Vol-121-Iss-3

HATCHET The GW

Pro-Palestinian community members push GW, federal attorneys to drop alleged student stay-away orders

In the three months following students’ arrests at the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus in May, legal organizations, student groups and alumni have urged federal attorneys and University officials to drop federal and student conduct charges.

Of the 33 people local police arrested for unlawful entry or assault on a police officer after encamping in University Yard to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, six GW students began their federal court proceedings May 15, a week after the clearing. A coalition of pro-Palestinian GW student organizations alleged in late June that the University charged at least 13 students and 10 student organizations “without evidence” for their

involvement in the encampment for Code of Student Conduct violations.

Students and community members erected tents in U-Yard on April 25, demanding officials drop disciplinary charges that officials allegedly issued to proPalestinian organizations and students in February, divest from weapons manufacturers, disclose all endowments and investments and end all academic partnerships with Israel. Hundreds of Metropolitan Police Department officers descended on U-Yard early in the morning of May 8 to clear the encampment, ending the nearly 14 day demonstration.

In the wake of the clearing, students, alumni and legal firms have criticized federal prosecutors and GW officials for their response to pro-Palestinian activ-

CCAS adopts, expands Uyghur language studies program

Officials will debut a Uyghur language studies program as part of the Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department this academic year.

The department, housed within the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, added three new Uyghur language classes for the fall 2024 semester after the Elliott School of International Affairs offered a beginner Uyghur language course in the fall and spring semesters of the last academic year. Faculty within the program said the addition will give Uyghur studies a permanent place at the University and allow students and professors to continue promoting the ethnic group’s language and culture.

An anonymous donor in May 2023 gave $900,000 to the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, a research institute and the academic home of the Asian Studies Program at Elliott School, to aid the Sigur Center’s Uyghur Studies Initiative. The donor designated the fund to graduate-level humanities research about the Uyghur people, with four percent of the donation used to fund advanced Uyghur language courses.

“We’re just delighted at the fact that we went from zero to 60 miles per hour with regard to getting Uyghur on the map at Columbian College and in the bulletin and in our department, and we’re so supportive of everything that Elliott is doing with us,” said professor Christopher Rollston, the CNELC department chair.

Staff report ‘overwhelming’ burnout: Staff Council survey

The Uyghur are Sunni Muslims who speak the Uyghur language, which has Turkic linguistic and Perso-Arabic script origins. Most Uyghur people live in the Xinjiang region of Northwest China, where the Chinese government has reportedly targeted and imprisoned Uyghur religious leaders, forcibly sterilized Uyghur women and detained more than a million Uyghur people to “reeducation camps.”

In early 2018, under the “becoming family” policy, the Chinese government made it illegal to own or teach Uyghur language books and placed Uyghur children in Mandarinspeaking orphanages at a young age.

GW is one of few schools across the nation to offer Uyghur language studies. Indiana University Bloomington, the University of Kansas and Harvard University also offer Uyghur language courses.

Rollston said he had discussions with Sigur Center Director Eric Schluessel, an associate professor of history and international affairs, about adding Uyghur language courses to the department in the fall 2023 semester since language programs are typically housed in CCAS. Rollston said he also spoke with CCAS Dean Paul Wahlbeck, Vice Dean Kim Gross and Elliott School Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Ben Hopkins who were “very supportive” of the addition. Rollston said adding Uyghur to the CNELC was a “natural move” since the department previously taught the Turkish language and currently teaches other languages with Perso-Arabic script. Uyghur has been

ism in Instagram posts, op-eds and press conferences that began the day after MPD officers arrested the students. The community members have publicly called on GW to drop any student conduct charges against students, arguing that officials are using discriminatory tactics to target individuals involved with the movement for Palestinian liberation as a tactic to deter participation on campus.

The Student Coalition for Palestine at GWU alleged late last month that GW officials pressured the U.S. District Attorney for D.C. to revoke previous legal agreements that allowed five of the arrested students to enter public spaces in Foggy Bottom and replaced them with harsher agreements that banned the students from stepping foot on the entirety of campus for six months.

“fully integrated” into the department after adding it to the website, announcing the addition in the CNELC newsletter, registering it with the University bulletin and posting a bulletin board at their offices, he said.

Rollston said he anticipates that enrollment in the courses will be similar to last year, which had eight students in the fall 2023 semester and four students in the spring semester. There are currently four students enrolled across the three sections of Uyghur language courses offered during the fall 2024 semester, according to the enrollment dashboard. Schluessel said because the classes did not appear on the University bulletin when students registered for classes in the spring, he believes there might be “very low” enrollment during the semester.

Rollston said he is “extraordinarily happy” at the current enrollment numbers, since the language is only spoken by approximately 11 million people worldwide.

“It’s going to take some time to build those numbers out and that will basically be organic growth that we anticipate will occur as Uyghur studies at GW continues to grow and become better known,” Rollston said.

Rollston said Mustafa Aksu, a professor of Uyghur, is the sole faculty member for the program but that the department will remain flexible in adding additional faculty if student demand for the courses requires it. Aksu taught the language in China before coming to the United States and during summer courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The coalition refers to the GW students facing legal proceedings as the “GW 5.” It is unclear if additional arrested students are at risk of prosecution from the U.S. District Attorney for D.C. A University spokesperson said in May that MPD arrested six GW students.

“From pepper spraying and brutalizing students, to suspending students en masse, banning organizations, allowing students to be doxxed, harassed, and assaulted, and slandering this school’s own students, GW has served as an example to the entire nation of how a University can brutalize and discriminate against its own students and faculty in pursuit of Zionist interests,” a coalition Instagram post from Saturday reads.

See CHARGES Page 4

GW staffers reported “overwhelming” burnout, heavy workloads and inadequate job training in a monthslong survey presented by the Staff Council on Friday.

Amanda Kohn, the council’s correspondence and engagement secretary, said at a Friday meeting that the results from the survey, which councilmembers sent to GW staff over the past several months, showed staff members’ discontent with their workload, office politics, a lack of respect among colleagues, insufficient support resources and job training. Kohn said Staff Council leaders will compile the survey’s fi ndings and present the detailed survey results at the staff council’s next meeting on Sept. 15 and present a report to the Board of Trustees at its meeting on Sept. 27.

“We appreciate GW staff taking the time to respond to the survey as carefully and honestly as they have,” Kohn said. “With your support, we know we’re going to be able to create a presentation that shows GW leadership the issues our staff are facing on a regular basis.”

The survey — which the council sent to nonexecutive level employees — asked staff to rank how manageable they fi nd their workload on a scale of one to five. The survey also asked staff how often they feel exhausted or drained after work, experience physical symptoms of work-related stress and have feelings of cynicism related to their jobs on a scale from never to always. The survey prompted respondents to detail which aspects of working at GW contribute most to their stress in a write-in answer.

Kohn said at the February council meeting that she began incorporating surveys into the council’s monthly newsletter to gather feedback on various topics.

70 years after GW’s desegregation, alumni reflect on Black community

JENNIFER IGBONOBA NEWS EDITOR

In 1954, GW officially desegregated after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, becoming the last university in D.C. to drop its discriminatory admissions policies.

In the years that immediately followed, GW was slow to develop formal initiatives to welcome Black students to campus and the University remained shadowed by the segregationist policies put forth under former University President Cloyd Heck Marvin, even as the Black population in the District grew rapidly.

Seventy years after GW’s desegregation, alumni reflected on the growth of the Black community at GW that has become an integral component of the campus culture despite the University’s discriminatory history. As the 70th integrated class

joins campus, Black alumni revisited moments during their time at the University that proved pivotal to the expansion of GW’s Black community, from the establishment of Black Greek letter organizations to ongoing Black student activism throughout the years.

Building Black journeys

Jacqueline Jones, a 1976 alum and a former Hatchet reporter, said she decided to transfer to GW in 1973 after not finding her “groove” at Fordham University. Jones, a D.C. native, said she made her decision after learning that Howard University’s newly established journalism program was only available to current students.

“I genuinely didn’t know what I was going to do until I just decided that I needed to go back to school and get my little piece of paper and figure out what I was going

to do with myself,” Jones said. Jones said when she attended the University, most Black students were D.C. residents and often commuted to classes, causing many to be inactive in the then-Black People’s Union at GW — now known as the Black Student Union. Before moving to the University Student Center, the Black People’s Union was housed in the former Multicultural Student Services Center townhouse on G Street, according to archival documents about the MSSC and the Educational Opportunity Program, which formerly offered full tuition and support for multicultural students.

Jones said the office was a place where students could receive advice on topics including financial aid and academic tutoring.

SAGE RUSSELL | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

Pro-Palestinian student demonstrators link arms to protect tents pitched during an impromptu encampment on F Street last spring.

JENNA LEE ASSISSTANT NEWS EDITOR

RORY QUEALY NEWS EDITOR

COURTESY

HARRISON

See ALUMNI Page 4

HANNAH MARR NEWS EDITOR

Officials renovate campus spaces, make HVAC upgrades over summer

RYAN J. KARLIN

EDITOR

Officials said they renovated at least four buildings across GW’s campuses this summer.

Officials renovated and expanded offerings at the Lerner Health and Wellness Center, the Eatery at Pelham Commons and the University Student Center, and Gelman Library received upgrades to the building’s HVAC systems. The Lerner and Pelham renovations follow student complaints of limited exercise equipment and dining options, respectively, while officials worked on Gelman and the student center as part of larger remodeling plans.

University spokesperson Julia Metjian said in April that Pelham, the only dining hall on the Mount Vernon Campus, would undergo renovations in May to add additional food serving stations and options for students. She said the

renovations would provide the same “visual appeal” as the dining halls in Thurston and Shenkman halls and will include “extended offerings” like a “Just Walk-Out Market” to allow students to purchase food during all hours of the day.

Vern residents in April reported a lack of nutritious options in Pelham, which prompted some students to travel to Foggy Bottom to eat. A University spokesperson did not return a request for comment on when the “Just Walk-Out Market” would be available to students and what the new food offerings will include.

Officials said in June they would renovate Lerner later that month to replace flooring in the main fitness center and address student requests for mirror installations and a replacement of the indoor track.

A University spokesperson at the time said officials would add new equipment throughout the facility and install mirrors on the P3 level.

A University spokesperson did not return a request for comment on whether the renovations are complete and what new equipment officials added to the facility.

Officials closed Gelman from late May to early August for HVAC repairs, which they announced in a February email to community members. In the message, Dean of GW Libraries and Academic Innovation Geneva Henry and Interim Vice President for Safety and Facilities Baxter Goodly said the repairs were part of a wider maintenance project to create a more “sustainable and comfortable” environment in the library, which officials expect to complete in 2026.

A University spokesperson did not return a request for comment on the current status of the Gelman upgrades and whether officials plan to make additional updates to the building’s infrastructure this year.

Officials also removed a num-

Aston unhoused shelter to open by early October, District officials say

District officials last week said an unhoused shelter near campus will begin admitting residents by early October, wrapping up nine months of delays opening the facility. The Aston, a former GW residence hall on New Hampshire Avenue, will open its doors to unhoused residents between mid-September and early October, and start accepting program referrals from service providers on Sept. 9, D.C. Department of Human Services Deputy Administrator Anthony Newman announced at a Community Advisory Team meeting on Aug. 12. The announcement comes after Newman predicted in July that the shelter would open by late August, and marks the fourth time officials have moved the opening date since slating its opening for November 2023. Newman said DHS officials have attended two meetings hosted by the Interagency Council on Homelessness to inform service providers on when and how to refer their clients to the shelter program. He said DHS will meet on Aug. 21 with members of the Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement team — which arranges referrals to transitional and permanent hous-

ing programs — to outline criteria for entry into the program. The Aston is a specialty shelter as opposed to a low-barrier facility, meaning people may have to submit certain documents like sobriety tests or background checks to gain entry. The Aston will provide beds to medically vulnerable unhoused people. Newman said DHS is aiming to move five to 10 people into The Aston each day until the shelter reaches capacity. The Aston is projected to house 30 women and up to 100 men, though the space will initially offer just 50 beds for men, according to a timeline DHS shared at an ICH meeting in May.

ber of counters in the central delivery pick-up area at the Mail and Package Center in the Support Building on F Street. Metjian said in July that GW regularly updates the University’s package and mail system to offer the “best service” to GW community members, and that the University will add lockers to the mailroom this fall.

Judge rejects new motion to dismiss suit seeking to block Aston opening

RORY QUEALY NEWS EDITOR

Earlier this month, a District judge rejected D.C. government officials’ request to dismiss a lawsuit from the West End D.C. Community Association seeking to block The Aston unhoused shelter from opening, six months after declining officials’ first dismissal request. Judge Maurice Ross denied the D.C. government’s motion to dismiss the case in an Aug. 6 order, which contended that the lawsuit was outside of the Superior Court’s jurisdiction and scheduled a remote hearing for Feb. 7, 2025, according to the court docket. The West End D.C. Community As-

sociation — an unincorporated and unnamed group of local property owners — filed a lawsuit in November alleging that District officials cannot convert The Aston, a former GW dorm on New Hampshire Avenue, into an unhoused shelter because of zoning restrictions associated with providing medical services and temporary housing at the shelter. D.C. officials first announced plans to convert The Aston into a shelter in June 2023, after purchasing the building from GW for $27.5 million.

Ross previously rejected a D.C. government request for the case’s dismissal in February, after attorneys on behalf of District officials filed a motion to dismiss one month prior. In the first motion to dismiss, D.C. government officials argued the future shelter could not yet violate zoning laws since residents hadn’t yet moved into The Aston. District officials announced at a Community Advisory Team meeting last week that The Aston would begin accepting residents in October, after nine months of delays. A second Aug. 6 order from Ross denied the West End D.C. Community Association’s motion for partial summary judgment, which sought to avoid a trial by asking the judge to rule that there was no factual dispute to the complaint’s allegations of zoning violations.

Students walk into Gelman Library on a sunny day.

FIONA RILEY SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

GSPM alters public relations master’s degree program to match industry needs

The Graduate School of Political Management revamped its public relations master’s degree program this fall to better align the curriculum and format of the program with the demands of the communications industry.

GSPM — which is housed in the College of Professional Studies — rebranded its Master of Arts in Strategic Public Relations to the new title of Public Relations and Communications, hired a new program director, adopted a synchronous online learning format and expanded course options and concentrations. Lawrence Parnell, a professor of strategic communications and the program’s former director, said discussions about program modifications and its future occurred last academic year while he was still director to modernize the program ahead of his departure.

Parnell said he spoke with CPS Dean Liesl Riddle, faculty members, alumni and industry leaders for feedback on the program and to identify skills that employers seek out from communications professionals. He said he then led a committee of the CPS academic programs team, industry leaders and other GW officials to use the feedback to change the program “very aggressively” and add concentrations and logistical modifications, like the synchronous online learning format.

“It’s very much what I spent the last year doing, in addition to my responsibilities for teaching, was redesigning this curriculum so that it was ready for the future and I could feel comfortable stepping away from it knowing it was well positioned for the future,” said Parnell, who was the program’s inaugural director after he joined GSPM in 2008.

GSPM, CPS and the University as a whole have seen a decline in graduate student enrollment over the past decade.

GSPM’s enrollment dropped from 386 students in 2013 to 171 students in the spring 2024 semester, according to the enrollment dashboard. The University began its “Rev Up” marketing campaign in fall 2023 to advertise its graduate degree programs and certificates around the D.C. area as graduate enrollment waned.

Riddle said the changes to the program create the opportunity to redefine CPS and GSPM’s academic offerings and match them with demands from the industry. She said CPS aims to attract a broader range of students with the expanded offerings and rebranding.

“By adopting the new curriculum and name, we are not only embracing the broader spectrum of opportunities within the industry but also making it easier for prospective students and employers to understand the program’s focus,” Riddle said in an email.

The new program curricu-

lum adds three concentrations in government and public affairs and corporate and nonprofit communications with a set of core classes and specialized electives targeted to each concentration. Classes offered during the fall 2024 semester include two core courses of the new curriculum, two core classes from the old curriculum and one elective for the corporate communications concentration.

The corporate communication concentration features classes like Corporate Communications and Corporate Public Affairs while the nonprofit track includes classes like Nonprofit and Association Communication Strategies and Communicating for Social Change. The government and public affairs concentration consists of classes like Applied Political Communications and Social Issues and Public Policy.

Riddle said discussions about changes to the public relations master’s degree pro -

— on the weekends.

gram centered around staying up to date with changes in the communications industry and the needs of students.

“The primary goals of expanding the program were to enhance its relevance and impact, broaden its accessibility, and ensure that our offerings are aligned with the latest trends and demands in the field,” Riddle said in an email.

Officials announced Lesley Lopez as the new director of the Public Relations and Communications program last month. She previously served in communications and journalism roles, including as the head of global communications for the US-China Business Council, a nonprofit promoting trade with China, from 2015 to 2017 and stints with ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, BBC and CNN.

Lopez said part of the revamped curriculum adds special topics classes that allow the program to adapt course top -

ics quickly to industry trends without having to go through the course approval process, which requires multiple rounds of approval from deans, the provost’s office and the registrar. The new curriculum also offers one-credit, skill-based classes to allow students to learn everyday skills in communication, like creating social media videos, that might not be covered in full, semesterlong classes.

“I’m calling them the digital storytelling lab series, where it’s basically like how to create short content, how to deal with whatever X, Threads changes might be going on, how do communications and digital organizing kind of connect, understanding analytics,” Lopez said.

Lopez said the new program will offer classes synchronously online because students liked the greater flexibility of taking virtual courses after experiences with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, but she said she hopes to get the program to have in-person classes. The previous iteration of the program held classes virtually asynchronous and inperson.

“People are just used to taking online classes, if you’re used to taking classes online and I think that’s what some people have become accustomed to, but there’s other folks that prefer face-to-face,” Lopez said. “I think just being really attuned with what our students want and what the demand is will help shape those decisions.”

Marie Lerch, an adjunct professor in the program, said the synchronous online format of the classes in the new program will allow her to add guest speakers, question-and-answer sessions and class discussions to her lessons.

“The new synchronous format will make our class discussions more dynamic than online posts,” Lerch said in an email. “We’ll have the ability to see and hear each other and build on ideas in real-time.”

GW researchers to study climate change effects on Bangladeshi women

GW’s Global Women’s Institute will collaborate with local researchers to help women in Bangladesh combat the effects of climate change in their communities over the next three years starting this summer.

placed by climate change.

A 2023 study from universities of California, San Francisco and California, San Diego found over 150,000 excess infant deaths were attributable to increased floods caused by climate change.

The Student Government Association announced extended hours for Shenkman Hall’s market and dining hall in an Instagram post Tuesday.

Shenkman’s dining hall will now operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Shenkman Market will now be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. SGA President Ethan Fitzgerald said he and SGA Vice President Ethan Lynne met with GW Dining officials throughout the summer to discuss concerns students raised with finding food late at night and before early classes.

“We want to make sure that when students go to bed, they’re fed, and when students wake up in the morning, they have food options right away,” Fitzgerald said.

“So it’s about closing those gaps where we saw them.”

During the SGA election season in April, students said they wanted extended operating hours — a point Fitzgerald included in his campaign platform.

“People are already waking up early, they should be able to go to class with a meal in their stomach,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that is beyond a reasonable expectation that students have.”

Lynne said he and Fitzgerald began working to extend dining hours in May when they met with Campus Dining Administrator Dahnya Rogers and Associate Vice President of Business Services Seth Weinshel. Lynne said he presented officials with data from a “community-wide survey” he had administered to residents last academic year while he was serving as the Residence Hall Association president for Shenkman. He said in the survey students shared they wanted officials to open Shenkman Market — which is located on Shenkman’s first floor and offers packaged snacks, a coffee bar and baked goods

Fitzgerald said he focused on extending Shenkman’s breakfast and dinner hours after hearing from students that a 7:30 a.m. opening did not give people enough time to eat and arrive to morning classes on time and closing at 9 p.m. made it difficult for students with evening classes to find dinner.

“We held two meetings and then continued to email frequently to discuss the different hour extensions of what’s feasible,” Lynne said. “And then we were very happy that we were able to get it to this point, and we also are hopeful that we can extend it more down the line.”

SGA Executive Secretary of Dining Max Fagelman said securing weekend operations for Shenkman Market was one of his goals for the year when the SGA Senate confirmed him for the role in July. Fagelman said feedback from students he spoke to around campus showed “time and time again” the need for extended hours in Shenkman Market because the kitchen provides options like prepackaged salads and acai bowls to accommodate dietary restrictions that aren’t available at other dining locations on campus.

“I not only felt this would add better dining options on the weekend, but as someone with allergies, this location provides multiple safe options for myself and other students with dietary restrictions,” Fagelman said.

The project involves collaborators from the University of the Fraser Valley in Canada, the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and Jago Nari Unnayon Sangstha, a nonprofit focused on combating violence and discrimination against women in Bangladesh. Maureen Murphy, a GWI research scientist and a coprincipal investigator on the project, said researchers will collaborate with women in Bangladesh to receive input on what solutions they need to address the impacts of climate change.

The low topography of Bangladesh, which ranks seventh in the world in the 2021 Global Climate Index for countries most vulnerable to climate change, exposes the region to flooding from rising sea levels and storm surge from the frequent typhoons. By 2050, a study from the science journal Heliyon estimates one in every seven people in Bangladesh will be dis-

Murphy said the study focused on women because they are often tasked with gathering water in developing communities and so they are disproportionately affected by living in a drought-prone area as they have to spend more time finding water and less on other duties.

Murphy said the research team earned a grant from the National Sciences Foundation for winning a Canada-led climate change research competition.

“Here at GWI, we’ve been interested in climate change intersections with gender for a while now, but we haven’t had any specific project, just because we know that climate change is a gendered issue,” Murphy said. “We know that it can affect women and girls differently than men.”

Murphy said during the first year of the project, researchers will go the coastal Bangladeshi communities that are most vulnerable to flooding, like Cox Bazar and Chittagong, the second year they will implement

the solutions provided from community feedback and the third year they will evaluate their success. Murphy said there is no way to know what those solutions will be because they are dependent on the feedback from community members, but they could range from planting mangroves for coastal water protection to updating emergency evacuation plans.

“It’s very much that the community themselves are involved throughout the project, from what data collection tools we decide to use to how we interpret the data to what actual actions we take,” Murphy said. Murphy said researchers are making an effort to include not just women but many marginalized groups like religious and ethnic minorities during the research phase to ensure the solutions are catering to the most vulnerable populations.

“We can come up with all of the solutions in the world for them, but if it’s not practical for them, if it’s not culturally appropriate, if it doesn’t fit within their normal daily lives, if it doesn’t allow them to address the challenges that they’re really facing that are the most pertinent to them, a project’s not going to be successful,” Murphy said.

SGA Senate announces extended dining hall hours

DANIEL HEUER | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

The dining hall and market in Shenkman Hall located on 23th Street.

DANIEL HEUER | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

The Graduate School of Political Management desk on the fourth floor of the Media & Public Affairs building.

MOLLY ST. CLAIR ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

JENNA LEE ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF MAUREEN MURPHY

The horizon on the southeastern shoreline of Bangladesh, the site for a team of researchers from the Global Women's Institute.

Trachtenberg School launches master’s degree in sustainability policy

The Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration will debut a new Master of Arts degree in environmental and sustainability policy this academic year. Officials announced the new program in July as a replacement for the Master of Arts in environmental resource policy, which the University has offered for more than a decade. Rachel Emas, the program’s director and an associate teaching professor, said the five foundational course categories of the new degree offering — economics, research, law policy, science, and culture and ethics — are representative of the demands sustainability leaders often face today.

Emas said the program has been in development for more than a year and a half, adding that the interdisciplinary approach allows students to be better prepared for different careers in the sustainability policy sector because they have the course load flexibility to take courses they’re interested in.

“I spent a year having conversations with students, alumni and faculty about what worked and what didn’t and how we can meet the needs of the environmental world,” Emas said. “We worked to redevelop the curriculum and to create the new name that better reflects that new curriculum.”

Emas said she expects students

to understand the communities they “hope to serve,” which she said is why officials added the culture and ethics category to the program. The economics, research, law policy and science categories have similar courses to the foundational courses of the former program. Emas said she received lots of

support for the program when it was announced in July, adding that alumni of the former program who graduated in May contacted her asking for their diplomas to be updated to reflect the program change.

“They thought that it was a really great tool as they move through

Black alumni remember key moments of community growth at GW

From Page 1

Jones said there was a “sizable” number of Black students when she was a student and she was met with curiosity from her non-Black peers about Black culture.

She said at the time, Black students would attend social events off campus at local D.C. nightclubs and connect with friends at Howard at events like their annual homecoming. Decades later, the proximity and cultural significance of Howard, which some refer to as “The Mecca,” has continued to attract Black GW students to get the “HBCU experience” while attending a predominantly white institution. “To be able to flourish academically at GW but gravitate more on a social and cultural front at Howard, it was definitely a privilege and it’s one I don’t take for granted at all,” said Kylie Foster, a 2023 alum.

Building Black Unity

On April 20, 1975, nine women chartered the Mu Beta chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., securing the chapter’s status as the first Black Greek letter organization established at GW.

Tanya Goodman, a 1976 alum and one of the founding charter members, said the establishment of the sorority grew GW’s presence among members of the Black community beyond the D.C. metropolitan area and showed Black students that their culture, heritage and traditions were a recognized part of the University community. “It’s really uplifting for the Black community, whether you are a member of a Greek sorority or fraternity at GW or not,” Goodman said.

Building Black spaces

Fresh out of the Los Angeles area, 2006 alumnus Stephen Harris said his sophomore year roommate, Paul Kendrick, was his “guardian angel” who suggested he join Black student organizations like the Black Student Union, where Harris later served as its co-president. Within residence halls and on campus residential buildings, the University offers Living-Learning Communities that allow students with common interests to live with each other. Harris said in 2003 he spoke to Kendrick and another founder of the house, Omar Woodard, and suggested that they

write a proposal to establish a new LLC for Black students to foster the community’s leadership. He said the group chose to name the space the George Washington Williams House because of the namesake’s legacy as the first historian on Black history.

After officials approved the proposal in 2004, Harris said the group wanted the living affinity to last longer than one year, which at the time was the condition for all LLCs.

After Harris accepted the MSSC’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award and delivered a speech about the service that Williams House residents had spearheaded while living in the space that the University told him the space would be

renewed, he said.

Building Black voices Whitney McGuire, a 2008 alum, said her time at GW was filled with racist incidents and microaggressions targeted at Black students. McGuire said there was also campus “debate” at the time over if Africana Studies should be an undergraduate minor, and the Jena Six case, where racial tensions at a Louisiana high school led to police arresting six Black students for attacking a white student. Christian Washington, a 2009 law school graduate, said the Jena Six case started the “modern iteration” of Black student activism at GW, with students engaging in campus protests to show solidarity of the arrested students.

their career paths, that focusing on sustainability is the future of the field, and that they wanted the degree name,” Emas said. “They seemed really excited to be alumni of this program.”

Emas said she sees room for growth within the program, which currently consists of about 40 stu-

dents, but that she doesn’t want the program to get “too big” to where students feel “lost.”

“There is increased demand for sustainability leaders in any type of organization, anywhere in the world, and this is the type of program that will help to prepare those leaders,” Emas said.

Officials unveiled a new master’s concentration in Sustainability and Climate Communication within the School of Media and Public Affairs in April. Emas said there is an increased understanding of sustainability at the University level through organizations like the Global Food Institute and GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future and because of the effects of unsustainable practices at the “societal level.”

“To live unsustainably leads us toward really dark paths that we are feeling the very real impacts of every day,” Emas said. “To make decisions in a sustainable fashion, whether in policy or economics or any of any other big societal, institutional choices, I think that’s the only path forward if we hope to leave the world better than we found it.”

Benjamin Simon, an adjunct professor of economics and public policy who teaches Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, said with the program’s new interdisciplinary approach through science, law, policy and economics, it’s easier to integrate the sustainability focus and prepare students for the professional world.

Pro-Palestinian groups condemn alleged charges

From Page 1

Stay-away orders

Two days after local police cleared the pro-Palestinian encampment, the GW Police Department sent “all subjects taken into custody” initial stay-away orders as a pretrial condition that allowed them to access spaces that are not owned by GW in and around campus, according to a letter sent to an arrested student that was obtained by The Hatchet.

A representative from the coalition, who requested to be anonymous due to fear of retaliation from the University, claimed earlier this month that prosecutors revoked the exceptions that allowed arrested students to access publicly owned spaces initially outlined in the pre-trial stayaway orders on July 17 — 10 minutes before some arrested students attended a second round of status hearings for their cases in the U.S. Superior Court for D.C.

DC voters to weigh ranked-choice voting for local elections

RORY QUEALY NEWS EDITOR

District voters will decide in November whether D.C. government officials will implement ranked-choice voting and open primaries in future city elections after the D.C. Board of Elections added the question to the ballot earlier this month.

Ballot Initiative 83 will jointly ask voters whether to open up D.C.’s primary elections to registered independents, who currently can’t participate, and whether to adopt ranked-choice voting — a system that would allow voters in city elections to rank up to five candidates and require that the winner receive at least 50 percent of the votes. Grassroots organizations in D.C. have pushed for the city to adopt ranked-choice voting for nearly half a decade, and before the D.C. Board of Elections could certify the initiative on Aug. 2, organizers obtained over 27,000 verified signatures from D.C. residents in support, more than what was required.

As D.C. community members debate whether ranked-choice voting would promote democracy or confuse voters, a Ward 2 governing body already tested and approved the election system in November 2023. The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission employed a ranked-

choice voting system when selecting community representatives for a committee overseeing the opening of a homeless shelter near campus — which ANC commissioners have said was likely the first ranked-choice vote in a D.C. government election. Jim Malec, the ANC’s chair at the time, said after the governing body failed to elect members with a traditional voting model in a July meeting plagued by disagreements over the meeting’s procedures, the ANC had to “regroup” and agree on a new system to nominate and elect appointees.

“I didn’t want to just repeat the same scenario from that first meeting,” Malec said. “ I had to think through another way to do this, and ranked choice seemed like a logical way forward, because it would not prioritize any commissioners’ nominees over other commissioners’ nominees.”

Although Malec said the commissioners all agreed to use a traditional model and “should have” been able to elect representatives in July, commissioners criticized each other and received backlash from community members for not selecting their preferred candidates, which forced the group to adjourn the meeting without completing the election.

Malec said he attributes the November election’s success to the body’s implementation of rankedchoice voting, as it was impossible

for commissioners or community members to impinge or criticize the election’s fairness since the voting system ensured that those elected received broad support from commissioners.

Malec added that the ANC found ranked-choice voting to be an effective strategy for reducing “wasted” votes, or votes for a candidate who wouldn’t win, since commissioners’ votes still contributed to electing their second or third choices. He said he supports the ranked-choice voting ballot initiative as it would ensure votes aren’t wasted at a city-wide level and that candidates elected to the D.C. Council receive a majority of votes.

Councilmembers have previously secured election victories with fewer than 30 percent of the vote. Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who represents residents living on GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus, won the 2020 Democratic primary with 28.4 percent of the votes in a three-way race.

After the November election’s successful use of ranked-choice voting, the ANC used the voting system again in April to select members for its bylaws review committee.

“It was clean, efficient, effective and fair, and that’s why we did it,” Malec said about ranked-choice voting. “I would do it again if I was still the chair and I had a similar situation.”

The representative said a group of five legal firms sent a letter earlier this month to GW demanding that GW asks U.S. District Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves to drop the expanded stay-away orders against five GW students arrested at the encampment.

A University spokesperson said D.C. is responsible for determining the conditions of plea agreements. The spokesperson said GW told D.C. officials that any student who has not been suspended by the University should be able to attend classes on campus, even if the city chooses to charge them with stay-away orders.

The coalition said GW suspended seven students for nine counts of disciplinary misconduct on the second day of the encampment.

Council on AmericanIslamic Relations report

The Council on American-Islamic Relations — one of the five legal organi-

ANC Chair Trupti Patel, said she found the ranked-choice election “a lot more fair” because commissioners reached a plurality when electing appointees. Patel said she supports adopting Initiative 83 because Democratic primaries for District government seats historically have predicted the general election winner, given that D.C. is an overwhelmingly Democratic city. In Ward 2, she said councilmembers have won primary elections with votes from less than 10 percent of Ward 2 residents.

Pinto won the 2022 Democratic primary with about 7,000 votes and

zations who reportedly sent the letter to GW’s general counsel earlier this month — released a report Wednesday that identified GW, the University of California, Los Angeles and Emory University as three institutions of “particular concern” where Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish and other students and faculty who oppose the war in Gaza face backlash from their university administrations.

The council argues in the report that GW has failed to protect its students from religious, racial and ethnic discrimination and has suppressed the free speech of students protesting against the war in Gaza.

“It was very clear during the process that GW had no intention of really doing anything other than punishing these students,” said Chris Godshall-Bennett, the legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee at a press conference on the report Wednesday.

the general election with roughly 20,000. Pinto represents more than 77,000 Ward 2 residents.

“With ranked-choice voting, I think it’s the residents that win,” Patel said. “Because candidates are going to be forced to really talk to everyone that they encounter about their platform, their ideas and their vision. I think this is going to increase voter engagement.”

Brianna McGowan, a steering committee member of the grassroots organization DC for Democracy, said local groups began pushing the D.C. Council to pass legislation to switch election systems in 2019.

DANIEL HEUER | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

The pennant for the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration hangs in the school's office.

HATCHET FILE PHOTO

Protesters in 2020 raise signs on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

OPINIONS

Words of advice for Black girls starting college

Four years ago, I walked into the bustling streets of George Washington University, a mix of excitement and trepidation swirling inside me. As a first-year student, I was overwhelmed by the endless possibilities before me but also frightened of how to navigate this new chapter. To all my fellow Black girls or new students preparing to step into the vibrant-yet-complex world of GW, I want to share the wisdom I wish I had back then. Trust me, this journey is yours, and every twist and turn along the way is perfectly okay.

Aaliyah Guzman Opinions Writer

One of my biggest desires when I arrived at GW was to find a sense of community and belonging. Let’s face it: Making friends in college can feel complicated and awkward. I wish someone had told me just how essential it was to put myself out there. Early on, I joined organizations like Alianza, a group dedicated to Afro-Latino students, and the National Association of Black Journalists. In these spaces, I found solace and understanding, where conversations about everything from curly hair struggles to the best professors in the School of Media and Public Affairs fostered a real sense of belonging. I was raised in a family surrounded by people who looked like me. My relatives and friends back home made me feel secure in my identity and were always there if I needed to talk. So the idea of actively searching for my Black community was a challenge. I had grown accustomed to having a support system around me that was deeply familiar with the struggles of Black womanhood, but in college, I had to search for that understanding. And as I progressed through college, I discovered the friendships and camaraderie I had longed for. Remember that you can also pursue interests beyond your race. I immediately felt a sense of belonging when I entered the audition room for the production of All Shook Up in my freshman year. The community of theater puts you into an immediate group of people working toward the same thing: an incredible show. As one of two first-years in my first-ever college show, the upperclassmen took me under their wing and made me feel

welcome.

When I joined student theater as a first-year, the number of Black girls was limited, but that changed dramatically over the years. As I enter my senior year, the participation of Black girls in theater has increased, a testament to the power of representation.

Even as the only Black girl in many rehearsals, I felt seen, known and understood. This experience allowed me to welcome more girls who looked like me into the space, cultivating a close-knit Black community within the subcommunity of student theater. In many ways, these friendships have become my second family — supportive and unwavering.

While I had found my people on campus, I wish I had learned earlier the lesson of grounding myself in difficult situations. I’ve faced moments in classrooms where I was the sole voice representing my experience, only to be talked over or dismissed. It was a feeling that made my skin crawl and my throat tighten, fighting every urge just to run away and hide. Microaggressions — those subtly undermining remarks or actions — can sting. During those instances, I took a deep breath and reminded myself: I have worked hard to be here, and my voice matters as much as anyone else’s. I recall an incident with a professor who mixed up the names and grades of the three Black girls in our class and conflated our grades. It was a frustrating microaggression that made me feel invisible. But I chose to stand my ground and reached out to a different professor I felt comfortable with. He spoke to her on my behalf, and she apologized and fixed our grades. It was frightening, but the only thing worse was letting it continue to hurt and bother me. The experience reinforced that I have allies: people willing to listen and help when you find yourself in tough situations. Don’t underestimate the power of connection. Seek out those who have the experience and are willing to help you out. We all thrive when we come together and create sisterhood. You are embarking on a remarkable adventure, and the world is eager to see all the fantastic things you offer. Welcome to GW — the beginning of something beautiful! Remember, you’ve got this!

—Aaliyah Guzman, a senior majoring in political communication, is an opinions writer.

Y— AALIYAH GUZMAN on 8/2/24 FROM

“Harris’ nomination signals a change, a shift in the paradigm. Black women are no longer content with just being in the room; we are demanding to be the ones leading the conversations.”

Here’s how to beat procrastination

ou may not be excelling in your declared major, but you might have a bachelor’s degree in procrastination.

Madie Turley Contributing Opinions Editor

Procrastination might not have taken hold yet, but as we get our first syllabi this week, many will also fall into the trap of poor time management. Being an expert in the field myself, I propose a solution: cage what writer and illustrator Tim Urban calls “the instant-gratification monkey.”

Last fall, I was two hours into the usual homework warm-up — endlessly scrolling through YouTube — when I stumbled upon a rather accusatory video: “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator.” The universe seemed to find a way to reach me. This TedTalk discussed the components of the brain of a chronic procrastinator: the rational decision-maker, the instant-gratification monkey and the panic monster. It turns out that the instantgratification monkey was the ringleader of those homework warm-up routines. When looming deadlines pop up, the monkey sucks you into the internet or other distractions. But 24 hours before the deadline, panic usually scares off the monkey and brings you back to reality.

We may not be able to tame our brain’s procrastination monkey, but we can redirect it. The method is what most of us already do best: Use our favorite tactics to reduce future procrastination.

Let’s say you have a paper due next week worth 25 percent of your grade. You’ve ruminated on completing the paper since it was first assigned, but something inside of you just. Can’t. Seem. To. Start. The stress grows as the deadline nears, and you continue to delay the pain. Scrolling through TikTok distracts you from the fact that you have a blank document and a paper due in fewer than 24 hours.

While we can’t get everything done, we can get something done. When caught in this vicious cycle of procrastination, harnessing our own awareness of the instant-gratification monkey is key to being mindful of our future choices.

Urban argues that the monkey only focuses on the present moment, with no memory of the

past or wariness for the future. Completing nothing continues the vicious cycle of piling up work and procrastination. So, send the ape to blow off some steam on another assignment. When I catch myself playing delaying tactics, I switch to another assignment that seems doable. It’s the procrastinator’s Pomodoro method. By the time this assignment is completed, you’ve already made an achievement. You now have some gas in your tank to return to your previous task. Everyone procrastinates at one point in their lives, but those with low self-esteem, poor self-efficacy, perfectionism and anxiety may be more prone to procrastination. As a master overthinker, I can find myself delaying the start of an assignment for fear of future failure. Often, this fear comes before even opening the rubric. No work will ever be perfect, but it will be worse if you wait until the last minute.

It’s always better to simply start. If you can just knock out one paragraph, you’ve just taken the first step in beating the monkey. When people say “That’s a future me problem,” that’s the monkey speaking.

In fact, researchers found that procrastinating brains believe

tasks will become easier in the future. Spoiler alert: They never do. By procrastinating more, we are only setting our future selves up for failure. Maintaining your Duolingo streak instead of doing your homework may seem like a good idea in the present, but your future self will not be amused.

The good news is, right now we’re ahead of the race. We have a whole new school year ahead — free of piled-up assignments to catch up on. So let’s use this awareness of the instantgratification monkey to stay ahead of the game. For procrastinators, the return to school after a slothful summer is a rude awakening. Deadlines that once felt so far away are now staring us in the face. But instead of denying the start of the fall semester, we can embrace Urban’s discovery. Sure, it’s tempting to keep pushing off that daunting assignment, but it might be worth ripping off the Band-Aid sooner rather than later.

Growing up, I was taught a valuable lesson: “Sometimes you may produce a piece of crap, but you can always produce a crap on time.” For the record, I filed this article on time … give or take a couple of hours.

—Madie Turley, a sophomore, is the contributing opinions editor.

To the Class of 2028, embrace the tough conversations

To the Class of 2028: Welcome to GW.

Going to college in the District is the draw for many at the University. It offers a distinctive experience to learn in a city that’s known for its government and politics. But you’re entering that vortex at a moment of change and turbulence for the nation, higher education and GW.

Most of the country appears divided over their political values and it is increasingly common to hear about recent turbulence over free speech at colleges throughout the country, even GW. In the wake of a wave of college student activism and scrutiny over higher education administrators and the rising cost of an education, students may feel that the campus they’re walking back into — or joining for the first time — is rapidly changing. The same uncertainty applies to D.C. at large, too, as we watch heated partisan division over the upcoming presidential election.

We step foot on campus during what feels like a precarious moment for our University and the nation. It is more crucial than ever for

our newcomers and returners to remember our community’s shared mission: learning and growing, not holding yourself down.

In your first year away from home, it’s easy to drop your anchor exactly where it rested before coming to GW. You may want to lean toward people or groups of similar interests and backgrounds. It can be uncomfortable to put yourself in a situation that you’re less knowledgeable about but that vulnerability is the essence of the college experience. We are all here to learn — and you’ll learn best by seeking out spaces that you know little about.

Universities have a legacy as the epicenters of free speech, striving for mutual understanding over new ideas. At times, free speech can cause discomfort but history shows us that this expression is necessary for change. If we intend to use this University as a springboard for the rest of our lives, we must try to uphold this legacy in every facet of our GW experience.

Our campus is a melting pot of diverse backgrounds and beliefs. We don’t all have

to agree on our beliefs but that doesn’t mean we should dismiss them or avoid discussing them. When our campus community starts to lose its respect for new ideas and the pursuit of knowledge, our own learning experiences are often hindered. Fear of expressing our own thoughts will lead to growing dissatisfaction with the diversity of opinion at our University. And without a shared commitment to discussing views that fall outside the popular opinion, we won’t ever quell this disappointment or evolve, especially during times when our country and campus feel fractured. To embrace discomfort is to grow as a student and as an individual. It would be a failure of higher education if none of us reconsidered or recontextualized our beliefs while studying at GW. College is one of the last chapters of our lives where we are equipped with the academic tools to deepen our conversations and supposedly encouraged to explore and express ourselves — an opportunity that dwindles as we age and proceed down our own indi-

vidual tracks. So, in conversations, take a risk. Pursue discussions based in respect and a goal of common ground with people who many not endorse your views or values. You can ask the hard questions while validating the perspectives and experiences of your professors and friends, even those that you do not share.

There are no winners or losers in dialogue. We all come out learning or realizing something new, maybe making a new connection with someone vastly different than you — or at the very least, having one of the most memorable discussions in your college years. College is not about staying stagnant but about growing and being ever-moving. Believe deeply, and in turn, embrace and explore the depth of the opinions that surround you. Welcome to GW. A place where we can grow as individuals and learn things we never could’ve imagined, where productive conversations are at the root of our campus — as long as we all strive to keep it that way.

ABBY TURNER | CARTOONIST

SPORTS

Women’s soccer seeks defensive strength, team presence under new coach

BEN SPITALNY SPORTS EDITOR

After a 4-11-3 record last season, women’s soccer is looking to build a strong team identity on and off the field this year under newly hired Head Coach Jeremy Williams.

The team opened their season Thursday against American, tying 1-1, with freshman Selah Koleth scoring the team’s lone goal in the 40th minute. Williams said these early games allow the team to test out different playing styles and find its strengths in real game situations.

“With this being the first season, we will try to look at a number of combinations to try to figure out what will allow us to play at our best,” Williams said. “Our aim is to be playing our best soccer into October and November. So it’s important to make sure we are looking at everything from different angles to set us up for that.”

Williams was hired in December after serving as an assistant coach with the University of Miami and as an assistant coach with GW from 2015 to 2017. Due to NCAA rules, coaches are not allowed to work directly with players over the summer, so Williams and his staff relied on a truncated practice schedule in the spring and within the past month to prepare their players.

Williams said strengthening defense was a priority this offseason, as the team allowed the second-most goals per game in the Atlantic 10 last season, at 2.11.

“It takes all 11 players on the field to defend at a high level, so

we put a lot of emphasis on what our principles of defending are and getting everyone on the same page,” Williams said. “We have also put a large emphasis on set pieces and being disciplined and organized in those moments during the game.”

Senior defender Maggie Mockenhaupt said the team has responded positively to Williams’ coaching and has already seen

progress, particularly on the defensive end.

“The team was very welcoming toward Jeremy,” Mockenhaupt said. “He has brought a new perspective to the game that we have not seen in the past and has already pushed the program forward.”

Over the summer, Williams said the team focused on off-thefield aspects like the team’s social

Turning tides: Swimming recruits fill roster gaps left by transfers

GRANT PACERNICK STAFF WRITER

After a three-peat of Atlantic 10 championships wins, swimming and diving face a transitional season with the absence of top performers from the previous season, a fresh batch of recruits and a new leader.

The team added ten new players, a diverse group of athletes all the way from Idaho to Israel in this year’s recruiting class, filling in the gaps from the transfers of A-10 championship top point scorer Zoe Schneider and NCAA qualifier Ava DeAngelis during the offseason. The team will train and compete under newly hired Head Coach Francisco Rego, who replaced reigning A-10 Coach of the Year Brian Thomas after his six-year tenure that brought home nine A-10 championship titles.

Australia-born graduate student Elliot Irwin was named the 2024 Male Summit League Swimmer of the Year during his time at Lindenwood University before transferring to GW. His fastest time, 19.25, in the 50yard free would be an A-10 conference record.

Freshman backstroke specialist Shae Stratton’s best time of 48.42 in the 100-yard backstroke would have been good for third at last year’s A-10 championships.

With the breaststroke excellence of DeAngelis now at Ohio State, first-years Meg Cleaver, Bryce Scully and Sori Ebrahimi will be tasked with filling the gaps left behind in the event.

On the diving board, all

seven divers are returning next year, including junior Olivia Paquette who holds the school record for a six-dive score in the 3-meter dive.

Swimmers who transferred said they’re optimistic for the team they’re leaving behind but are content with their decision to leave after experiencing frustration with official’s plans to fill in the Smith Center pool.

Schneider, who swims long freestyle and individual medleys, transferred to the University of Missouri this fall and said GW’s new recruits could build on the team’s success.

“We have a lot of fast swimmers coming in, so they’re just gonna elevate the team to another level,” Schneider said.

She said she left the team after growing frustrated with the constantly evolving plans that administrators presented to the team, including proposed practice schedules that conflicted with class times and required long commutes. She said she and her teammates were largely filled with disbelief when then-Athletic Director Tanya Vogel announced the plans to fill in the Smith Center pool in a Sept. 18 meeting with the team.

Officials intended to build practice facilities for the basketball teams over the filled pools.

“With what they gave us originally, there wasn’t a way that I was going to be able to be happy, healthy and continue to swim at the level that I wanted to by staying at GW,” Schneider said.

Schneider said that the

team heard very little from administration about plans to fill in the pool from the initial September meeting until February, a period the team called an “information blackout.” Although plans to fill in the pool have been scrapped for now, she said she was still not satisfactorily guaranteed that the pool would remain throughout her senior year.

She said she’s looking forward to the increased competition in the SEC, where Missouri finished 11th out of 12 teams at SEC championships last year.

With Schneider’s departure, the Revolutionaries lost a versatile swimmer. However, the team was able to retain other top performers. Distance swimmer Ava Topolewski, who holds the school record in the 1650-yard freestyle, initially considered leaving the team after the learning of officials’ plans to fill in the pool. Swimming blog SwimSwam reported that Topolewski had entered the transfer portal but subsequently decided to stay.

Swimmer Ralf Roose, who transferred to Kentucky after spending the spring semester at GW and winning the 200yard breaststroke at A-10 championships, said he didn’t know he wanted to transfer for certain until after A-10 championships. He said he was worried about being able to train off campus while still fitting in classes and getting proper rest.

“Nobody really liked the uncertainty,” said Roose. “I would like to guess that a lot of people had thoughts of transferring.”

media, strength and conditioning and recruiting. To make sure the team was physically prepared, coaches also sent a fitness packet to players with training regimens for the summer.

“With how short the collegiate preseason is, it is important for the players to come back to campus physically prepared to handle the physical load that is required to

compete at a high level throughout the fall season,” Williams said.

On the offensive side, the team ranked fifth in the A-10 with 1.39 goals per game in the 2023 season, led primarily by junior Isabel Kelly and senior Kelly Poole, who scored four apiece. Junior midfielder Aoi Kataoka assisted on nine goals, which tied her for the most in the A-10.

All three players return this year as part of a team that looks to return to the A-10 Championship for the first time since 2019. Williams has not set his sights that lofty yet, as he said he believes instilling a championship mentality is necessary before an actual championship can come this season.

“We want to establish our identity on and off the field by the end of the season, from there the rest takes care of itself,” Williams said. “If we do a good job of establishing championship habits and mindset on and off the field, and making our on-field principles of play habits, then I am confident we will look back at the season and be happy with it.” Williams said he has noticed growth from his players, even early into his tenure.

“We are three weeks in, and you can begin to see the identity take shape,” Williams said. “I think if you ask anyone on the team, they will say we still have a ways to go. But the players have done a great job of being receptive to the information and then trying to apply it.”

Men’s soccer

makes strides to improve across field before season opener

BEN SPITALNY SPORTS EDITOR

Men’s soccer opens their regular season Thursday, looking to eclipse a .500 record for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

The Revs will return to their home turf at 1 p.m. to take on Old Dominion University with a largely reshaped team after announcing five new additions to the roster in June. The recruits will fill the places of several key players including William Turner, who led the team with four goals in his graduate year.

Last season, GW scored 17 goals throughout 17 total games, which ranked 13 out of 14 Atlantic 10 teams in scoring. On the defensive end, they allowed 33 goals throughout the season, the most of any of the A-10 teams.

The team welcomes new players at forward, midfield and defense, introducing new talent up and down the field. Four of these players are first-years, with forward Louis Crofts and midfielder Finn Roberts hailing from the United Kingdom while defenders Jake Hobbs and Jake Poole join the Revs from California.

The sole transfer,

sophomore Jaden Dubon, comes to GW from Corban University, where he scored seven goals in 21 games in his first season.

The Revs return to play with an addition to their coaching staff after officials hired Nick Conklu as an assistant coach in July. The DMVraised Conklu was a volunteer assistant and goalkeeper coach at the Division II University of the District of Columbia last season. His expertise with goalies could bolster the team’s improvements in goalkeeping, after the Revs ranked last in save percentage last season at .616.

“The university’s mission and purpose, and the GW Athletics’ core values connect with who I am as a person and coach, and I look forward to contributing to the program and making a positive impact,” Conklu said in the GW release this summer.

After an exhibition game against Division III University of Mary Washington on Sunday, the team embarks on an early season schedule of three home games and three away games over a month, including an Aug. 30 bout against West Virginia University,

whom the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll ranked third nationally. GW faces its first A-10 opponent Sep. 21 when they take on Duquesne at home. They’ll face reigning A-10 champions Dayton in Ohio on Oct. 5. The regular season will wrap up Nov 2. when the Revs welcome La Salle to their home field. GW picked up their first conference victory last season against La Salle when they clinched a 1-0 victory at home in their penultimate game. The Revs won their last game against George Mason last season to finish the year with a 2-5-1 conference record. The team’s mini winning streak to end the season came just weeks after a scoreless six-game stretch through September. The Revs broke the streak with a 1-1 draw against St. Bonaventure in October after graduate student midfielder Nacho Alastuey knocked in a penalty kick. The team will compete to return to the A-10 championships for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when they beat Dayton to make it to the second round.

Assists per game for senior midfielder Aoi Kataoka, good for first place in the Atlantic 10

JAMES SCHAAP | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Graduate forward Lauren Prentice dribbles the ball past opponents from Binghamton University.

JAMES SCHAAP | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore midfielder Louis Saville kicks the ball while double teamed by two Mary Washington University defenders.

ORIENTATION GUIDE 2024

Don’t stick to the status quo: A crash course on DC's art scene

Everyone at GW wants to rule the world, the D.C. dating scene is dismal and people are constantly exploring the neighborhoods outside Foggy Bottom. At least, that’s the impression you’d get if you talked to the University’s newest batch of incoming first-year students.

There’s only so much that one can glean from the photos of smiling students lounging in Kogan Plaza on GW’s website and tales from alumni family members reliving their glory days on campus — sometimes, the impressions of incoming students moving to campus for the first time are different from the reality of life at GW. As tearful parents loaded floor-length Target mirrors and overflowing boxes into blue carts this weekend, The Hatchet spoke with incoming first-years to hear their expectations and possible misconceptions of the school they’ll call home for the next four years.

Hanna Sayyar, an incoming cognitive neuroscience student, said she imagines lots of GW life revolving around its location in the middle of D.C.

Miduo Sun, an incoming international affairs student, said political involvement is what landed her at GW. She said after researching GW, she thinks that most of the University will be filled with people who, like her, want to learn about every angle of politics.

Nyx Cordero, an incom-

ing political communication student, said they came to GW in hopes of finding a “great environment” for education and to follow in the footsteps of her mom, who got her master’s degree in school counseling from the University. But after hearing bad tales about GW’s dating scene when researching the school online, Cordero said they don’t anticipate falling in love with the University’s romantic prospects.

Cordero said they also don’t envision GW as a huge party school because they haven’t “heard too much” about that scene compared to other universities with more “intense” party culture, but they imagine students still find ways to have their fun through joining student groups and organizations based on their interests and exploring the District.

Cora Brennan, who plans to study political science, said she also assumes GW students explore D.C. to the maximum extent. She said she expects that the University will be an inclusive environment for positivity around politics as people try to learn in the center of American democracy, giving her a chance to learn about everything from this year’s elections to ones that happened hundreds of years ago.

“I don’t really know where I put myself in all of that,” she said. “I think that’s kind of why I’m here, so I can educate myself and, like, make a decision that is best for me.”

There’s nothing quite like the hum of anxiety that radiates through a classroom of first-years on the first day of class.

Whether it’s Principles of Economics I or Introduction to Comparative Politics, you will find a hoard of first-years filing in — hoping to make a friend or two and awaiting the start of their collegiate academic careers. But among the throngs of eager first-years and nonchalant upperclassmen, there is another group of GW community members finding their place on campus this fall: first-year professors.

Professors joining departments across campus said the nerves and excitement of becoming a GW faculty member are reminiscent of beginning college as an undergraduate. As they prepare for the start of the academic year, the new professors said they hope to engage with the District’s cultural offerings inside and outside of the classroom and

encourage incoming first-years to do the same.

Jasmine Donkoh, a new assistant professor of biological sciences, said first-year students have many opportunities to socialize through their residence halls and classes, but new faculty have to put in more concerted effort to meet their colleagues and familiarize themselves with the happenings at GW.

“It’s really easy to meet people in undergrad,” Donkoh said.

“As a professor, it’s a little harder. You’re coming in on your own.

As a freshman, you have this huge cohort of people. And as a professor, I’m the only one that’s new right now. You have to put in a lot more effort to understand what’s going on.”

Compared to the other universities she interviewed for, Donkoh said she was most drawn to GW’s biological sciences department because it had the “best environment.” She said the biological sciences faculty expressed a true desire for incoming professors to feel comfortable in their new positions and for everyone in the department to enjoy working with one another.

D.C. is not just a city of government worker bees — the District is also a place for cultural celebration.

From watercolor classes to on-campus dance sessions, D.C. is chock-full of experiences within any medium of the arts. Here are some highlights to experience the expressive side of the District.

To fulfill your artsy-crafty side: Centrally located in Penn Quarter, the National Portrait Gallery spotlights iconic faces from throughout history. From an exhibit on “America’s Presidents,” with paintings ranging from former President Barack Obama posing in front of lush greenery and an abstract painting of former President John F. Kennedy, to portraits of celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Toni Morrison, every piece tells a part of the American story that D.C. weaves together. The National Portrait Gallery is open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Just a short stroll across the National Mall is the National Museum of Asian Art. The museum exhibits pieces of different mediums, like painting and jewelry, created across centuries and displayed in a variety of ways, including one room with a painting surrounded by shelves of colorful vases and

“Everyone just truly cares that you’re comfortable here and that you get along with people,” Donkoh said. “They also want to get along with you, because we’re going to work together for hopefully decades.”

Donkoh, who is teaching The Biology of Nutrition and Health and Introductory Biology: Cells and Molecules, said she relates to the homesickness that incoming first-years are likely to experience but encouraged them to get involved with as many organizations on campus as possible to see what sparks their interest.

After moving to D.C. a few weeks ago, Donkoh said she’s enjoying the “infectious energy” of watching Washingtonians out and about in the city every day and living among a more diverse population compared to her hometown of Denver, Colorado.

Eli Kintisch, the incoming Ted Turner Professor of Environmental Media, said after working as a journalist in D.C. for a majority of his professional career, becoming a faculty member at a D.C. university like GW feels like a “natural” fit. Kintisch was previously an adjunct professor at the

prints covering the walls. The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room is a must-see, featuring centuriesold silks with flowers blossoming all over, woven carpets and intricately made bronze figures. All of the pieces are laid on different platforms, and the dark lighting of the room creates a calm ambiance to experience the different works together. If you’d prefer to see your own work in those galleries rather than admire the portraits done by others, D.C. has options for budding artists as well. To destress from mounds of homework, Georgetown-based boutique Shop Made in D.C hosts weekly watercolor classes ($25) every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Embrace your inner theater kid: Just a quick 10-minute walk from the Foggy Bottom Campus is the John F. Kennedy Performing Center for the Arts. The venue hosts a wide range of performances, including dazzling ballets, dramatic musicals and even shows from stars like Julien Baker, who sang with the National Symphony Orchestra this past summer. The grand theaters feature glittering chandeliers, red tapestries lining the auditorium and seats filled to capacity. This fall, performances at the Center include the musicals “Mamma Mia!” and

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” as well as pop artist Sara Bareilles. For those who want to be on the stage, student-run theater groups on campus like Forbidden Planet Productions and Generic Theater Company hold auditions at the start of the semester. The former are known for their annual Halloween-weekend performances of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” an audience participation-filled showcase inspired by the 1975 cult film. In addition to “Rocky,” the group will be putting on productions of “Newsies” and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” this fall.

For those who are glued to Gelman Library 23 hours a day and can’t leave campus, Balance: The GW Dance Group puts on two captivating shows at the end of each semester. A culmination of a semester’s worth of rehearsals, dancers of all different abilities and genres bust out jetés and pirouettes. From hip-hop to contemporary to ballet on pointe, students choreograph and direct the entire show surrounding one driving theme like last year’s topic of Renaissance. Singing outside of the shower: Right off the Washington Chan-

Rhode Island School of Design and Northwestern University, but his position at GW marks his first full-time teaching position.

Kintisch said he’s been able to embrace his creativity through his new position by designing his Climate Politics, Policy and Media course, which he said will cover the history of climate change activism through the lens of varying media, from books to social media.

For the course, Kintisch said he plans to take advantage of GW’s location in the District by having his students report on an event, hearing or speech related to environmental policy this semester. After teaching as a visiting assistant professor at GW last year, Sushovan Majhi, who is teaching a Data Science Capstone and Algorithm Design for Data Science, said he decided to apply for a full-time position in the data science program for the 2024-25 academic year since he wanted a more “permanent” position.

He said he has primarily taught graduate students in the past, so he feels “intimidated” by the prospect of teaching undergrad-

nel next to a lineup of restaurants and shops is The Anthem, a grand music venue that welcomes acts from alt-rock stars, like Weezer and St. Vincent, to pop chart toppers, like Zedd and Gracie Abrams. Most tickets are general admission with prices ranging from $35 to $100, and the box office outside of the venue is an option for those who dread waiting in Ticketmaster queues. A more intimate venue, the Columbia Heights-staple 9:30 Club hosts many smaller artists before they blow up the charts, like pop princess Chappell Roan, who graced the hall’s presence last fall. As strobe lights hit the audience, energy is constantly bouncing off the walls with each song. This iconic D.C. venue will be hosting artists like Hayley Heynderickx, singer of the hit “The Bug Collector,” and themed dance parties like a Broadway Rave this fall. For those who want to warble a tune, campus a cappella groups like Sons of Pitch, Mother Funkers and GW Pitches host auditions at the start of the year and put on several performances throughout the semester. Sons of Pitch are all-male, the GW Pitches are all-female and the Mother Funkers are co-ed. No matter your chosen artistic field of interest, there’s a way to throw yourself into it while in D.C.

uates this year but is looking forward to meeting the challenge.

Lauren Pincus, a new assistant professor of chemistry who is teaching Green Industrial Chemistry, said she’s excited to build relationships with her colleagues and students and see how these interactions lead to future research opportunities.

“Opportunities, I would say, are quite limitless,” Pincus said.

Pincus said entering GW as a new faculty member is “quite similar” to starting at a new school as a student because both experiences involve entering a new academic environment that one must get to know. For the students beginning at GW this semester, she said she advises them to build relationships with their faculty members because they pursued education to help support students.

“Every time that you begin at a new academic institution, whether it’s as an undergraduate, a graduate student, a postdoc, or now as a faculty member, it’s an important aspect to get to know the community that you’re now going to be a part of,” Pincus said.

DIANA ANOS STAFF WRITER

ORIENTATION GUIDE 2024

Long-term roommates share success stories

the secrets to their cohabitating success.

Suitemates by chance, friends for life

As first-year students

adjoining bathroom.

International affairs students Eddie Kemelmakher and Tanim Miah said they decided to live together for their first year at GW after becoming close friends in high school. Mathematics major Rohan Singh decided to go the random roommate route and ended up in a four-person suite in Potomac House with Kemelmakher, Miah and political science student Michael Ubis.

“There were a lot of 3 a.m. texts to one another in all caps saying, ‘Can someone please open the bathroom door? I’m gonna, you know, sh*t myself,’” Kemelmakher said.

The suitemates were able to resolve the issue when Singh put a Post-it note in the bathroom reminding everyone to keep the doors unlocked, Miah said.

prior two semesters. Once the roommates moved to Shenkman Hall, the four of them grew closer by spending more time chatting in their shared living room and kitchen, he said. A match made in GroupMe

fill Foggy Bottom residence halls with chatter about their summers and vibrant decor, they also fill Reddit and TikTok with roommate horror stories. No matter how one finds a roommate, disagreements are inevitable in a shoebox Thurston dorm or an overstuffed Vern quad. But withstanding the test of time is the true measure of the strength of a roommate pairing. Upperclassmen who continued to live with their first-year roommates throughout their time at GW shared the stories of their roomie match-ups and

“You don’t particularly owe them anything, but you are living with them, so you kind of do,” Bace said. “Respect the boundaries.” BROOKE SHAPIRO

Kemelmakher said there was a lot of “mutual hate” in their suite for the first few months due to an ongoing issue of forgetting to unlock the doors to their

Over the course of their first year, Singh said he bonded with Kemelmakher and Miah by playing poker and watching movies in their room while Ubis opted for an earlier bedtime. He said these close bonds carried over to their sophomore year, when the group decided to live together again after getting along the

Like many incoming college first-years eager to make quick connections, Maggie Bace said she met Meaghan Shepard on the “roommate Tinder” that is My College Roomie — a roommate pairing application.

Despite not having many similar interests or music tastes, Shepard said being young women of the same age drives their gab-filled friendship and consequently their communication. Shepard said she and Bace were “lenient” with each other — she said she was more disorganized and would leave things over the floor, but Bace was flexible and didn’t make a fuss about the items strewn about.

Bace said one needs common sense to have a strong roommate relationship. She said last semester, she came down with COVID-19 and decided to leave their sophomore year District House double room and stay with a nearby relative as a courtesy.

Ask Annie: What you need to know as a first-year at GW

I’m

Dear Rather be a senator,

A peruse of the GW alumni Wikipedia page highlights an abundance of journalists, the founder of Scientology and even several princesses but no United States presidents.

While the absence of U.S. presidents on GW’s resume doesn’t mean no alumni ever tried to run, it means GW students’ ambitions stretch outside the Oval Office. That being said, most GW students care about domestic and international politics. Living in the nation’s capital is part of what draws people to the University. A politically passionate student body doesn’t mean everyone aspires to work on Capitol Hill, but a network of high-achieving students do. Whether you want to avoid or join them, you can tell who they are.

Nicknamed the “Hillterns,” you can spot them catching the Metro in their suits and glossy loafers as they hurry to work for a senator or congressperson. Many may have sworn as a child that they would be president when they grew up but decided a seat in Congress was more attainable. They may attend a Comparative Politics lecture when they aren’t working because they know successful people never take a day off, draping their jacket over their knees but keeping their ties on as they take notes.

If sitting in committee isn’t your desired future, avoiding the die-hard Hilltern is manageable. Major in something other than political science, dress in civilian clothing and look for internships on Handshake rather than a congressperson’s website. If you’re aware that Nebraska has a unicameral legislature and your dream is to join it, swear allegiance to your fellow Hillterns. Wear your fi nest suit to class and replace your backpack with a messenger bag.

Whether you aspire to join their ranks or not, seeing zealous Hillterns may motivate you to take your professional aspirations seriously.

Advice Columnist-in-Chief, Annie

Dear Annie,

Like many people in college, i want to go out and get more out of my experience than academics. When I announced I was going to GW, all my friends told me i was never going to go out because everyone there is a nerd. I don’t want to fail my classes, but where can I go to find people who don’t just study?

If anyone cares, not only a nerd

Dear not only a nerd, Have your hometown friends ever heard of the “work hard, play hard” mindset? It may not be the healthiest, but chances are if you see someone at Gelman Library at 1 a.m. on a Monday morning, they were drunkenly devouring Carving’s mozzarella sticks less than 24 hours ago. GW is not a stereotypical party school, but it’s far from a dry campus. Those of age can find wine at nearby Whole Foods or buy beverages at McReynold’s, a beloved liquor store less than a block from the White House. Unlike schools famous for tailgates and out-of-hand fraternity parties, their patrons are not frat guys or Cs-get-degree students but members of GW’s most rigorous student organizations. They have stress and steam to blow off, so they know how to party.

While it may seem counterintuitive, join academic and professional-focused student organizations if you seek people who don’t just study. The work hard, play harder mindset thrives among their members. While they may not throw every Saturday like a Sigma Chi or Tappa Kappa Beta, their bi-monthly celebrations are a night you will forget, unintentionally. They have better beverages and, best of all, most of their parties include a stocked snack table.

At the org fair in the fall, look for members with bags under their eyes and dry throats as they stifle a yawn. If they manage to balance their organization commitments with other commitments, then chances are they’ve managed to have crazy nights and stay on the Dean’s List.

Writing hard and (maybe) playing harder, Annie

Dear Annie, I really want a boyfriend by the end of my first semester. How can I find one?

XOXO, A Girl Who Came Here for Love

Dear A Girl Who Came Here for Love,

Like GW’s apartment-style dorms, split campuses and presidential motorcade delays, finding romance at GW isn’t your mother’s college experience. With a wider choice of networks, it can feel more like “Sex and The City” than flirting on the quad.

If you’re eager to get a boyfriend by the end of your first semester, make your dating pool as broad as possible. As a city school, GW students don’t have to only crush on classroom cuties and instead can connect with college students from across D.C. You may run into them at parties, bars or, most likely, swipe on their profile if you download a dating app.

About half of college students use apps to date. Besides GW, American and Georgetown universities dominate the District’s 18-to-22-year-old range on Hinge. When developing a relationship with a GW student, you may go on a neighborhood monument stroll. Perhaps a kiss by the Lincoln Memorial is just the sort of honest love you’ve always waited for. You can enjoy a Friday afternoon date at Western Market, where he can use his dining dollars at Chipotle and you can buy a sweet treat at Captain Cookie

With boys from American and Georgetown, you’re leaving campus and can expect a different experience. If you agree to go out with an American University student, make sure you’ve picked up your UPass and studied the District’s Metro system as they’ll probably ask you to meet somewhere between your two campuses. You’ll split the bill as he’s likely liberal-minded, respecting women too much to pay for them. By the time you’re official, you’ll be a professional at transferring at Metro Center and thankful UPass saves you money on Metro fares.

A date with a Georgetown boy brings a more refined experience. If he asks if you’re a Georgetown reject, leave the date immediately. If he doesn’t, you’ll have to inform us other GW students what happens next.

It’s also possible that you’re not a dating app fan, and you might encounter a potential beau in your Introduction to Microeconomics or University Writing course. Wherever you find him, make sure you feel comfortable, able to laugh and be yourself. Finding a boyfriend is not the most challenging — or important — part of your quest. Finding the right boyfriend is.

Swiping right on this question, Annie

Won’t you be my neighbor: Getting to know DC beyond Foggy Bottom

Venturing down the hallway of your residence hall to meet your neighbors is one of the most intimidating aspects of first-year move-in. After gathering the courage to knock on your neighbors’ doors and haphazardly propping open your own to invite in other students, your residence hall floor can become the foundation of your first-year social network. But as you’re settling into your new life at GW, your fellow students shouldn’t be the only neighbors you aim to impress. About 679,000 people call D.C. home, making GW undergraduates only about 1.6 percent of the city’s current population. When you begin your first year at GW, it’s far too easy to forget about the people that live beyond the borders of campus. From exploring neighborhoods by way of libraries to supporting the city’s rich culinary history, here are some activities that will help you feel good about writing “D.C.” in your Instagram bio and avoid acting like a typical transplant.

Read your way through D.C. neighborhoods While your orientation week may consist of dorm parties and latenight treks to the monuments, grueling nights of studying at Gelman Library ultimately await you. If the mere sight of Gelman’s brutalist facade already sends a shiver down your spine, traveling to more libraries may not sound appealing. But making your way through the DC Public Library system is a foolproof plan to feel more connected to GW’s neighborhood and gain an introduction to the city beyond Foggy Bottom. Start by taking a stroll up to the West End Neighborhood Library — one of D.C.’s 25 neighborhood libraries and home to the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission’s meetings and a shelf dedicated to local history books — and registering for a free D.C. library card. All you need to do is fill out this form and present your ID and proof of D.C. residency, a requirement that a GWorld card

luckily fulfills. With your glossy new library card in hand, take the Silver, Blue or Orange lines to Metro Center and wander through DCPL’s central library: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Beyond the sprawling shelves of books, MLK Library also boasts exhibits on D.C. history.

Journey into the D.C. wild

cultivates produce for Miriam’s Kitchen, a Foggy Bottom-based nonprofit combating chronic homelessness in D.C. The garden welcomes rookie and veteran horticulturalists alike, and you may even catch some sheep grazing on the grass later this school year.

Savor the District’s culinary history

boast some of the best Salvadoran restaurants in the city today. You can’t go wrong with either El Tamarindo, which opened in Adams Morgan in 1982 and is the longest running Salvadoran restaurant in the city or Judy Restaurant — which set up shop on the edge of Columbia Heights in the late 1980s.

As exciting as attending a university in the heart of a city can be, GW’s campus provides few outdoor spaces for finding respite from the grind of urban life — unless the patches of grass in Square 80 are your jam.

But D.C. holds more pockets of natural beauty than first meets the eye. With intimate community gardens and expansive parks, the District provides green spaces with ample opportunities to get your hands dirty and give back to the city. Start on campus with GW’s very own GroW Garden. Located on H Street across from Amsterdam Hall, GroW Garden is a student-run community garden that

Within your first few weeks at GW, you will come to realize that Foggy Bottom is drowning in a sea of fast-casual eateries. And as convenient as Sweetgreen and Panera Bread may be, they don’t deliver a true taste of the historic and diverse D.C. culinary scene simmering at your fingertips.

To gain a proper introduction to the delicacies the District has to offer and how the history of immigration has defined neighborhoods’ food scenes, start with a Salvadoran restaurant crawl through Northwest D.C. Salvadorans constitute the city’s largest Latino community, following waves of immigration to D.C. in the 1980s as a result of the Salvadoran Civil War. Many Salvadoran immigrants settled down in neighborhoods like Adams Morgan, Mt. Pleasant and Columbia Heights — all of which

Once you grab a table at either of these historic spots, start by tasting a variety of their pupusas — doughy, savory tortillas filled with meat, vegetables, cheese and beans that are the national dish of El Salvador.

Pupusas are such a culinary staple in D.C. that restaurants across the city, including El Tamarindo, celebrate the Salvadoran holiday National Pupusa Day on the second Sunday of every November. So as you prepare to enjoy the cooking demonstrations, discounts and live music of this November holiday, support the restaurants that carry on the history of D.C. with every dish.

CAITLIN KITSON

CULTURE EDITOR

SAGE RUSSELL | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Roommates Meaghan Shepard and Maggie Bace pose for a portrait in their South Hall room.

Dear Annie,

coming to GW in the fall. Is it true that everyone here wants to be president?

XOXO, Rather be a senator

music of this November holiday, support the