GU Community Protests Detention of Pro-Palestine Student Activist at
Nora Toscano
Senior News Editor
Roughly 100 Georgetown University students and community members walked out of classes March 11 to protest the federal detainment of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student organizer and activist at Columbia University. Federal immigration officers detained Khalil, a lawful U.S. permanent resident and prominent activist during proPalestine student protests at Columbia last spring, in his university student housing March 8. Khalil’s detainment incited concerns about violations of First Amendment rights as the Trump administration justified his detainment based on Trump’s executive order prohibiting antisemitism. The Georgetown chapter of
Columbia
Faculty and Staff for Justice and Palestine (FSJP), an organization that advocates for Palestinian liberation, and Zeytoun, a group of Georgetown graduate students advocating for decolonization in southwest Asia and north Africa, organized the walkout. During the walkout, students went to Red Square and chanted “Free, free Palestine,” “ICE off our campuses” and “From Palestine to Mexico, all the laws have got to go.” Mark Lance, a professor emeritus of philosophy and founding director of Georgetown’s Justice and Peace Studies program, spoke at the walkout and said attendees aimed to support student protesters amid Trump administration promises to deport or expel pro-Palestine college student organizers. See WALKOUT, A7
ARI CITRIN/THE HOYA
On March 11, Georgetown community members protested the federal detention of Palestinian student organizer Mahmoud Khalil.
Students React to GULC Dean’s DEI Defense
Ruth Abramovitz GUSA Desk Editor
Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) Dean William Treanor rejected warnings from Washington, D.C.’s top federal prosecutor that his office will stop hiring GULC students unless the school ceases its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) curriculum in a March 6 letter.
Ed Martin, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, sent a letter to Treanor on March 3 describing Georgetown’s DEI curriculum as “unacceptable” and advising
GU Students Call For Innovation, AccessibilityinNewGUPresident
Nora Toscano and Jack Willis Senior News Editors
As Georgetown University continues its search for its 49th president, undergraduate students say they want the next president to commit to diversity, adhere to Jesuit values and offer forward-thinking responses to the contemporary political climate.
The Hoya interviewed six undergraduates across class years and schools to learn how they view the university’s ongoing search for longtime president John J. DeGioia’s (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) successor. DeGioia, now president emeritus, suffered a stroke June 5 and retired Nov. 21 after serving as university president for 23 years; the university’s presidential search committee aims to have his
replacement in place by July 1, 2026.
Overall Values
Isabella Pamias (CAS ’27) said she hopes the new president prioritizes respect in their approach to university operations.
“Being a Jesuit institution, the president should, of course, embody those values, but also adapt them to contemporary needs,” Pamias told The Hoya. “For me, I believe that respect and particularly empathy must be at the core of their leadership approach, having respect for diverse perspectives within the academic community and also empathy for the varied experiences of not just students but faculty and staff.”
Karenna Warden (CAS ’25), the service chair of Alpha Sigma Nu, the national Jesuit honor society, said she
feels a Georgetown graduate could offer a unique sense of familiarity with campus needs as president.
“In Georgetown’s next president, I think one of the most important things would be that they’re really familiar with our university and its needs,” Warden told The Hoya. “I feel like that would most likely come from a graduate of Georgetown. I know DeGioia was a graduate, and I feel like his experience as an undergrad here probably informed a lot of his really good work as our last president.”
Full Disclosure: Karenna Warden was The Hoya’s City News Desk in the Fall 2023 semester.
Ethan Henshaw (CAS ’26), the president of the Georgetown University Student Association
See PRESIDENT, A7
him that his office, the largest federal attorney’s office in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), would not consider GULC students for professional opportunities while the policy stood — raising concerns among Georgetown students and faculty. In his response, Treanor emphasized how First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion prohibit the government from controlling Georgetown’s curriculum.
Treanor said the First Amendment protects Georgetown’s professors, curricula and educational mission.
“Your letter informs me that
your office will deny our students and graduates government employment opportunities until you, as Interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, approve of our curriculum,” Treanor wrote in the letter. “Given the First Amendment’s protection of a university’s freedom to determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution.”
While the Department of Education can dictate
policy initiatives, the federal government cannot dictate the curriculum of private universities. The federal government can, however, threaten to pull funding for specific programs if an institution is noncompliant with federal law. Martin’s letter comes after President Trump signed a Jan. 20 executive order to end DEI programs, policies and activities across the federal government. A university spokesperson said nothing within GULC’s programming violates the law or is preferential to certain identities
See DEAN, A7
RA Union, GU Propose Articles On Compensation in Bargaining
Maren Fagan and Aamir Jamil Executive Editors
After nearly seven months of negotiations, Georgetown University resident assistants and the university are nearing a final agreement on a union contract.
The Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition (GRAC), the organization representing Georgetown University resident assistants (RAs) in collective bargaining negotiations, completed their ninth and tenth rounds of negotiations with university officials Feb. 25 and March 13.
During the two sessions, the two sides negotiated agreements on training and job descriptions before exchanging offers on compensation, one of three packaged provisions remaining.
Sam Lovell (CAS ’25), the interim chairperson of GRAC and an RA in Copley Hall, said the session was productive, but negotiations will continue.
“We received an offer, and it’s one that we have to work a little bit more at toward a final agreement, but certainly it was a good first step,” Lovell told The Hoya. “I think that we’ve set our expectations and set ourselves up to succeed.”
During the Feb. 25 negotiations, GRAC and the university tentatively agreed to an article regarding training and language related to RA sanctioning and guidelines. At the March 13 meeting, GRAC and the university tentatively agreed on job descriptions, outlining the specific duties expected for RAs, before beginning negotiations
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
The District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s Office sent a letter to the Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) dean warning against a continuation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) curriculum, sparking concerns among the Georgetown community.
OLIVIA HOLMBERG/THE HOYA The Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition and Georgetown University addressed compensation at a March 13 negotiation.
ELLA WAN/THE HOYA Georgetown University students emphasized inclusion, loyalty to Jesuit values and dynamic responses to federal policy changes in the search for Georgetown’s 49th president.
Mike Johnson Speaks at GU Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reiterated his support for the ‘America
package.
The Poignant Handmaiden Celeste Viana (SFS ’26) explores romance and trickery in Japanese-occupied Korea in ‘The Handmaiden.’
Simplify Housing After Study Abroad
For many Georgetown University students, studying abroad is a rite of passage, an opportunity to see new places, learn new languages and immerse themselves into new cultures. While this process naturally brings logistical hurdles from passports to visas to new enrollments, the university has added a new challenge for many students: a confusing and uncertain housing process.
On March 1, the university notified students intending to study abroad during the Fall 2025 semester about the status of their applications, kicking off a 10-day sprint to make arrangements for housing before the first phase of housing applications opened March 10. According to Georgetown’s Office of Residential Living, students going abroad in the fall can apply for a “hold” on their housing, which would allow them to be assigned to their selected housing when they return in the spring semester. However, since applications are randomly sorted and only a very limited number of students actually obtain this approval, many students planning to study abroad are left to navigate the housing process on their own, desperately searching for students who intend to go in the spring and can “swap out” for them.
The channels through which students can coordinate with their peers remain relatively unorganized and chaotic — and as there are only 10 days for students to find housing partners, students face stressful time constraints. The process leaves students scrambling to find potential roommates and housing options, forcing them to accept any remaining option — however inconvenient it may be.
The Editorial Board calls on Residential Living to provide students with a streamlined system that clarifies and eases the housing process for those studying abroad in the fall. Residential Living should establish an official mechanism for students leaving for the fall to connect with students planning to study abroad in the spring — or increase the number of available study abroad holds.
Diya Gundlapalli (CAS ’27), who plans to study abroad in Fall 2025, said the complicated housing process is counterintuitive to the university’s requirements.
“It’s very frustrating that Georgetown requires us to live on campus but does not help students at all in navigating the housing situation for study abroad,” Gundlapalli told TheHoya. “My friends and I have been thinking about this for months and are still unclear about many parts of the process.”
The only current option for students coordinating with each other to find a potential “swap” — aside from word-of-mouth — are GroupMe chats with names like “2025-26 On-Campus Housing.” However, these group chats are often disorganized, ultimately doing very little to support students.
Residential Living should step in where students alone cannot, establishing a new, centralized system to connect students who are going abroad for the fall with those who intend to go abroad in the following spring. They could cre-
HOYA HISTORY
ate a new version of the existing “CHARMS” system, which matches first-years to roommates, simplifying students’ process rather than forcing them to rush to ask each other individually before the firs† phase of housing begins.
At the very least, Residential Living needs to provide students studying abroad with more information on housing options by holding information sessions, hosting drop-in appointments or just sending out emails.
A university spokesperson emphasized that students should familiarize themselves with the housing policies.
“Students abroad should regularly check the Residential Living website for information about the selection process,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “We strongly encourage students with concerns to contact Residential Living early in the process to ensure their ability to meet the required deadlines.”
Yet the information Residential Living currently provides is not only limited but contradictory. Although it has since been changed, up until March 12, the “Selection Handbook” tab stated that the application for study abroad holds is open March 14-15. However, the same site includes a “Selection Calendar” tab that states the deadline was Feb. 26-27 — two weeks ago. Residential Living lacks resources for students to navigate housing, and students further cannot rely on them for accurate information on an already complicated process.
Optimizing the means by which students can select their preferred roommates will further reduce the chaos and frustration many students experienced on returning to the Hilltop this spring. The housing policy as it stands placed many students who returned from abroad into random housing assignments, some of which were not even meant to accommodate an additional third person.
Mia Streitberger (CAS ’26) said her housing group has had a frustrating experience upon their return this spring.
Full disclosure: Mia Streitberger is an assistant copy editor at The Hoya.
“We all ended up getting placed in any open spots they had on campus with random roommates, which none of us expected coming back as juniors in the spring,” Streitberger wrote to TheHoya. “My friends and I called housing multiple times to exactly understand what our options were and at one point got told totally different information.”
Streitberger’s experience makes even clearer the need for more clarity and more resources for students going abroad in the housing process. The Editorial Board calls on Residential Living to establish an official communication system between students studying abroad in the fall and those planning to go abroad in the subsequent spring semester.
The Hoya’s Editorial Board is composed of six students and is chaired by the opinion editors. Editorials reflect only the beliefs of a majority of the board and are not representative of The Hoya or any individual member of the board.
Since its first issue in 1920, The Hoya has served to inform Georgetown’s campus dialogue. The following article is a glimpse into The Hoya’s rich history, allowing readers to appreciate the evolution of college journalism.
Forty Frosh Remain In Housing Limbo
September 8, 1972
The housing office has decided that 40 of the 70 freshmen who were displaced by this week’s room shortage will remain housed in their “temporary” accommodations.
The 70 students were assigned to temporary beds Sunday after a communications snag between the housing and admissions offices led the housing staff to believe that freshman enrollments would be lower than the actual size of the incoming class.
Many of the freshmen had received permanent room assignments by Thursday afternoon. However, the housing office announced that freshmen lodged in large triple rooms in Loyola, Ryan and New North dormitories may stay there indefinitely. Students who were placed in doubles on 3rd Old North also will remain in their temporary rooms.
The Old North rooms each housed only one student last year.
Bunk beds rented from American University are being moved into the new double and triple rooms.
The housing office said that extra bureaus and furniture have been ordered for the rooms where extra students are housed.
Optimizing the means by which students can select their preferred roommates will further reduce the chaos and frustration many students experienced on returning to the Hilltop this spring.”
The Editorial Board “Simplify Housing After Study Abroad” thehoya.com
On March 10, Georgetown University undergraduate students began the housing selection process for the 20252026 school year. Some students returning from abroad this past fall semester were separated from their intended roommates, forced into triples or placed in dorms intended for sophomores. This week, the Editorial Board argued that the housing system should be improved and stream-
EDITORIAL CARTOON by Heather Wang
admission at Georgetown.
“The possibility isn’t even raised when we talk to high school students,” Chalmers said. “We tell them they’ll be housed in doubles and singles, period.”
“The rooms in Ryan, Loyola and 4th New North will be the last to be untripled,” Housing Director Miss Forsyth said Thursday.
The confusion is the result of distinction made by housing officials between two categories of displaced freshmen. One category, which totaled about 30 students, included freshmen who were placed temporarily in rooms too small for extra residents.
The second category was assigned to rooms large enough for additional occupants, the housing office said. The 40 students included in this group are housed on 3rd Old North and in Loyola, Ryan and 4th New North.
Although Miss Forsyth claimed that the new double rooms on 3rd Old North were as large as permanent double rooms in the New North dormitory, another housing employee said that “many of the Old North rooms aren’t a third of the size of rooms in New North.”
In a related development, Assistant Director of Admissions Joseph Chalmers said Thursday that the incoming freshmen did not know they would be placed in triple rooms when they applied for
Although Director of Housing Suzanne Forsyth said last week that freshmen displaced by the housing shortage should have been placed in “one or two weeks,” one source on the housing staff revealed Wednesday that “it looks like a lot of people aren’t going to get out in a couple of weeks.”
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The mixup began in May, when the admissions office told housing officials that the freshman class would be smaller than the number of available room spaces.
There were other students who needed the extra spaces, the housing office decided. As a result, 20 beds were assigned to upperclassmen who were excluded from campus housing by the lottery conducted last spring.
The admissions office soon reversed itself and said that the freshman class would be larger than the original projection.
What happened next is unclear.
Admissions claimed that it sent a memo to the housing staff on June 5, warning that additional freshmen should be expected on Sept. 3.
Miss Forsyth denied she ever received the memo. No such document could be found in her files, she said.
By late August, however, it became clear that 70 freshmen had to be put somewhere. A frantic scramble began to find room space.
Currently 28 rooms in Loyola and Ryan remain as triples.
Andy Lang
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Don’t Abandon Your Artistic Passions, Creativity At College
Entering college, students undergo some natural shedding. Perhaps they stop playing an instrument or abandon their favorite sitcom, strictly because their new schedule is not compatible with former passions. As we change in this new environment, however, we should be cautious about what we choose to lose.
I did not plan on doing theater when I came to Georgetown University. I had already told my friends and family I was leaving my theater experience in the past. Sure, I enjoyed theater in high school, but continuing to perform in college felt somewhat childish and, quite honestly, lame. I thought to myself, “Am I really still going to do this? In college?” There was so much more that I thought I could be doing with my time.
I held firm to this plan until I showed up to campus. My newest friend — the first person to reach out to me from the class of 2028 Instagram page — dragged me to the “O-Show” in the Village C Theatre, organized by Georgetown’s cocurricular theater groups for incoming students to see the different organizations perform. I recall waiting at the bottom of the steps to the theater, torn between retreating back into my dorm and sticking it out to get to know my new friend and his roommate.
Before I could bail, I was corralled into the overcrowded black box and seated in the front row, where everything moved at a mile a minute.
Upperclassmen assured me, “We’re so glad you’re all here!
You’re going to love it!” Soon, the lights dimmed, and the O-Show began.
The show was not magical, nor was it awe-inspiring.
An advertisement for cocurricular theater disguised as a spoof of the “Mean Girls” musical, the show was not high art, but still hilariously strung together. It showed me what theater in college could look like: a lot of fun. So, out of the fear of missing out, I filled out a form to get involved, and I have not looked back since. And after every
production, I get roped into the next — and I could not be happier about it. The arts have always been such an important part of my life. I cannot believe I ever considered giving them up for something more “serious.” In college — and especially at a place as pre-professionally oriented as Georgetown — we must not abandon the arts.
Sure, I understand that time at Georgetown is valuable and that field-relevant experiences are important for constructing an employable profile before graduation. But I simply cannot fathom how pre-professional consulting could be more fulfilling than performing alongside your friends or how managing an investment portfolio could be more worthwhile than painting portraits of your loved ones.
Beyond fulfillment, the arts offer new dimensions for a person to explore: substantial creative experiences that can be applied in many contexts of the real, working world. Much of the arts blend collaboration with the creative, which often develop independently. Developing these two skills together uniquely positions those in the arts to balance personal and group ambitions.
Why waste the opportunities that the arts offer by only choosing club organizations that fit neatly on your resume? If college is truly the time to find yourself, why not do what you really want now, before you are consumed by the obligations of a future career?
So, this is a message to the person I could have been — the one who left the arts behind: There is so much more to your college experience. Give yourself the grace to do the things that truly make you happy. Reconnecting with the arts may feel like a waste of precious time, but there is nothing more precious than your own passions. And while some things are meant to be left behind, the arts — and your own creative self-expression — should not be one of them.
Stratton Rebish is a firstyear in the College of Arts & Sciences.
VIEWPOINT • SLONIEWSKY
Think Beyond Your On-Campus Echo Chamber
At Georgetown University, students take pride in their rigorous participation in a wide range of clubs, whether they be political, pre-professional finance or business organizations, or social groups. These organizations play a central role in campus life, providing students with a space to discuss, organize and advocate for their beliefs.
While these clubs offer a sense of community and a platform for leadership, they also contribute to intellectual echo chambers. By surrounding themselves with like-minded individuals, students often reinforce their pre-existing views instead of challenging them, creating an environment where people rarely consider or even hear opposing perspectives.
This problem, while seemingly only an issue for political organizations, extends to nearly all groups on campus. Business and finance clubs often focus exclusively on career-building without considering the broader social or ethical implications of their fields. Even academic groups, such as debate societies or student journalism outlets, sometimes lean toward dominant narratives, subtly discouraging dissenting voices.
At Georgetown, a university that prides itself on global perspectives, this ideological siloing creates a paradox. Instead of cultivating a truly diverse and intellectually vibrant community, we risk fostering
Measure Student Belonging Better
On Feb. 18, every member of the Georgetown University student body received an email invitation to participate in a university Cultural Climate Survey, intended to gather information on students’ sense of belonging on campus.
However, despite the survey’s noble purpose, it is poorly designed: A combination of its leading question style, vague terminology and disputable underlying assumptions obstruct its aim of truly representing Georgetown’s student body. More broadly, the survey is not the best method of accomplishing the administration’s goals; rather, to understand students’ concerns about belonging at Georgetown, it should be more attentive to the existing mechanisms for students to voice their concerns.
The survey’s problems begin with the design of its questions. On page one, the survey includes statements beginning with “there are enough,” asking students to agree or disagree with each statement. Such statements include, “At Georgetown, there are enough opportunities for me to connect with people from my cultural communities,” or “At Georgetown, there are enough opportunities to positively impact my cultural communities.” However, these questions simply do not provide the capacity for students to respond with real discontent. Possible responses to these questions, on a scale of “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree,” create a tipped scale of “administration isn’t doing enough” to “administration is doing enough” in practice. This fails to leave room for those who feel the administration has done too much: Some Georgetown students believe that too much is spent on diversity initiatives. That does not mean that administrators should cater to them, and it does not mean that I am one of them. But any survey meant to be taken seriously for educational governance and fiscal planning must account for that viewpoint; the fact that this one’s style of questioning
obstructs it is a misstep that foils its basic premise of inclusion. These problems are further exacerbated by ambiguous terminology throughout the survey. The survey leads with a definition of a “cultural community” as a permeable label for any group, ranging from national identity and organized religions to a student’s childhood neighborhood. With such an elastic definition, how are students meant to provide concrete answers to questions like, “At Georgetown, there are enough opportunities to positively impact my cultural communities?” My opinion on the matter is predicated on the meaning of that phrase. On page two of the survey, the consequences of this vague phrasing become even more apparent. Embroiled in questions like, “In general, people at Georgetown help each other succeed,” is the question of who “people” are. Students? Administrators? Faculty? My answers to these questions are wholly dependent on that definition, and so is any action the university might take to improve that “metric” in the future. I searched for a methodology to explain all of this. While Georgetown did not make public its methodology for this survey, it previously made the methodology of a similar 2022 survey of faculty, the “Faculty Climate Survey,” available online. Yet that survey’s eight-page appendix devoted to methodology makes no mention of question construction or definitions of relevant terminology — instead, most of its eight pages are devoted to nonresponse bias.
As respondents at the receiving end of any changes made in response to the survey results, students should have access to a methodology that is far more inclusive and comprehensive. Beyond that, the methodology uncovers another important issue:
To ensure the survey’s results are representative of the student body, the university balances it by factors like race/ethnicity, household income, level of parental education, gender,
sexual orientation, disability status and religious affiliation. This suggests that these identities are at the center of students’ belief that they belong at Georgetown.
Interestingly, however, the survey does not ask for the respondent’s class year. While the 2022 faculty survey was balanced for length of tenure , this year’s student survey was not. Class year is indisputably a central factor of a student’s sense of belonging; a senior will likely feel like they belong more than a first-year, no matter what communities they identify themselves with.
The goals of this survey have potential to be worthwhile. I appreciate that the administration is focused on improving students’ sense of belonging on campus.
That being said, through the survey’s suggestive prompting, unclear phrasing and ignorance of the importance of a student’s class year, it obstructs itself from truly representing Georgetown’s student body and therefore will fail to comprehensively, constructively and accurately evaluate institutional practices.
But,inreality,theseloftygoalsarenot achieved best by a survey, and student belonging should not be defined by quantitative metrics. Instead, student life should be studied through closer attention to the actions of elected student government, campus media and identity- or issue-based advocates alongside more reliable channels of contact with administrators. As students, we should be primarily enabled to improve our experience at Georgetown through mechanisms already in place to voice our concerns.
Page six of the survey states: “I am confident that Georgetown will use the findings of this survey to take action.” Yes, I am confident that the survey will be used that way. But it’s revealing that there’s no place to indicate that I have little faith in those actions’ roots in true student opinion.
Peter Sloniewsky is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences.
an environment where students engage with each other’s viewpoints only on a surface level. Students will talk about, but not truly interact with, new ideas or the people behind them due to preconceived notions and biases. This limits the depth of understanding and meaningful exchange that is essential for holistic growth.
The challenge, then, is to preserve the benefits of these organizations while encouraging intellectual cross-pollination.
Some clubs have structured themselves to embrace new ideas that oppose those of the dominant narrative. For example, the Philodemic Society aims to bridge divides by encouraging structured debates across ideologies and collaborating with various clubs to discuss contested issues.
Additionally, programs like the GU Politics Fellows bring professional, diverse voices to campus for students to engage with.
However, these initiatives remain the exception rather than the rule. If Georgetown truly seeks to foster intellectual diversity, it must move beyond the illusion of open debate and actively encourage students to engage with uncomfortable ideas — not just argue against them, but truly understand them.
Debate has always been central to Georgetown’s academic culture, whether in classrooms, student organizations or campus
publications. Students are quick to challenge policies and argue their positions. But even these debates have faults. Too often, they become more about performance than authentic intellectual exchange; the focus shifts to crafting the perfect rebuttal, rather than engaging with the opposing argument.
Real conversations require a different approach. They involve putting aside your motives and agenda to instead listen with the intent to understand, ask questions out of curiosity and recognize the nuance in ideas that might initially seem foreign or threatening. When students push themselves to engage with ideas that challenge their worldviews, they not only sharpen their thinking but also gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of the issues they care about.
At Georgetown specifically, the student body, like other elite institutions, usually leans politically left. Especially being in Washington, D.C., a city that is extremely blue, conservative or contrarian viewpoints can feel sidelined. Political organizations, casual conversations and academic discussions on campus frequently reinforce dominant narratives rather than truly question them.
If the university is committed to intellectual diversity, it must create spaces where disagreement is not merely tolerated but actively
encouraged. Students need to challenge each other without fear of social alienation. Georgetown’s culture of engagement is one of its greatest strengths. However, the university must make this engagement meaningful rather than performative. Too often, students mistake agreement for understanding, surrounding themselves with people who reaffirm their beliefs instead of challenging them. A campus that values open debate cannot thrive if certain viewpoints are quietly sidelined, or if disagreement is seen as a personal attack rather than an opportunity for growth. If Georgetown wants to live up to its ideals of diversity and inquiry, it must foster environments where students not only defend their beliefs but interrogate them. The challenge becomes for each of us to step outside our echo chambers. Attend a meeting of a political club from which you don’t align. Read sources that challenge your assumptions. Engage in real conversations, not just debates, with people who think differently. If Georgetown is to be a place of genuine intellectual engagement, it starts with us choosing to listen as much as we argue.
Aashi Bagaria is a first-year in the School of Foreign Service. This is the third installment of her column “Grey Matters.”
Balance Future, Belonging, Opinions
Welcome back, advice lovers. Spring break is over, and that means the post-vacation stress is coming for us all. But don’t worry, I’m here to ease some of your stress and answer all your questions — this week, you’ve got some big ones. If this week’s column doesn’t solve all your problems, submit whatever’s keeping you up at night to the anonymous form on The Hoya’s website, and I’ll do my best to help you out.
I’m a junior and I’m starting to get freaked out about the fact that I’m graduating in a year and I have to figure out my future before then. I’ve gone on a few dates with someone I like a lot, but I don’t know what my plans are after I graduate, and I’m worried about getting too invested since we might end up going in different directions. Is it worth seeing where this goes or am I setting myself up to get hurt?
It’s totally normal to be anxious about your post-grad future — we all are! But it’s important to remember that you have plenty of time before graduation to figure out what interests you. Even then, you don’t have to decide what the rest of your life will look like immediately. It can be helpful to take a step back and realize that your plans for your life will likely change over time, so it’s completely okay if you don’t know what you should do a few years down the road. And while this concern can be overwhelming when it comes to relationships, you should absolutely go for it if you really like this person. Although it can feel like there’s a time crunch with graduation, you have over a year before either of you go anywhere, and that’s a really long time! Planning can be valuable, but if you’re constantly trying to predict how you’ll feel in the future, you won’t be able to be happy in the present. Give yourself permission to take things week by week with this person instead of looking years down the road. Most importantly, enjoy the time you have left on the Hilltop!
My friends really don’t like my boyfriend and it’s starting to cause problems every time we hang out.
I don’t want to break up with my boyfriend, so how can I get them to stop bringing this up?
Have your friends told you why they don’t like your boyfriend? If they don’t like his personality or just haven’t clicked with him, then you are absolutely justified to tell them you aren’t interested in hearing their commentary anymore. Good friends will respect your choices and keep their opinions to themselves. If they don’t, you might want to spend less time with them. However, if they don’t like him because they’re worried about you or your safety, that’s something to listen to. Sometimes friends can pick up on dynamics that are hard to see from inside the relationship, and they may be trying to tell you something that’s difficult to hear.
Have a conversation with your friends and see whether or not their reasoning resonates with you. Odds are, they just want you to be happy — if you are, that should be enough for them to drop the issue.
I’ve been at Georgetown for almost two years and I still don’t feel like I belong. Even though my grades aren’t that bad, I constantly feel like everyone in class is smarter than me and is more likely to succeed in the future. I know
realistically that this is imposter syndrome, but how do I start to get over this?
Imposter syndrome can be really tough, especially at Georgetown. It can feel like everyone is perfectly balancing schoolwork, extracurriculars and jobs without any anxiety. It’s important to remind yourself that you’re just as qualified to be here as everyone else in your classes, and even if they don’t seem like they’re struggling, at some point they’ve probably experienced the same worries you have. Taking a moment to remember this can go a long way when you’re feeling overwhelmed and can take some of the pressure off to succeed all the time. If you feel like you don’t belong at Georgetown, it can also help to expand what you’re involved in — new clubs and extracurriculars, even nearly two years into college, can be a great way to find a community focused on something that interests you. Finding a group of people passionate about the same things as you can eliminate a lot of the stress about feeling out of place, and hopefully make you feel more comfortable for your last two years here. Good luck — I’m rooting for you!
Caroline Brown is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences. This is the third installment of her column “Calling in With Caroline.”
Views Not of My Employer: The Politically Savvy, Trendy DC Influencer
Paulina Inglima, Catherine Alaimo and Ruth Abramovitz
Senior Features Editors and GUSA Desk Editor
Washington, D.C.’s influencer scene is evolving, revealing for creators a unique balancing act of career ambitions, online presence and political dynamics in the U.S. capital.
In many Washingtonians’ imagination, the guest list at high-profile political gatherings might include diplomats, members of the U.S. Congress and world leaders, all angling for a picture with the president.
Increasingly, though, a new cast of characters has been entering the Washington, D.C. social circle: D.C.-based social media influencers, whose accolades come more in the form of Instagram followers or likes than Nobel Prizes or political appointments — and who definitely know how to get a selfie with the president.
Among this year’s White House Christmas party guests was Emma McMorran (GRD ’22), an influencer who goes by the handle @emmamcmorran and has gained over 56,000 Instagram followers documenting her life in D.C. and work at Georgetown University’s Maria & Alberto De La Cruz Gallery.
McMorran said she was initially shocked when the invitation to the celebration popped into her inbox.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, what am I doing?’” McMorran told The Hoya.
“It was very cool. I did wonder if the email, the outreach email invitation, was spam at first.”
With over half of Generation Z members in the United States using apps like TikTok to hunt for brand recommendations, being an influencer has become increasingly profitable. Companies sponsor full-time creators to target consumers through social media. And though D.C.’s media scene is typically home to C-SPAN recordings of congressional hearings and nightly news broadcasts presented by perfectly coiffed anchors, the city is becoming a burgeoning scene for creators.
McMorran said the D.C. influencer scene is small, especially compared to New York City’s, but brimming with talented and supportive creators.
“When a brand does come to D.C. and really utilizes D.C., there are concentrated and great creators here,” McMorran said.
“It’s just often overlooked because New York is right there.”
“But the benefit of it is that the creator community here, everyone I’ve met is really lovely,” McMorran added. “The people are positive. They generally want to get to know each other and support each other.” However, amid the glitz and glamour of museum parties and diplomatic events, influencers in a company town like D.C. face a unique set of challenges: political entanglements, “views not of my employer” disclosures and full-time careers.
Rachel Yep, who goes by the
Instagram handle @dcdimsumgirl, pencils in time to film content around 10-hour shifts as a nurse practitioner at a District hospital — where her followers have occasionally recognized her in the operating room.
Yep said she often worries that the stereotype of influencers as frivolous may lead the doctors she works with and the patients she treats to regard her as less qualified.
“One thing about being an influencer is sometimes I worry that people won’t take me seriously at work because of that,” Yep told The Hoya. “It’s really important for me to be perceived as a hardworking provider there. I’m trying to find a balance of trying to stay professional.”
Meet Your D.C. Creators
D.C. influencers aren’t one-sizefits-all — some profile events and restaurants to try while some advocate for their political beliefs, but all of them have a unique path to internet stardom.
Spies, espionage and family secrets launched Maria Comstock’s career as an influencer, which would eventually draw her into the world of D.C. social media.
Comstock began filming Q&A videos with her father on the account @mariaisabellecomstock a year after she found out her father had been a U.S. spy, reaching millions of TikTok users who were just as captivated as she was about his past.
Comstock also curates comedy and lifestyle content for a side account, @possiblymaria, with an audience of more than 100,000 followers. The account first took off when she was a California college student posting satirical videos poking fun at the “mean girls” she met in her sorority.
After graduating from college, Comstock moved to the District and refocused her satirical content on Washingtonian fixtures — couples who met as staffers on Capitol Hill or Corepower Yoga devotees. Comstock said she strives to ground her content in her everyday experiences and observations.
“Everything I post has been based on things I heard people say in real life, and I think that really reaches an audience,” Comstock told The Hoya. Maddie Smith, meanwhile, an influencer who goes by the Instagram handle @onthemovewithmad, spotlights food and travel in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, friends bombarded Smith, who is from nearby Montgomery County, Md., with requests for recommendations, leading her to start a food Instagram account.
Smith said she hoped to share her D.C.-area insider tips with a broader community searching for things to do amid pandemic-era social distancing restrictions.
“I had that innate market knowledge from growing up here, of restaurants I’ve been going to since I was a kid and the different areas of the city,” Smith told The Hoya. “I thought it would be a fun way to connect with people in the community and show people things that they could do and still be COVID-safe with outdoor dining and everything else.”
Jade Womack, an influencer with over 134,000 followers, runs @clockoutdc on Instagram to curate graphics compiling upcoming events or ideas for inexpensive first dates in the city.
Womack said the inspiration for Clock Out D.C. came from her childhood experiences riding the Metro throughout D.C. with her mom to cultural festivals and events. With little free time as an adult, Womack had to get creative with finding fun things to do on weeknights. This situation led her to start Clock Out D.C. to publicize lists of low-cost events in the District for her popular blog and Instagram page.
Womack said she attempts to promote quirky events run by small businesses that take bigger risks to host events while competing with nationally renowned attractions.
“I’ll hear about events to share from the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian — they have people full-time on staff whose sole job is to do that,” Womack said.
“Your local bar that’s trying to house a drag show or a fun book swap doesn’t have the people to do that for them.”
Womack said her content tends to reach D.C.-area residents, rather than tourists. She targets people who have explored the main tourist attractions and events in D.C. and are now looking for something new.
“I think that my audience are people that are just looking for maybe three or four more adjectives to describe an event,” Womack said.
Womack said the high proportion of college students and young professionals in the city helps her market events.
“I know people who can go out on a Wednesday night and go to a lecture about space, who can go to a beer festival on the weekend and they don’t have to get a babysitter,” Womack said.
“So the demographics also really help for the city to be able to foster these fun events and big things to do.”
Yep, meanwhile, chronicles her day-to-day life, beginning at 5 a.m. as she squeezes in a workout or run before scrubbing up for long shifts at the hospital
and ending at a hip D.C. restaurant. She said she hopes her content resonates with an audience of working people like herself looking to find outlets from their packed work weeks.
“I really have to prioritize my free time, because I only have so much of it,” Yep said. “I think that a lot of people working 9-to-5s kind of can relate to that, because you want to work, but you don’t want your work to be your whole life.”
McMorran said her content focuses less on D.C. and more so on broader trends in the world of fashion and style. Her first viral post explored the disappearance of color from the world — in brand marketing, fashion and apartment designs — and she said her hope as a content creator has been to reacquaint her audience with color and vibrancy.
“My goal with my content is to inspire an audience of young women to embrace color and fashion and personal style as vehicles for self expression,” McMorran said. “And so I’ve always created content with audience in mind.”
Posting and Political Activism
It’s no longer an anomaly to glimpse an influencer at the White House — whether at the annual Christmas Party or sandwiched between Washington Post and New York Times reporters in the White House press room.
But beyond attending and covering presidential events, many D.C. influencers utilize their platforms to advocate for political causes.
With social media becoming increasingly useful in political campaigns — in 2024, Republican and Democratic campaigns and political action committees funneled millions of dollars to influencers to endorse their candidates and platforms — influencers’ endorsements have gained weight in political races among young voters.
As the 2024 election loomed, Comstock trekked across battleground states to campaign for Democratic candidates, determined to reach as many voters on TikTok as possible by posting directly from their location.
Comstock said she started losing sponsors and receiving backlash — including death threats and other threats of violence — from users who disagreed with her content.
As her brand deals disappeared, Comstock said her manager urged her to delete her political content, something she ultimately decided to do after weighing the personal risks of campaigning on social media.
“I had to balance my ideals with cold-hard reality,” Comstock said. “In the future, I’m only going to advocate for campaigns
I’m really passionate about and become political around elections that really matter.”
In this environment, many D.C. influencers have chosen to engage more indirectly with the city’s political atmosphere.
McMorran said her content on art in the District will always have political undertones, but she tries to carve out an online space that remains uplifting and apolitical.
“A lot of times, my focus is really on being almost like an escapist, positive platform,” McMorran said. “But there are always political undertones with every aspect of art and contemporary art and media.”
Womack said the events she promotes often connect to politics — whether they are events supporting the Jewish and Palestinian communities amid the Israel-Hamas war or promoting Black History Month.
Womack said she predicts the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in government and directives to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to crack down on illegal immigration may result in an influx of events centered on social issues.
“From things I’ve seen with this current administration, you’re going to see more fundraisers or ways to support immigrants in a way you didn’t see before,” Womack said.
Yep, who identifies as Chinese American, said using her platform to showcase diversity — especially in the fitness industry, where she feels Asian Americans are underrepresented — is a responsibility she takes to heart.
“Especially in the world we live in right now, it’s a very interesting climate to be in, and I know that however I got here, I do have somewhat of a platform, however small,” Yep said.
“I just hope that girls or people in the Asian American community can see me and the stuff that I’m doing and know they can do this stuff too,” Yep added. “I just want to show my community that it’s okay to take up space and have a voice and to use it.”
From Creator to Consumer Being an influencer has become increasingly lucrative over the past few years. Influencers’ revenue from brand endorsements and product placements tripled from 2019 to 2023, and is expected to approach $33 billion in 2025.
Ann Oldenburg, a Georgetown journalism professor who teaches a course titled “The Power of Pop Culture,” said social media is an effective way of disseminating information on events, lifestyle and fashion — or shar-
ing humor — due to its presence in viewers’ daily lives. Oldenburg said influencers offer a welcome sense of escapism to their viewers — one she thinks is often necessary for Washingtonians overwhelmed by the city’s high stress political climate.
“I think it would be a good thing for D.C. to be something other than the politics that’s happening right now,” Oldenburg told The Hoya.
Many Georgetown University students turn to these influencers for inspiration and entertainment. Kira Casler (SFS ’27) said following social media accounts like Womack’s helps her explore new parts of the city.
“I really try to take advantage of festivals and cultural events on the weekends, which I usually only know about because of D.C. influencers,” Casler wrote to The Hoya. “They definitely help me feel more in touch with the city and that’s one of the best parts about going to Georgetown.”
Other students find D.C. influencers appealing because they provide a break from the city’s perceived workaholic culture — sharing glimpses of both their personal and professional lives. Jane Smith (CAS ’27), one of Yep’s followers, said she values Yep’s varied and down-to-earth content.
“While I know social media doesn’t capture everything, it is refreshing to see Rachel be able to find balance and prioritize making time for herself and her hobbies even with a demanding work schedule,” Smith wrote to The Hoya.
“It also makes her content more realistic and relatable, as I feel like a lot of influencers don’t always acknowledge their lives outside of social media.” But Womack said that behind the camera, the constant stress of finding new followers and staying on invite lists adds a competitive edge to the environment.
“The best way I describe it is that you’re constantly rushing a sorority because you get invited to certain events,” Womack said. “If you don’t go, they take you off the list for next events. You want to be relevant.”
However, Maddie Smith said the positive comments she receives from followers far outweigh the stresses of the job.
“I have a whole drive of screenshots that I save, and it’s every message that someone sent me that’s like, ‘Hey, I planned this trip because of you,’ or, ‘I got engaged because you recommended this spot,’” Smith said. “That is honestly the coolest part: to get the feedback that people are actually appreciating what I’m doing and finding joy in the things that I’m suggesting.”
“That’s really my whole goal with it: to create and inspire people to live their best lives,” Smith added.
Lecture Sheds Light on Abortion Topics Missing From GUSOM Curriculum
Taylor Young Deputy Science Editor
Two pro-abortion student organizations hosted a virtual lecture on abortion education March 11.
H*yas for Choice (HFC), a reproductive rights organization at Georgetown University, and the Georgetown University Medical Center chapter of Medical Students for Choice (MSFC), a nonprofit organization striving to inform medical students about all parts of reproductive health care, hosted the lecture. The event featured Dr. Sara Imershein, an OB-GYN and clinical professor at George Washington University (GWU) School of Medicine.
A spokesperson for MSFC said the event aimed to fill gaps in knowledge regarding the basics of abortion that GUSOM’s curriculum is said to leave out.
“The goal of this event is to bridge gaps in our curriculum to give our peers the tools to provide
safe, effective, lifesaving care to their future patients,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya The spokesperson added that MSFC was grateful to welcome Imershein to talk to Georgetown medical students, especially given differences in curricula between GUSOM and GWU.
“Unlike GW, at GUSOM the fundamentals of abortion are not offered as a part of our formal curriculum, making it that much more important to supplement our education with lectures from experienced providers like Dr. Imershein,” the spokesperson wrote. “It is beyond important that rising doctors today have a comprehensive reproductive health education to be the best possible resource for their patients, and that must include how to provide and counsel about abortion.”
Sabrina DeLeonibus (MED ’27), an MSFC leader, said the organization was pleased to welcome Imershein and her experiences to the Georgetown community.
“She continues to be an advocate for reproductive rights, and is making strides in activism and education,” DeLeonibus said at the event. “We are so grateful to have her here today to expand our knowledge on abortion health care and access.”
Imershein said she was excited to work with the upcoming generation of physicians as an OB-GYN with nearly 30 years of experience.
“It is really my privilege to impact the next generation of physicians,” Imershein said at the event.
“When I was a young doc, I always said when I grow up and retire I am going to do abortions, and it has been very rewarding.”
Imershein added that she wanted to provide substantial education about abortion safety while staying mindful of the politicization of abortion.
“I am not trying to change anyone’s values on whether you think abortion is right or wrong,” Imershein said. “I just want you to know the facts, keeping abortion
safe, legal and accessible for those who want to avail themselves to this medical procedure.”
In 2023, medication-based abortions accounted for nearly two-thirds of terminated pregnancies in the United States. One such medication is mifepristone, which blocks progesterone, a critical hormone in early pregnancy. Mixed signals from the administration of President Donald Trump, however, have raised concerns about the continued availability of mifepristone. Misoprostol, another abortion medication taken with mifepristone, causes contractions to expel the pregnancy tissue.
Imershein said there are multiple benefits to safe and accessible abortions.
“It preserves patient autonomy and improves individual health, because we know that planned pregnancies are healthier,” Imershein said. “Having a pregnancy when you’re ready to have a baby results in a healthier pregnancy for mother and baby, re-
GU Students Develop Technology Solutions in Senegal
Isabel Liu Senior Science Editor
Georgetown University students traveled to Senegal during spring break to collaborate on public interest technology projects with students at the Dakar American University of Science & Technology (DAUST), a five-year engineering-focused university in Somone, Senegal.
The trip was part of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service’s (SFS) Centennial Labs (C-Labs), an experiential learning program that guides undergraduates to understand global challenges, often through international travel. The nine students who went to Senegal joined as part of “Senegal: Public Interest Technology,” a C-Lab that aims to help students utilize technology and policy to strengthen bridges between global communities and create technologies which respond to specific public needs.
Rajesh Veeraraghavan, an associate professor of science, technology and international affairs (STIA) who co-teaches the course, said the interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum reflects the diversity of its students’ academic backgrounds.
“DAUST students specialize in computer science and mechanical engineering, while Georgetown students, from the SFS and the College, bring critical and policy-related perspectives,” Veeraraghavan wrote to The Hoya
In Senegal, students worked in teams to create five projects of their own design, including an information campaign to address climate change-exacerbated floods, a transportation application connecting delivery vehicles, an agriculture application linking plant breeders with agricultural scientists, a health application aimed at supporting low-income, rural patients and a language application facilitating translation between French, English and Wolof, a West African language spoken primarily in Senegal.
Manya Kodali (SFS ’25) said taking part in the course exposed her to new modes of thinking.
“I have never tried to build an app before, so the thinking process was completely new to me,” Kodali wrote to The Hoya Vaibhavi Mahajan (SFS ’26), a student in the course, said visiting local communities was valuable in shaping the design of her project mitigating floods.
“We traveled to Wakhinane Nimzatt in Dakar, a place that is heavily impacted by floods during the rainy season,” Mahajan wrote to The Hoya. “There, we had the opportunity to speak with a variety of people, including the chief, the water specialist and someone whose home was directly impacted by the flooding. Actually visiting the site and talking to community members completely changed the trajectory of our project.”
Mahajan added that collaborating with DAUST students allowed her to gain a deeper understanding of the project’s technical elements.
“Even though we had policy backgrounds and the DAUST students had engineering and computer science backgrounds, every step of the project the DAUST students made sure that we knew how they were getting the equations they were using or what exactly the code they were implementing meant,” Mahajan wrote.
Veeraraghavan said he hopes the projects will continue to develop and transition into products used in the real world.
“Our local partners showed a great deal of interest in these prototypes,” Veeraraghavan wrote. “We hope some of these projects will continue to evolve and potentially become social or commercial ventures.”
Mahajan said the trip helped foster closer bonds between her and her peers.
“On the second to last day we had a bonfire on the beach and grilled a ton of food on a barbecue,” Mahajan wrote. “It was one of my favorite memories because we were all just dancing and laughing and then we
went inside the house and talked late into the night. It felt like we had all known each other for ages instead of a week.”
Kodali said she appreciated the hospitality that the DAUST students showed her.
“The Senegalese culture of giving, hospitality and openness was really amazing to experience,” Kodali wrote.
As part of the program’s student exchange component, DAUST students will also visit Georgetown next month.
Veeraraghavan said allowing students to immerse themselves in the culture of Senegal was just as crucial to the learning experience as the more technical aspects of the course.
“We laughed, worked, swam, ate, fasted and learned to work together in ways a traditional classroom setting rarely allows,” Veeraraghavan wrote. “We were all sad to leave Senegal, but we know that we are going to be hosting Senegal students the first week of April, when they come here and we become hosts.”
GU Community Members Join Stand Up for Science Protests
Shivali Vora Senior Science Editor
Georgetown University community members were among thousands of rally-goers at a Washington, D.C. “Stand Up for Science” protest March 7. The rally was one of a series hosted by Stand Up for Science, a volunteer movement dedicated to defending the contributions of science to the public good and social progress. The D.C. protest at the Lincoln Memorial featured scientists, policymakers and a diverse community of science advocates speaking out in opposition to federal cuts in research funding, rollbacks of diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility (DEIA) measures and political interference in science. Speakers at the event included prominent public figures such as Bill Nye, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Dr. Allison Agwu from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Atul Gawande from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Mun Chun (MC) Chan, an associate teaching professor in Georgetown University’s biology department and an event attendee, said he was moved by the firsthand accounts of people whose lives have been impacted by recent cuts to research funding, such as the cancellation of clinical trials in which they had been participating.
“It is easy to think about the impact of this funding pause on scientists and research institutions,” Chan wrote to The Hoya. “It’s easy to forget that there are also patients, there are also people that rely on the scientific information, may that be people who need weather predictions, farmers who rely on the development of new plant varieties that are resistant to pests, or vulnerable populations who need epidemiological studies that help us keep track of known and novel communicable diseases.”
Chan said that while hearing the stories of those most strongly impacted can be powerful, the responsibility to fight for science falls equally on everyone.
“To be successful, direct action cannot only be the purview of those directly affected by a particular policy,” Chan wrote. “We need to be there for one another.”
Trump’s cuts to science have included block cuts — limiting federal funding for “indirect” laboratory expenses, including all overhead costs, to 15% — and cuts seen as politically targeted, including terminating NIH grants for projects studying, among other things, transgender health and vaccine hesitancy.
Meghan Bullard, a fourth-year doctoral student in the biology department who conducts neuroimmunology research at Georgetown, said these cuts have directly affected her scientific career.
“There’s an attack on biomedical
research that is happening, and I’m just not the type of person to be able to sit back and let that happen,” Bullard told The Hoya
Bullard added that Trump’s executive orders have forced staff at the National Science Foundation (NSF) to reconsider aspects of current research based on words the administration has flagged as unacceptable.
“They include a lot of things that we would talk about, like ‘women’ and ‘female,’ so that’s one thing that my boss said: ‘You probably need to take any mention of gender out of your biosketch,’” Bullard said.
“When we do multiple sclerosis research, MS affects women more than it affects men, and there’s a huge question of how they’re going to screen for these words.”
Shelli Fynewever, a Georgetown parent who attended the rally, said she worries that the Trump administration’s moves will hinder scientific research and therefore affect patient outcomes.
“I can say that my father’s life has been saved from pancreatic cancer because of recent advancements in science,” Fynewever wrote to The Hoya. “Although this is an amazing outcome for my dad and my family, I fear for those who will be diagnosed this year, when new treatments aren’t even being developed, let alone available to save lives.”
Samantha Goldstein, an organizer with Stand Up for Science and a doctoral student at the University of Florida researching the intersection of in-
spects personal values and creates equity in our society.”
The event also discussed Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 Supreme Court decision that revoked the constitutional right to abortion and allowed state legislatures to regulate any aspect of abortion.
Imershein said people across the United States continue to experience the impacts of Dobbs, including a shortage of health care providers.
“It is worsening the shortage of health care providers, especially in rural areas, which overwhelmingly are abortion-hostile states,”
Imershein said.
Imershein added that the Dobbs decision has decreased interest in the OB-GYN specialty, especially in states that have implemented more restrictive laws against abortion.
“Fewer doctors are going into OB-GYN since the Dobbs decision, and many residency programs
have not filled in the South because people do not want to apply to a place where they will get inadequate training,” Imershein said. The MSFC spokesperson said the organization is encouraged by increasing participation by Georgetown medical students.
“The Georgetown chapter has been present for numerous years, with a recent reinvigoration during Spring 2023,” the spokesperson wrote. “Since then, the Georgetown chapter has recruited 30+ members in the school of medicine, and continues to grow and solidify a campus presence at GUSOM.” Imershein said evidence-based education regarding abortion — similar to that which she discussed at the lecture — is important in achieving both holistic student learning and equitable policy.
“This is a perfect example of patient-centered care,” Imershein said. “Health policy must be evidence-based, not by religion or politics.”
THE REPRO RUNDOWN
Menstruation Myths and the Biology Behind the Bleed
When I reflect on what I am loving most about my senior year at Georgetown University, my answer is clear: school restrooms being consistently stocked with menstrual products. Following a long-overdue Georgetown University Student Association Senate vote for more accessible period products in December 2023, bathrooms all over campus have finally become reliable sources of pads and tampons. Though students can now easily access period products, not all Hoyas may be familiar with the fascinating biology behind the bleed. I understand why some people might not want to think too deeply about their periods: Menstruation can be a big pain, literally. However, examining the science behind menstruation can help people with periods cut through harmful menstruation myths.
First, let’s take a closer look at the minutiae of menstruation. The menstrual cycle — the series of hormonal and physiological changes that occur as the body ovulates and prepares for possible pregnancy — can last anywhere between 24 and 38 days. It starts with a roughly two-week period containing the follicular and proliferative phases. The follicular phase features the release of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which causes follicles (fluid-filled sacs containing immature eggs called oocytes) to enlarge and mature. Simultaneously, proliferative phase follicles produce a hormone called estradiol that causes thickening of the endometrium, the nutrient-rich tissue layer lining the uterus.
This last part of the cycle is undoubtedly the most recognizable, but it is also the most stigmatized. Historically, the media has perpetuated taboos and misinformation about periods, from crude jokes about moodiness associated with menstruators to individuals claiming that a woman’s hormones would make her too unbalanced to be president of the United States. However, most individuals do not experience significant mood swings leading up to their period, and research shows that other points of the menstrual cycle even heighten positive traits like empathy and communication. Evidently, attributing someone’s decision-making skills solely to their biology remains a reductive, often sexist approach.
timate partner violence and traumatic brain injuries in women survivors, said the organization’s rapid mobilization has been a source of hope for her.
“I firmly believe all of us were in the wrong place at the right time,” Goldstein wrote to The Hoya. “Wrong place, because the direct attacks on science via federal funding cuts, government censorship and discrimination against underrepresented students and researchers is not a place any of us want to be, ever.
Right time, because we rose to the occasion, organized, mobilized and formed an impactful movement that elevates hope during unprecedented times of darkness and despair.”
Bullard said she was moved when Collins, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom who is known for leading the Human Genome Project, shared a song with rallygoers.
“It was like a campfire song, so everyone was singing along with him. He had a guitar and was playing music,” Bullard said. “It was a really calming moment and a moment of, ‘Collective action is going to work,’ collective action means something, and science means something to every person here.”
Chan said he hopes students will remain committed to both their pursuit of scientific careers and their resistance to cuts to scientific funding.
“Don’t preemptively give up or change what you wish to pursue based on these actions; continue to apply, to find your space in science,” Chan wrote. “We need your work, your passion, your ideas and brilliance.”
Next, the luteal and secretory phases begin, starting with ovulation: High estradiol levels trigger a series of endocrine events that spike levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), prompting the release of the oocyte from the mature follicle. This part of the cycle also lasts around two weeks and relies on the hormone progesterone to continue thickening the endometrium enough to allow an egg, if fertilized by a sperm, to implant. However, if the egg remains unfertilized (and thus unimplanted), the cycle ends with the shedding of the endometrium in what we call a “period.” The body breaks down the endometrium’s thickened tissue and blood vessels, and uterine muscle contractions push this blood and tissue mixture through the vaginal opening. Sometimes, these contractions cause muscle cramping, leading to the abdominal pain people often associate with menstruation.
The plethora of period euphemisms — “Aunt Flo,” “that time of the month,” “shark week” — signals just how uncomfortable people in the United States feel about this major aspect of half of the population’s health. This feeling, in combination with the projection of shameful notions onto periods, can lead to confusions and misinformation, meaning that menstruation myths abound, especially on the Internet. Recently, a trend called “cycle syncing” took TikTok by storm, claiming that planning exercise and diet around menstrual cycle phases benefits a person’s health, despite a complete lack of biomedical consensus. About 90% of menstruation-related TikToks are not made by health professionals, highlighting the potential for impressionable adolescents to receive misleading menstrual education online. The first step towards combating menstrual misinformation is implementing better education, especially in low-income countries such as Ethiopia, where periods are so taboo that they often lead girls to skip school. Second, institutions like Georgetown are moving in the right direction by increasing access to menstrual products. Globally, over half a billion people suffer from period poverty, defined as a lack of period education, hygiene, products and other forms of menstrual care. Even in high-income countries like the United States, the “pink tax,” which refers to the tendency of consumer products marketed toward women to cost more than comparable male-oriented products, exacerbates the financial burden of having a period. Finally, I believe that the simple act of being frank and open about periods is a powerful antidote to period stigma. The next time you frantically hide your pad in your pocket as you walk to the bathroom, remember that breaking the silence is necessary to normalize this natural process.
COURTESY OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE Georgetown students traveled to Senegal during spring break to develop tech solutions for public needs.
Audrey Twyford Science Columnist
SHIVALI VORA/THE HOYA
In this week’s column, Audrey Twyford (CAS ’25) shatters menstruation myths and offers antidotes to period stigma.
WHAT’S NEW ONLINE?
GU Asian American Performing Arts Group Returns to Gaston Hall For Third Original Musical Production
Shira Oz City Desk Editor
(No) Pressure Creatives, a Georgetown University Asian American musical production group, brings its third production, “Off The Record,” to the stage in Gaston Hall March 14. The musical is a comedic mystery following aspiring singers Ariel and Ben, who are signed to the recording company Maneki Neko Records (MNR) with dreams of stardom and become entangled in a conspiracy linked to MNR’s mysterious past. Mara Goldstein (CAS ’27) and Caroline Chou (MSB ’27) co-wrote the entirely original script for the show, which assembles a cast and crew of around 60 students.
Goldstein said the production emphasizes the impact of friendships through various lenses.
“Something that Caroline and I were very strongly trying to promote through this was the power of friendship and making sure that platonic relationships are valued just as much as any other relationship,” Goldstein told The Hoya. “And it’s these platonic relationships that help us rise up but also the things that make us fall sometimes because they’re so powerful.”
Goldstein added that the production amplified the theme of friendship to emphasize its potential for personal impact.
“Friendship is something that’s incredibly powerful and that we can find in each other, and being able to relate to another person, to joke around with another person in times when they are crashing out, is
Michael
Last week, while many Georgetown University students traveled home to see family or embarked on tropical getaways with friends, Betsabe Alfaro (CAS ’25) flew nearly 13 hours overseas to partake in a social justice program in Doha, Qatar.
Alfaro was one of 12 students chosen to participate in the D.C.-Doha Dialogue, an immersive cultural experience aimed at connecting Georgetown’s Washington, D.C. and Qatar (GU-Q) campuses through meaningful conversation and service. This year’s theme focused on social justice and human rights, inspired by the Jesuit value of “people for others.”
Alfaro, a volunteer at Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service (CSJ), said the program’s focus on helping others led her to apply.
“I do advocacy work for migrant rights here at the CSJ, and our main theme at Doha was also migrant labor rights,” Alfaro told The Hoya. “I think just seeing how the work that I’m doing on campus differs from the work that they’re doing on their campus was what really made me want to go.” Prior to traveling to Doha over
something that is so special and can really uplift a person and enable them to do anything that they can,” Goldstein said.
(No) Pressure Creatives was established in 2022 to provide a space on campus for Asian American students passionate about arts to explore their interests and shed light on their underrepresentation in the musical industry.
Minato Shinoda (MSB ’26), the production’s executive producer, said the group formed in response to a lack of Asian American representation in theatre at Georgetown and beyond.
“We didn’t see a lot of representation off campus or on campus of Asian American narratives in theater, so we wanted to create that space for ourselves,” Shinoda told The Hoya Film and television critics have pointed out the lack of Asian American representation in theatre, and a report from researchers at the University of Southern California found that two-thirds of films studied failed to represent Asian American characters proportional to the demographic population in the United States.
Goldstein said her and Chou’s writing process involved constant collaboration to capture different aspects of the Asian American community in the script.
“A lot of the plot and character details came from us just riffing off of each other and being like, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if this character was like this? We need to make this character more suspicious, so in order to do that maybe we should have this as a detail, and then this
spring break, Alfaro and three other Hilltop students hosted eight GU-Q students in D.C. The sessions sought to allow students to compare social justice initiatives and learn from one another while meeting with experts specializing in migrant and labor rights, engaging in community service and visiting museums.
Alfaro said the programming exposed her to the lack of access to information in Qatar, especially in comparison to the United States.
“For migrant workers, knowing their rights — a lot of that isn’t told to them when they’re being hired for certain jobs. A lot of them are constantly living in fear. They don’t speak up if they’re being mistreated during their time within a company, or they don’t speak up if they face any obstacles that get in their way of their performance,” Alfaro said. “Here, a quick Google search will give you your rights, whereas over there, information is very limited.” Jay Spacer (SFS-Q ’26), a GU-Q student who took part in the dialogue, said students are still able to address social justice issues in impactful ways despite greater barriers to freedom of expression in Qatar.
“It’s easier to address these issues in the United States be-
can also reflect this part of the Asian American community,’” Goldstein said.
Ashwath Tirunellayi (SOH ’27), the director of “Off The Record,” said that despite growing up active in different theatre groups, he did not have a cast he could find common ground with about the Asian American experience before joining (No) Pressure Creatives.
“We’re able to express cultural things that normally you’re not really able to in any sort of other theater setting,” Tirunellayi told The Hoya. “For me, it’s been very impactful being able to find this group of people that have had shared experiences.”
Shinoda said (No) Pressure Creatives works to include all people in their activities regardless of previous experience.
“I feel like a lot of other clubs on campus can be a little bit competitive or not as welcoming, but this is a very welcoming, comforting, inclusive space for everyone,” Shinoda said. “We accept everyone regardless of how much musical experience they’ve had.”
Shinoda said she hopes the musical will resonate with everyone who attends the show, not just Asian American students.
“I hope that our passion and hard work really shine through the stage,” Shinoda said.
Tirunellayi said the production brings to life the experiences of their community.
“Not only are we having Asian Americans tell Asian American stories, we’re reflecting on our own experiences and our community’s experiences to create a new story that we can then bring to life,” Tirunellayi said.
cause there’s a lot of mobility and freedom to speak out and stuff like that,” Spacer told The Hoya. “In Qatar, although there’s less of that, they have their own creative and unique ways of addressing them. Just because they’re very different, it doesn’t mean that Qatar is any less of a country that can address these issues, these social issues that they have.”
Hassan Hameed (SFS-Q ’27), a GU-Q student who visited the Hilltop campus last summer as part of the program, said he noted differences in expression between D.C. and Doha.
“The people of D.C., I felt, are really more expressive than when you compare with Doha,” Hameed told The Hoya. “What I would like to bring back to campus is that I think we need to, especially on the campus, be more expressive, number one. And I believe we need to voice our concerns.”
Hameed said he saw this expression take place in the Disability Cultural Center (DCC) on the Hilltop campus, a space for disabled students to have conversations about shared experiences, express their concerns and request accommodations.
“One of the things that impressed me, obviously, was the Disability Center and how they’ve
Ari Citrin Student Life Desk Editor
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-La.) advocated for the passage of an “America First” finance package to avoid a federal government shutdown in a March 11 event at Georgetown University. Johnson, in a conversation with Reena Aggarwal, the director of the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy and a professor of finance, further outlined the Republican Party’s economic agenda during President Donald Trump’s second term. In his examination of economic policies amid the passage of a finance package, Johnson said the continuing resolution (CR), a short-term federal funding extension passed in the House of Representatives March 11, will likely avoid a government shutdown.
Johnson said that though he felt the CR should have received bipartisan support in the face of a potential government shutdown, budget negotiations devolved into partisan politics.
“It was a clean CR continuing with last year’s fiscal year 2024 funding,” Johnson said at the event. “We didn’t make any major modifications to it at all, and I had hoped that everyone would vote for it, but my Democrat colleagues decided not to, save for one exception, and they’re doing that, I think, as a protest of what they dislike about the Trump administration and Elon Musk.”
“Tonight we did what became a partisan exercise, not by design,” Johnson added. “It should not have been.”
The CR, which prevents a government shutdown, maintained existing funding levels for federal government operations, but increased defense funding by $7 billion, according to Johnson. Though he indicated that little would change under the CR, the proposal includes language that will
created the spaces where people who have accommodations can come spend time, they can be more comfortable and interact with one another,” Hameed said.
The DCC was founded in 2023 after a student-led push to give disabled students an area to collaborate and work to create a culture of access.
Spacer, who has lived in Qatar for the past 15 years, studied abroad at Georgetown’s Hilltop campus this past fall. Spacer said most students did not know much about Qatar.
“From a U.S. perspective, Qatar is almost irrelevant. When I went for a study abroad experience, not a lot of people knew where Qatar was. They were asking if it was a state or a capital, where it’s located on the map,” Spacer said. “And so these led me to kind of infer that not a lot of people from the United States actually know where Qatar is.”
Spacer said the opportunity to enlighten Hilltop students about Qatari culture made the experience even more impactful for him.
“I was very excited for them to experience and see that for themselves. And surprisingly, it resulted into a very good trip,” Spacer said. “Just in terms of them coming here and experiencing it themselves, I was really happy that they were able to.”
GPB Crowns New Funniest
Human at Annual Comedy Show in Gaston Hall
The Georgetown Program Board crowned Elu Blumenfeld (CAS ’25) as Georgetown University’s Funniest Human after performing a standup comedy set inspired by The Hoya’s coverage of the 2023 Georgetown’s Funniest Human competition.
See The Hoya’s website for more articles!
cut Washington, D.C.’s budget by $1.1 billion by requiring it to revert to its fiscal year 2024 budget.
Johnson said he looks toward passing a major finance package, dubbed “One Big Beautiful Bill” by Trump, through the reconciliation process, which allows Republicans to sidestep the Senate filibuster.
“The reason why I call it ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is we’re going to try to achieve all of the promises we made on the campaign trail, all of the ‘America First’ agenda we were elected to deliver, we’d like to try to do it in this process so that Chuck Schumer can’t stop us,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the package would include extensions to Trump-era tax cuts, reductions in regulatory requirements, increases in defense funding and prioritization of domestic energy production.
The Psaros Center, which conducts nonpartisan financial policy research, organized the event aiming to expose students to thought leaders in financial policy.
Aggarwal said the Psaros Center will continue to provide research and advice for financial policy leaders.
“We offer a unique value as an intellectual, honest broker, a facilitator, an educator for practitioners, policy makers and the broader community,” Aggarwal said at the event. “Our work is essential in ensuring clarity and objectivity.”
“Mr. Speaker, we at the Psaros Center are here to help you and your colleagues,” Aggarwal added.
Johnson said much of his role as speaker includes working with other representatives to ensure their concerns are heard.
“I spend half my day as a mental health counselor,” Johnson said. “Honestly, I just sit down with everybody, work through their problems with them.”
Michael Psaros, whose 2022 donation endowed $11 million to the Psaros Center, said Johnson’s character
makes him an effective leader.
“I just want everyone to know I’ve had the great honor and privilege over the years, wearing many different hats, to meet so many of our country’s leading political figures,” Psaros said at the event. “I’m speaking very personally here — I have never met a leader in our country of greater faith, of greater character, of greater integrity than Speaker Johnson.”
Johnson said he looks up to former President Ronald Reagan as an example of a political leader with strong communicative and interpersonal skills.
“One time, they said he was like a silky, soft pillow with an iron bar on the inside,” Johnson said. “He knew where he stood. He knew who he was. He was very comfortable in his own skin because he was grounded in core principles that would never change, and could still appreciate and love everybody around him and appreciate their differences.”
Robert M. Groves, Georgetown’s interim president, said engaging with various perspectives is core to the university’s mission.
“At Georgetown, we listen as well as talk,” Groves said at the event. “Our mission as a university contains the sentence that we were created on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical and spiritual understanding. That’s what we do here.” Johnson said, moving forward, he hopes to continue working toward collaboration within congressional Republicans during his tenure as speaker.
“I spend a lot of time working with all these folks and just run around all day and make sure everybody’s happy, and we’re at the same kind of endpoint,” Johnson said. “This is not a job you should ever aspire to, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but I hope some of you will enter public service.”
WALKOUT, from A1
Protesters Rally for Free Speech GU Law Dean Rejects DC Prosecutor’s Call
“We’re here today, here specifically on Georgetown’s campus in the capital of the United States, to say that we will not obey, that we will resist,” Lance said at the rally. “We will remain steadfast in our support for brave students who believe in justice.”
Khalil, a green card holder and legal U.S. resident who completed a Columbia graduate program in December, negotiated with university administrators during encampments on Columbia’s campus last spring protesting the Israel-Hamas war and demanding the university’s divestment from financial holdings affiliated with Israel. Georgetown students and community members joined similar encampments at the George Washington University in April and May 2024. Georgetown’s free speech policy provides community members the “broadest possible latitude” of opportunities for open dialogue, though it contains time, place and manner restrictions as well as discrimination and harassment policies.
A January executive order reaffirmed Trump presidential campaign promises to revamp free speech protections, though the administration revoked $400 million of federal funding from Columbia due to alleged harassment of Jewish students during last spring’s protests. The administration also pledged to revoke student visas from international students who participated in proPalestinian protests.
Rally attendee Fiona Naughton (SFS ’26) said Khalil’s arrest reflects the Trump administration’s efforts to scare students out of protesting.
“That’s such a visible example of a Palestinian organizer being abducted for speaking out against Columbia’s support of the Israeli apartheid regime, and I think that is a mechanism of terror,” Naughton told The Hoya. “It’s supposed to terrify student organizers, especially those who are on visas or who are in precarious financial positions, who are relying on scholarships from their universities.”
Demonstrators nationwide have staged protests in support of Khalil, with students at the University of Chicago and the University of California, Berkeley protesting in support of Khalil on March 11 and hundreds of protestors marching through New York City to demand
Khalil’s release the same day.
Layth Malhis (GRD ’26), a Zeytoun organizer who attended the walkout, said the Georgetown walkout displays the interconnection between student pro-Palestine protestors across college campuses.
“Palestinian students cannot be suppressed,” Malhis told The Hoya. “The walkout demonstrates that we are not isolated to the Georgetown community, to the campus itself, that what happens to our fellow comrades and our friends and families at different universities, at different institutions affects us and that we are all connected one way or another.”
Critics of the Trump administration’s choice to detain Khalil argue that the detention is a First Amendment violation targeting speech Trump deems antiAmerican. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 universities stating they would be investigated for antisemitic harassment, which provoked controversy as critics questioned whether such investigations targeted students exercising their right to protest.
Gwen Wright, a Georgetown senior auditor and former Maryland historic preservation director who attended the walkout, said university communities must maintain free speech.
“Universities are places for free thought and different ideas and different dialogues,” Wright told The Hoya. “If we shut that down in universities, it again is just a precursor to shutting it down everywhere in society.”
Walkout attendee Cal Ricehall (CAS ’27) said he hopes protests against Khalil’s detention will raise awareness of free speech rights.
“I hope that if people make enough noise, the government realizes you can’t imprison people for a speech that they deem incompatible with the United States,” Ricehall told The Hoya. “Free speech means free speech no matter what, no matter if you disagree with it. It means people get to say terrible things sometimes, and that’s your fundamental right as an American citizen.”
Khalil’s detention comes amid a broader environment of federal oversight into higher education. A February federal mandate required universities to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs or risk losing federal funding, and
federal grant cuts diminished research opportunities at many universities.
FJSP member Fida Adely, the director of Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, said FJSP’s decision to organize the walkout centered on Khalil’s arrest and its implications for free speech.
“Although there have been students who’ve had their visas rescinded under the Biden administration, but this is the first time, at least recently — not in U.S. history but recently — in which a legal resident of the U.S. is being threatened with deportation for exercising their free speech rights,” Adely told The Hoya.
Adely added that universities must protect their students and faculty from government interference.
“We’re at a critical moment where universities are under attack and academic freedom is under attack,” Adely said. “It’s a combination of a couple of years, 17 months, of real repression of free speech around Israel and Palestine. And so this new regime, this new administration, has been really emboldened by that. Universities really need to stand up and defend their institutions, defend their students and defend academic freedom.”
Ricehall said he hopes students continue to protest infringements on their values.
“What I hope comes out of this is that students show that they’re not going to put up with ICE on their campuses,” Ricehall said. “They’re not going to put up with gross violations of their right to speak out on issues they care about, they’re not going to put up with violations of their right to protest a genocide.”
Malhis said federal attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian speech pose threats to other political speech.
“It doesn’t stop at Palestine. If they continue to suppress us, and if they’re successful in suppressing us, they’re going to come after other forms of speech,” Malhis said. “The Georgetown community should recognize that they can walk idly and not support our movement — that’s within their right — but they shouldn’t feel safe themselves, because one way or another the message of repression will be applied to other cases after Palestine. Palestine is not the end, but simply the beginning.”
GU Students Seek Engagement, Inclusion in Presidential Search
PRESIDENT, from A1
(GUSA), said he hopes the university will land on an active candidate ready to engage with the Georgetown community.
“I want them to be very open to students and to faculty and to staff,” Henshaw told The Hoya. “I want them to be the kind of person you’ll see around campus who goes to meetings, really takes advice from the students, doesn’t think that their way is the best way and doesn’t think that the discussion is closed as soon as they come up with an idea.”
Georgetown University College Democrats communications director Corbin Chance (CAS ’28) said mental health resources should be a top priority for the next president.
“I think I want, personally, improving mental health resources on campus,” Chance told The Hoya. “There’s been multiple times on this campus where I feel like there’s been a lot of isolation on campus and that’s something I really wanttoseefixed.Ihopethat’ssomething the new president can focus on.”
Exploring Jesuit Heritage DeGioia, the longest serving president in Georgetown’s history, was the first lay and non-Jesuit president of a Jesuit higher education institution in the United States.
Frank Anstett (CAS ’27), a member of Catholic life at Georgetown, said he hopes the university returns to its tradition of Jesuit presidents.
“I think it’s time for us to have a Jesuit president again,” Anstett told The Hoya. “As great as President DeGioia was, I think that it’s important to have the face of our campus, the president, be a Jesuit to uphold those Jesuit and Catholic values which are integral to the university.”
“President DeGioia was the first lay president we had ever had, and not to say that was a bad thing, but if we from now on presume that every president not be a priest and be lay, then that might set a dangerous path where we lose our Jesuit and Catholic identity,” Anstett added.
Henshaw said while the search should not be limited only to Jesuits — as Catholic priests, all Jesuits are male — he would be
happy with a Jesuit president if they uphold tolerant values.
“I think it’s problematic if they’re limiting it to Jesuits,” Henshaw said.
“But if they go through and they they determine that a Jesuit is the best candidate they have, I see no issue with that, as long as they’re committed to the right principles, they’re committed to expanding the diversity and the inclusion of the university, they’re open to what students have to say and they’re open to fostering a better environment.”
Georgetown, Diversity and Trump
Since the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump, college campuses have returned to the forefront of political discourse, with administration officials threatening to slash funding or reduce job opportunities for graduates of universities promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The U.S. Department of Education announced March 10 that 60 universities are currently under investigation for Title IV violations relating to spring 2024 protests about the Israel-Hamas war. Federal officials have also threatened Georgetown: Washington, D.C.’s top federal prosecutor Ed Martin warned William Treanor, dean of the Georgetown University Law Center (GULC), that GULC students would lose job opportunities in his office unless the school ceases its DEI curriculum in a letter sent March 3. Treanor rebuffed his letter in a March 6 response.
Pamias said the current political atmosphere requires a university president able to match the moment with poise.
“I think it’s a very contentious time in higher education,” Pamias said. “Universities face complex questions about academic freedom, inclusion, financial sustainability and their role in addressing societal challenges. So I believe that the next Georgetown president must be someone that can navigate this with wisdom and purpose.”
Rachel Styslinger (SFS ’27) said emphasizing students’ beliefs amid political instability is essential.
“I would want to see a president who’s really aware of the on-campus
to Remove DEI from Curriculum
DEAN, from A1
that Martin alleged was discriminatory.
“Georgetown complies with federal and local regulations, and programs and activities at Georgetown Law are open to all students regardless of race, national origin, sex, religion or any other characteristic protected under University policy, consistent with applicable law,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya.
Though GULC has a noncurricular Office of Equity & Inclusion (OEI) dedicated to creating an inclusive campus through programming and advisory services, GULC Chief Diversity Officer Anjali Patel said the OEI neither influences GULC’s classroom curriculum nor imposes specific views on students.
“The Office of Equity & Inclusion (OEI) at the Law Center is strictly advisory,notcompliance-based,”Patel wrote to The Hoya. “We do not enforce policies, dictate speech or engage in admissions or hiring decisions. Instead, we provide guidance, promote dialogue and support students and faculty in navigating differences with professionalism and intellectual rigor.”
Georgetown Law student leaders condemned Martin’s letters and lauded Treanor’s response.
Max Siegel II (LAW ’25), president of the Student Bar Association (SBA), GULC’s student government, said he appreciated Treanor’s clear support of academic freedom.
“Reading the letter was definitely reassuring, and I really appreciate its directness, especially with affirming the university support for both students and faculty in shaping their own academic paths and what they would like to teach,” Siegel told The Hoya.
Siegel added that he is unsure what DEI-related curriculum the letter referred to.
“DEI is kind of being thrown around the same way as ‘woke’ has been, where there’s no real definition,” Siegel added.
The GU Law Coalition for Justice, an alliance of progressive Georgetown student groups, said they support Treanor’s defense of GULC and condemned Martin’s actions in a March 7 statement.
“Not only is the threat against Georgetown Law unconstitutional, but Interim U.S. Attorney Martin’s demand to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion from our institution is absurd, nonsensical and unimplementable,” the coalition’s statement reads. “This is White Supremacy in action.”
Coalition for Justice co-founder Kylie Swinmurn (LAW ’26), said the group published the letter to draw attention to Martin’s warnings, which she said were unconstitutional.
“It’s important to name things as they are,” Swinmurn told The Hoya. “I think often in an effort to sound professional or acceptable, we tend to dull our words a lot, but the actions aren’t dulled. We can dull the word tyranny as much as we can, but that’s still what’s happening.”
In addition to raising concerns about academic freedom, the letter increased many students’ anxieties over their professional futures. The Trump administration has worked to downsize the federal workforce, including by imposing a federal hiring freeze which led to internship and job cancellations.
Greydon Tomkowitz (LAW ’25), a former intern at the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) said he and other students are concerned about being not hired at the office
following the letter.
“I had an incredible time working for the USAO in the past, and it is my goal to return in the future to serve my community in the administration of justice through criminal prosecution,” Tomkowitz told The Hoya. “This policy definitely puts those hopes at risk, and I’m not the only one to express those concerns.”
Siegel said many students have seen stress over future opportunities become a defining feature of the semester.
“We’ve had a lot of students lose DOJ jobs, other federal positions post-grad, which completely has derailed their post-grad plans, so it’s been a tough semester already dealing with this,” Siegel said. “This letter kind of felt like it was adding more confusion and stress.” The university spokesperson said GULC is working to expand internship and career opportunities for students in response to federal job cuts.
“Our career advisors have mobilized and hired extra staff to reach out and provide individualized support and career counseling to studentswhomayhavebeenaffected by the shifting landscape for federal employment,” the spokesperson wrote. “We’ve expanded our outreach to public sector organizations across the country to seek out new job opportunities.”
Siegel said that despite Martin’s criticism of GULC’s curriculum, the school’s reputation and academic record will continue to speak for itself.
“It’s frustrating to see an attack on the institution as a whole, but I don’t think it changes the fact that we have some of the most qualified and thoughtful professors and students in legal academia,” Siegel said. “I don’t think that can be pulled down by this letter that we received.”
climate and who is really willing to prioritize students’ voices and opinions throughout their tenure as president,” Styslinger told The Hoya. “I think especially with the current political climate — we’re seeing a lot of institutions similar to Georgetown being politically targeted — I want a president to make sure that the students’ values and the values as a Jesuit university are strengthened and maintained throughout all this turmoil.”
Henshaw said a new president should defend resources for affinity groups on Georgetown’s campus.
“You need a president who’s really going to be committed to this, especially in light of all the Trump administration attacks that you’re seeing where they’re threatening federal funding,” Henshaw said.
“Are we going to have a president who doesn’t want to take up that fight and doesn’t want to risk losing their research funding? They’re willing to just close the affinity houses? I really hope not.”
George LeMieux (CAS ’25), a GUSA senator, said that Georgetown’s next president will have to navigate the inherently political position of the university in D.C.
“I want a school that’s going to be open to people of all persuasions, cultures and so on and so forth, which is especially important now, because I think the administration, whether it likes it or not, is going to have to engage with the administration in D.C. and how things are changing in D.C.,” LeMieux told The Hoya.
“We pride ourselves on sending so many of our students to high-up positions in the government, highup positions in law, and keeping those opportunities open for our students is going to be important,” he added. “Neutrality on a lot of political opinions will probably be the best way to do that.”
Warden said the 49th president should represent a change from the status quo at Georgetown.
“I think it’s about time that we put a woman or a person of color in the presidential slot at Georgetown,” Warden said. “It’s time that we put more representation into that position of power.”
RA Negotiations Reach Final Phases
GRAC, from A1 on a compensation package including a semesterly stipend.
The package covering compensation also includes articles on management rights, a provision that limits the scope of the two sides’ bargaining, and “no strike, no lockout,” a standard provision in union contracts which prevents the union from striking unless there is an unfair labor practice.
A university spokesperson said the university is committed to bargaining in good faith with RAs and their representation from Local 153 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).
“The University values the contributions of Resident Assistants and continues to work in good faith with OPEIU to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “We do not comment about ongoing discussions at the bargaining table. Georgetown is committed to continuing to negotiate in good faith.”
Throughout negotiations, GRAC members described economic provisions as key for RAs. The compensation article the RAs negotiated March 13 includes RA room and board, meals during training and closing periods, stipends and laundry services.
Ulises Olea Tapia (SFS ’25), the interim bargaining lead of GRAC and an RA in Village A, said compensation was the union’s top priority.
“This was the top issue for our RAs, not only when unionizing, but when explaining their priorities for the upcoming negotiations for the contract,” Olea Tapia told The Hoya. “This was the number one issue for most RAs and we want to address the issue as such. We had a very productive session.”
“We’re confident we can reach an agreement hopefully soon,” he added.
Izzy Wagener (SFS ’26), the interim vice chairperson of GRAC and an RA in Kennedy Hall, said the RAs’ nearly year-long unionization process has centered on compensation.
“It’s definitely really exciting to get to this point since it is some-
thing that we’ve been talking about since we started the unionization process,” Wagener told The Hoya. “I think what a lot of people don’t really realize about unionizing is just how long and how much work the contract negotiation process takes.”
RAs are currently compensated for their work with free room and board, including a meal plan. RAs do not receive stipends.
As a result, according to Olea Tapia, the current distribution of room and board becomes regressive: As financial aid often covers some room and board costs, many RAs on financial aid receive less compensation than those who do not receive aid.
Lovell said this current structure is unfair, but a stipend is a key step toward more equitable payment.
“It’s a difficult concession to make because I’m on financial aid and so I know that comes with not receiving the full value of what you’re promised,” Lovell said. “We’re talking about a non-trivial amount of money in a stipend that we’re seeking and perhaps we’re setting up people down the line who will negotiate the next contract to be in a better position to find creative solutions to this problem about addressing financial aid.”
GRAC initially proposed a stipend of $5,950 per semester. According to Olea Tapia, this value is based on 20 work hours per week at approximately $16.50 an hour for 18 total weeks — 15 weeks of work and three weeks for training and closing periods. The current D.C. minimum wage is $17.50 per hour.
The university countered with a proposal for stipends of $1,066 per semester and $932.75 for the summer term.
With RAs working 20 hours per week for 18 weeks a semester, the $1,066 stipend equates to approximately $2.96 an hour, while the summer stipend, for 8 weeks’ work with 20 hours per week, is approximately $5.81 an hour.
Olea Tapia said the university’s proposal was too low.
“The reality is that while we understand this rationale, this is indeed a job and we expect to be compensated fairly for this job and less than $3 an hour is simply not okay,” Olea Tapia said.
GRAC instead proposed that current RAs receive the $1,066 stipend for this semester upon ratification of the contract with an increasing stipend over the course of the four-year contract term. Under GRAC’s proposal, RAs’ stipend would rise annually, from $2,000 in the 2025-26 academic year to $2,500 the following year, $2,750 the year after and $3,000 in the 2028-29 academic year. For RAs’ normal working hours, the initial $2,000 stipend equates to $5.55 per hour, less than one-third of current D.C. minimum wage and less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The eventual $3,000 stipend would equate to approximately $8.33 an hour. Lovell said that while the stipend is lower than what GRAC believes will best support RAs, the existence of any stipend represents progress towards higher compensation.
“Right now, RAs receive zero dollars in any form of a stipend,” Lovell said. “And $2,000 a year is not nothing. For many students on this campus, that’s a big deal. We’re working and we’re going to try our best to improve on that figure.” Wagener said she feels hopeful about future bargaining and eventual compensation.
“I’ve told multiple RAs about the compensation session today and a lot of people have been really excited about it, which is just nice to see because I think sometimes you can get in this bubble of focusing so much on the actual contract language that you forget what the actual impact is going to be,” Wagener said. Olea Tapia said he expects GRAC and the university to finish bargaining after one additional session.
“We are coming to the table with a true care, not only for the Georgetown community, but particularly for our RAs, and it’s been absolutely delightful to continue to see that commitment throughout the process,” Olea Tapia said. “We’re hoping to see that commitment expressed in a more expedited form of bargaining in the coming weeks.”
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Dean William Treanor of the Georgetown University Law Center defied warnings from the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s Office to erase diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum.
GU Appoints New Associate Dean of Students for Capitol Campus
Ruth Abramovitz GUSA Desk Editor
Georgetown University appointed a new associate dean of students for the Capitol Campus in an announcement March 4.
Kathryn Jennings, the new dean, is the former associate vice president of student engagement at the Catholic University of America (CUA), where she oversaw student programming and advised CUAllies, an unrecognized student group promoting equality for LGBTQ+ students. Jennings joins Capitol Campus leadership as the university looks to expand the downtown campus, having purchased an apartment complex at 77 H St. for student housing and recently announcing a Capitol Applied Learning Lab (CALL) semester program for Georgetown undergraduate students.
Jennings said she hopes to create a community at the Capitol Campus that is both distinctive and integrated into the broader university community.
“I hope to help the Capitol Campus students feel a special sense of affinity to and belonging at their Georgetown campus, while also feeling at home at the Hilltop,” Jennings wrote to The Hoya. “Similarly, I want Hilltop students to feel welcome and supported at the Capitol Campus and see it as a destination for them in the heart of the city.”
Before working in the CUA administration, Jennings worked in student affairs at St. John’s University and the University of Maine.
In her own undergraduate studies, Jennings lived at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus, a Manhattan, N.Y., campus separate
from the university’s primary campus in the Bronx.
Ema Eguchi (SFS ’27), a student in the CALL program this semester, said hosting more events at the downtown campus would promote integration with the larger Georgetown community.
“I think a lot of the time, people just don’t know that the campus is one GUTS bus away, and that it’s actually really easy to get to,” Eguchi wrote to The Hoya. “I didn’t know before this semester that it was this easy, so I do think having people know more about it and having events here can allow for more cross-campus inclusion and bonding.”
Shirley Omari-Kwarteng (CAS ’25), another CALL student, said expanding university bus services could facilitate better integration between the Hilltop and Capitol campuses.
“Expanding shuttle services into the late evening would allow Capitol Campus students to participate more fully in Georgetown’s nighttime events and traditions, further strengthening their connection to the broader university community,” Omari-Kwarteng wrote to The Hoya
The Georgetown University Transportation System (GUTS) added a route to the Capitol Campus in January 2024, with buses now running regularly between 6:30 a.m. and 10:15 p.m. during weekdays. Jennings said she will listen to student inputtoguideherleadershipasdean.
“I plan on working very closely with students both at the Hilltop and the Capitol Campus to listen to their wants and needs in regards to services, programs and fun that they want to see at the Capitol Campus,” Jennings wrote. “I will be looking to
DC Mayor Recommends Raising Public School Funding Amid Cuts
Amanda
Bloom Deputy Multimedia Editor
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel
Bowser announced a $123 million increase in public school funding as part of the fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget, despite an estimated $1 billion budget shortfall over the next four years.
Mayor Bowser’s plan proposed a 2.74% increase in the city’s per-pupil funding formula, which dictates how much money is spent on each student. This increase will bring the foundation level to $15,070 per student, leading to an additional $75 million of funding to D.C. public schools and $48 million to public charter schools. Bowser said in a statement that D.C. will remain committed to its public schools amid budget cuts from the federal government.
“We are going to continue investing in our schools; and even in this tight budget environment, we will make sure our schools have what they need to give our students the opportunities and experiences they deserve,” Mayor Bowser said in the statement.
In the Georgetown neighborhood, Hyde-Addison Elementary School will receive an additional $492,426 and Hardy Middle School will receive an additional $342,915 under this proposal.
Natalie Ham (SFS ’26) serves as a coordinator for the Georgetown After School Kids Program (ASK), a mentoring and tutoring program for local public charter schools. She works with students at Girls Global Academy, a public charter high school in Penn Quarter that specializes in global affairs. Ham said she thinks an increase in funding will create more opportunities for students to explore their global education outside the classroom.
“If they receive more funding, then they would be able to have greater opportunities to expand more on their interests, such as connecting students with organizations that can actualize their interests,” Ham told The Hoya As funding increases, the D.C. Public School system estimated that an additional 1,000 students will join the public school system by FY 2026, bringing total enrollment to roughly 101,000. Throughout the last decade, enrollment in D.C. public schools has increased by more than 14%.
To support fluctuations in enrollment, Mayor Bowser announced the implementation of the School Sustainability Fund, which aims to protect schools from rising prices by ensuring they receive at least 95% of their funding from the previous fiscal year. The budget also seeks to expand
you to tell me what will enhance your experience as a Capitol Campus student and what would draw you to the campus as a Hilltop student.”
Olivia Mason (CAS ’26), a Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) senator who lives at the Capitol Campus, said she looks forward to working with Jennings to improve student life at the Capitol Campus.
“I hope to work with Dean Jennings through the Capitol Campus Committee to connect her with the students who have already been living here (some of us for multiple years), and I am excited to speak with her about the future of dining options, Georgetown school-sponsored events, cross-campus commuting students and the possibility of expanding transportation options,” Mason wrote to The Hoya
Jennings said her academic and personal experience in Washington, D.C., will inform her work at the Capitol Campus.
“I have lived and worked in D.C. for 19 years and I believe that my knowledge of the city, its politics, the landscape of higher education here and my relationships will serve me well as I work to serve students and provide them with support and programs that will meet their needs and help them grow,” Jennings wrote.
Jennings said she is excited to become a part of the Georgetown community and help it flourish.
“We are not going to be able to do everything, especially not at first, but we can continually work to enhance the experience for everyone by working together,” Jennings wrote.
“Working and getting to know you, the Georgetown students, is what I look forward to the most.”
Biden Administration ‘Asia Czar’ to Join SFS Faculty
Ajani Stella Academics Desk Editor
the school system safety net, which sets aside funds for schools to provide a baseline level of education for elementary and middle schools, ensuring a student-teacher ratio of 20 to 1 in kindergarten through second grade and 25 to 1 in third through 12th grade.
Alix Nikolić de Jacinto (SFS ’28) attended Key Elementary School, a D.C. public school in the Palisades, and said the expansion of the baseline student-teacher ratio to include elementary and middle schools is a step in the right direction for the District.
“There is a massive discrepancy in terms of resources and opportunities for public schools,” Nikolić de Jacinto told The Hoya. “I think that is a necessary step that has been long overdue.”
The increase comes as D.C. Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee predicted the loss of 40,000 District jobs due to layoffs by the Department of Government Efficiency, an effort to increase government productivity through methods like funding cuts, resulting in an average $342.1 million annual loss in revenue. Lee said there may be a mild recession in FY 2026, with U.S. gross domestic product estimated to contract by 1.9%.
“As a government-driven economy, the District relies heavily on federal jobs and related economic activity, making the new administration’s policies a key factor in shaping the city’s economic outlook,” Lee wrote in a letter to Bowser.
Under the proposed budget for FY 2026, six schools will face cuts due to lower enrollment. Dunbar High School is set to lose $871,100 in funding with projected enrollment down by 226 students. Jackson-Reed High School will also lose $202,841 in funding with a projected decrease in enrollment by 200 students.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said D.C. will have to cut programs in order to fit the new budget.
“This upcoming budget season is going to be especially difficult, and there is no way around it: the District government will need to cut programs and services in order to achieve a balanced budget,” Mendelson wrote in a public statement.
“The consequences of the federal government’s decisions, unfortunately, will force the District to make some very tough choices in this budget.”
Ham said an increase in funding will give students a sense of stability.
“A sense of belonging, a sense of stability is so important, especially for education, because if you have these external factors affecting you, you can’t really focus on your education,” Ham said. “An increase in funding would really help.”
Kurt Campbell, who served as deputy secretary of state under former President Joe Biden, will join the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (SFS) as a fellow teaching courses and engaging with community members, the university announced March 3. Campbell, whose portfolio included U.S.-China relations during his tenure at the U.S. Department of State, will instruct Georgetown students and host speaking events, including at the new SFS location in Jakarta, Indonesia. Campbell worked on East Asian and Pacific affairs in various public and private capacities before joining the Biden administration, including as coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs on the National Security Council, and recently rejoined his consulting and advisory firm, The Asia Group, as co-founder and chairman.
Campbell joins former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, who has delivered lectures and attended university events, as a distinguished fellow in the SFS. The school often recruits potential fellows from members of an outgoing presidential administration, according to SFS Dean Joel Hellman.
Hellman said Campbell contributes to Georgetown’s focus on providing students with opportunities to learn from practitioners.
“That’s what makes a Georgetown education so unique and kind of difficult to get anywhere else,” Hellman told The Hoya. “So we are proud to have someone like Ambassador Campbell here, because he brings what is most unique to the Georgetown experience. I know that students will really be thrilled to interact with him and learn from him.”
Judy Wang (CAS ’27), an international student from China majoring in political economy and studio art, said she looks forward to learning from Campbell as he incorporates elements from his practical experience into his work at Georgetown.
“A lot of professors at other universities tend to do more academic research — and that’s obviously great that they have that academia experience,” Wang told The Hoya “But then for diplomacy specifically, you really need that real-world expertise and practice to be able to speak from an ‘I’ perspective for a lot of the experiences or the knowledge that they have.”
Hellman said he hopes Campbell will illuminate the potential impact of a diplomatic career amid rapid developments in domestic politics.
“We are at a moment in the U.S. political dialogue in which people who are engaging in service around the world have been denigrated — and in some cases even dehumanized, called corrupt,” Hellman said. “It is absolutely critical and an essential value of our institution that we are here to extol the virtue of engaging with the world to build principled public servants.”
“It’s critical to keep the flame lit that will motivate our students to think about how exciting a life of global service is and can be,” Hellman added. “That’s what we hope someone like Ambassador Campbell will bring to our campus, and this is the moment to do it.”
Since Jan. 20, officials acting under President Donald Trump have attempted to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which administers foreign assistance, and reduce the State Department by eliminating embassies and diplomatic missions abroad.
Aidan Pritchard (CAS ’27), who is majoring in Chinese and government, said students interested in careers related to Asia would particularly benefit from Campbell’s expertise.
“That would be good especially for students that are looking to have careers in fields that have to
do with Asian affairs, especially if he has government experience with those countries,” Pritchard told The Hoya. “Every region has its own particularity, so if he’s familiar with that and sharing his expertise with students, I think that would be really invaluable to students.” Wang said Campbell will shed light on dialogue between Washington, D.C., and Beijing, amid evolving relations between the two countries.
“U.S.-China relations has been a hot topic for nearly a decade or more,” Wang said. “In this critical moment where there’s a lot of heated tensions between the United States and China, for a school so important for diplomacy, it’s important for us to hear from someone with real expertise, to hear from what they have to say in terms of a country and nation people that’s somewhat distant from the United States, instead of hearing from the textbook.” Hellman said he urges Georgetown students to heed Campbell’s advice and consider a service-oriented career.
“I really hope that our students get a chance to engage with him to hear what it means to serve, to hear what it means to dedicate your life to service, and to think how they can do that as well as they think about their futures,” Hellman said.
Annie
Quimby Hoya Staff Writer
A former Israeli security official analyzed the possible impacts of President Donald Trump’s approach to diplomacy in the Middle East during a Georgetown University webinar March 12.
Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security advisor in Israel who will join Georgetown’s Center for Jewish Civilization (CJC) as a visiting professor for the 2025-26 academic year, was the webinar’s featured speaker. The event — titled “Trump, the Mideast and US-Israeli Relations: Game Changer or Agent of Chaos?” — allowed students to hear from Freilich and CJC Director Jonathan Lincoln.
Freilich said Trump has been a consistent ally of Israel throughout the latest Israel-Hamas war, but added that Trump’s recent tense interactions with Ukrainian leaders are potentially concerning for Israel.
“What I’m very worried about — yes, Trump was and so far has been very virtuous and some people may say too good, but could Trump turn on a dime against Israel?” Freilich said during the event.
Trump supported Israel during his first presidential term and in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack during which Hamas militants crossed into Israel, killed almost 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages. After the attack, the Israeli military invaded Gaza and has since killed over 40,000 Palestinians.
The United States helped broker a preliminary ceasefire agreement effective
Jan. 19 — which both Trump and former President Joe Biden claimed credit for—whichincludedthereturnofIsraeli hostages in exchange for the release of around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
Freilich said both the ceasefire deal and Trump’s rhetoric ahead of his inauguration showed that Trump’s tactics may lead to successful diplomacy in the region.
“He started even before entering office, literally days leading up to Jan. 20, with the success that he threatened that there would be all hell to pay,” Freilich said. “But it led to that hostage deal, which has gotten a lot of people back home — that was a good thing.”
Freilich added that Trump’s proposal to forcibly relocate Palestinians out of Gaza to build a “Riviera of the Middle East” is ill-conceived.
“He also came up with this idea of relocating, forcing out, whatever you want to call it, over 2 million Palestinians from Gaza,” Freilich said. “It’s a proposal which was dead on arrival, and I don’t think an American president should be coming out with a proposal that you know has absolutely no chance of going ahead.”
“If I have difficulty still in understanding Israeli decision making, then understanding the Trumpian chaotic approach is an even bigger challenge,” Freilich added.
Freilich said Trump’s first term is instructive for analysts hoping to understand how Trump will engage with the current conflict. During his first term, Trump’s administration brokered the Abraham Accords, a series of peace agreements
signed in 2020 which aimed to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
“You have to step back for a minute and talk about his first term, which in many ways was very, very good for Israel,” Freilich said. “He brought us the Abraham Accords — the peace agreements with the Emirates, with Bahrain and with Morocco.”
However, Freilich said, Trump’s record in the Middle East is mixed, noting that his withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — a multinational agreement signed in 2015 that aimed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons — gave Iran more power.
“He also withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal, the JCPOA, which I think was a catastrophic mistake and the reason that today, that Iran has become a nuclear threshold state and can cross it at any moment,” Freilich said.
Lincoln, who moderated the event, said Freilich has been an important influence for him since early in his career, when he first read Freilich’s writings on Israeli politics.
“The article on national security decision making really was a revelatory moment for me,” Lincoln said at the event. “Dr. Freilich has really managed to distinguish himself by being the first to analyze Israel’s decision-making process in the security sphere.” Freilich said Trump’s unorthodox methods have encouraged diplomats to rethink their approach to peace in the Middle East despite personal disagreement with some of Trump’s decisions.
“When you’re a disruptor, you can cause real destruction,” Freilich said.
“You can also sometimes force people to think about it differently.”
“What he’s doing here is he’s forced the Arab world and others to start taking a different look at Gaza, and I think that is good,” Freilich added.
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Georgetown University hired Kathryn Jennings, a former associate vice president of student engagement at the Catholic University of America, as its newest associate dean of students.
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli security official, profiled U.S.-Israel diplomatic relations at a March 12 event.
McCourt School Expands Leadership, Career Development Fellowship Program
Pooja Narayan Graduate Desk Editor
The McCourt School of Public Pol-
icy’s Leadership Fellows program, a yearlong program that aims to enhance students’ personal development and mentorship skills, expanded to include career development, community building activities and adaptive leadership training, McCourt announced March 3. Following team building training, the fellows act as advisors to a new class of McCourt students in the Foundations Program, McCourt’s orientation for new students. McCourt’s administration revamped the program for the 2024-25 cohort, and the incoming cohort will benefit from increased pre-professional skills, extensive experience moderating difficult conversations and a deeper sense of solidarity with their peers.
Jennifer Tobin, co-director of the Leadership Fellows program and associate professor of public policy, said the program will provide fellows with better professional opportunities.
“We are excited to provide Fellows with enhanced opportunities to develop critical skills to lead with empathy, tackle difficult conversations and build stronger, more inclusive teams,” Tobin wrote in a March 3 press release.
Duana Blach De Macedo Miranda (GRD ’25), head leadership fellow in the 2024-25 cohort, said her experience facilitating the Foundations Program for McCourt first-years motivated her to become a leadership fellow.
“My Leadership Fellow did an amazing job, and I was truly grateful for their support,” Miranda wrote to The Hoya. “Because I had such a positive experience with Foundations, I
wanted to make sure future students could feel just as welcomed and prepared for this intense but exciting journey. That’s what motivated me to become a Leadership Fellow.”
Jaclyn Clevenger, director of student engagement at McCourt, said the school implemented additional training and event design opportunities in the updated Leadership Fellows program.
“This past year the McCourt Leadership Fellows participated in additional workshops focused on difficult conversations and adaptive leadership and facilitated a school-wide global climate simulation, allowing them to continue to build their leadership and communication skills,” Clevenger wrote to The Hoya. “Fellows also designed and hosted a career development workshop for first-year McCourt graduate students, helping them craft personal narratives and refine elevator pitches as they prepare for job interviews.”
Miranda said the community aspects of the Leadership Fellows program allow returning students to foster a sense of belonging as well as improve their own mentorship skills.
“We each lead a small group of students (around 10), facilitating sessions, coordinating activities and serving as a point of contact for any practical or emotional support they may need,” Miranda wrote. “It’s a fantastic experience — not only do we get to form meaningful connections, but we also see students grow more comfortable and start to feel at home at McCourt.”
Miranda added that the continuity of the Leadership Fellows program is especially useful for enhancing returning students’ mentorship skills and making first-year students feel prepared for their professional lives.
“Beyond Foundations, our work
continues throughout the year,” Miranda wrote. “This year, we also designed and led our own sessions on skills that align with Foundations’ values. We created a session called ‘Telling Your Story,’ where we helped students build a compelling personal narrative — something particularly valuable as they navigate internship applications in a complex policy environment.”
Clevenger said overseeing the expansion of the program was particularly meaningful to her.
“The Fellows’ commitment to their own personal and professional development is inspiring, and the entire McCourt School benefits from the work they do to make McCourt a welcoming and engaging community,” Clevenger wrote. “Working with Fellows is one of the best parts of my job here at the McCourt School.”
Miranda said future updates to the programwillimprovestudents’experiences.
“With a strong focus on meaningful sessions and continuous feedback from students, the program is only going to get better,” Miranda said. “As we refine and expand the program, I believe it will continue to evolve into an even more transformative experience for future cohorts.”
Miranda added that the Leadership Fellows program helped her feel professionally and socially comfortable at McCourt.
“Being a Leadership Fellow has been a very rewarding part of my time at McCourt,” Miranda wrote. “It’s not just supporting other students — it’s also about growing as a leader, learning from peers and being an active part of a community that values (and intentionally builds) collaboration and personal development. I’m excited to see how the program continues to evolve in the future!”
GU Professor, Former Ambassador Launches Book on US Statecraft, Modern Geopolitics
Amanda Bloom Special to The Hoya
An international relations professor in the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (SFS) marked the publication of his newest book on contemporary geopolitics at an event hosted by the Center for Jewish Civilization, an interdisciplinary program in the SFS, March 10. Dennis Ross, a distinguished professor of the practice, published “Statecraft 2.0: What America Needs to Lead in a Multipolar World” as an update to his 2006 book “Statecraft: And How to Restore America’s Standing in the World.” Ross has played a role in U.S. foreign policy for decades, having served as the Department of State’s director of policy planning under former President George H.W. Bush, special Middle East coordinator under former President Bill Clinton and a special assistant to former President Barack Obama. Ross said that in contrast to the unipolar system led by the United States he described in his first book, global politics has evolved amid the rise of China and other global competitors.
“We face real competitors internationally and regionally, and we don’t any longer have a consensus about what our role in the world should be,” Ross said at the event. “So it was in light of that that I wrote a book that uses statecraft as an approach, a concept of how you organize and approach foreign policy and national security, but I wrote in a totally different context.” Ross added that shifts in geopolitical dynamics and the domestic political environment compelled him to reassess U.S. foreign policy.
“This led me to do some things that were quite different from the first
book,” Ross said. “One was to think about American traditions in foreign policy. The other was to say we’ve gotten away with, historically, not doing what is essential to good statecraft.”
“Statecraft 2.0” explores how the United States failed to fully align its objectives and means despite maintaining a unipolar position. Ross said these failures allowed world leaders to further challenge the United States, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Ross said this strategy is no longer feasible for the United States in today’s multipolar landscape.
“We are not going to be able to sustain a leading role in the world, which I continue to believe is necessary, unless we are in a position to marry our objectives and means,” Ross said.
Ross said public unity and trust in U.S. foreign policy peaked in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“You go back to 9/11, and there you have this extraordinary degree of unity, and for a couple of years, you kind of lose checks and balances as well,” Ross said. “The Congress is willing to give a blank check to the administration.”
Ross said the 2003 Iraq War, which saw U.S. forces invade Iraq to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein, spurred a downward spiral toward the present polarization in the United States.
“The costs are so high, the benefits are not clear and the expectations that were created are not at all fulfilled — where were the weapons of mass destruction?” Ross said. “All this really profoundly shakes the consensus.”
Ross said the Great Recession, which began in 2007, compounded the public’s distrust in the U.S. government.
“The financial meltdown of 2008
GU Students Convene for Interdisciplinary ClimateChangeHealthcareCaseCompetition
Ajani Stella Academics Desk Editor
The Georgetown University School of Nursing (SON) inaugurated its global health case challenge, which invited students to develop health care solutions to climate change, during a virtual event March 10.
Both graduate and undergraduate participants in randomly assigned groups devised solutions addressing wildfires and health care in immigrant communities based on a fictional case study set in California. The event was organized by the INnovations in Solving Problems through Interdisciplinary Research and Education (INSPIRE) program, a joint collaboration between the SON and the Global Health Institute (GHI), which coordinates research for health care solutions.
Pamela Biernacki, assistant dean for innovation and program development at the SON and the event’s organizer, said the case challenge introduced students to interdisciplinary problem solving approaches.
“At the intersection of healthcare providers, policy-makers, environmental specialists and scientists, there is an abundance of knowledge that students can both share and learn from,” Biernacki wrote to The Hoya. “By tackling complex, real-world problems in collaborative groups, students will experience firsthand the value of building cross-sector relationships and working together to address pressing challenges.”
Organizers presented students with a case that followed a 50-yearold immigrant from Mexico with asthma and mental health issues exacerbated by wildfires. The case asked students to consider her immediate health care needs as well as the im-
pact of her lack of legal residency status and economic situation.
Jordan Pai (SOH ’27) said participating in the case challenge taught him health care requires an interdisciplinary outlook, especially when dealing with issues like climate change.
“In health care, you can’t just address one problem, which in this case was her having asthma,” Pai told The Hoya. “There are so many other problems that just confound the issue that you need to take an interdisciplinary, cross-sectional approach to solve the whole thing. If you’re only solving one part of it, you’re not going to be able to solve the issue at its root.”
Biernacki said the organizers focused on climate change because of its widespread impact.
“Climate change and its impact on health, particularly wildfires, is a critical topic as it brings together expertise from various disciplines, including environmental science, public health and access to healthcare,” Biernacki wrote. “Wildfires not only affect air quality and mental health, but also highlight the need for interdisciplinary solutions to mitigate and adapt to these growing environmental threats.”
Scientists have determined climate change worsens wildfires by increasing temperatures and reducing precipitation, which can displace individuals and communities.
Samraa Smadi (GRD ’25), who experienced wildfires growing up in Southern California, said she explored multidisciplinary approaches to addressing the human impact of wildfires.
“With climate change, these wildfires are more prevalent, meaning change has to happen now for us to find emergency management and collaborative governance interventions,” Smadi wrote to The Hoya
“I wanted to gain a holistic, topic-specific perspective of wildfire outcomes on health and individuals, while identifying gaps in health care systems that hinder timely care,” Smadi added.
Pai said personal perspectives from students who have experienced wildfires humanized the issue and helped him develop more empathetic policy proposals.
“It added a dimension of emotion that you wouldn’t necessarily see in a health care scenario if you’re trying to just treat a patient,” Pai said.
“Here, it’s more like, ‘I know people that have been affected by this, I’ve been affected by this, how can I contribute in a way to deal with a more multi-dimensional problem?’” Pai added.
Biernacki said she hopes to integrate the case challenge with coursework and involve more faculty in the future, in addition to introducing judging and awards during the event itself.
“The INSPIRE Core Team recognizes the importance of securing faculty commitment for the success of the initiative,” Biernacki wrote. “We will work to engage additional disciplines in the planning process, highlighting the various ways the INSPIRE event can be integrated as a strategic learning activity within their courses.”
Smadi said the case challenge demonstrated the efficacy of collaboration in solving global issues like climate change.
“This event was a great reminder that complex problems need a multi-stakeholder, multidimensional and cross-sector approach in order to solve them,” Smadi wrote. “That while it is easier to stay in our silos, it is not the avenue for success.”
Researcher Addresses Men’s Health, Social Relationships, Connections
Elyse Ellingsworth
Events Desk Editor
then raises basic questions about expertise, and the elite and their views,” Ross said. “So I look at this as being a time when a lot of the source of domestic consensus is weakened.”
Ava Schneiberg (CAS ’27), a student in Ross’ class who received an advance copy of the book, said she found the work essential to her study of statecraft and U.S. foreign policy.
“‘Statecraft 2.0’ offers an accessible and straight-to-the-point analysis of high stakes U.S. foreign policy interventions, processes that seem almost mythical in how they play out,” Schneiberg told The Hoya. “As someone hoping to serve in the U.S. foreign policymaking field, I hope to carry the lessons from Ross’s book with me into my career.”
The event concluded with a question and answer session. Ross said the current administration under President Donald Trump defines U.S. interests differently than previous leaders, and concluded the event with his thoughts on the future of the United States’ legitimacy as a world leader.
“The legitimacy is going to be shaken by this administration because this administration operates exclusively on the question of interest, not values,” Ross said. “It’s pretty hard to say that the Trump administration stands for anything other than what’s going to be good for America.”
“Traditionally, we felt because of who we are, because of the nature of our values that are more universal, that when we see freedom growing, when we see tolerance growing, when we see certain basic norms respected internationally, that was good for America. Right now, this administration defines what’s good for America differently, so it will be difficult,” Ross said.
A men’s health researcher urged men’s inclusion in reproductive conversations and addressed social and connection issues that men face at a Georgetown University event March 12. Dominick Shattuck, a community psychologist at Johns Hopkins University who works on global public health topics and specializes in reproductive and men’s health, addressed issues in the men’s health sector and profiled how to redefine male interpersonal relationships in today’s world. Georgetown’s health and the public interest program (HAPI), a master’s course that trains students to work in a variety of interdisciplinary fields related to public health, hosted the event.
Shattuck said men and women often have different experiences at a doctor’s office when discussing reproductive health.
“When it comes to reproductive health, men’s experiences at the doctor’s office are significantly different from women — whether a woman goes into the doctor’s office because she twisted her ankle, or she has a headache, at some point they’re going to be asked this kind of battery of questions that include things like, ‘Are you sexually active?’
‘When was your last period?’” Shattuck said at the event. “For men, nothing like that ever happens in the doctor’s office, and if it does, it’s a very unique situation.”
Shattuck added that these messages reinforce a nonactive role for men when thinking about pregnancy, childbirth and reproductive health.
“It fails to reinforce these kinds of messages, and instead leaves a big gap, right?” Shattuck said. “The way I view this is that it solidifies the
reality that all these are women’s burdens to carry.”
Shattuck previously worked to provide family planning curriculum in Malawi with Save the Children, a global organization that works to improve the lives of children through humanitarian aid, educational programs and policy reform. The program revolves around a motivator, often a man in the community, who works with program designers and administrators to encourage the use of family planning services.
Shattuck said organizers designed the curriculum in light of intergenerational marriages in Malawi, which he said makes conversations around family planning more difficult, but added that the curriculum’s structure facilitates such dialogue.
“First, there’s the pitch for using family planning services by highlighting the information shared around the benefits of birth spacing and information around the different contraceptive methods and then, in session two, the motivator talks about his use of family planning and providing himself as a model,” Shattuck said.
“Session three, the motivator then works with the participant to practice role play and kind of work through some activities to get them to practice using the words and the language around reproductive health,” he said.
Shattuck added that the results of the intervention were extremely positive.
“The women were saying things like, ‘I felt like I was included in the decision making after the intervention,’ where they said, ‘I felt like he was actually listening to me,’” Shattuck said. “And we all know how hard relationships can be, but improving these couples’ interactions with one another in such positive ways can be
impactful, not just for this aspect of their life, but for other aspects of their lives as well.”
“So working with the men, providing them with the language, normalizing the conversation around reproductive health and helping encourage them and helping them have the conversation with their partners was an effective way in which to intervene and build the skill sets related to reproductive health rules and contraception,” Shattuck said.
Frances DeCleva (GRD ’25), a student in the HAPI program who introduced Shattuck at the event, said Shattuck’s work has a real impact on communities around the globe.
“His multifaceted work reflects the real-world applied projects he’s undertaken, including the development of the first mobile game promoting reproductive health,” Decleva said at the event. “He also partnered with Meta during the pandemic to disseminate real-time data of more than 55 million responses through the COVID behaviors dashboard.” Shattuck said the beliefs instilled in men from a young age can have negative impacts on their health, but added that helping foster communication can counteract these effects.
“Men who subscribe to traditional masculine beliefs are more likely to avoid preventative screenings, more likely to not have primary care providers, not meet their elected appointments, refuse psychological care, have a higher medical mistrust and, most importantly, they become increasingly socially isolated as they mature,” Shattuck said.
“Skills related to communication have the power to transform the behaviors of men,” Shattuck said. “Aspects of these interventions need to be embedded within programs across the larger public health agenda.”
COURTESY OF PAMELA BIERNACKI
Georgetown University students devised solutions addressing wildfires and health care in immigrant communities based on a fictional case study set in California during a virtual event March 10.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Ambassador Dennis Ross, a professor in the School of Foreign Service, celebrated the launch of his book on contemporary geopolitics and statecraft at a March 10 event.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
CLUB HOCKEY
Frontcourt Notches Top Big East Honors Hoyas on a Streak Entering Playoffs
Two Georgetown University men’s basketball team players, graduate guard Micah Peavy and first-year center Thomas Sorber, were named to Big East all-conference teams March 9, as determined by a poll of the conference’s coaches.
Peavy, who joined the team as a transfer this season after one year at Texas Tech University and three years at Texas Christian University, was selected to the all-Big East first team. The only Georgetown starter not to miss a game due to injury this year, Peavy led the Hoyas’ defense and provided a significant amount of the team’s offensive production.
Peavy led the conference in steals, averaging 2.3 per game. That total also put him second among high-major players this year. Peavy averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists, and had 14 games with 20 points or more. Peavy was named to the Big East weekly honor roll five times throughout the season on Dec. 2, Jan. 27, Feb. 10, Feb. 24 and March 9. In his best performance this year — the Hoyas’ blowout of Providence College on Feb. 19 — Peavy played every minute, with a stat line of 30 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals. In February, Peavy took his play to another level — averaging 24.2 points and shooting 49.6% from the field.
Peavy is the first Hoya to be named to the all-Big East first team since center Jessie Govan during the 2018-19 season.
Peavy was also a contender for the defensive player of the
COMMENTARY
year award, but the award went to center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who matched Patrick Ewing as the only two players to win the award four times.
In his media availability earlier this week, Peavy thanked the coaching staff and his teammates for putting him in position to succeed.
“Coming here, Coach Cooley said I was gonna be in position to get all-Big East first team,” Peavy said. “It’s not just me. It’s my teammates and my coaches putting me in the position to get those baskets, to play my defense.”
Peavy acknowledged that his intentionality on the other side of the ball also played a big role in his success.
“A big part was my confidence on offense. I think I expanded my game on all three levels,” Peavy added.
Peavy is a potential prospect for the NBA draft after excelling with Georgetown this year, and could be selected in the second round or signed as an undrafted free agent, a view University of Connecticut (UConn) Head Coach Dan Hurley shared in a Feb. 26 interview.
Sorber, one of college basketball’s breakout first-year stars this season, was named to the all-Big East third team and unanimously selected to the allfirst-year team. The Freshman of the Year award, however, proved to be just outside his grasp, going to UConn forward Liam McNeeley. Out of Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia, Sorber was a fourstar recruit ranked #53 in the country by ESPN coming into this season.
Sorber averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2 blocks
and 1.3 steals per game. He was the most valuable defender in the conference and the third most valuable defender in the country, according to EvanMiya.com, an analytics website.
McNeeley and Sorber each missed time this season due to injuries and, when healthy, were named Freshman of the Week seven times. They also averaged similar points totals, but Sorber had better rebounding and playmaking stats. However, McNeeley’s UConn finished the season with a conference record of 14-6, compared to the Hoyas at 8-12.
A foot injury during the game against Butler on Feb. 15 cut Sorber’s season short. Sorber has not played since and underwent season-ending surgery to treat the injury Feb. 26.
In the press conference after the Hoyas’ seasonending loss to DePaul in the Big East tournament, Head Coach Ed Cooley said Sorber outperformed McNeeley this year, and deserved more award recognition.
“At the bare minimum, he should’ve been the rookie of the year,” he said. “Shame on our coaches for not recognizing that.”
Sorber must now decide whether to return to college for another year or declare for the NBA draft. Sorber was considered a likely first-round prospect before his injury.
Cooley said the Hoyas would win the Big East with Sorber, who would be one of the best players in the country.
“I’m praying that my big boy comes back, because if he does this room will look blue and gray,” Cooley said, before punching the table for emphasis and walking out.
Clear Top Two in NBA MVP Race
The 2024-25 NBA season has seen several twists and turns, ranging from an onslaught of injuries, most recently Kyrie Irving’s season-ending torn ACL, to the league-altering Luka Dončić trade and the sudden dominance of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite all of the changes, one consistency remains: the dominance of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić.
Jokić, arguably the most complete offensive player in NBA history, ranks third in the league in points (28.9 per game), second in assists (10.6 per game) and third in rebounds (12.9 per game) this season. Jokić’s average of 10.6 assists per game are the most by a center in NBA history, and he is on pace to become the first player ever to rank in the top three in all three categories in a season.
Jokić’s historic efficiency rounds out his statistically incomprehensible season, where he ranks second in the NBA in true shooting percentage (TS%), which uses field goals, free throws and 3-point percentages, among players who have played at least 20 games and averaged more than 5 made field goals per game. Additionally, Jokić ranks sixth in the NBA in 3-point percentage, shooting an impressive 43.9% on over 4 attempts per game. Looking at the historic numbers Jokić is putting up, it is hard to believe anyone has a chance to win the MVP award over him. However, GilgeousAlexander presents a strong case, leading the NBA with an average of 32.8 points per game and averaging 6.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game, all while leading the Thunder to the best record in the Western Conference over the second-place Nuggets. While wholly impressive, Gilgeous-Alexander’s raw numbers do not match Jokić’s. However, it is important to note that Jokić ranks ninth in minutes per game while Gilgeous-Alexander ranks 32nd. A large reason for this difference is the Thunder’s dominance, leading to Gilgeous-Alexander sitting out the entire fourth quarter 14 times. Additionally, Gilgeous-Alexander’s 64.5 TS% ranks seventh in NBA history among 30-plus point-pergame seasons, demonstrating his historic efficiency. On sheer statistics, Jokić surpasses GilgeousAlexander, but the Thunder star’s argument lies within historical context and his overall impact on the Thunder’s success.
The Thunder sit atop the Western Conference with an 11-game lead over the Nuggets, which is incredibly impressive given they have dealt with significant injuries, most notably with defensive anchor and supporting star Chet Holmgren missing 45 games. Additionally, key pieces like Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell have missed 20-plus games each due to injuries. Despite this, Gilgeous-Alexander has propelled the Thunder to a +12.8-point margin per game, the highest in NBA history. Moreover, he leads all qualified players with a +17.7 NET rating. For reference, the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls hold the record for the best team NET rating with +13.4. When GilgeousAlexander is off the court, the Thunder have a +2.8 NET rating, demonstrating his impact. Using NET rating and on-off splits, one thing is clear: Both teams are elite when their respective stars are on the court and are significantly worse off when they are on the bench. The Nuggets have a +11.4 rating with Jokić on the court but a –8.5 rating with him off. While Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence takes the Thunder from the best team of all time to a slightly aboveaverage team, Jokić’s absence takes the Nuggets from a very good team to a very bad team. As much as the –8.5 metric highlights Jokić’s impact, it also highlights Denver’s flawed roster construction and inability to maintain consistency without Jokić. Considering his two-way impact, I believe Gilgeous-Alexander’s value to the Thunder, in this season specifically, outweighs Jokić’s value to the Nuggets. Without Holmgren, an all-defensive talent, for 45 games, the Thunder still have the best defense in the NBA this season, with a league-best 106.1 defensive rating. The gap between the Thunder and the second-best defense, the Orlando Magic with a 109.4 rating, is the same as the gap between the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers, the 13th best team with a 112.7 rating. The Thunder are loaded with defensive talent, but GilgeousAlexander’s commitment to that side of the floor is still evident. He is tied for the league lead in blocks among guards, is second among all players in steals and holds opponents to a 43% field goal percentage (3.3% lower than their season average of 46.3%).
Additionally, Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in defensive win shares, according to Basketball Reference. On the contrary, Jokić gives up the most field goals per game in the NBA at 9.9 per game, with opponents shooting 49.6%
Georgetown University may officially be a hockey school. Despite recognizing Georgetown for its standout basketball and lacrosse programs, many people fail to acknowledge one of the best and most promising programs at this school: Georgetown men’s club hockey. A team full of experience and potential, the Hoyas have much to be proud of at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, posting a final record of 21-5 and reaching the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship tournament.
The Hoyas came out of the gates sizzling at the outset of the season. Something was in the air as the team hit the road to face off against the University of Virginia (UVA) Cavaliers (17-31-0) in their opener, ultimately closing the match with a 9-4 victory. The key win included contributions from many faces, including graduate forward Phil Pikus, who had a 4-point game. Additionally, first-year forward Jack Allieri and firstyear defenseman Connor Lee emerged in the spotlight by combining for 4 goals and 5 points in the victory.
clean sweep served as a nice midseason boost for the Hoyas as they forged into the tail end of the season.
At the ACC fall showcase tournament, the Hoyas continued their overall success, picking up two wins over Stevenson and JMU and only dropping one game to West Virginia University (11-10-2-0), a recently dominant program in ACC hockey. Following the showcase, the Hoyas proceeded to successfully sweep GWU, a crosstown rival, acquiring their third win of the season over the Revolutionaries.
For the playoffs, the Hoyas hiked out to Winston-Salem, N.C. Starting off the playoffs with a face-off against the University of North Carolina, Charlotte (UNCC) (5-10-0-0), the Hoyas played phenomenally, winning 5-0 in a defensive masterpiece. Next up was Wake Forest University (10-8-0-0), the hometown team. After a gritty regulation period ending in a 2-2 tie, the Demon Deacons tucked
one away to seal the game in overtime, resulting in a 3-2 defeat for the Hoyas and ending a highly successful season.
Choi said he believes the team will retain a plethora of talent next season despite not taking home the championship this year.
“It’s disappointing to not come out on top, but the boys gave it a good bid this year,” Choi told The Hoya. “Lots of talent on this team. I’m definitely excited for next year.” Allieri said the future of the team remains bright due to a strong team culture.
“We fought. This team had a lot of heart, and that’s a culture built by the seniors. That culture doesn’t simply go away with a new season,” Allieri told The Hoya. “Our future is very bright.” Allieri focuses on a major pillar for the team: heart. Throughout the season — full of ups and a couple downs, many goals and perhaps a few too many penalties — the Hoyas always had heart, and that’s something coaches cannot teach.
against him. The Nuggets are 1.8 points better defensively when Jokić is off the court, whereas the Thunder are 1 point better defensively when Gilgeous-Alexander is in.
Often, throughout the season, teams target star players on the defensive end. However, in the fourth quarter, among 275 qualified players, Gilgeous-Alexander ranks 14th in holding opponents below their season field goal percentage. Especially important while missing so many players due to injury, Gilgeous-Alexander’s domination on both ends juxtaposes with Jokić’s defensive struggles.
It is clear both players make their teams exponentially better, regardless of surrounding lineups or injuries to teammates.
According to PBP Stats (excluding low leverage minutes), Jokić has a +7.19 NET rating in 146 minutes played without his three best players: Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. This is impressive, but contrast that to Gilgeous-Alexander, who, without Jalen Williams, Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, his three best players, has a +30.06 NET rating in 535 minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s statistics are mind-blowing, not just because of the preposterous 30.06 rating that makes his overall league-leading +17.7 rating look minuscule, but because of the significant sample size of 535 minutes. This signifies the load Gilgeous-Alexander has carried and how, independent of lineup, he elevates his team to historic levels.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s dominance with weaker lineups around him gives the Thunder much more flexibility than the Nuggets. Because Gilgeous-Alexander has so much success, with even bench players, the Thunder can remain afloat when he’s off by putting their other best players on the court together, and staggering them off together for chunks when Gilgeous-Alexander plays.
Whoever wins MVP will be deserving. Jokić’s historic offensive numbersandjusthowbadtheNuggets are without him present a strong case. However, Gilgeous-Alexander is having a scoring season that mirrors the likes of Michael Jordan in terms of volume with significantly better efficiency. His propulsion of the Thunder to the best point margin in NBA history, while leading the league in scoring and defending at an elite level to compensate for injuries to the Thunder’s two best defenders for much of the year, make him most deserving of the award.
All statistics are as of March 9, 2025.
The Hoyas’ dominance over UVA spurred a 6-game win streak as Georgetown proceeded to overcome Loyola University Maryland (2-6-0-0), University of Delaware (17-7-2-0), Stevenson University (9-14-0-0) and The George Washington University (GWU) (7-10-0-0) twice in their next five matchups. This hot start arose from every corner of the team, as skaters at every position excelled. The Hoyas’ dynamic goalkeepers, senior captain Mark Peracchia and junior Matt Choi, enabled the rest of the team to thrive throughout the season. The two were reminiscent of the 2022-23 Boston Bruins with Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark in the way they thrived splitting games, setting the tone for the rest of the team.
The Hoyas dropped their first two games of 2025 to Towson University (5-23-2-0) and Delaware, slightly thwarting their momentum. Despite the hiccup, the Hoyas bounced back with a win over James Madison University (JMU) (611-0-0) before trekking up to Philadelphia for three road games. After solid wins over University of Pennsylvania (6-14-0-0) and St. Joseph’s University (12-9-1-0), the Hoyas utterly embarrassed Princeton University (1-11-0-0) with a lopsided 15-1 victory. The
SOFTBALL
The
have dominated their league this season,
a
regular season record of 21-5 from all-around team contributions.
Hoyas Exhibit Win-Lose Pattern
Madeline Wang Deputy Sports Editor
The Georgetown University softball team (8-8, 0-3 Big East) began its 20th season last month, teeing things off at the Charleston Southern University (CSU) Kickoff in Charleston, S.C. on Feb 7. The team began the season with a commanding 7-1 win over Bellarmine University (4-10), but a 6-0 shutout later that day by Siena College (8-9) quickly followed. The pattern of one win followed by one loss seems to be a Georgetown softball trademark as they reach the halfway point of their season with an 8-8 record.
This win-lose pattern seems to apply not just to the Hoyas’ games but also to the team as a whole. Georgetown announced Jan. 10 that the team would part ways with its first-ever head coach, Pat Conlan, and Assistant Coach Gabriela Elvina. Just over a week before the first contest of the season, Georgetown’s softball program named Karla Ross the new head coach Jan. 29 and Camryn Dolby the new assistant coach Feb. 3. With the new leadership came an opportunity for the Hoyas to start fresh. Stepping away from the only leadership the program ever had provided a fantastic chance to improve on prior seasons’ performances by implementing new tactics and ideas. The Hoyas concluded their first weekend of play this season with a 3-2 record, taking down Bellarmine twice as well as CSU, and dropping two to Siena. First-year outfielder Dani Koo earned the Big East freshman of the week award Feb. 10 for her performance at the CSU
Kickoff, where she batted .316 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. The Hoyas’ first weekend performance marked a dramatic contrast from the past three seasons’ opening performances, where the Hoyas went 1-4, 0-3 and 1-4 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Weather difficulties prevented Georgetown from traveling to their second weekend of play, but they returned exceptionally the following week and went 3-0 at the Carolina Classic on Feb. 22, wiping out Queens University of Charlotte (5-13), Wagner College (5-9) and University of West Georgia (8-13) in games by margins of 8-1, 6-1 and 104, respectively. Sophomore infielder Emily Strittmatter was named to the Big East weekly honor roll Feb. 24 for her essential role in the team’s success at the Carolina Classic, where she hit 2 home runs and secured 2 RBIs, 4 walks and 6 runs. Between Feb. 28 and March 2, the Hoyas played their final weekend of classic play before their conference schedule as they returned to their old ways, going 2-3 at the Liberty Softball Invitational. Despite the losses, junior first and third baseman Dayanara Campos was able to capture a Big East weekly honor roll nomination after she hit .400 across the weekend with a home run, 2 doubles, 7 RBIs and 3 runs scored. This marked the third weekend of play for Georgetown and the third weekend of Big East weekly honors. The Hoyas opened up Big East play March 7-9 in a three-game series at Seton Hall University (10-9, 3-0 Big East) in South Orange, N.J. The Hoyas dropped three straight games to the
Pirates, extending their losing streak to five games. Despite the losing streak, Georgetown has managed to maintain some integrity, holding a .500 winning percentage at present. At the halfway point last season, the Hoyas held a 10-13 overall record with a .435 winning percentage. The season before, in 2023, Georgetown held a 4-16 record at the halfway mark, with a .200 winning percentage. In 2022, the Hoyas had a 10-11 record and .476 winning percentage following the opening weekend of Big East play. Compared to the past few seasons’ results, Georgetown is showing progress in improving its record. In each of the past two seasons, the Hoyas earned three Big East weekly honor roll mentions throughout the regular season. In a little over a month, this year’s team already managed to secure the same amount. While the Hoyas still showcase some of the same tendencies from prior seasons, with an unremarkable record so far, positive change is evident as successes appear to be trending upward. Snags take time to work out, and with the new coaching staff joining the team less than a month and a half ago, there is still plenty of hope for the Hoyas’ season ahead. The Hoyas will next travel to Queens, N.Y., over the weekend to take on St. John’s University (17-81) in a three-game series beginning March 14. In each of the past two seasons, Georgetown was able to secure one win against St. John’s; this weekend, the Hoyas will be looking to one-up their past season performances and take multiple wins against the Red Storm.
Jay Kakani Special to The Hoya
Neal Carlson Special to The Hoya
Nate Seidenstein Sports Staff Writer
GUHOYAS
Hoyas
posting
final
@YANKEES/INSTAGRAM
Key Players Will Miss Start OfNewYorkYankees’Season
HERMAN, from A12
the “injury bug” is a misnomer.
For pitchers who throw upwards of 100 mph and hitters that swing the bat at 80 mph, injuries are a feature, not a bug.
It is no coincidence that one-third of current Major League Baseball (MLB) players have undergone Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). In fact, I would venture a guess that it is related to the fact that the average velocity of a pitcher has increased by 4 mph — about 5% — in the last 20 years.
The human body is not designed to throw a baseball at that speed, hundreds of times per week. Further, as effective as the recent introduction of the pitch clock has been in improving the pace of the game, it cannot be beneficial for pitchers to increase the frequency at which they throw a baseball with maximum effort.
Succeeding in the major leagues should not require players to practically guarantee themselves a future trip to an orthopedic surgeon.
On the other side of that coin, it is also not in teams’ best interests to spend inordinate sums of money to acquire ticking time bombs.
Teams must pivot from seeking out pitchers who throw the hardest and hitters who swing the fastest. Perhaps front offices should look to the Tampa Bay Rays, who employ deep bullpens that allow
starters to pitch many fewer innings than average per start. Alternatively, they can mimic the Los Angeles Dodgers and roster six or seven starting pitchers instead of the usual five, granting pitchers precious extra rest between starts.
One way or another, players should be discouraged from attempting to increase their maximum velocity at the expense of their health. But players will not slow down — and, in the process, sacrifice millions of dollars — unless the game slows down with them. That starts with a conscious effort by teams to devalue velocity.
If teams do not act in the way the Rays or Dodgers have, the league must.
As a baseball purist, I would hate to see a league in which pitchers must limit themselves to a certain number of pitches per game or inning. I would shudder at efforts to force pitchers to value pitch location instead of velocity, like a smaller strike zone or a lowered mound. And I would collapse in an inconsolable heap if the season was shortened and I had fewer minutes to spend watching baseball.
But the health of players must come first. If these drastic measures are what it takes for the league to finally shrug off the injury bug, the league must sigh and adopt them.
The injury bug will not exterminate itself, and the league must quash it before it quashes them.
SUDOKU
Hoyas Come Up Short in Big East Tournament
DEPAUL, from A12
In the final game of his collegiate career, Peavy yet again carried the Hoyas with his 15th 20-plus point game this season, recording 26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. The all-Big East first team player will now look to convert his excellent season into a potential NBA career.
Three other Hoyas reached double figures, including Williams Jr. and Epps, who had 11 and 10 points each, respectively. Fielder registered solid contributions on both sides of the ball before fouling out, tallying a doubledouble with 11 points and 11 rebounds, 8 of them defensively. On DePaul’s side of the ball, Benson exploded for 18 points in 19 minutes off the bench in his first game after being out for over a month due to a hand injury.
DePaul rode a strong shooting advantage over Georgetown to win, posting 51% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc compared to figures of 41.4% and 25%, respectively, for the Hoyas. While Georgetown held the advantage in both turnovers, with 8 compared to DePaul’s 15, and second chance points, with an 8-3 advantage, the figures were not enough for the Hoyas to overcome the Blue Demons’ hustle and efficient offense.
Head Coach Ed Cooley said many of the Hoyas’ struggles in the game mirrored the trajectory of their other games against the Blue Demons this season, with the team lacking emotional and physical discipline.
“This is the third game we played them. Three games in a row, it all played out the same exact way,” Cooley said in a postgame press conference. “There’s no excuses of what players we didn’t have. The players we had out there, I thought our emotional discipline, our physical discipline, was null and void in all three of the games we played against them.”
“You have to have some emotional intelligence. You have to have some physical toughness,” he added.
Cooley said that despite the loss, he was proud of the improvement the team made throughout his tenure so far as head coach, especially given the outsize number of injuries the Hoyas faced this season to key players.
“Building an organization is a process,” Cooley said. “I’m really proud of where we’ve come. We’ve had more injuries this year that we’ve gone through as an organization than any of my 19 years as a head coach. I thought we dealt with it the best we can.
When you lose someone who in my opinion, my humble opinion, should have at bare minimum been rookie of the year.”
With the 2024-25 season over, Cooley and the Hoyas will await the news of whether Sorber returns to college next year or declares for the NBA draft. Either way, they will look to retool and recharge their roster, hoping to continue the upward trend of the Cooley era in the 2025-26 season.
Caster Perfect at the Plate as GU Splits Penn State Series
PENN STATE, from A12
Franco recorded a season-best ERA of 3.60. In a 4-inning performance, Franco totaled 1 earned run and 3 strikeouts.
In the fourth inning, Penn State’s bats began narrowing the gap with a homer from infielder Joe Jaconski. In the fifth, the Lions gained 2 more runs. Penn State infielder Bryce Molinaro homered in the sixth, followed by a 2-run homer from infielder Ryan Weingartner in the seventh.
The sophomore showcase prevailed. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jack Volo entered the game with bases loaded in the top of the eighth after Hoya graduate right-handed pitcher Nadell Booker hit Penn State right-handed pitcher Jesse Jaconski with a pitch. The score was 13-8.
After striking out Nittany Lions outfielder Cohl Mercado and Ryan Weingartner, Volo walked outfielder Paxton Kling, who averaged .344 in the 2025 season.
Volo said he regretted some of his pitch decisions.
“I definitely was a little selective with my pitches,” Volo told The Hoya. “And I look back on that as a mistake.”
Only giving up a walk and a single, Volo exited the inning with the Hoyas holding a threerun lead.
Volo said his experiences pitching in pressure-filled situations prepared him.
“You kind of find ways to take the pressure off yourself,” Volo said. “I’ve pitched in some situations, maybe not quite as big as that, but some other pressure, high pressure situations. So I felt like I was ready for it.” After two innings, the righthander totaled 5 strikeouts and 0 earned runs.
Wednesday’s game yielded a different result, however, with the Nittany Lions emerging victorious 11-6. The Hoyas were unable to score until the top of the fifth, when sophomore outfielder Ashtin Gilio secured his third home run of the season, putting Georgetown on the board for a score of 8-1. Thompson said the Hoyas struggled to adjust to the strength
of Penn’s starting pitcher.
“One of those days where their starter was outstanding, going four frames and no hits. We couldn’t make adjustments,” Thompson told Georgetown Athletics.
Penn State continued to put bats to balls until the ninth, when the Hoyas refused to relent.
Georgetown first-year infielder Sho Garcia, first-year outfielder
GU Weathers A Volatile Season, Ransom’s Last
WBB, from A12 and a singular standout through all five of her seasons on the Hilltop. Whether the future leads her to the WNBA, another professional league or perhaps a different path entirely remains to be seen, but Ransom will go down in the books as one of Georgetown’s best to ever play.
Ransom may have dominated this season — with several others including Hession, junior guard Victoria Rivera and senior center Ariel Jenkins contributing various invaluable skill sets — but the Hoyas ultimately lacked the necessary depth to deliver on greater ambitions. Their high margin of loss was
especially notable in multiple Big East games, with the Hoyas dropping contests by 35 points, 34 points and 22 points to the University of Connecticut, St. John’s University and Creighton, respectively.
Another major weakness this season was the lack of consistency. Georgetown never strung together more than 3 wins in a row after their 71-57 beatdown of Colgate University on Dec. 7. After Big East play began in mid-December, the Hoyas found wins few and far between. For example, though the team emphatically exerted their dominance over Xavier University, the last-ranked team in the Big East this season, in a 63-36 win Feb.
5, Georgetown proceeded to lose the next seven games straight to close out the regular season. Because the Hoyas struggled to establish momentum, they continually took one step forward only to take three more steps back throughout the season. Although Georgetown did not find the success it sought, this season still proved to be a worthy swan song for Ransom and a robust training ground for the next generation of star women’s basketball players. Hession, fresh off of Big East all-freshman team honors, along with first-year guards Amanda Ajobiewe, Jaeda Wilson and Jayden McBride as well as first-year forward Alexia Araujo-Dagba, will all fight for
more playing time next season, building on their accumulated experiences this season. Another recruiting class, which will likely consist of several first-years and transfers, will join these players and are to be announced by Head Coach Darnell Haney in May. To add to the optimism, Scott — who has been a critical defensive presence for Georgetown in the past — will return to the court next season. The season may not have gone according to plan, but with adequate recovery and reflection time back at the drawing board in the off season, Georgetown women’s basketball can look forward with cautious optimism about what’s ahead.
MEGHAN HALL/THE HOYA
Sophomore forward Drew Fielder shoots a layup over a DePaul defender during the Hoyas’ 71-67 loss.
@HOYABASEBALL/INSTAGRAM
Sophomore outfielder Ashtin Gilio has been one of the standouts for Georgetown baseball this season, holding a .317 batting average over 41 at bats thus far.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who will miss the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery, throws a pitch during Spring Training.
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2025
MEN’S BASKETBALL NUMBERS GAME
Graduate guard Micah Peavy and first-year center Thomas Sorber were both selected to all-Big East teams.
See A10
I Beg of You, Yankees, Please Shrug Off the Injury Bug
I
and adding a couple of impact bats. Things were looking up. Then, the Yankees caught the bug — the injury bug. In the past week, reigning American League (AL) rookie of the year starting pitcher Luis Gil was diagnosed with a lat strain in his pitching shoulder, sidelining him for at least six weeks. Veteran designated hitter — and the Yankees’ only competent playoff bat — Giancarlo Stanton came down with severe injuries in both elbows and will begin the season on the injured list.
Worst of all, ace starting pitcher and former AL Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole fell victim to an elbow injury that will require season-ending Tommy John surgery. With their two best pitchers and most competent playoff hitter out indefinitely, the Yankees’ realistic path toward a redemption-filled championship season is disintegrating before my eyes. To put it shortly, I am having a bad day. But calling the Yankees’ affliction
See HERMAN, A11
Martha Brennan Sports Staff Writer
The Georgetown University baseball team (7-10) split backto-back games against the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions (12-3) on March 11-12. Despite the Hoyas’ pursuit of a shutout starting from the end of the third inning when they led 110, the Nittany Lions kept things interesting at Tuesday’s game. Thanks to an aggressive batting approach, Penn State was able to cut substantially into the Hoyas’ early lead. Georgetown was only able to eke out the 14-10 win thanks to across-theboard contributions from several sophomores.
Both offensively and defensively, Tuesday’s game was a sophomore talent showcase. Sophomore middle infielder Blake Schaaf, a native of Oakland, Calif., notched 4 runs, 3 hits and 1 RBI. He recorded a season single game high of 3 hits and 1 triple. With a season total of 48 atbats now under his belt, Schaaf left Tuesday’s game with a .333 batting average for the 2025 season — which dropped only to .314 after Wednesday’s game after 3 at-bats — an improvement from his 2024 average (.235). Even when the Hoyas solidified an 11-1 lead by the bottom of the fourth inning, Schaaf played aggressively on offense. After sin-
TALKING POINTS
I thought our emotional discipline, our physical discipline, was null and void in all three of the games we played against them.” Men’s Basketball Head Coach Ed Cooley
Georgetown University women’s basketball graduate guard Kelsey Ransom scored a season-high 36 points in the Big East tournament first round.
Fall to Blue Demons in Big East Tournament
Caleigh Keating Senior Sports Editor
The Georgetown Hoyas have done it again. For the fourth year in a row, the Georgetown University men’s basketball team’s season ended in the first round of the Big East tournament. For the third time in the season, the Hoyas (17-15, 8-12 Big East) fell victim to the DePaul University Blue Demons (14-18, 4-16 Big East), this time in a 71-67 loss March 12 at Madison Square Garden. Despite Georgetown being seeded No. 7, the No. 10 seed Blue Demons served as a special type of kryptonite for the Hoyas this season. In their first matchup against DePaul this season Jan. 17, the underdog Blue Demons secured a comfortable 73-68 victory over an injury-plagued Georgetown team missing junior guard Jayden Epps and first-year center Thomas Sorber. In their March 8 rematch, their final game of the regular season, DePaul once again captured an 83-77
upset off a disappointing defensive performance from the Hoyas.
Georgetown also lacked a key player in their first-round matchup in first-year forward Caleb Williams, who was out for the second straight game. Williams’ absence came in addition to the continued absence of first-year standout and all-Big East freshman team selection Thomas Sorber, who underwent seasonending surgery Feb. 25 after injuring his foot against the Butler University Bulldogs on Feb. 15.
The Blue Demons won the tipoff, but the Hoyas got on board first with a long-range jumper from graduate guard Micah Peavy. DePaul guard Layden Blocker and Epps then traded 3-pointers, before 5 points from DePaul guard C.J. Gunn, free throws from Epps and another Peavy jumper brought the score to a 10-8 Georgetown advantage.
The following six minutes were all downhill for the Hoyas as the Blue Demons embarked on a 19-2 run.
DePaul’s Gunn and guard Layden Blocker kicked things off with backto-back 3-pointers, while Georgetown missed six straight field goals. Peavy temporarily stopped the bleeding as he slammed home an emphatic dunk, but DePaul kept rolling, scoring on seemingly every trip up.
The Hoyas failed to find the net, and their defense began to get frustrated and commit fouls.
The DePaul offense steamrolled the Hoyas to a 27-12 advantage before sophomore guard Curtis Williams Jr. finally jolted the Hoyas back to life with a made layup at the 8:41 mark. After two more made free throws from the Blue Demons, the Hoyas amazingly responded with a 12-2 run of their own, buoyed by five points from sophomore forward Drew Fielder. As the Hoyas cut their deficit to 29-26, the tables turned, with Georgetown suddenly the team draining buckets and the DePaul squad missing them.
The teams continued to trade
buckets throughout the rest of the half, with the Hoyas drawing ever closer to the Blue Demons until a Williams Jr. three put the Hoyas ahead, 38-37, with under a minute left in the half. Georgetown managed to hold onto the slim lead, ending a half with a 40-38 advantage. The Hoyas came out blazing in the second half, opening up a 7-point advantage to the Blue Demons off a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Malik Mack and back-to-back dunks from Fielder. But that would be the most daylight Georgetown would see between them and DePaul, as the Blue Demons began to mount their comeback with successive 3-pointers and a dunk from forward N.J. Benson.
DePaul tied it up at 51-51 with a 3-pointer from guard Isaiah Rivera before taking the lead off another dunk from Benson.
Both teams then fell into a scoring drought, with only one basket in open play over almost two minutes as the two teams traded missed shots and
turnovers. A dunk from Peavy and 5-point blitz from Benson got the scoring going again, and opened up a 9-point lead for the Blue Demons with six minutes remaining. With time running out for the Hoyas to mount a comeback, Peavy once again slammed home another dunk, and Georgetown closed the deficit to 3 points with three minutes remaining, despite Fielder fouling out at the 4:51 mark. The Blue Demons opened their lead back up to 6 with a minute left off a 3-pointer and a gravity-defying tip shot, but the Hoyas again fought back, closing the gap to 70-67 off a 3-point play from Peavy with 50 seconds left. In a burst of hope for Georgetown, DePaul missed a 3-point attempt on the next play, before fouling Epps on the other end of the court. But faced with a 1-and-1 free throw attempt with 11 seconds left, he airballed it, and DePaul ran out the clock to a 71-67 win.
Penn State
Sophia Lu
Senior Sports Editor
Though the Georgetown University women’s basketball team (12-19, 4-14 Big East) fell excruciatingly short against the Creighton University Bluejays (26-6, 16-2 Big East) with a 72-70 loss in this year’s Big East tournament quarterfinals, the game represented an impressive end to an up-and-down season. Across the board, the Hoyas regressed in key metrics this season. After posting an impressive 23-12 overall record and going 9-9 in the Big East last season, Georgetown lost graduating forward Graceann Bennett and guard Alex Cowan, two of the three players who played and started in all 35 games during 2023-24. The third, graduate guard Kelsey Ransom, was a welcome returning piece, especially after senior forward Brianna Scott — another part of the core in last year’s campaign — suffered simultaneous ACL, MCL and meniscus injuries in the 2024 Big East tournament semifinals. In large part due to a hollowed-out roster, the Hoyas only mustered a 12-19 overall and 4-14 conference record this season. There were undoubtedly highlights, but various disappointments punctuated such highs. The season opener against the Virginia University of Lynchburg Dragons (4-13) showcased the Hoyas at full strength, with five different players in double digits and two notching double-doubles. First-year
guard Khadee Hession, in particular, stood out, racking up 11 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists with 4 steals on the defensive side of the ball. Georgetown also secured a 58-56 win against the Providence College Friars (13-19, 6-12 Big East) in their first game of the Big East tournament. Though the Friars have not proven to be particularly capable this season, the win still represented a major milestone for the Hoyas, who saw Ransom pour in 36 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists on the outing. Ransom’s point total was the season high for all Georgetown players. On top of her all-around excellence against Providence — coupled with her 20 point, 10 assist and 9 rebound performance against Creighton in the quarterfinals — Ransom’s season concluded with a slot on the Big East all-tournament team March 10. At the beginning of the season, Ransom landed on the 2025 Women’s College All-Star Game Watch List, a prestigious recognition only conferred upon the top senior women’s basketball players in the nation.
MEGHAN HALL/THE HOYA
Graduate guard Micah Peavy wrestles for the ball with DePaul guard C.J. Gunn during the Hoyas’ first round game against the DePaul University Blue Demons on March 12. The No. 7 seeded Hoyas lost to the No. 10 seeded Blue Demons, 71-67.
GUHOYAS Sophomore right-handed pitcher Johan Franco gave the Hoyas
hot start in
14-10 win against the Nittany Lions March 11. Franco pitched four innings, giving up
run.
Eilat Herman Hoya Sports Columnist