” Head Coach Gordie Ernst said. “The whole team played a great match. I’m definitely proud of them, but you give credit to DePaul, they handled everything we threw at them.”

After falling to St. John’s (4-5, 1-0 Big East) in its first conference contest back in February, Georgetown hoped to boost its overall Big East record with a home victory over DePaul in Yates Field House. However, DePaul triumphed down the stretch, beating the Hoyas in both doubles and singles play.

Senior Alex Tropiano and sophomore Jordan Portner competed at first doubles, while senior John Brosens and freshman Mac Rechan played in the third doubles spot.

Sophomore Jack Murphy and junior

See RAAB, A9

See DEPAUL, A8

JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA

Freshman Peter Beatty has won four of his six singles matches so far this season. He suffered a close three-set loss to DePaul’s Alex Galoustian on Friday as the Blue Demons defeated the Hoyas 7-0.

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