Vol-119-Iss-23

Zidouemba to launch reelection run amid alleged bylaw breach

Embarking on his fourth-consecutive run for Student Association President, Christian Zidouemba is the first sitting SA president in decades to run for a second full term with his entry onto the body’s election ballot Friday – but not without immediate controversy.

Zidouemba said he will launch his campaign Wednesday anchored on his plans to expand mental health resources for students and acquire federal, state and nonprofit funding to increase the size of the SA’s budget. But two days before the Joint Elections Commission released the SA’s election ballot, revealing that Zidouemba had filed for presidency, the JEC’s Chief Investigator Tyla Evans filed a recommendation Wednesday that he be disqualified from the election.

The recommendation states the JEC received allegations that Zidouemba claimed to gather signatures for rival presidential candidates Keanu Rowe, his current chief of staff, Redzuan Bin Mohamed Raffe, a leader of GW Entrepreneurship Club, and senate candidate Aidan Spencer when he was getting signatures for himself. The hearing for the complaint is scheduled for Monday, according to the document.

Zidouemba is the first to announce a reelection campaign after

a full term since 1987, per Hatchet archives.

Zidouemba, who has served for nearly a full term in office, said his proudest accomplishments feature the installation of a contraceptive vending machine in the University Student Center in January and his role on the Presidential Search

Committee, which helped select incoming University President Ellen Granberg. “I believe that a president is not someone who just sits in the office,” he said in an interview. “A president is someone who goes there trying to hear student concerns and trying to advocate for

Campus grapples with antisemitism definition

FAITH WARDWELL ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR NIKKI GHAEMI CONTRIBUTING

Foggy Bottom has become the local arena of an international debate over the definition of antisemitism – or whether a specific definition should exist at all.

Dozens of universities, including three of GW’s peer schools, have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which refers to antisemitism as a perception of or expressed hatred toward “Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

them.”

Zidouemba’s campaign announcement breaks from a statement he made at an SA Senate meeting earlier this month when he said he would not run for reelection.

Elections committee investigator recommends Zidouemba’s disqualification from SA presidential race

Incumbent Student Association President Christian Zidouemba is facing disqualification from his bid for reelection as he denies charges of an election bylaw violation.

In a recommendation filed with the Joint Elections Commission Wednesday that The

Hatchet obtained Sunday, JEC Chief Investigator Tyla Evans writes that Zidouemba should be disqualified from the election for “wrongfully collecting signatures” in violation of election bylaws. The JEC charged Zidouemba with six counts of impersonation violations under the SA’s election bylaws, alleging he collected signatures for SA Executive Chief of Staff Keanu Rowe and GW Entrepreneurship Club leader Mohamed Redzuan Bin Mohamed Raffe, who

Women’s basketball announces return of four starting seniors

BEN SPITALNY STAFF WRITER

Four senior players will be back on the women’s basketball squad next year for a final season, opting into their extra year of eligibility granted to athletes after the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2020 season short.

The women’s basketball team announced Thursday that forward Faith Blethen, guard Nya Lok, guard Essence Brown and forward Mayowa Taiwo are all returning to the program next season, solidifying the team’s core identity save for guard Mia Lakstigala, who played her lone graduate season with the Colonials. The returns are pivotal for a team coming off its most successful season since 2018, finishing with an 18-13 record in Head Coach Caroline McCombs’ second year while going 9-7 in conference play.

All players were crucial starters down the stretch with a collective 25.8 average points per game.

Taiwo especially made an impact on both sides of the floor, shooting an impressive 49.1 percent, good for eighth in the A-10, while on her way to making the conference All-Defensive Team. She led the conference with 142 offensive rebounds, fourth in all Division I basketball. Teammates and coaches have praised Taiwo throughout the season for being a stellar

teammate and leader.

“If I had a daughter, I’d want her to be Mayowa,” McCombs said in a January interview.

Lok was a key player late in the season, starting the squad’s last seven games in the team’s playoff push, including matchups in the A-10 Championship. She scored a season-high 21 points in the team’s A-10 tournament quarterfinal game, where they lost to Rhode Island.

Over the season, she averaged 9.4 points per game, a marked improvement from her 5.8 average the year before.

Blethen also made her mark as the season went on, earning a starting role midway through the year and playing a seasonhigh 36 minutes in the team’s final regular season game. She was able to contribute from behind the arc, shooting at a respectable .312 clip.

Brown was also a crucial member of the squad, starting 23 out of her 25 games played this year and averaging 6.1 points per game. Continuity and experience will be vital for a team that prides itself on smart play, finishing tied for third in the A-10 in lowest turnovers per game and fifth in fewest average points allowed.

With all these returns, GW enters the offseason with high expectations for next year as McCombs and her squad will look to continue their upward trajectory in the A-10.

are both also running for the SA’s top job. The charges call the validity of Zidouemba’s candidate signatures into question because students might have intended to support another candidate when signing his petition to make the ballot as a presidential candidate. SA presidential candidates must earn 385 petition signatures, 1.5 percent of student constituents, from students to be eligible for the ballot, per the SA bylaws.

In a statement sent to the JEC, Zidouemba said he “always” clarifies the “purpose” of his petition when he’s collecting candidate signatures around campus, rejecting allegations that he collected any signatures for other candidates.

“I take great pride in the integrity of my signature-gathering efforts, and I would never falsely claim to have collected signatures for anyone else,” Zidouemba said in the statement.

Organizations with ties to the fossil fuel industry, like the Charles Koch Foundation and ExxonMobil, have donated more than $4.4 million to GW for research since 2010, according to a report from a pair of progressive research organizations earlier this month.

The report, co-authored by Data for Progress and Fossil Fuel Research, compiled public tax forms revealing fossil fuel companies’ donations to 27 higher education institutions across the country from 2010 to 2020. GW received more than $3.1 million from the Charles Koch Foundation, $1.3 million from ExxonMobil and $4,900 from Shell Oil Company during that span of time, according to the report.

The $4.4 million over the course of a decade accounts for a small fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars in annual funding that GW receives for research each year. Federal research expenditures on GW research have exceeded $150 million each year from fiscal years 2018 to 2022, according to a report at a Faculty Senate meeting in February. The National Institute of Health granted GW researchers about $80 million in FY 2022, according to their website.

Experts said funding sources should not affect research because of conflictof-interest standards and methodology disclosures, which University policy requires.

GW landed in the report’s No. 20 spot out of the 27 selected institutions in

An email The Hatchet obtained from a JEC commissioner Sunday states the commission will hold a trial Monday to determine whether Zidouemba violated the election bylaws, which stipulate that a conviction for impersonation leads to automatic disqualification from the election. The candidate can appeal a conviction to the Student Court within 48 hours of the decision, according to the bylaws.

The definition is a framework for political, professional and higher education institutions to determine whether discriminatory incidents are antisemitic with a standardized definition and 11 examples of antisemitic acts.

While the reach of the definition is expanding, the spread isn’t without controversy. Supporters of the definition laud it as an approach to standardize a method of identifying discrimination, but critics said they’re concerned the definition could be used to improperly prohibit rhetoric critical of the state of Israel by characterizing critiques of the Israeli government as antisemitic, and note no other form of discrimination has a universal definition.

The definition isn’t just reaching college campuses. Former President Donald Trump signed a 2019 executive order asking government agencies to consider implementing IHRA’s definition and Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote a letter saying President Joe Biden’s administration “enthusiastically embraces” the definition.

terms of total research donations. None of GW’s peer schools were listed in the report. The report authors tracked donation numbers from organizations like BP, Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil, the Koch Foundations and ConocoPhillips.

The University of California, Berkeley received the most funding out of the 27 universities in the report with more than $154 million from BP, Chevron, Shell, Exxon, ConocoPhillips and the Koch Foundations. GW’s pool of research funds from the fossil fuel industry falls between Brown University, which received more than $4.2 million and the Colorado School of Mines, which received more than $4.6 million.

“Climate activists, allies, academics and universities can cut the dangerous tie between academia and the fossil fuel industry via policies that crack down on fossil fuel funding,” the report’s

website states.

University spokesperson Julia Metjian said GW’s research enterprise receives “hundreds of millions” of dollars each year from foundations, federal agencies and industries annually to support “high-quality” research projects.

She said the University has “high standards,” policies and practices when accepting funding and conducting research. Metjian said the University regularly reviews its policies and practices to support transparency during research.

She declined to say if GW is still receiving money from ExxonMobil or the Koch Foundations.

“Many GW scholars are addressing the climate crisis through teaching, research and institute work,” Metjian said in an email. “All GW scholars have academic freedom in conducting their research.”

Sophomore Bella Kumar,

an affiliate researcher on the report for Data for Progress and a member of Sunrise GW, said two other students in Sunrise, and four student researchers from other institutions collected fossil fuel-related data from annual Form 990s from 2010 through 2020, which the federal government requires all tax-exempt organizations, like nonprofits, to make public.

She said the report’s findings give credibility to the No Fossil Fuel Money Movement, which Sunrise GW launched in November 2021, calling on the University to stop accepting research funding from fossil fuel companies. “We’ve been fighting this fight for a year and a half now and to very little response on behalf of the University,” Kumar said. “And so, if this report does anything, I would love it to incite a response from the University.”

FILE PHOTO BY MAYA NAIR | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

If elected, SA President Christian Zidouemba said he will finish the final year of his master’s degree while serving as president.

SOPHIA GOEDERT ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

GW received at least $4.4 million for research from fossil fuel industry in last decade: report

NICHOLAS ANASTACIO | GRAPHICS EDITOR

ERIKA FILTER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR ZACH BLACKBURN SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

GWPD officers made fewer arrests despite more calls for service in 2022: report

MAX PORTER STAFF WRITER

GW Police Department

officers received more calls for service but arrested fewer people in 2022 than in 2021, according to an annual internal review of department data.

GWPD released its third Annual Statistical Review earlier this year, showing the number of calls for service jumped to a three-year high in 2022, while the number of arrests dropped to a three-year low. GWPD Chief James Tate attributed the uptick in service requests to fewer COVID-19 restrictions on campus and students who might feel more comfortable speaking to officers. Tate said officers faced fewer interactions that required an arrest, but any reason for the drop in arrests beyond that is “not immediately clear.”

GWPD reported 8,178 calls for service last year, compared to 6,403 requests reported in 2021 and 5,703 in 2020. The department’s ar-

rests fell to 15 in 2022, down from 32 arrests in 2021 and 26 in 2020, according to the review.

“GW is a world-class institution, and it deserves a world-class police department,” Tate said. “To reach that goal, we must continue to build trust and legitimacy with our community, and that is an everyday effort.”

GWPD reported that it investigated five internal complaints about department employee conduct in both 2021 and 2022 after reporting just three investigations in 2020.

“The five investigations initiated by the department were largely regarding policy violations,” Tate said. “We acknowledged those shortcomings and implemented the appropriate corrective action.”

The review states GW community members submitted one formal citizen complaint in 2022, one in 2021 and two in 2020 over policy violations, including rudeness, excessive force and biased policing. Tate

said the one complaint from last year revealed a department employee failed to provide the level of service expected by the department.

“Appropriate corrective action was taken to address the issue,” Tate said.

Tate said GWPD conducts “random audits” of body-worn camera footage at “regular intervals,” which may be responsible for the slight increase in sustained internal complaints – officer violations that result in departmental action – from 3 in 2020 to 4 in 2021 and 5 in 2022. He said the audits allow the department to review interactions with the public, ensure compliance with body-cam policy and detect any “minor issues” before they develop into “major” ones.

GWPD purchased bodyworn cameras in August 2020 to improve relations with the student body through enhanced accountability within the department. The cameras’ rollout followed an incident where an officer pushed a student

at a protest against fossil fuel funding at F Street House earlier that February.

“Footage helps us understand if we have a training issue that needs to be addressed or a performance issue that may require a combination of corrective action and additional training,”

NICHOLAS ANASTACIO | GRAPHICS EDITOR

Tate said in an email earlier this month.

Zidouemba’s campaign to focus on mental health, student organization funding

From Page 1

He said he changed his mind about running while speaking to students who encouraged him to mount a campaign.

If elected, Zidouemba said he will finish the final year of his master’s in management while

From Page 1

An image of a page from Zidouemba’s petition, which was obtained by The Hatchet, shows what appears to be Rowe’s name scribbled out on a line intended for the petitioning candidate and Zidouemba’s placed above it. Zidouemba wrote in the statement that his roommate, former SA Finance Committee Chair Ian Ching, wrote in Rowe’s name on the sheet of paper, submitting written testimony from Ching as corroboration.

The recommendation states Zidouemba also allegedly collected signatures for sophomore Aidan Spencer, who is running for an SA Senate seat. Rowe and Spencer were “unaware” that Zidouemba was allegedly collecting signatures for them, according to the JEC’s disqualification recommendation.

Joint Elections Commissioner Fatima Konte told Zidouemba the JEC found “ample evidence” to charge Zidouemba with violat-

serving as president.

He said he plans to host suicide-prevention training for students and restore GW Listens, a peer-run mental health hotline on campus. Zidouemba said he plans to add 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, and a phone number for GW Listens on the back of GWorld

ing bylaws prohibiting impersonation while collecting signatures or campaigning, according to an email she sent to Zidouemba, which The Hatchet obtained. The email states the commission would hold a hearing regarding the charges Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Another email from Konte to Zidouemba states that Evans has until six hours before the trial to share any evidence gathered.

Evans declined to comment. Konte did not immediately return a request for comment.

Raffe said he does not “know the full truth, but it’s a weird allegation.” He said he wants the election to focus on policy, not allegations of wrongdoing.

Rowe and Spencer did not immediately return requests for comment.

Junior Andrew An, who ran a write-in campaign for SA president last year but lost to Zidouemba, submitted a statement to the JEC alleging Zidouemba impersonated Rowe while gathering signa-

tures for a candidate petition. An said in the statement, which was obtained by The Hatchet, that when he approached Zidouemba in the University Student Center last week to ask who the president was collecting signatures for, Zidouemba told An that he was not entitled to that information. Zidouemba proceeded to tell An he was collecting signatures for “Keanu” and then refused to say whether he was running for reelection, according to the statement.

“Near the end, I expressed my dissatisfaction regarding his lack of transparency and his refusal to disclose who he was collecting signatures for,” An said in his statement.

Zidouemba denied An’s allegation, saying it made “no sense” for him to collect signatures for his opponents.

cards. He said he plans to increase funding for CAPS through GW Giving Day and other fundraising events.

“Most people are feeling lonely, and they don’t even know where to find resources,” he said.

He said he plans to work with University departments to identify external sources of funding

– like federal and state grants and nonprofits – to increase the SA’s budget. He said he plans to speak with the Board of Trustees to coordinate fundraising events that can increase the SA’s funds without increasing student fees.

The SA’s budget totaled approximately $1.3 million for fiscal year 2022.

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manding officials improve relations with students after complaints of officers’ alleged racial bias. The first iteration of the report in 2021 included data from 2018, 2019 and 2020 and showed drops in complaints, arrests and calls for service after they largely peaked in 2018.

Zidouemba said he plans to rewrite the SA’s finance bylaws, creating a summary that is easier for student organizations to request funding. The SA overhauled its finance bylaws in spring 2022 and amended them last month, switching from a line item-based process to a categorybased process.

KARSYN MEYERSON | PHOTOGRAPHER

SA chief of staff challenges Zidouemba in race for SA presidency ERIKA FILTER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Student Association President Christian Zidouemba’s chief of staff announced his bid for the SA presidency Saturday.

Keanu Rowe, a junior majoring in political science, said he plans to create a field day, organize monthly community service events, increase student organization funding, tighten campus safety and continue efforts to diversify GW’s dining hall selection regarding dining restrictions. Rowe joins the race against Zidouemba, former SA policy adviser Edy Koenigs, SA Sen. Rami Hanash Jr., GWSB-U, GW Entrepreneurship Club leader Redzuan Raffe, former SA Transportation Secretary Nathan Orner and Residence Hall Association President Arielle Geismar.

Rowe said he chose to run against Zidouemba, his “good friend,” because he wanted to leverage his experience as chief of staff to pursue the presidency. He said Zidouemba’s choice to run for reelection is a “very new development” Rowe learned about “very recently.”

“There is no problem with Christian wanting to run again and pursue this position,” he said. “However, I do think it’s time for

new leadership. ” He said he is “uniquely equipped” for the position after his experience as chief of staff, which included communicating between the legislative and executive branches for SA events and restaffing the executive cabinet after at least seven members – including Koenigs – resigned following a failed attempt to remove Zidouemba from office last year. Rowe said he struggled to find students interested in the SA who wanted to fill the vacant cabinet positions as he posted about the openings on social media and coordinated interviews between classes.

“While the SA has done some positive, I think students – rightfully so – for the most part still have a negative perception of the SA,” he said.

He said he hopes candidates will unify around increasing turnout in this year’s election. Last year, 2,690 students – 10.4 percent of eligible voters – participated in the election, a decrease from the 17.9 percent turnout in 2019, the last time the SA campaigns had been in person before the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said if elected, he would continue the dining focus group that Zidouemba, Senate Chairperson Pro Tempore Demetrius Apostolis,

CCAS-U, and other members of the SA began this year. He said he would direct the group to focus on food safety, expand options for students with dietary restrictions and seek increased student input on GW

RHA president enters race for SA’s top job, pledges campus safety reforms

FILTER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR SOPHIA GOEDERT ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The president of the Residence Hall Association is looking to move into a new position, joining the race for Student Association president Wednesday.

Junior Arielle Geismar said if elected, she would organize the SA’s existing resources, like finances, increase student safety and spark a “cultural shift” by encouraging students to support one another after incidents of sexual assault on campus. She said in her capacity as RHA president, she was able to fill all of the residence hall’s council positions, host an event on sexual wellness and install water bottle fillers in residence halls.

“GW students have a lot of power,” Geismar said. “My background is in using that power and being one of the voices to uplift that to different levels of administration.”

Geismar, an international affairs major, will run against six other candidates in the upcoming presidential election – SA President Christian Zidouemba, SA Sen. Rami Hanash Jr., GWSB-U, SA Executive Chief of Staff Keanu Rowe, GW Entrepreneurship leader Redzuan Raffe, former SA transportation secretary Nathan Orner and former SA senior policy adviser Edy Koenigs. She said she chose to run for president to ensure GW students feel confident in their institution and its future.

Geismar said she hopes to use her current relationships with GW administrators to provide students with a voice. She said the SA should take advantage of its connection to administrators to spotlight students’ interests and make students feel heard.

“I think the power of a Student Association president is to be able to leverage that,” she said.

She said she intends to raise awareness to prevent sexual assault and antisemitism on campus in hopes of increasing student safety and well-being on campus. She said she plans to elevate existing resources on sexual assault and make them more visible for students.

“A lot of what my campaign is built on, one of the main tenets, is not redoing what already exists and bolstering the resources that are already available to students,” she said.

Geismar said she plans to create more safe spaces on campus for LGBTQ+ individuals and wield the SA’s power to negotiate more mental health counselors for students.

Geismar said her time as RHA president and on the Student Health Advisory Committee as a freshman helped her foster relationships with administrators that gave her experience communicating with officials, like those in the Office of Advocacy and Support.

“I want to support organizations and give them resources to build connections and actually use the power that comes with being a part of the Student Association to directly influence what students want,” Geismar said.

Geismar said if elected, she would increase communication surrounding the University-Wide Programs Fund, which officials created this year with money that was previously part of the SA’s budget to fund events attracting 350 or more students. Officials announced the fund was depleted in late February with three months remaining in the academic year. “I know multicultural events can be planned out,” she said. “If we know that they’re happening ahead of time, we should be planning those and budgeting for those in the beginning of the year.”

She said she plans to host workshops explaining SA financial policies

to student organizations on campus. The Finance Committee hosted informational sessions in February to provide information on the general allocations process.

She said the top-funded student organizations are multicultural organizations, a pattern she hopes to continue.

She said she plans to audit the SA’s allocations process, if elected. The SA president does not directly control the SA’s general allocations process, per the SA bylaws.

She said she plans to eliminate fees for student organizations using oncampus venue spaces like the Jack Morton Auditorium, the Elliott School City View Room and Lisner Auditorium.

“The fees are not benefiting students,” she said. “And so I would seek to eradicate those.”

Geismar said she has been involved in collective organizing efforts since she was 16 by leading walkouts in New York City advocating for gun violence prevention. She said she took a gap year after high school to lobby for causes like mental health, LGBTQ+ rights and women’s rights on Capitol Hill.

“My experience, at its core, is working to represent young people’s voices in places of authority,” she said. “And I think that that experience is something that I could translate into this position.”

She said she has a “unique” perspective on what needs to be changed in the SA because she has no previous experience with the body. Geismar said students are aware of the power the SA holds and the changes that need to happen, and she hopes to use the SA to “uplift what students need.”

“I think a lot of students can articulate ways in which they need to see the Student Association grow,” Geismar said. “I think as a student that’s been affected by those, I have that same lens.”

Student leaders said the first year of the University-Wide Programs Fund delivered valuable funds to student organizations, but once the fund ran dry three months before the end of the school year, it derailed their plans to host large spring events.

David Bonilla-Ciferri, the assistant director of student involvement and leadership and a University-Wide Programs Fund committee member, said GW donates 50 cents for each credit hour a student takes to subsidize the fund, which is intended for events targeting an attendance larger than 350. The University-Wide Programs Fund committee disbursed a total of $219,175 to 33 student events through February, but the fund ran dry last month, which student leaders said spoiled opportunities to fund large events from March through May.

Bonilla-Ciferri announced the fund’s depletion at an SA meeting earlier this month, saying $1.53 remained in late February.

“This was a truly collaborative process between the student members and the staff on the team,” he said. “We spent a lot of time talking about what made the most sense.”

A total of three administrators and three SA senators compose the programs fund committee.

Brian Joyce, the assistant dean of student life, said the programs fund is designed to support heritage celebrations and large-scale events. He said the committee considered applications based on how many students would benefit and whether funding was “crucial” for the event’s success.

“Some event requests did not meet the criteria, or were able to find additional sources of funding that negated the need for UWPF money,” he said in an email. “The committee funded requests on a rolling basis, and the num-

ber of diverse, inclusive and community-building events that came in were impressive and deserved funding, which resulted in the fund running out of money prior to the end of the academic year.”

Leaders of student organizations that received funding said the programs fund was flexible with students’ requests and operated similarly to the SA’s allocations process.

Arun Nimmagadda, the former vice president of professional development for Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, said the programs fund granted $5,502 of the $7,619 requested for a joint conference held between Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi held in October.

Nimmagadda said the application asked the group to create a list of line items for funding and describe the event’s programming and campus impact to show the conference was open for all students. He said he could readjust certain items and quantities in his budget proposal for two weeks after the committee made its initial allocation to gain more funding.

“I think that the process was super helpful because it also helped us in our internal budgeting and thinking about what we really, really needed versus what would be nice to have,” Nimmagadda said.

Joey Meirson, the director of finance for Class Council, an organization that hosts events for each graduating class, said she applied for and received $8,699 for Class Council’s Student Showcase, featuring performances from multiple student organizations held in September.

Meirson, a junior studying political science, said Class Council received the full $8,699 they requested for the event with an expected attendance of 500 students. Meirson said because the event was for profit with $2 tickets, Class Council returned half of its revenue, about $250, to the

programs fund.

“The University-Wide Programs Fund prefers not to fund for-profit events,” she said. “And usually if it is a for-profit event. You just have to give back half of the profit you made to the fund.”

Meirson also received $1,500 of the $8,909 requested for the Battle of the Acapellas event taking place in April. Meirson said while Class Council did not receive the full amount she requested, representatives from the programs fund committee recommended they host the event at a different venue to cut costs.

“Even if the fund can’t meet the amount that you want, they’ll still help you try and get the event,” Meirson said.

The depletion of the University-Wide Programs Fund for the rest of the academic year means student organizations cannot secure funding for large events later in the year.

Gabriel Young, the president of the Philippine Culture Society, said the depletion of the fund has left PCS and at least five other AAPI student organizations struggling to plan and fund celebrations for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.

Young, who is also an SA senator, said PCS leaders were planning on applying for about $1,000 from the fund to cover costs of catering and costumes needed for performances during the celebration. Young said without any funds left from the programs fund, he needs to reach out to alumni for donations and organize last-minute fundraisers.

“The UWPF depletion really just threw a wrench in how we were adjusting our own budget for this entire semester, let alone for the event,” Young said.

Young said the programs fund committee should have been more aware of the spread of events throughout the semester to avoid the depletion.

Dining through surveys, polls and conversations with students at dining halls.

RACHEL SCHWARTZ | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Junior Arielle Geismar said her time as RHA president and on the Student Health Advisory Committee as a freshman fostered relationships with administrators that gave her experience communicating with officials.

ERIKA FILTER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Keanu Rowe, the SA's executive chief of staff, said he chose to run against Zidouemba, his “good friend,” because he wanted to leverage his SA experience to pursue the presidency.

ANNA FATTIZZO STAFF WRITER

Large events fund was vital despite its short life span, student leaders say

ERIKA

FRAUD/ID, THEFT II/ OTHER

Various Locations

3/9/2023 – Multiple

Open Case

A male student reported that another male student stole his GWorld card to make various purchases around campus. Case open.

ROBBERY/FEAR

Private Property on Campus

3/10/2023 – 1:01 a.m.

Open Case

A male student reported that an unknown subject robbed him while he was taking out his trash. GW Police Department officers responded and canvassed the scene but found no subject. Case open.

CREDIT CARD FRAUD, THEFT II/FROM BUILDING

Monroe Hall

3/10/2023 – 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Open Case

A female faculty member reported being the victim of a theft that led to attempted fraudulent charges on her credit card. Case open.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

Public Property on Campus (2200 Block of I Street NW)

3/10/2023 – 11:23 p.m.

Closed Case GWPD officers responded to a report of a non-GW-affiliated male assaulting another non-GW-affiliated male with a chain. GWPD officers arrested the subject and issued a bar notice. Metropolitan Police Department officers then transported the suspect to the Second District Station for processing. Subject arrested.

THEFT I/FROM BUILDING

Ross Hall

3/16/2023 – Unknown

Open Case

A male contractor reported their electronic equipment stolen from a classroom. Case open.

—Compiled by Peyton Gallant

Share of students studying across multiple schools hits decade high: report

RACHEL MOON REPORTER

The number of students studying across GW’s schools has steadily increased over the last decade, indicating a growing, University-wide interest in cross-disciplinary studies, according to the annual core indicators report presented at a Faculty Senate meeting earlier this month.

The report states 1,870 students studied across multiple schools in 2022, a 136 percent increase from 791 students in 2012 – a record-high number of undergraduates participating in interdisciplinary studies. Experts said interdisciplinary degrees prepare students for a workforce where a diverse skillset is required to succeed.

“The larger point, of course, is that the indicators highlight that our students are appreciating the opportunity to build an academic program of study that is cross-disciplinary and prepares them for future career and professional aspirations,” Provost Chris Bracey said at the meeting.

A total of 4.3 percent of undergraduates had two majors across different schools in 2022, a slight decline from 4.5 percent in 2021. The percentage had made a steady climb since 2012 when only 2.3 percent of undergraduate students majored in two different schools.

In 2022, 428 undergraduate students double majored across schools, a 92 percent increase from 223 students in 2012. The number of undergraduate students with a major in one school and a minor in another increased by 154 percent from 2012 to 2022, jumping from 568 to 1,442, according to the report.

Bracey said students most commonly major between the Elliott School of Inter-

national Affairs and the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

Experts in higher education said interdisciplinary students develop a wide breadth of skills that increase their career opportunities. They said the large number of credits that universities and accreditation institutions require for degrees could discourage students from interdisciplinary studies.

Mary Churchill, the program director of higher education administration at Boston University’s Wheelock School of Education and Human Development, said interdisciplinary degrees encourage students to pursue their varying interests and prepare them for the “real world,” where interdisciplinary skills are required in the workforce.

“When you look at employer surveys of what they’re looking for when they hire, they’re not look-

ing for an econ major or a sociology major,” Churchill said. “They’re looking for someone who has a combination of skills that often comes across disciplines.”

Students said they were easily able to declare new majors and minors, balance their coursework between them and engage in interdisciplinary studies to learn “hard skills” they can apply to their primary field of interest.

Lily Vassalo, a senior majoring in international affairs and business, said she has a broader view of the world because she is not limited to one “category” of study. She said she is able to apply her quantitative analysis skills acquired through the business school to her academics at the Elliott School.

“At the end of the day, everything is a business and everything in our world revolves around money to a certain extent, so it’s been

useful to understand that,” she said.

Vassalo said while it is difficult to balance her coursework, it is “doable.” She said she takes at least 18 credits every semester to meet her degree requirements.

Students currently registered for more than 18 credits are charged $1,995 for each credit hour exceeding 18. The cost will increase to $2,080 per credit hour beginning this summer.

Manuel Blanco, a sophomore double majoring in international affairs and geography, said expanding his studies into other schools has given him a “broader look” at the world when it comes to geography, politics and culture.

“Geography and knowing the culture of different people and the places that they reside is super important to applying it to what I know about the politics that govern them,” he said.

South Asian Heritage Celebration addresses familial pressures, self care

BROOKE FORGETTE REPORTER

South Asian students gathered this month to celebrate and reflect on their heritage across five weeks of programming for GW’s 10th annual South Asian Heritage Celebration with 13 cultural events.

Leaders from four student organizations – the GW South Asian Society, the Pakistani Students’ Association, the Indian Students’ Association and the Hindu Student Association – kicked off this year’s monthlong celebration, titled “Pushing Perfection,” March 1, and events will culminate Saturday with a “Bhangra Blowout” dance celebration in Lisner Auditorium. They said the series of events aimed to highlight the pressures, standards and stereotypes of perfection that family or society sets for the South Asian community and address them through community discussions and spaces for

students to unwind, like a student-led yoga class and a self-care night.

Ashvini Selvanayagam, a sophomore and SAHC cochair, said as a first-generation American she faced a “silent pressure” of making her family proud after immigrating to the United States. She said she has identified with the stories of other South Asian students who have shared their own experiences with overcoming ideals of perfection through conversations that SAHC hosted.

She said SAHC organizers worked with the South Asian Mental Health Initiative & Network, a nonprofit that works to improve the mental health of South Asian individuals in the United States, to promote mental health services and resources to students throughout the month’s celebrations.

“Emotionally, we’ve always felt like we’re supposed to express that we’re content with everything, that we can

handle everything we chew and that everything will be alright,” Selvanayagam said.

Selvanayagam said the March 1 event kicking off the celebration, a self-care night titled “Masala and Chill,” focused on individual well-being using traditional South Asian remedies known as Ayurvedic practices, which are native Indian methods of self-care like yoga and herbal remedies.

“I felt so happy in that moment because there were just so many faces both familiar and unfamiliar,” Selvanayagam said.

Selvanayagam said she’s also looking forward to the heavily anticipated Bhangra Blowout celebration held in Lisner Saturday, which is the oldest collegiate Bhangra competition in the United States.

“People not in any South Asian org have the opportunity to join or also liaison for other teams,” Selvanayagam said.

Ashna Patel, a sopho-

more and SAHC co-chair said students participated in traditional Indian self-care practices at the event, like Amla hair oiling, turmeric

face masks and Besan hand scrub as they connected with other students over their shared heritage.

“What’s been amazing

about this month especially is that with the celebration, it really gives us a platform to all grow together,” Patel said.

Advocates, critics spar over antisemitism definition amid national debate

From Page 1

Federal agencies like the Department of Education and the Department of State have adopted the definition as well as 31 of the 50 U.S. states. Three of GW’s peer schools –Northeastern, Syracuse and Wake Forest universities – have moved to adopt the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism.

“We are eager to work with allies and partners to counter Holocaust distortion and combat antisemitism and other forms of intolerance abroad while we strengthen our efforts at home, including redoubling our efforts to counter violent extremism,” Blinken said in the letter.

Amid colliding calls for officials to address alleged acts of anti-Israeli and anti-Palestinian discrimination on campus, contention over the definition of antisemitism sits at the epicenter of the debate. Within the past three months, a pair of proIsrael and pro-Palestine advocacy organizations have filed federal civil rights complaints against the University, asking officials to install the definition in one case and reject its premise in another.

GW’s Student Code of Conduct states the University will not permit discrimination on the grounds of

“national origin” and “other characteristics protected by applicable law in any university-recognized area of student life,” but it does not explicitly define what constitutes as discrimination.

Pro-Israel nonprofit StandWithUs filed a Title VI complaint with the Department of Education in January alleging an assistant professor of clinical psychology was antisemitic toward Jewish and Israeli students in a graduate-level psychology course last fall. In its complaint, StandWithUS demanded the University adopt the IHRA definition to halt further acts of campus discrimination.

Palestinian advocacy organization Palestine Legal filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education last month calling on the D.C. Office of Civil Rights to investigate a “years-long, hostile environment of anti-Palestinian racism” at GW. Following a push from StandWithUs to adopt the IHRA definition months prior, the complaint contested GW’s potential adoption of IHRA’s definition could result in nationality-based discrimination against Palestinians on campus by possibly limiting criticism against the state of Israel.

University spokesperson Julia Metjian did not return a request to

comment.

Carly Gammill, the director of StandWithUS, said the IHRA definition acts as a “crucial” tool in identifying antisemitism as the targeting of the Jewish religion, ethnicity or the “Jewish state of Israel,” especially on college campuses. She said the definition helps students, administrators and other campus figures identify antisemitic incidents and distinguish them from legitimate criticism of Israeli government and politics.

Gammill said the IHRA definition is not legally binding and doesn’t administer censorship, restrictions or punishment, but instead acts as a tool for “education and identification.”

“We are hopeful that GWU will join the growing number of educational institutions using the IHRA definition to help address rising antisemitism on our nation’s campuses,” Gammill said in an email.

Radhika Sainath, a senior staff attorney for Palestine Legal, said the legal group does not support the adoption of the IHRA definition because it could stifle criticism against the Israeli government and its alleged violence toward Palestinians, which could lead to anti-Palestinian discrimination and infringe on free speech. She said the defini-

tion introduces a “double standard” where people are prohibited from criticizing Israel but free to criticize other states and governments.

“People, again, should be able to freely criticize states and governments, and the state of Israel should not be singled out for a special exception to be free from criticism,” she said during an interview.

The IHRA definition considers “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” as antisemitic, as well as the general denial of Jewish people to their right to self-determination. The definition distinguishes these expressions of speech from other forms of criticism against Israel.

“Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity,” the definition states. “However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

Sainath said Palestine Legal does not believe there should be “codified” definitions of discrimination, including for antisemitism, because no other forms of discrimination are concretely defined.

She said one of Palestine Legal’s clients is a Palestinian GW student who was allegedly shot by an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in the West

Bank in 2021 while she was taking University classes remotely. She said adopting the definition would condemn her story as an antisemitic, “one-sided criticism of Israel.”

“We believe that should GW, or any other university, apply the IHRA definition of antisemitism, it could lead administrators into a morass of national origin-based discrimination in violation of the law,” she said.

Sophomore Sabrina Soffer, the SA’s commissioner of the task force to combat antisemitism, said she “supports” the IHRA definition because it “succinctly” addresses all forms of antisemitism.

“I think it’s very pointed, and I think it’s very effective,” she said. “But I think that we can’t just implement something without people knowing what’s really behind it.”

Adena Kirstein, the executive director of GW Hillel, declined to comment on whether she hopes to see the University adopt the IHRA definition.

“When antisemitic incidents take place, Jewish students can sometimes feel they must suppress their Jewish identities to fully participate and belong in classrooms, student organizations and other campus spaces,” Kirstein said in an email.

BROOKE FORGETTE | PHOTOGRAPHER

SAHC Co-Chair Ashna Patel said Aparna Shewakramani was relatable to the month’s theme after she received backlash on her dating show for being too “picky” or “close-minded” with her romantic decisions.

LILY SPEREDELOZZI | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Students said they were easily able to declare and balance coursework for their majors and minors across schools.

Graduation rate decline reflects continued pandemic impact, experts say

Experts said GW’s four-year graduation rate decrease of 4 percent between the Class of 2021 and Class of 2022 is in line with universities across the country and is indicative of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provost Chris Bracey said at a Faculty Senate meeting earlier this month that the four-year graduation rate dipped from 79.2 percent to 75.2 percent between the Class of 2021 and the Class of 2022, attributing the drop to the University’s switch to remote learning in 2020 as students sought alternatives like transferring or taking a gap year. Experts said the decline in the fouryear graduation rate at GW comes as no surprise as students across the country opted to defer their education due to medical or mental health concerns as a result of the pandemic.

“Recall that we were remote in 2021 for that academic year, and some students did elect to matriculate elsewhere given that most colleges and universities were offering in-person learning options while we were remote,” Bracey said at the senate meeting earlier this month.

Bracey said the 75.2 percent graduation rate accounts for all the students who graduated through 2022, but the class graduation rate is now closer to 79 percent as of early March because of processing delays for some students’ transfer credits and additional degrees.

Officials project the six-year graduation rate will rise to 85.1 per-

cent this school year for the cohort of students who entered the University in 2017, which would represent an uptick from the 84.8 percent rate for students who entered GW in 2016. The cohort that entered in 2015 had an 83.7 percent six-year graduation rate, according to the report.

Bracey said financial factors, like tuition hikes, can also decrease graduation rates.

“Every year, we have students, high-performing students, who simply cannot afford to continue to matriculate at the University,”

Bracey said. “And so the decisions we make in terms of tuition increases, additional fees and financial aid budgets, contributions to need-based scholarships and all these sorts of things are reflected in our graduation rate.”

Bracey said while GW’s retention rates have recovered “nicely” as officials reintroduced in-person learning, the “slow and difficult” recovery from the pandemic will stall officials’ recovery to pre-pandemic levels. The retention rate fluctuated between 88 percent, 90.7 percent and 89.6 percent between the classes that entered in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

“Indeed, we should be striving to reach 94 percent in our retention rate, as that’s typically where top 50 schools hover,” Bracey said.

“This means finding about 75 to 80 more students each year to succeed at GW and remain with us the following year.”

Experts in higher education said universities across the country have witnessed drops in their

American studies professor, celebrated folklorist dies at 74

FIONA BORK STAFF

John Vlach, a professor emeritus of American studies and anthropology and a celebrated folklorist, died from Alzheimer’s disease in October. He was 74.

Vlach served as the chair of the American studies department, the director of the department’s graduate studies and the director of the department’s former folklife program, which taught courses on American material culture and African American, oral and art history. His loved ones and colleagues said after he came to GW in 1981, he introduced folklore studies to the University and revolutionized the American studies department, and they remember him as a kind and generous person whom they will miss greatly.

Throughout his career, Vlach developed several exhibitions for history and art museums, like the National Museum of American History and the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Washington. He also held positions in the historic preservation community in D.C., serving as an adviser to the National Building Museum’s exhibition titled “Washington: Symbol and City” and as a member of D.C.’s Historic Preservation Review Board.

Vlach was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 21, 1948. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis in 1970 and earned his doctorate from Indiana University in 1975, where he studied folklife.

Vlach retired from GW in February 2013 after he was unable to continue teaching due to youngeronset Alzheimer’s, which he battled for nearly a decade. Following his re-

tirement, more than 50 of Vlach’s students, colleagues and friends celebrated his career, accomplishments and retirement at an event hosted by the GW Office of Alumni Relations in 2013.

In 2014, officials established the Horton-Vlach Fund named after Vlach and James Horton, an American studies and history professor emeritus who died in 2017, to honor the work and pedagogy they contributed to the American studies department.

Beverly Brannan, Vlach’s wife and a curator in the Library of Congress’ Prints and Photographs Division, said she first met Vlach after attending a lecture he presented in D.C. while he was working as a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She said that after Vlach took his position at GW in 1981, they went on to get married and settle their family in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

“I had heard of John’s ability to discern and articulate the nobility of wellcrafted everyday lives, but the first time I attended one of his lectures, something in me said, ‘That’s the man I’m going to marry!’” Brannan said in an email. “I spoke to him immediately after his talk because he obviously honored my same values, and it didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes.”

She said Vlach was a born educator, and even when he was young, he enjoyed teaching other children to talk.

Brannan said one reason their marriage was successful is that while Vlach did some of the child care and most of the housework, she did most of the child care and all of the cooking. She said their grandson was born Sunday.

“Together, we savored

graduation rates as the pandemic caused students to reassess their college educations due to the pandemic’s impact on students’ medical and mental well-being.

Roger Thompson, the vice president for student services and enrollment management at the University of Oregon, said the drop in the four-year graduation rate during the pandemic was expected

as students decided to take a leave of absence with the hopes universities would later return to in-person learning.

Bracey said at the senate meeting earlier this month that 90 students in the Class of 2022 took a leave of absence during their time at GW, marking an increase from the “handful” of students in previous classes who took a leave of

absence.

“It’s clear to us that we’re going to take a little hit on graduation rates because we had, as I think many schools did, students who elected to say, ‘I’m going to wait until this is done. I don’t really want to pay tuition for a Zoom kind of experience. I’m going to wait until it’s a little more normal,’” Thompson said.

How a professor is using sea lions to build the next underwater vehicles

MAGGIE O'NEILL REPORTER

An engineering professor, in partnership with the Smithsonian National Zoo, is studying the mechanisms sea lions use to move underwater to engineer more effective underwater motorized technology.

ocean, like coral reefs that can break under force. She said a lower wake from the vehicles will let scientists more easily study underwater caves and coral reefs and collect materials without disturbing marine life.

our work and created a magnificent family,” Brannan said.

Faculty in the American studies department said Vlach was a pleasure to work alongside as he consistently advised his younger colleagues. They said he was pivotal in bringing folklore studies to the American studies department through the former folklife program.

Howard Gillette, a professor emeritus of history at Rutgers University who originally hired Vlach to work in the American studies department in 1981, said Gillette said Vlach was an “incredible match” for GW.

“He had a wonderful visual capability to communicate stories about our culture, about our circumstances – both historically and in the present era – and in a very rich and powerful way,” Gillette said. “He was just terrific.”

Tom Guglielmo, the department chair and an associate professor of American studies, said Vlach’s kindness was “inspirational.”

“The department stands on the shoulders of eminent former faculty like John,” Guglielmo said in an email to the American studies department in November.

Melani McAlister, a professor of American studies and international affairs, said Vlach was the “anchor” of the American studies department. She said not only was he a “wonderful colleague” but also “friendly, generous and quick to laugh.”

“When I came to GW as a younger scholar, I found him to be as great a senior colleague as one could wish for: was supportive and warm at every turn,” McAlister said in an email. “We were very lucky to have him at GW, and he is greatly missed.”

Megan Leftwich, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, is conducting research about the mechanisms sea lions use to move underwater in an effort to engineer more flexible and maneuverable underwater vehicles. She said her team of researchers and collaborators at Drexel and West Chester universities study videotapes of sea lions swimming at the National Zoo to measure the flexibility of a sea lion’s body and water disturbance – factors the researchers hope to apply to the physical model of underwater drones and vehicles.

Leftwich said the maneuverability, speed and agility of sea lions, who can generate relatively higher levels of thrust in their body than other marine animals can make with their tails, makes them the perfect animal to study and replicate in underwater engineering. Sea lions clap their front flippers against their body to propel themselves forward and glide through the water, reaching speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.

Leftwich said the team is working to learn how sea lions move efficiently while not significantly disturbing the water around them, a feature that researchers hope to incorporate into underwater vehicles used to study sensitive areas of the

“The way I think of it is that we are looking at how nature solves all of these problems and adding it to our engineering tool bag,” Leftwich said in an interview.

Leftwich said her team is currently studying fluid mechanics – a branch of physics measuring the forces of fluids – of sea lions to analyze the “thrust production” of the flippers. Leftwich said an improved understanding of the mechanics and flexibility of sea lions allows engineers to adapt the technology to the conditions of the ocean.

She said the Department of Defense granted her team a $1.3 million, three-year grant in January 2021 to support her research on “locomotion and transitions” of an amphibious system, and received a $380,000 installment of the grant to continue research last month.

Leftwich said she hopes to incorporate the sea lions’ ability to make sharp turns through thick California kelp forests into marine technology that can currently only take wide turns.

Leftwich said the Navy may be able to develop new technology to help detonate underwater bombs compatible with the flexibility of the sea lions, but prototypes of the vehicles are still in the works. She said the vehicles would replace human divers who must complete dangerous bomb missions for the military.

Leftwich said GW’s lo -

cation allowed the team to collaborate with sea lion keepers at the National Zoo, so they could obtain detailed videos of the animals’ movements. She said her team used CAT-scan machines at GW Hospital to scan the flipper of a deceased sea lion last year from the National Zoo to better understand how a flipper’s stiffness and length contributes to the animal’s maneuverability and speed and help engineers apply it to small underwater vehicles.

“Just being in D.C. and being at GW, leveraging the scientific community that we live in, has really enhanced this project because obviously we can’t keep sea lions in the lab,” Leftwich said.

Co-investigators on the research team said the findings from the sea lions’ method of locomotion will result in bioengineering solutions, like new generations of robotic underwater vehicles.

Frank Fish, a co-principal investigator of the study and professor of biology at West Chester University, said the sea lion’s amphibious nature along with their speed and agility made them an ideal model for designing autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs.

He said mimicking the sea lion’s ability to move quickly through water with minimal disturbance to its environment would assist engineers in the development of the next generation of AUVs and engineer them to surf on the waves to easily transition from the shore to the water.

“These are particular attributes that we found to be quite interesting and want to try to build into a robotic system,” Fish said.

WRITER

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AUDEN YURMAN | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

John Vlach's loved ones and colleagues said he revolutionized the American studies department after he first came to GW in 1981 through his introduction of folklore studies.

FILE PHOTO BY JORDYN BAILER | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Experts said the decline in the four-year graduation rate at GW comes as no surprise as students across the country opted to defer their education due to medical or mental health concerns as a result of the pandemic.

Opinions

WHAT THE UNIVERSITY WON’T TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK

If GW is still receiving money from ExxonMobil or the Koch Foundations p. 1

FROM GWHATCHET.COM/OPINIONS

“The sight of a character who looked like me and could showcase the struggles of being Indian in an American society would have meant the world. Yet that never was the case.”

—ANAYA BHATT on 3/23/2023

GW’s plan for the new Campus Store should keep local community in mind

STAFF EDITORIAL

While GW touts its ties to the District, the relocation of the GW Campus Store to 2100 Pennsylvania Ave. has become the latest flashpoint in a community defined both by and in opposition to the University.

The new, 16,000-square-foot retail space inside 2100 Penn will include a rotating event space, a children’s book section and an area to highlight local artisans, setting the venue above and beyond its current location in the basement of the University Student Center. But local community groups are using planned modifications to the building’s design to argue the Campus Store doesn’t belong in 2100 Penn altogether.

Before the Campus Store can open this fall, GW and real estate firm Boston Properties want the city’s approval to install a wider “The George Washington University Campus Store” sign above the building’s I Street entrance and eliminate the store’s 21st Street entrance. While the West End Citizens Association and Foggy Bottom Association have objected to these requests, the battle over the building isn’t ultimately about aesthetics. If it were, Boston Properties and GW’s decision to shrink the sign before the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission voted to approve the project 4-0 earlier this month should have placated their critics.

Instead, this debate between neighborhood residents and the University in their backyard is about the gap between the needs and wants of the local community and GW – and how both understand 2100 Penn. The modification is hardly more than a facelift to the University, while residents believe it’s a violation of zoning regulations and a sign of GW’s dominance over the neighborhood.

While the new Campus Store is clearly retail, it’s not the “new community-oriented retail,” like a grocery store, dining venue or child care facility, that Foggy Bottom and West End residents were hoping for – or that WECA contends must occupy the space. In a letter submitted to the D.C. Zoning Commission Friday, a law firm representing WECA alleges the city approved 2100 Penn’s construction to create retail space and attract new businesses to the neighborhood – not another outpost for GW. If that was the plan from the beginning, the Campus Store would alter the building’s purpose and benefit to the public and necessitate a public hearing where the Campus Store’s opponents can raise their larger concerns before the D.C. Zoning Commission.

For their part, officials and Boston Properties have argued changing 2100 Penn’s design doesn’t fundamentally alter the building project as a whole. And though the Zoning Commis-

sion’s initial approval for 2100 Penn’s construction mentions various types of uses the retail space might fulfill, it was never a mandate that precluded GW from relocating its Campus Store in the future. Nor is it unreasonable to assume that officials intended to use the location for a new Campus Store from the outset. Anchoring the space with the new Campus Store is a mutually beneficial investment that gives the University a marquee retail space and buoys the building’s financial future with a ma-

jor long-term tenant, even if – as the community’s negative reaction to the project shows – there are hoops to jump through.

Residents’ demand for changes to the project and their opposition to the Campus Store itself are hardly surprising given the history of disagreements between the University and the surrounding neighborhood. Local groups have sparred with officials over the construction of the GW Hospital in the 1990s, threatened to sue the University over its campus plan in the 2000s and spent years debating the construction of a helipad at GW Hospital in the 2010s.

The truth is that what best serves GW doesn’t always help its neighbors. So it’s understandable that they’re unwilling to take the University at its word. There’s no guarantee the aforementioned event space, children’s section and selection of products from local artisans and artists will come to fruition.

All the same, the new Campus Store is undoubtedly an improvement over its current location for students and the University. For one, more retail space that isn’t tucked away in the bowels of the student center means it’s more accessible. And if the Campus Store opens as planned with a technology store with Apple products, a GW Information Technology help desk and other features, it’ll be far more than a place to take your parents or stock up on supplies at the start of the semester.

But for the Campus Store to be truly successful – and earn the trust of residents – it needs to benefit the neighborhood just as well as it does GW. Officials already know how to operate University spaces that cater to the broader community, like the Lerner Health and Wellness Center and Gelman Library. Even if it’s adorned in GW regalia, the Campus Store should be a place where residents feel welcome. The store’s communityfocused features, like the rotating event space, children’s book section and “made-in-D.C.” selections, should be at the core of the store’s experience, not a gimmick to run a profit or soften opposition to the project.

As of right now, a vacant storefront plastered over with posters doesn’t make I Street a bustling thoroughfare, enliven the neighborhood or give the University a return on its investment. So the sooner the Campus Store opens, the sooner officials can execute their concept for more community-oriented spaces within the location.

The Campus Store is a far cry from a grocery store or day care, but perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of good or even mediocre. Officials’ plan deserves the go-ahead so long as there’s room for the local community amid a sea of Buff and Blue.

relief

The 10 options officials initially selected for GW’s new moniker – Ambassadors, Blue Fog, Catalysts, Fireworks, Independents, Monumentals, Revolutionaries, Sentinels, Squad and Truth – were a “pick your poison” list. Last week, officials narrowed the 10 to four final options – Ambassadors, Blue Fog, Revolutionaries or Sentinels. When they select one of these names, GW will have missed a golden opportunity to choose an effective moniker.

These monikers encounter the same problems of the “Colonials” they are meant to replace.

Whatever their intentions, revolutionaries can engage in violent activity. The term’s connotations mean international students from countries undergoing political upheaval may not always look upon the moniker favorably, just as students found Colonials and its association with violence “extremely offensive” toward Indigenous people and people of color.

Like Colonials, Ambassadors, Blue Fog and Sentinels are difficult to portray in a graphic and as contentious sports opponents. College students need to identify with a formidable-yet-fun figure to express their intent to overcome rival teams. A ferocious animal like a bear immediately conveys a formidable message –“Don’t fool with me!” How about the Buff and Blue Bears? As a student, I worked on many a float for parades

before major athletic events – usually football back in those days. We were all proud of GW, of being GW students and displaying GW spirit, but we struggled portraying Colonials to effectively appear as a formidable opponent to Georgetown’s Hoyas and their bulldog mascot. We were neophyte amateurs working with limited resources, volunteers and time. For us, it was easier to brand our float with “GWU” than “Colonials.” I favor short, evocative words in logos and on signage because you can fit a large four- or five-letter word in a smaller space than one for a 10- or 12-letter word. A large fourletter can be seen from a greater distance than longer words with smaller letters.

“GWU” is one of the most recognizable names and really a moniker in itself. It stands up there with UCLA, for the University of California, Los Angeles, as easily and clearly identifiable.

It would be hard to find any one or two words that could convey all of the messages the committee set out for the monikers. Blue Fog, Revolutionaries or Sentinels cannot demonstrate how GW strives for success, bursts with excitement and passion or welcomes new people as much as new experiences, ideas and ways of thinking.

GW’s core values are more than one word or one enlightened theme slogan, and perhaps the criteria were so formidable that they discouraged people from attempting to find the one word that would convey all or even a part of them.

GW’s new moniker should be short, and the shorter the moniker, the easier it is to understand and merchandise. For example,

“Hoyas” with a picture of a bulldog instantly says Georgetown University, and “Bison” signals the strength of Howard University. An instantly recognizable moniker can help sell the University on all levels whether on posters, T-shirts, sweatshirts or all sorts of other paraphernalia. Saying “the Ambassadors won a tough one” would be better than cheering on the “Truth.” But the media, including the sports press, will continue to use the more recognizable “GW” in headlines instead of the generic “Ambassadors.”

When I emailed my idea for the Buff and Blue Bears to officials, I got the impression, but no explicit statement, that they desired a more demure moniker. Officials definitely did not want “Hippos,” and they ruled that option out in January. The choice of the moniker was almost a foregone conclusion, and the decision-making process has been a performative effort to raise alumni and student interest while staving off criticism that they were not involved.

I do not mean or intend to disparage the work of the volunteers and professionals who are employed in this effort – I think they are working hard and have some good concepts. But we should not handicap the University with a moniker that is not symbolic of GW and is difficult to portray. Each student and alum should be proud to identify with the moniker. Alas, these “pick your poison choices” fail in all respects. I applaud the effort, but GW, we could have done better.

—John Prokop received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from GW in 1962 and graduated from GW Law in 1968.

While President Joe Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness plan stalls in litigation due to claims of executive overreach, college students like me can’t afford to wait for relief.

Andrea

Biden announced his plan in August to relieve up to $20,000 in debt per borrower by the end of 2022. But in November, six states asked the Supreme Court to block the plan, which they argue is an abuse of executive authority. The Supreme Court’s review of the plan has halted debt cancellation for millions of students and graduates just before they received their checks, leaving me anxiously anticipating my financial future. College is an investment, but the debt that comes with loans is a nightmare for college students, especially when it’s unavoidable for most of us who enroll.

About 43.5 million people are in student loan debt in the United States, where total unpaid loans piled up to about $1.757 trillion by the end of 2022. As a low-income student, financial aid was a major part of my decision-making process for selecting which college I would attend. While I was ecstatic about getting into the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley, attending GW actually turned out to be less expensive. The financial aid packages from UCLA and UC Berkeley would require me to take out roughly $15,000 and $20,000 of respective loans per year to attend.

When I gained admission

to GW, it wasn’t the letter of acceptance that made me cry but the financial aid package they were offering. College finally seemed like a very real possibility. It wasn’t a full ride, but I would not have to take out $20,000 in loans each school year thanks to the scholarships I received. I ended up taking out $10,000 for my freshman year, making it financially possible to attend college.

I most likely would not have attended a four-year university if not for GW’s financial aid package. After my mother’s death, there were many other financial priorities – car payments, utilities, taxes – that demanded my attention more than school. I was scared I would have to take out more loans and end up in debt if I went to college when there were other major expenses in my life.

Higher education has become a lot more expensive than it used to be. The average college tuition in the 2000s for a four-year public university was around $5,088. Today, that would be around $9,349.

GW has raised next year’s tuition by 4.2 percent from $62,110 to $64,700, its highest-ever price, as the cost of attendance exceeds $86,500. I will have to take out at least another $5,000 in federal loans next semester to keep attending GW – so much for the $15,000 a year in debt I tried running away from when I rejected UCLA and UC Berkeley. My family members have had to stretch their dollars further because of the rising prices, making it more difficult for them to contribute to my education – let alone set aside money for future student loan payments. Even though inflation has eased from 9.1 percent in June 2022 to 6 percent in February, food

and goods are still more expensive than they were before the pandemic, eating into workers’ wages. And it doesn’t help when 32 states cut pandemic-related Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits earlier this month, forcing families like mine to pay more out of pocket for groceries.

The Supreme Court will likely decide the case concerning Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan in June. If it rules in favor of Biden and forgives $10,000 to $20,000 of debt, borrowers would not have to work so much or so often as right now. While Biden won’t eliminate all debt – and debt forgiveness won’t make inflation go away – his plan will give people the chance to become more financially stable in the future.

If the Supreme Court rejects Biden’s plan, we will be sentenced to a life of constant debt and financial instability. For many lowincome students, college has been the way to close the economic inequality gap and make things a little bit fairer. With everything becoming more expensive, the middle and working classes need help to keep up financially. If their debt isn’t forgiven, students from lower-income families won’t better their lives when going to college leads them to financial ruin.

Whether the current plan for student debt forgiveness is imperfect or executive overreach, it just needs to happen one way or another. Students and graduates feel suffocated because of their loans. Student debt relief would be just that – a breath of financial relief.

—Andrea MendozaMelchor, a freshman majoring in journalism and mass communication, is an opinions writer.

Whether imperfect or executive overreach, students need debt

Students and alumni deserve more than ‘pick your poison’ monikers

MAURA KELLY-YUOH | STAFF CARTOONIST

MendozaMelchor Opinions Writer

From the spread of electricity to the debate over abortion access, the pages of The Hatchet have reflected key moments in American history for more than a century.

Since The Hatchet began circulating in 1904, advertisements for tobacco products, hang-out spots and political movements have created a time capsule of popular American trends and beliefs etched in the ink of the 119-year-old newspaper. Gelman Library’s Special Collections Research Center houses Hatchet publications dating back to the newspaper's conception, peeling back a deep layer of campus history. Looking through these advertisements has helped me gain a better understanding of the influences and mindsets of students generations before us, but it has also helped me appreciate the ways our society has progressed. I decided to compile some of the most shocking, historically indicative and hilarious advertisements I could find.

These were a few of the highlights:

Questionable aftershave tagline

A March 1963 aftershave advertisement is shocking and questionable by today’s standards, depicting a woman draped over the shoulder of a man wearing a smug expression. The ad insinuates that the scent of Mennen’s aftershave can overtake the senses of a woman, so he can easily take advantage of her. The text even goes so far as to say “some men may use Mennen Skin Bracer because of this effect.” An advertisement like this one rightfully wouldn’t slide in 2023. But I suppose it speaks to the general lack of respect for women and the sarcastic attitude toward the idea of bodily autonomy in the mid-20th century.

General Electric’s “experimental” electricity campaign

Sometimes, it’s hard to imagine how old the University and The Hatchet are, but this advertisement is a stark reminder. Energy company General Electric purchased

an ad in a November 1924 edition of The Hatchet in an effort to convince readers that electricity is worth investment, albeit “mainly experimental” and not totally mainstream at the time.

The company pitched electricity as a marvel “particularly thrilling and important to young men and women.” The number of kilowatt-hours that residential buildings used in 1924 more than doubled by 1930, according to U.S. Census Bureau Data.

“Always comfortable” at Tonic (or Quigley’s Pharmacy)

Tonic operated under the name of Quigley’s in the 1930s, named after alumnus Richard Quigley who opened the business in 1891 the year after he graduated. Advertisements for Quigley’s have always been common in Hatchet editions and appeared for decades until the 1960s, encouraging students to bring their friends to the red-bricked building on the corner of G and 21st Streets. The business first opened as a pharmacy and later blossomed into a lunch bar with

new inventions like the electric soda fountain, marketed in this ad. Tonic – the restaurant that has occupied the building since 2007 following the geography department, which was housed there up until 1974 – is still known among students as a place to dine and drink, catch up with friends and go to Monday Night Trivia. I think about this advertisement every time I walk by Tonic now and see the original “Quigley’s Pharmacy” sign.

The student’s guide to glorifying creepy behavior

Tobacco seller Pall Mall had a cigarette ad in a December 1961 edition of The Hatchet endorsing “The Girl Watcher’s Guide,” a book chronicling the – for lack of a better term – hobby of ogling women in public. It’s hard to believe that staring at women became so fixed in the mainstream, but the book’s author Donald J. Sauers even started The American Society of Girl Watchers. The group gave participating members merchandise like a lapel pin or membership card, as stated

in the above ad, but the biggest perk the society gave members was perhaps a sense of validation for their behavior.

This ad, which promotes the objectification of women and characterizes “girlwatching” as an activity that can be taught in a series of lessons, offers a glimpse into the kind of attitudes many GW community members might have held at the time.

Pall Mall wasn’t the only company that collaborated with “The Girl Watcher’s Guide” – Pepsi released a string of television commercials in the 1960s, like one that shows men leering at a woman walking around D.C.

The abortion debate, as advertised pre-Roe

Reflective of the era’s political climate, two advertisements from either side of the aisle lined the pages of a 1971 Hatchet edition, two years before the Supreme Court voted to protect a person’s right to abortion in the landmark case Roe v. Wade.

One promoted “ethical abortion referral” and pointed to New York as a state where anyone could get an

abortion up to 24 weeks after conception. In 1971, abortion was only legal if the procedure was necessary to protect the life or health of the person in D.C.

The second ad encouraged readers who were considering abortion to call their hotline called “Birthright” to consider options aside from abortion.

“It will find you the help and assistance needed to cope with your problem without resorting to an abortion,” the ad read.

A week after the Supreme Court’s historic vote, The Hatchet published an article about an event where a member of the Women’s National Abortion Action Coalition called the decision a “victory” but said policies like D.C.’s 24-hour waiting period before the procedure were “stringent.” The article didn't mention any other student reactions to the decision and didn't appear until the third page – the front page highlighted news of former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s death and former President Richard Nixon’s decision to halt American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Peak bloom of cherry blossoms in D.C. calls for celebration, but beyond the trees of the Tidal Basin, local bars and restaurants are serving floral drinks, cherry-infused desserts and Japanese-inspired dishes to commemorate the season. Restaurants in the District are finding ways to recreate the beauty of the iconic pink trees on their own menus, whether it be through pink coloring, flower garnishes or even hand-painted frosting. We made a list of the new springtime menu editions to get a taste of that cherry blossom flavor. Debuting in March and lasting until May, take advantage of these limited-edition specials while you can.

Immigrant Food

Immigrant Food is serving up a ube-infused cocktail and a sour cherry trifle for the blossoming season. The restaurant is a vibrant display of a blending of cultures from around the world, and that doesn’t stop at their year-round menu, with their cherry blossom specials pulling from the flavors of Japan.

The Okinawa Colada is a Japanese-inspired take

on a Piña colada. The drink is comprised of lime juice, nonalcoholic gin, pineapple juice, coconut milk and ube extract. All of the restaurant’s locations are serving up a special dessert option – a Cherry Blossom Trifle comprised of Genoise sponge cake, fresh raspberries, sour cherries, pomegranate ganache, cookie crumble and white chocolate topped with housemade Chantilly cream. Head over to Immigrant Food for a fruity blend of cherries, raspberries and pomegranates.

Sababa

This Cleveland Park Mediterranean restaurant is offering both drink and food specials that celebrate spring with rose, cherry and lavender flavors. Sababa specializes in Israeli cuisine, and this spring they've added a cherry blossom twist to their menu with floral sodas and a cherry dessert. Pair your springtime drinks and dessert with any arrangement of their small plates for a festive and filling meal.

All three of their handmade soda offerings scream spring by incorporating flavors such as rose, lemon, mint and rosemary, so choose between the pomegranate-rosehip, lavender-borage and cucum-

ber-mint sodas for a fruity start to your meal. Be sure to end with the cherry blossom tart, made with a traditional white sesame crust that adds a savory contrast to the sweet cherry filling.

SecreTea

No need to travel far from campus to get a cherry-infused drink – head over to SecreTea’s E Street storefront.

For a small bite to eat between classes, snag a sakura mochi, a mildly sweet, light pink-colored treat made of black sesame filling and pickled sakura leaf. The shop also has several cherry blossom-inspired drinks. The Spring Wonderland is a layered pink matcha drink while the Blossom in the Cloud Generation 2 is a light dragonfruit tea with strawberry popping boba. The Pink Lady Generation 2 is a black and pink drink made of cherry blossom flavored milk and charcoal espresso. Stop by the store for a refreshing treat after your next class in the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken

Head to Penn Quarter for a hand-painted cherry tree doughnut paired with fried chicken. Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken specializes in two American staples, and their cherry blossom special is one you certainly don’t want to miss. Start your meal off with a taste of their famous fried chicken before moving on to a cherry jam-filled treat.

For cherry blossom season, the restaurant is providing a doughnut filled with tart, red cherry jam and cream cheese glaze. The top of the doughnut is artfully decorated with a hand-painted, blossoming cherry tree. Order one – or a dozen – of these creative and delectable treats to celebrate the season.

MARAM BAIDER REPORTER

The sighting of the crescent moon Wednesday evening marked the start of the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the lunar-based Islamic calendar centered around mediation and giving back to the community.

In addition to all the spiritual aspects of Ramadan, food serves as a major symbol of union during the month as you gather with loved ones to prepare for and break fast. Every culture prepares differently for suhoor, the meal that Muslims eat at sunrise to start their fast, and iftar, the meal that breaks fast when the sun sets – and the D.C. food scene reflects this diversity in their vast menu offerings.

Lapis Lapis, an Afghan restaurant located in Adams Morgan, offers a modern twist to typical Afghan homemade dishes. Chef Shamim Popal – who came to the United States as a refugee in 1987 from Afghanistan – opened Napoleon Bistro, which is now home to Lapis, in 2007 to share her culture through family recipes.

Lapis is offering a threecourse menu for iftar with a mixture of modern and traditional dishes. For the first course, try their nask, a traditional Afghan soup made from lentils and carrots. For the second course, Lapis offers morgh qorma, a chicken stew cooked in tomatoes with yellow split peas, plums pits and cilantro. Diners can also choose the kofta – spiced beef meatballs with carrots and potatoes cooked in an aromatic tomato and onion sauce.

For dessert, the menu features semolina halwa, made with saffron and garnished with almonds, as well as sheer berenj, which is a rice pudding made with cardamom and topped with pistachio.

Ottoman Taverna

Ottoman Taverna, a Michelin-awarded Turkish restaurant located in Mount Vernon Triangle, provides a four-course menu for iftar priced at $44.95 per person. The first course options include a red lentil soup to warm up your dining experience. The second-course choices feature falafel and patates kofte – potato cakes served with crumbled feta, yogurt sauce and hummus.

The main entree comes in the third course, with chicken dishes like their tavuk kofte – grilled ground chicken kofta served with Turkish spices, pita bread and yogurt sauce. Alternatively, opt for a vegetarian option like cauliflower stew made with chickpeas, onions, tomatoes and carrots.

For the fourth course, you’ll choose from baklava, a classic thinly layered pastry filled with nuts and syrup, katmer, a phyllo dough stuffed with cream and pistachio, dondurma, which is similar to ice cream, and sutlac, an oven-baked pudding.

George’s King of Falafel and Cheesesteak

For a more laid-back and wallet-friendly option, check out George’s King of Falafel and Cheesesteak in Georgetown. George’s doesn’t have an iftar menu,

but their usual menu includes chicken shawarma ($9.95) made of seasoned chicken, garlic whip and french fries, beef shawarma ($9.95) with marinated beef, onion, parsley, sumac, pickles and tahini sauce and a falafel wrap ($9.95), with pickled turnip, tomato, lettuce and tahini sauce. Check out their mostknown dish, George’s Cheesesteak ($10.95), served with grilled shaved rib eye steak. George’s is open into the early morning hours, so it’s an ideal spot to get a bite for suhoor before sunrise.

H & Chicken

Located on H Street Corridor, H & Chicken offers many options for comfort food, including chicken and waffles ($14.99) and sandwiches like their chicken philly ($14.99). They also offer a three-piece whiting fish plate ($13.99), which comes with a side, fajita with shrimp ($15.99) or chicken ($14.99) and fulfilling rice platters with lamb ($15.99) or chicken ($14.99).

Pair any of those options with sweets like homemade cakes ($6.99), including red velvet, chocolate Oreo, strawberry cheesecake or caramel pecan. H & Chicken is also available for both early-morning and late-night dining, so diners can come for either suhoor or iftar.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AUDEN YURMAN | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

Men’s basketball faces pivotal offseason after earning best record since 2017

on offseason maneuvering once again.

Gymnastics ends season in sixth place at EAGL Championships

Gymnastics closed out the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship in sixth place out of eight teams after entering as the fourth seed where they hoped to gain their second consecutive title last Saturday.

The Colonials, ranked 40th nationally in Division I, scored a total of 49.025 on the vault, 48.000 on the bars, 48.650 on the beam, 48.850 on the floor, good for an overall tally of 194.525 points, which fell more than a point below the team’s season average. Graduate student Deja Chambliss and sophomore Sarah Zois became vault champions after recording a pair of 9.900s, marking a career-high for Zois and a second-straight title for Chambliss.

the Colonials were once again led by Chambliss, who totaled a 9.900 and was followed by a 9.800 score by freshman Deana Sheremeta. York totaled 9.750, while Silverman and junior Payton Lynch posted 9.700s. Whitman completed the rotation with a 9.350, which set the Colonials at a comfortable 48.850 overall floor score.

In their third rotation, the Colonials took on the vault, where both Chambliss and Zois led with a 9.900s that crowned them vault champions, while Whitman added a 9.775, which was followed by a 9.750 by Katz.

Senior Hannah Munnelly and York finished the lineup with a 9.700 and 9.625, respectively, which ranked the Colonials to an overall score of 49.025.

tency, with gymnasts either performing disjointedly or not having a consolidated performance.

Foster-Cunningham said Chambliss has been a “positive light” for the team as a consistent source of outstanding performances and besting top competitors every week, calling the attention of different coaches across the league during coach conference calls where they would give positive remarks on Chambliss’ performance.

Head Coach Chris Caputo’s inaugural year leading the men’s basketball program generated the most wins and best conference record since 2017, but the offseason that lies ahead will be decisive in turning the early success into a new era of GW basketball.

After leading the Colonials to a winning conference record of 10-8 and a late-season surge to a firstround playoff bye while drawing new enthusiasm from the student body, Caputo will face a crucial test in dealing with a shifting roster for the second straight offseason. Already, three Colonial players – junior center Noel Brown, senior forward Qwanzi Samuels and sophomore forward

Daniel Nixon – have entered the transfer portal, and more moves are possible from key players.

Now in the offseason, Caputo and his staff will face a challenge in keeping their squad together and improving their roster composition.

Graduate student guard

Brendan Adams has no remaining eligibility and will graduate. Senior guard

James Bishop agreed that he is “definitely keeping his options open” as he mulls a transfer, a return for a graduate season or a foray into professional basketball.

Senior forward Hunter Dean, who played a huge role in the late-season A-10 surge, is unsure he will opt for his graduate year of eligibility, and senior forward Ricky Lindo Jr, the team’s leading rebounder at 7.6 per game, is in the same position.

The program’s 16-16 record was the best in five seasons, but continued success under Caputo will rely

Season in Review

Among the incoming transfers from last summer were graduate student guard E.J. Clark who joined from Alabama State and added a veteran presence to the backcourt before his season-ending injury in late December. Redshirt freshman guard Maximus Edwards transferred from Kansas State and took the A-10 conference by storm, winning the A-10 Rookie of the Year award after recovering from a broken leg his redshirt year at Kansas State.

The Colonials’ season began with a stretch of nonconference games where they went 7-4, including a resounding 79–55 victory over South Carolina, the team’s first win against a Power 5 opponent since 2016, and a narrow loss to cross-town rival American.

Before A-10 conference play began, the team headed to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic, taking on stiffer competition from a mix of elite conferences such as the Pac-12.

GW suffered three losses at the tournament, but the biggest blow was undoubtedly E.J. Clark’s season-ending foot injury in the second matchup of the tournament against Pepperdine. Adams and Bishop led the Colonial offense all year, but Clark gave the Colonials another veteran scorer off the bench, shooting 47 percent from beyond the arc on 17 attempts.

Clark’s absence also limited the Colonials’ flexibility from a tactical perspective, forcing them to shift their offensive approach.

“Well, certainly we never had the ability to then go small the rest of the season,” Caputo said. “Really except for the times with Amir

[Harris] at the four, we never really had the ability to put four shooters out on the court.”

Despite the injury, GW started conference play with a 97-87 victory over Loyola University Chicago in a game where Bishop dropped 40 points on 12-18 shooting from the field, adding seven assists for good measure. The Colonials leaned heavily on Bishop to lead the offense and distribute the ball all year, and he delivered, leading the A-10 in scoring at 21.6 points per game, coming third in the conference in assists with 5.2 per game and making the conference’s First Team.

Adams rounded out the backcourt attack, coming in fifth in the A-10 in scoring at 17.4 points per game and earning the A-10’s Most Improved Player Award. He complimented Bishop’s drive-and-kick style of play all year, shooting 38 percent from deep, and was capable of leading the offense when Bishop was off the court.

Behind Adams and Bishop, Edwards was the third leading scorer in conference play for the Colonials with 10.7 points per game and also ranked second on the squad in rebounds with 7.1 per game. Coming off a fractured tibia his redshirt year at Kansas State, Edwards’ role grew throughout the season, as he became a reliable wing scorer, consistent rebounder and eventually a starter.

The potent offensive attack propelled the Colonials to a 5-2 start in the A-10, culminating in a thrilling overtime victory over St. Joseph’s that vaulted them into third place in the conference standings. But that would be the highest GW would climb, and the team dropped five of their next six games, plummeting to 10th place in just three weeks.

The Colonials totaled an overall score of 194.525, which fell 1.975 points behind the crowned champions, Towson, who totaled 196.500, GW fell just .400 points behind fifth-place Temple and led seventhplace LIU by .250. GW built up their success by racking up seven second-place finishes and one win during the regular season with a team National Qualifying Score of 195.970 and an average of 195.568. Chambliss also recorded a three-way tie for first place on the floor with a 9.900 score.

The Colonials kicked off the championships on the beams, where Chambliss led the team with a 9.850, followed by a 9.775 from both Whitman and junior Anneliese Silverman. Zois and sophomore Marlee York scored 9.550, while sophomore Rachel Katz ended the lineup with a 9.050, totaling GW’s beam score at 48.650.

For the second rotation,

The Colonials closed out the EAGL on the bars where senior Libby Garfoot led with a 9.825 while Munnelly posted a 9.725 that was followed by a career-best from senior Nora Houseman with 9.650. Chambliss, Silverman and Katz finished the competition with 9.525, 9.275 and 9.225, leaving the Colonials with 48.000 points in the bars.

The league announced Chambliss as the Senior Gymnasts of the Year after the conclusion of the EAGL Championship, becoming the first GW gymnast to earn the title since Cami Drouin-Allaire in 2018. The title marks Chambliss’s second-consecutive major EAGL title after winning EAGL Gymnast of the Year in 2022.

Head Coach Margie Foster-Cunningham said the team “laid the groundwork” this year for the coming seasons by having 14 returning gymnasts face tough competition in national top-10 teams like No. 5 Louisiana State University. She said the team faced inconsis-

“She has the ability to perform and be excellent all the time,” Foster-Cunningham said. “It’s something that’s respected throughout the country, and Deja is one of those athletes, one of those few athletes. So you become known because your name keeps popping up every week for different awards.”

Chambliss and junior Kendall Whitman qualified for NCAA Championship in their second consecutive season. They will compete in the individual qualifiers at the NCAA Regionals Friday, where Chambliss will compete in the all-around event while Whitman takes to the floor.

Last season at the NCAA’s, Chambliss recorded a 9.825 as an individual competitor on vault, 9.800 on bars, 9.825 on beams and a 9.825 on the floor, finishing eight in the all-around and fifth on the vault while Whitman recorded a 9.890 on the Individual Qualifier on floor.

The Colonials started to pick up momentum in the season at the Pink Meet in February, where they notched a first-place finish over North Carolina, Temple and Yale in February, as well as a first-place finish at Senior Day at home against Towson, Maryland and William & Mary in March.

Three players enter transfer portal in opening moves of men’s basketball offseason

A trio of men’s basketball players has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal since Thursday, signaling their potential plans to leave the program.

Senior forward Qwanzi Samuels entered the transfer portal Thursday, according to a tweet by college basketball recruitment website Verbal Commits. Sophomore forward Daniel Nixon and junior center Noel Brown entered Thursday and Friday, respectively, according to On3.com – a college sports website that posts transfer portal updates.

The potential transfers would mark a loss of two key reserve players and an up-and-coming sophomore wing player early in the offseason. An athletic department spokesperson confirmed the three entries into the portal to The Hatchet last week. Entry into the portal frees them up to leave GW

and continue their careers elsewhere, but it does not count as a final decision, leaving a return to the Colonials is still possible.

Any return to the team after entering the portal would allow the basketball program to lower or eliminate the player’s scholarship for the next academic term.

Samuels, who was a key role player off the bench for the Colonials this season and has been with the program for two years, entered the portal as he approaches his final year of eligibility.

Samuels averaged 1.3 points and 7.9 minutes of play per game, a decline from his junior year numbers of 2.6 and 14.4, respectively.

Though the senior played in every game down the stretch, he was not a part of Head Coach Chris Caputo’s core rotation late in the season. He registered just 13 seconds in the lone A-10 Championship matchup and logged just under five total minutes of play in the final three regular season games.

Samuels transferred into the program in the 2021 offseason after two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast.

Brown just finished his third year with the program, scoring 3.2 points per game on an average of 11.4 minutes, serving as the main frontcourt reserve.

He played a slightly larger role, consistently relieving the frontcourt duo of forwards Ricky Lindo Jr. and Hunter Dean from his bench role and serving as the lone center with consistent minutes. His playing time and production did not increase from his sophomore year, where he averaged 11.9 minutes, 3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

Nixon, in his second year with the team, played only one game – the season opener against Virginia State – before undergoing a season-ending knee injury in January. He hails from Winston-Salem Christian School in White Plains, New York and joined the Colonials immediately after high

school. The three entries mark the opening salvo in what will likely be a busy offseason for Caputo and his staff with more transfers both into and out of the program. In what

will likely be the biggest of these shifts, the future remains uncertain for senior forward and A-10 scoring champion James Bishop. He is “definitely keeping his options open” as he mulls

a transfer, he said in an interview with The Hatchet last week. A final year of graduate eligibility with the Colonials, or an entry into

NUMBER CRUNCH

Mayowa Taiwo’s offensive rebounds in A-10 play this season, leading the conference

FILE PHOTO BY JENNIFER IGBONOBA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Colonials leaned heavily on senior guard James Bishop to lead the offense and distribute the ball all year, and he delivered, leading the A-10 in scoring at 21.6 points per game.

FILE PHOTO BY HAILEY REYNA | PHOTOGRAPHER

Graduate student Deja Chambliss and junior Kendall Whitman will compete in the individual qualifiers at the NCAA Regionals Friday, where Chambliss will participate in the all-around event while Whitman takes to the floor.

MARK RAPPAPORT REPORTER

LUKE WIENECKE CONTRIBUTING SPORTS EDITOR

LUKE WIENECKE CONTRIBUTING SPORTS EDITOR