Vol-119-Iss-26

Opinions

The editorial board discusses proposed Title IX participation regulations on transgender student-athletes. Page 6

Culture Recap Maude Latour’s “chaotic” Spring Fling performance in the University Student Center. Page 7

GWPD to arm supervising officers with handguns by fall

ERIKA FILTER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

GRACE CHINOWSKY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The Board of Trustees has directed the University to arm GW Police Department officers, according to an email interim University President Mark Wrighton sent to the GW community Thursday.

Wrighton said in an interview with The Hatchet that GWPD will arm roughly 20 of about 50 total GWPD officers with 9 mm handguns in response to heightened gun violence in the United States, including recent school shootings at colleges like Michigan State University and the University of Virginia. Wrighton’s email states after more than a year of “careful consideration,” officials will arm “specially trained” GWPD officers who can immediately respond to developing emergencies, which they currently defer to armed officers in other departments.

Wrighton said the University’s “densely populated setting” creates a need to arm GWPD officers, who are familiar with GW’s campus and community. He said arming officers would allow the department to respond to emergencies more quickly if agencies receive increased calls for service.

Wrighton said police need to be prepared to respond to “huge stressors” in society and at GW today involving people struggling with mental illness.

“You see in the news, sadly, virtually every day, violence that stems from the use of guns,” Wrighton said in the interview. “We know that this is a huge problem. I’ve seen edu-

Faculty senators frustrated with lack of transparency

the Friday senate meeting. “I imagined the Board wanted to make a decision.”

cational institutions, including higher education institutions, very seriously affected.” The shootings at UVA last November and MSU in February each killed three students and wounded two and five, respectively, sparking new calls to address campus violence across the country and to reanalyze gun control laws.

GWPD Chief James Tate said the armed officers will have a rank of sergeant or higher, and many in the group are already certified to carry firearms from when they worked in other police departments and agencies before coming to GWPD.

See OFFICERS Page 5

Student groups to protest decision to arm GWPD

an attack on D.C. residents, who will almost certainly be brutalized by an armed GWPD.”

Sports Read a profile of graduate student guard Brendan Adams as his basketball career at GW closes. Page 8

ANC chair resigns from post amid scrutiny about criminal history

GRACE CHINOWSKY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

NICK PASION SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

The chair of Foggy Bottom’s local governing body is stepping down from his leadership position after The Hatchet reported last week that he is registered as a sex offender in Florida.

Joel Causey, the chair of the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, said in an email Friday to local leaders including ANC commissioners and Ward 2 D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto that he decided to resign from his role as chair to avoid being a “distraction” from the work of the ANC. Causey was convicted in 1998 for “lewd and lascivious acts – sexual battery” involving a boy under 16 years old in Jacksonville, Florida between 1995 and 1996, according to Duval County, Florida court documents.

Causey’s email does not state he plans to leave the ANC, despite his decision to step back from the chair position. He currently represents single-member district 2A06, which encompasses the northeast corner of the West End, including The Savoy, Call Your Mother Deli and the Ritz-Carlton.

“I have decided to step down as the Chair,” Causey said in the email obtained by The Hatchet. “I will continue to work to make a positive impact on the community that I care about so deeply.”

Faculty senators responded to the Board of Trustees’ decision to arm GW Police Department officers during the Faculty Senate meeting Friday, a move some senators called “tone-deaf” and a detriment to shared governance principles.

Provost Chris Bracey said the Board started considering whether to arm GWPD officers in June 2022 and made the final decision during the February board meeting in response to widespread gun violence across the United States and on college campuses, like the shooting at Michigan State University earlier that month. Senators said the Board’s decision to arm roughly 20 GWPD officers with 9 mm handguns by the fall “reflects poorly” on GW’s commitment to shared governance because trustees only notified the senate’s Executive Committee in February that they were discussing the issue before briefing the committee Tuesday about their final decision.

“It was February when the Board was meeting, a significant period of time had passed, there are incidents at other colleges and universities,” Bracey said in an interview following

Sarah Wagner, a faculty senator and professor of anthropology, said the Board’s direction to arm GWPD officers appears to be a “top-down decision” made by the administration without consulting faculty and students. Interim University President Mark Wrighton said in his email announcing the Board’s decision to the GW community Monday that the University is working with 21CP Solutions, Inc., a law enforcement consulting firm, “to help guide its planning” to arm officers.

“There is also an in-house firm that is the faculty and students,” Wagner said at the meeting. “I just question the extent to which we were consulted in this process, a decision that’s been made as we hear and that’s been emailed to us. And now we’re talking about the implementation. We are not talking about the decision itself.”

Wagner said she is “alarmed” by the Board’s decision because it increases the number of weapons on campus. D.C. has 547 police officers per 100,000 people, the highest rate of police per capita of any U.S. city with a population over 250,000, according to WUSA9.

At least half a dozen student organizations will protest the University’s decision to arm about 20 GW Police Department officers Monday afternoon.

Protesters will gather with signs, banners and drums in Kogan Plaza at 1 p.m. Monday and march down F Street to condemn the Board of Trustees’ decision to arm GWPD officers starting this fall.

“This is an attack on black and brown students,” the announcement post from all six student organizations reads.

“This is an attack on the poor and the working class. This is

Sunrise GW, Students Against Imperialism, Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, GW Black Defiance and GW Dissenters – along with the Districtbased group Shut Down DC, a grassroots social justice organization – have each promoted the protest.

Posters promoting the protest appeared on lampposts and electrical boxes throughout campus Friday night.

“TELL WRIGHTON AND TRUSTEES: NO GUNS 4 GWPD!” the posters state.

Florida court documents from Broward and Duval counties show prosecutors filed at least 27 criminal charges against Causey from 1994 through 1997, including using false checks to obtain property worth less than $150 and a possession of methamphetamines charge, to which he pleaded no contest. He said he has worked to “make amends” for his “serious mistakes” over the past 25 years.

Causey has no criminal charges in the District, according to court records. He is not listed on D.C.’s sex offender registry.

Causey did not immediately return a request for comment about his decision to step down as chair.

In response to the revelation of Causey’s criminal history earlier this month, commissioners Jim Malec and Yannik Omictin called for Causey to resign from his position.

As chair, Causey presided over the body representing roughly 18,000 D.C. constituents, which include President Joe Biden.

D.C. law states the ANC’s vice chair must fill the chair position in the case of a vacancy. Malec, who has served as the ANC’s vice chair since January, said he plans to resign as chair in the “near future” after he is able to ensure a “smooth transition” of power, according to an email he sent to ANC commissioners and other D.C. officials Friday, which The Hatchet obtained. He addressed the email to Causey as a reply to his announcement to the commission about his plans to step down as chair.

Malec said he plans to back out of the chair role because he would “directly benefit” from Causey’s resignation, which he called for earlier this month when he was next in line for the job.

“Our constituents must have confidence that we are always acting with integrity on behalf of the community, not on behalf of ourselves,” Malec said in the email.

Arielle Geismar elected SA president as student voter turnout continues descent

ERIKA FILTER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

HANNAH MARR STAFF WRITER

Residence Hall Association President Arielle Geismar was elected president of the Student Association Saturday, concluding a campaign season marked by

ballot disputes and Student Court cases.

Joint Elections Commissioner Fatima Konte said Geismar received 60.5 percent of students’ votes after 32 rounds of eliminating candidates through rankedchoice voting. Geismar pledged during her campaign to highlight sexual assault resources on campus,

push to hire more mental health counselors and facilitate roundtables between administrators and students.

“To the students, thank you so much for your support,” Geismar said in an interview. “I believe this position is a vehicle to uplift student voices, and at the end of the day, that’s what I’ll be doing. My ears are always open. My goal is to uplift the work that students are doing, and I am beyond excited and honored to be able to do that.”

Student voter turnout dropped from last year’s near-record low, falling to 2,190 voters in this year’s election – 500 fewer than last year’s total of 2,690 votes, according to the JEC’s unverified election results, which The Hatchet obtained. About 8.5 percent of eligible students voted in this year’s election.

SA Senate Chairperson Pro Tempore Demetrius Apostolis defeated SA Trea-

surer Arya Thakur in the vice presidential race, securing 52.17 percent of the vote in the first round of voting. Apostolis said he plans to expand dining options, improve the SA’s financial transparency and make the SA a more welcoming environment.

Apostolis said he is looking forward to “being a voice for students” in his new role as vice president.

“The one thing I would like to say is we’re just getting started,” Apostolis said. “It’s the time that we’re able to really put our best foot forward. I’m super excited to meet with students from across the campus to make sure that students are supported.”

SA Sen. Rami Hanash Jr., GWSB-U, received the second-highest share of votes in the presidential race and reached 39.5 percent of the vote in the final round, according to the election results. Former SA senior

policy adviser Edy Koenigs and former SA transportation secretary Nathan Orner came in fourth and fifth places in the presidential race, respectively.

Hanash said while the results of the SA presidential election were not what he wanted, he feels he gave “100 percent” throughout the campaign process. He said Geismar will be able to bring students together during her

term as president, and he “wishes her the best.”

“I’d like to thank everybody who voted for me, who reached out, supported me in any way during this campaign,” Hanash said in an interview. “It means the world, and I couldn’t have done it without each and every single one of those people who supported me.”

RAPHAEL KELLNER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Interim University President Mark Wrighton’s email states after more than a year of “careful consideration,” o cials will arm “specially trained” GW Police Department o cers.

ERIKA FILTER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

CAROLINE MOORE | PHOTOGRAPHER

Interim University President Mark Wrighton announced plans Thursday to equip roughly 20 GWPD o cers with 9 mm handguns by the fall semester. SAGE RUSSELL

CAITLIN KITSON ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR EÓIGHAN NOONAN CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

Officials release guidelines on academic use of artificial intelligence

Officials released guidelines for student and faculty use of generative artificial intelligence tools in an email to the GW community Friday.

Provost Chris Bracey shared recommendations that consider students’ use of GAI tools on work submitted for evaluation cheating per the University’s Code of Academic Integrity and encourage faculty to clearly communicate their expectations for students’ use of GAI tools in writing. The guidelines follow officials’ announced plans to codify the permitted and prohibited use of AI tools in the Code of Academic Integrity in January after a national surge in students’ use of AI tools like ChatGPT.

“Faculty are invited to make thoughtful use of GAI tools in their teaching and research,” the guidelines state. “Used properly, GAI tools can enhance the design of lessons, assignments and assessments.”

The guidelines suggest faculty members adopt one of three options for regulating students’ use of GAI in their classrooms – generally permit the tools in their courses, generally forbid the tools or permit the tools only in “certain purposes on certain assignments” at the faculty member’s discretion, according to the guidelines.

In the absence of guidance from faculty, the default rules allow students to use GAI tools to study for an assessment or “brainstorm” ideas for an assignment where internet use is not outrightly prohibited. The guidelines state professors could assign exercises related to GAI tools to their students to teach them how to use the tools “effectively and responsibly,” like identifying “superficial rhetoric” in general artificial intelligencegenerated writing.

“For all their promise, GAI tools misused could interfere with learning objectives and impair the development of students’ writing, analytical and technical skills,” the guidelines state. “There are also legitimate concerns about academic ethics, accuracy, citation of sources and cheating.”

The guidance provided in the document does not apply to GW Law and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, as they hold their own codes of academic integrity, according to the guidelines.

THIS

April 19, 2004

SNAPSHOT

Bracey said in the email that Jeffrey Brand, the associate provost for undergraduate affairs and special programs, Christy Anthony, the director of the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities and faculty members on the Faculty Senate’s Educational Policy and Technology committee worked with the Provost’s Office to develop the GAI guidelines.

Bracey said at the senate meeting Friday that the guidelines were released following “a number of requests for guidance” as final examinations and paper submission deadlines approach this spring. He said he will continue to make “periodic updates” to the guidance as the University community learns more about GAI tools.

“We wanted to make sure that we’re getting both faculty and students an opportunity to understand what sort of expectations we have at this particular moment to avoid any unnecessary integrity claim cases or allegations,” he said at the meeting.

During the senate meeting Friday, committee members said officials did not consult them on the GAI guidelines before Bracey issued the recommendations.

Sarah Wagner, a faculty senator and a professor of anthropology, said she was “taken aback” by Bracey’s announcement because officials did not consult the entirety of the Education Policy and Technology committee on the guidelines. She said Bracey’s announcement was an example of where GW “just didn’t get it right” regarding shared governance between faculty members and administrators.

“We have a faculty who are very concerned about this, who are in the weeds on this and we didn’t have a chance to look at the guidance,” Wagner said.

Bracey said at the senate meeting Friday that he consulted with “various groups” about the guidelines over the course of the semester, and that representatives from the Education Policy and Technology committee reviewed two versions of the draft. He said he hopes to improve upon shared governance principles in the next administration, as interim University President Mark Wrighton’s tenure ends July 1.

“Certainly President-Elect Granberg when she arrives in July will be anxious to operationalize principles of shared governance in ways that are more constructive,” he said.

GW’s net worth drops by

$300

million in FY 2022: Faculty Senate report

GW’s net worth decreased by about $300 million from fiscal year 2021 to 2022, according to a report on the University’s budget presented at a Faculty Senate meeting last week.

Joe Cordes, the co-chair of the senate’s Fiscal Planning and Budgeting Committee, said the University’s net worth dropped from $5.27 billion in FY 2021 to $4.97 billion in FY 2022 following a shrink in the endowment. He said declining enrollment levels have jacked up tuition rates while inflation has also increased the University’s operating costs, signaling a “choppy” return to pre-COVID fiscal performance.

Cordes said the endowment drop is a factor in the net worth decrease because about half of GW’s endowment is in the stock market, which fell in 2022. He said the projected deficit of the Medical Faculty Associates of $55 million to $65 million and GW’s $200 million loan to the MFA to cover also docked the University’s net worth.

In December, credit rating company Moody’s Investors Service reaffirmed GW’s A1 rating from 2020, indicating a stable outlook for the next fiscal year.

“GW basically is a financially sound institution,” Cordes said at the meeting.

“We have had to do some mitigation, but they give us improved operating results.”

GW’s tuition will increase from $62,110 to $64,700 in the next academic year and keep GW’s overall cost of attendance above $80,000.

He said graduate student revenue took a “sizable” dip because graduate programs began at an operating deficit in FY 2023 in July with expenses exceeding revenue, and the Office of the Provost paused hiring to mitigate the deficit for the fiscal year. He said GW retains 70 percent of its undergraduate and graduate tuition each fiscal year, but total student revenue from FY 2023 is $33 million below the

projected amount as of the first quarter.

Total graduate student enrollment decreased from 15,205 students in the 2019-20 academic year to 14,383 students in the 2022-23 academic year. He added that a decrease in graduate applications from China – which made up about 9.5 percent of total graduate enrollment in 2019 – contributed to the low graduate student revenue. International student enrollment from China dropped from 1,557 in 2020 to 1,100 in 2022, according to institutional data.

Cordes said he would not specify the graduate programs’ operating deficit during the meeting because it had been “addressed.”

“The story is that the challenges are still there,” Cordes said. “We’ve encountered similar challenges in FY 2024 that we’ve encountered for FY 2023. Inflation and expenses are still part of the story.”

Earlier in the senate meeting, senators passed a resolution to add two nonvoting College of Professional Studies seats to the senate. Prior to the resolution, the CPS faculty were not represented in the senate because no CPS faculty are eligible to be tenured, a requirement for faculty senators, according to the Faculty Organization Plan.

The amended resolution gives the delegates voting rights in all senate committees they serve on except for the Executive Committee, a policy that will be reviewed in three years along with voting rights in regular and special meetings. Eighteen senators voted in favor of the amendment, eight voted against and one abstained from voting.

Guillermo Orti, a professor of biology and a co-chair of the Professional Ethics and Academic Freedom Committee, said his committee is not comfortable with the body depriving one school of representation because of their tenure status.

Eric Grynaviski, a faculty senator and a professor of political science and international affairs, voted against the resolution because he said nontenured faculty who have a more student-oriented perspective could distract the senate and its Executive Committee from initiatives related to faculty and GW’s educational mission.

“What worries me a little bit is that what I really want to have in FSEC is somebody that really represents both the faculty interests but also the educational mission of the university,” Grynaviski said.

Harald Griesshammer, a

professor of physics and faculty senator, said the senate should be representative of all full-time faculty because of the strong influence of its voice on shared governance compared to other universities.

Emily Hammond, the vice provost for faculty affairs, delivered an annual salary equity review progress report, which identifies faculty with potential salary outliers to make the necessary salary adjustments by way of salary data and a pair of statistical models.

The report identified 31 faculty who were outliers in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences as of August based on salary data, the most out of all schools, and made six salary adjustments. Officials identified 15 outliers in the Milken Institute School of Public Health and made 32 adjustments, the most out of all schools.

Hammond said the University uses factors like appointment status, market factors, rank at the time of hire and retention adjustments to analyze salaries. She said officials also examine professors who might not execute their roles at the expected level and receive a low salary in accordance with their underperformance.

Man shot in Columbia Plaza Apartments on Virginia Avenue Sunday

Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said. MPD spokesperson Hugh Carew said a man was “conscious and breathing” after he was shot at Columbia Plaza Apartments on 2400 Virginia Avenue and later transported to a nearby hospital. Carew said MPD received reports of a gunshot victim just before 2:43

p.m. and responded to the call shortly after.

The suspect is a Black male with no shirt and black shorts and was last seen running into 2301 E Street, according to a tweet MPD posted at 3:06 p.m. Carew said the unknown shooter is still at large as of 3:56 p.m. MPD did not immediately re-

turn requests for further comment.

University officials issued a GW alert at 3:24 p.m. to advise community members to avoid the 2400 block of Virginia Avenue due to an “urgent MPD shooting investigation.” GW issued an “all clear” alert for the scene at 6:07 p.m. At least five MPD cars, in addition to one firetruck and ambu

lance, responded outside of 2400 Virginia Avenue, according to a tweet at the scene posted at about 3 p.m. At least 10 Secret Service cars were reported responding outside of 2301 E Street, according to a tweet video of the scene posted at 3:15 p.m. The U.S. Secret Service declined to comment.

Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, performs for a record-breaking 5,600 students at Spring Fling.

Set against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol building, abortion rights activists gathered Saturday to rally support after the Supreme Court blocked restrictions against mifepristone, a pill used for abortions.

Joe Cordes, the co-chair of the senate’s Fiscal Planning and Budgeting Committee, said the endowment drop is a factor in the net worth decrease because about half of GW’s endowment is in the stock market.

shooting at an apartment complex near Shenkman Hall left a male victim injured

Student groups seek community in new MSSC space after abrupt relocation

SALMONCAIN SMITH-SHOMADE REPORTER

Hanging in the Multicultural Student Services Center’s temporary lounge on the fifth floor of the University Student Center, a bright blue banner reads a hopeful message – “Home is wherever we come together.”

The signage overlooks the MSSC’s newly renovated space, decorated with plants, games and couches filled with students grinding through homework, chatting with friends or taking a break from the rush of the school day. A left turn through the glass doors of the Crossroads office suite on the student center’s fifth floor marks the entrance to the space, bordered by office cubicles of neighboring offices and furnished with bookshelves, a mounted TV and a lounging area for students to unwind on armchairs and couches.

University spokesperson Julia Metjian said pest issues in the MSSC’s G Street townhouse forced the center to temporarily relocate to the student center one week before the start of the spring semester. Members of student organizations affiliated with MSSC said the closure of the 118-year-old building has taken away essential event space, but that’s not stopping the center from maintaining its active campus presence and students from continuing to take comfort in its warm and “homey” atmosphere.

Sophomore Christian Jennings – the president of the Black Men’s Initiative, a student organization that focuses on mentoring and uplifting the Black male community – said the transition

from the MSSC townhouse to the student center space over winter break came as a “shock” for himself and other students who regularly visited the building to hang out with friends and staff members because some didn’t realize the severity of the building’s issues. Now relocated to the student center, Jennings said the persistent presence of the MSSC’s student regulars and staff has kept the temporary closure of the G Street building from disrupting the center’s role as a welcoming home on campus.

“I think that because of the people who take up that space, you really still feel the warmth of it,” Jennings said. “It just may look different, but it doesn’t have to feel different if you give it a chance to warm up.”

The MSSC announced the move from the G Street building to the broader GW community in a post on the center’s Instagram on the first day of spring classes, informing students that it had “temporary relocated” their space to the student center’s fifth floor with a dedicated gathering space for students to connect and host events.

Jennings said BMI often used MSSC’s spaces for programming before the G Street building’s closure for events like a keynote talk in late October with the Black ACE Magazine, featuring entrepreneur Barrington Bowen who gave students tips to achieve their career goals. He said the BMI hosted a “Men Talks” discussion in the new MSSC space in late March with the Nu Beta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to “break the ice” with Black male students in an “empowering” space. He said the BMI hopes to turn to the fifth floor of the student center to host more programming during the

upcoming year. He said the organization has also shifted its events to nonMSSC spaces on campus, including residential common areas like District House affinity spaces and the George Washington Williams House – a residential building that serves as a hub for African American culture on campus.

“We just ask people that we know ‘Can we use the space?’” Jennings said.

Dustin Pickett, the director of the MSSC, said the MSSC’s “multipurpose” student center location features gathering areas, quiet study spots and technological offerings like podcast record-

GW-owned pianos need more maintenance, cooler rooms: students

Students looking to practice on Universityowned pianos said they have found their sessions off-key.

More than a dozen students studying music said sweltering practice rooms, untuned piano strings and broken keys and pedals have left pianos in Phillips Hall consistently out of tune. Students said the piano issues have made it difficult to improve their piano skills, and GW employees should conduct more frequent checks to tune the pianos and fix broken parts.

Phillips Hall practice rooms contain at least six pianos along with six grand pianos in the building’s classrooms reserved for professor demonstrations and student performances. West Hall has practice rooms in its basement that house three total pianos.

University spokesperson Julia Metjian said GW employees respond to piano maintenance requests “as needed.” She declined to comment on how often GW employees maintain Phillips Hall pianos and how the University intends to prevent functionality issues.

More than a dozen students who play the piano said hot practice rooms and a lack of piano maintenance make playing the Phillips Hall pianos “frustrating,” but they’re left with few other options to play on campus.

Pianos in Phillips Hall are available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the Corcoran School of

the Arts and Design’s website. Students in Corcoran can request free GWorld card tap access to the practice rooms in Phillips Hall, while non-Corcoran students are required to pay a yearly $30 subscription to access the building’s practice rooms.

Freshman Rob Brown, a music minor who has played piano since he was four, said piano key and tuning issues in Phillips and West halls prevent him from getting the “full experience” from practice. He said the keys in Phillips’ vertically strung upright pianos are also in “bad shape” after losing the resistance that controls the pressure musicians can place on the keys.

“That’s not extremely accommodating to people taking piano more seriously in my opinion,” Brown said.

Junior Letong Quin, an international affairs major and music minor who has played piano since he was four, said his clothes get wet after playing piano in the Phillips practice rooms due to high temperatures and humidity, which he said is due to a lack of air conditioning.

“Once it gets into the summer, the problem gets more obvious,” Quin said. “I’m wearing a shirt today. After two hours of practice, I’m expecting this entire thing to get wet.”

Loren Kajikawa, the chair of the music program in Corcoran and an associate professor of musicology at GW, said Corcoran hires a technician to tune and maintain the Phillips Hall pianos at least once per semester. He said students

can email faculty if they notice issues with pianos.

The Piano Technicians Guild, an international organization of registered piano technicians, recommends pianos be tuned at least four times a year and pianos with more frequent use be tuned more often, according to its guidelines.

Kajikawa said Phillips, Smith and Rome halls have had “serious” issues with maintaining “consistent temperatures,” a problem that could damage pianos. He said the music department has devoted a “significant” portion of its budget to maintaining the pianos in Phillips where temperatures fluctuate between too hot and too cold in short spans of time due to the District’s inconsistent weather, which can make the instruments go out of tune because piano strings expand and contract rapidly.

“Even with this regular maintenance, some pianos are better than others at holding their tune,” Kajikawa said in an email.

James Colwell, a Maryland-based piano technician who tuned pianos at GW in the early 1980s, said the pianos’ frequent amount of play and the humidity in practice rooms likely weathered the condition of the instruments. He said pianos should be kept at around 45 percent humidity year-round.

Colwell said it could be more affordable for the University to replace pianos more than 40 years old instead of conducting repairs that cost “a lot of money” because aged pianos commonly have “multiple” functionality problems.

ing equipment. Pickett declined to provide a timeline for the G Street building’s renovations or when MSSC operations will return to its townhouse.

“The physical space of the MSSC will continue to evolve over the next two years, in partnership with the Division for Student Affairs and Campus Planning,” Pickett said in an email.

Senior Tino Stephens, the vice president of the Gamma Alpha Phi chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., said Phi Beta Sigma hosted five events at the MSSC’s G Street townhouse last semester, like “Take a Break” where attendees could play video games and

relax from studying in November. Stephens said he didn’t know where the MSSC’s new space was located on the student center’s fifth floor until last month when he ran across Alpha Phi Alpha hosting an event in the new space.

Stephens said he hopes to see the MSSC in its own building again – whether it be the original townhouse or a different location – to give the center privacy.

“Having the office in one building was most ideal, which is why I think with the townhouse, you can say you kind of have somewhat of a warm feeling when you go there,” Stephens said.

SA, RHA detail residence hall maintenance, accessibility issues

CADE MCALLISTER STAFF WRITER ERIKA FILTER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The Student Association and Residence Hall Association published a report outlining residence halls with security, accessibility and maintenance issues last Monday.

The Residential Building Walk Report compiles observations from walkthroughs RHA members conducted in 24 of 25 residence halls and calls on officials to repair elevators and appliances like air conditioning units, install GWorld access points and create long-term plans to fix accessibility issues at building entrances. SA and RHA members said they met in October to kickstart the process of collecting concerns about maintenance needs.

“The identified problems include the lack of accessibility, proper signage, safety, security, temperature controls and poor living conditions,” the report’s executive summary reads. “Therefore, the report helps to highlight specific concerns regarding each dorm that need improvements to help improve the quality of housing for current and future on-campus students.”

RHA Vice President Linnea Kerber said she encouraged RHA members to conduct walkthroughs together, and she reminded them to talk with residents of each hall and ask them about any problems they had noticed.

The report identifies 13 residence halls on the Foggy

Bottom and the Mount Vernon campuses with accessibility issues at doorways and building entrances and inside laundry rooms. The report identified accessibility issues, like a lack of handicap doors and broken handicap door buttons, in five of the six residence halls on the Vern.

The report also lists 10 residence halls that experience limited or highly fluctuating temperature control, including Lafayette Hall and five of six Vern residence halls. The report also states nine residence halls either lack elevators, like Building JJ, or have dark and shaky elevators, like FSK Hall. Seven residence halls have unsatisfactory –or completely lack – water filling stations, including 1959 E Street and five of the six Mount Vernon residence halls, according to the report.

The report found six residence halls experience fluctuating water temperatures and cloudy water, and it describes cases of mold in Somers Hall and Building JJ kitchens. The report finds five residence halls with window problems, like worn-down window frames.

SA Vice President Yan Xu said in the report that students identified points of improvement in residence halls to help officials make “informed decisions” about maintenance and repairs with accessible infrastructure. He said he worked with RHA Vice President Linnea Kerber, SA Senate policy adviser Togrul Savalan, Associate Vice President of Business Services

Seth Weinshel and Director of Campus Living Dan Wright earlier this month to discuss the concerns raised in the report.

He said housing officials confirmed that they will address “some” issues, like replacing windows in select residence halls, during annual summer renovations or in future renovation planning.

Xu said officials expressed interest in conducting building walkthroughs in the future. He said some of the report’s recommendations – like replacing air conditioning units – would be “too expensive” for the University to accommodate because of the need to construct additional pipes in AC units, which would also require tearing down ceilings.

He said long-term, building-wide renovation projects, like issues with air conditioning and a lack of accessible infrastructure, will take at least two years, and “supply chain issues” might delay construction projects.

Baxter Goodly, the senior associate vice president of Facilities Planning, Construction and Management, said “select items” the report identifies will require additional spending to address, but officials will fix smaller problems that require less investment “as quickly as possible.”

“We appreciate the collaborative effort that the SA and RHA took to complete this report, and we look forward to working with both organizations to advocate on behalf of residential students,” he said in an email.

CHUCKIE COPELAND | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

AUDEN YURMAN | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR

Dustin Pickett, the director of the Multicultural Student Services Center, said the MSSC's “multipurpose” student center location features gathering areas, quiet study spots and technological offerings like podcast recording equipment.

Ridership surges at Foggy Bottom Metro station in pandemic rebound

MAX PORTER STAFF WRITER

Nasir Shahid has watched four decades of change at the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station.

Shahid, who began selling D.C.-themed merchandise in front of the station 40 years ago, said he saw the COVID-19 pandemic diminished foot traffic through the Foggy Bottom Metro station as tourists and office workers stayed home. But as pandemicera restrictions have relaxed over the last two years, he said tourists and office workers have returned to the station, though still “15 to 20 percent” shy of the numbers he used to notice before 2020.

“When COVID first came out, I didn’t make a dime for two weeks,” Shahid said.

The number of daily riders who travel through the gates of the Foggy Bottom Metro station has risen to a nearly four-year high of 9,537 riders as of April 2023 after the figure cratered to a decade-low 4,129 average daily riders in 2021, according to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority data. The current year of data marks the highest ridership levels in Foggy Bottom since 2019, when average daily ridership stood at 15,293, agency data show.

The increase in ridership makes the Foggy Bottom station the third most popular Metro station in the District in 2023, trailing Union Station and Metro Center, which have averaged 11,042 and 10,324 daily entries so far this year,

CRIME LOG

UNLAWFUL ENTRY

District House

4/11/2023 – 7:15 a.m.

Closed Case

respectively. In 2019, the Foggy Bottom station was the seventh most popular, behind Union Station, Metro Center, Gallery Place, Farragut North, L’Enfant Plaza and Farragut West.

WMATA spokesperson Tia Lewis said the increase in ridership at Foggy Bottom station is in line with the “steady growth” in total ridership across the Metro following a plummet in passengers during the pandemic. She attributed the increase in riders to the return of workers to the office and their daily routines.

Metrorail ridership has recovered from 2020’s low of 144,392 average daily passengers, creeping up to an average of 255,359 this year. Total Metro ridership has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels –peak ridership stood at an average of 506,744 in 2019.

The Foggy Bottom station receives the most ride entries at 5 p.m. with 2,180 riders on average this year and the most exits at 8 a.m. with 2,255 riders on average, according to Metro data.

She said GW has a “significant” impact on Foggy Bottom station ridership. Students took nearly 700,000 Metro rides in spring 2022, the first semester of GW’s U-Pass program, which gives students unlimited Metro access for a $100 semesterly fee.

University officials implemented the U-Pass program after student leaders engaged in a yearslong advocacy campaign to adopt it.

Lewis said overall ridership has also grown after WMATA officials reintroduced its 7000-series trains, which they temporarily pulled from the tracks after a train

GW Police Department officers responded to a report of an unknown subject inside the building. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the unknown male sleeping in the laundry room. Officers issued a bar notice and escorted him off campus. Subject barred.

THEFT II/OTHER

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

4/11/2023 – 11:03 a.m.

Open Case A male student reported his skateboard stolen after leaving it unattended. Case open.

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY/VANDALISM

Gelman Library 4/12/2023 – Unknown

Open Case GWPD officers responded to a report of vandalism. Upon arrival, officers made contact with a male staff member who reported vandalism to a bookshelf. Case open.

SIMPLE ASSAULT

Eye Street Mall

4/12/2023 – 2:47 p.m.

Open Case A non-GW affiliated male reported being the victim of a simple assault by an unknown male. The unknown subject clipped the nonaffiliated male with his bike and later threw a drink at him. Case open.

THEFT II/FROM BUILDING

Mitchell Hall (7-Eleven Store)

4/13/2023 – 2:02 a.m.

Open Case GWPD officers responded to a report of theft. Upon arrival, officers made contact with a female clerk who reported that an unknown male subject had stolen multiple nicotine products. Case open.

UNLAWFUL ENTRY

Support Building

4/13/2023 – 11:14 a.m.

Closed Case GWPD officers responded to the Support Building after a female staff member reported that a previously barred and terminated male former employee was inside the building. Officers issued an updated bar notice and escorted him off campus. Subject barred.

UNLAWFUL ENTRY

University Student Center

4/13/2023 – 12:18 p.m.

Closed Case GWPD officers responded to a report of an unknown male subject asleep in a lounge. Upon arrival, officers issued a bar notice and escorted him off campus. Subject barred.

derailed last October. The removal delayed service, with trains departing every 30 minutes.

Metro officials have gradually returned the 7000-series trains to operation, allowing eight to enter circulation last June and all to return in October. The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission allowed WMATA to move forward with its return to service plan after its meeting last week, re-introducing all 7000-series trains.

“Transit ridership has been recovering from the pandemic across the country,” Lewis said in

an email. “Metro’s ridership has grown due to increased service levels as the 7000-series trains are reintroduced, the return of workers to offices and increasing travel to special events and leisure activities.”

Ridership at the Foggy Bottom station steadily decreased ahead of the pandemic, falling from 18,099 daily riders in 2012 to 15,293 in 2019 before plummeting by more than 11,000 riders in 2020 when the pandemic hit, according to WMATA data.

Lewis said Metro’s fiscal year

2024 budget forecast indicates a “continued recovery” to pre-pandemic ridership levels on Metro trains and buses. She said Metro has not predicted an exact time when pre-pandemic ridership levels will return due to “changing regional travel patterns.”

Foggy Bottom riders and residents said the loss of local businesses and the rise of remote work during the pandemic reduced traffic through the neighborhood, but they have seen Metro ridership slowly climb back up as pandemic-era safety measures wane.

CCAS tenured, tenure-track salaries reflect inadequate pay, faculty say

RILEY STAFF WRITER

Tenured and tenuretrack faculty in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences have the secondlowest average salaries out of seven of GW’s 12 schools while serving the most undergraduates out of any GW school on campus, according to a University report last month.

Provost Chris Bracey said in a report at a Faculty Senate meeting last month that the average salary for tenured and tenure-track CCAS professors was $151,439 during the 2021-22 academic year – about 25 percent lower than GW’s average tenured and tenure-track salary of $200,589 across CCAS, GW Law, the School of Business, the Milken Institute School of Public Health, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Graduate School of Education and Human Development and the Elliott School of International Affairs. CCAS faculty said the school’s average salary is lower than those of their peers in STEM and business disciplines at GW.

Paul Wahlbeck, the dean of CCAS, declined to say why the average salary for CCAS tenured and tenure-track professors is lower than the averages for GW’s other schools or how officials determine salaries for professors across schools.

“CCAS greatly values the work of our faculty and their commitment to GW’s educational and research mission,” Wahlbeck said in an email.

Wahlbeck said officials have “worked diligently” over the past “several” years to increase CCAS faculty salaries. He said officials bumped up the merit increase they implemented for tenure-track and nontenure-track faculty in 2021 and increased the average salaries of non-tenuretrack assistant and associate professors last year.

Wahlbeck said Bracey’s report at last month’s senate meeting does not reflect the salary merit increases officials issued in summer 2022 because it only contains data from the 202122 academic year. He said Bracey’s report also does not include the salaries of professors on yearlong sabbaticals.

Ivy Ken, a tenured associate professor of sociology in CCAS, said the University often rationalizes giving more raises to STEM and business professors to encourage professors

to stay at GW and deter them from seeking “lucrative” employment options elsewhere. She said the University does not apply the same rationale to social science and humanities professors receiving job offers from other universities or employers outside academia.

GWSB, Milken and GW Engineering ranked second, third and fourth out of GW’s academic schools for average salary for tenured and tenure-track faculty during the 2021-22 academic year with $230,615, $211,488 and $200,337, respectively, according to the report.

“I have worked at GW for 22 years, and I just broke $100,000 about a year ago,” Ken said in an email. “The only way to increase my salary is to get an offer from another university, and I don’t want to waste anybody’s time doing that.”

Ken said GW’s system of faculty compensation does not reward faculty members for their “loyalty, excellence or service,” but rather on whether faculty members could receive well-paying job offers outside of GW.

“Students should also know that the quality of a professor’s teaching has almost nothing to do with whether they are paid well,” she said. “Some of the worst teachers are most highly paid, and loads of terrific teachers get scraps. It’s a demoralizing game, and lots of us lose.”

Tatiyana Apanasovich, an associate professor of statistics in CCAS, said while salaries at GW may not appear drastically lower than other American universities, the high cost of living in and around

D.C. makes it difficult for professors to live off GW’s current salaries.

Living in and near D.C. costs 53 percent more than the national average cost of living, according to WTOP News.

“If I compare my salary to someone somewhere in the middle of the country in a rural area, the living expenses are much lower, so here, I cannot afford to buy a house, that’s kind of reality,” Apanasovich said. Apanasovich said her department, which currently hosts 19 full-time faculty members, struggles to recruit new professors because GW’s starting salaries are typically lower than other universities in the D.C. area.

The average salary for faculty with the title of “professor” across all GW schools for the 2021-2022 academic year was $189,700, whereas at Georgetown University, the average salary was $221,300, according to the senate report.

“I know it’s really, really hard to negotiate salaries with GW because they just really don’t want to pay more,” Apanasovich said.

A tenured professor in CCAS, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern of retribution from the University, said after holding the title of professor for seven years, their salary is still comparable to the average salary of an associate professor at GW, one level below his professor position.

The faculty member said low salaries often incentivize CCAS faculty to search for other jobs because they feel they need more compensation for their work when they

would otherwise prefer to stay employed at the University. “It is a shame because, in many cases, the faculty member really wants to stay at GW, but the fi nancial reality of low salary may force them to move,” they said.

Harald Griesshammer, a tenured professor of physics in CCAS, said salaries for professors working in the arts and humanities are on average lower than the professors’ salaries in fields like physics, chemistry and economics because they have limited job opportunities outside of academia and more competition for professor positions within their field of study. He said this compensation system decreases many humanities professors’ salaries because universities can pay them less without having to compete with industries outside of academia, but the majority of people entering the higher education industry are aware of the disparity.

“We’re never going to end up with something that’s even approaching comparable between the disciplines, and the reason is just the American system,” Griesshammer said.

Griesshammer said GW looks for outliers and makes adjustments to salaries within departments, but differences in employment demand between disciplines make it difficult to compare salaries across an entire school.

“I do know that GW and CCAS wants to make sure that within a department everybody gets the fair salary, but I think between departments, between disciplines, between schools, it’s a much harder thing,” Griesshammer said.

FIONA

—Compiled by Peyton Gallant

KARSON MEYERSON | PHOTGRAPHER

The average salary for tenured and tenure-track CCAS professors was $151,439 for the 2021-22 academic year – about 25 percent lower than GW’s average tenured and tenure-track salary of $200,589 across seven schools.

AN NGO | DESIGNER

SMHS to provide educational support for Jordan-based medical school in July

The School of Medicine and Health Sciences will start providing faculty, admissions and curriculum development support this summer for a new medical school in Amman, Jordan.

Huda Ayas, the associate dean for international medicine at SMHS, said July 1 will mark the start of a sixmonth partnership with Ibn Sina University for Medical Sciences, which opened in December, in which GW faculty will help establish the school during its first years in existence. Darwish Badran, the president of Ibn Sina University, said SMHS faculty will temporarily serve in faculty “leadership” roles and teach courses at the ISUMS campus in Jordan until the university can fill those positions with alumni with degrees in basic sciences, like biochemistry and microbiology.

SMHS personnel will help ISUMS officials train and recruit future perma-

nent faculty, including future Jordanian graduates from SMHS, according to a release the medical school issued last month. Ayas said ISUMS will pay GW for its support, including compensation for GW faculty who teach at the Jordan-based medical school, contingent on the number of hours they work.

“It provides academically interesting opportunities to teach overseas for selected GW faculty while enhancing the quality of medical education in Jordan,” Ayas said in an email.

“Everyone benefits.”

Ayas declined to comment on the total size of ISUMS’ estimated payment to GW.

She said ISUMS initiated the partnership because of SMHS’ “many successful” medical education programs in Jordan, like the school’s clinical and internship affiliation with Jordan Hospital since 2005.

Ayas said SMHS signed the agreement to provide academic assistance, like

expanding faculty and developing curriculum, to ISUMS in 2018, pending the school’s acquisition of a “necessary license.” She said ISUMS officials completed the licensing process a few months ago after meeting Jordanian government requirements.

Ayas said the partnership will allow both universities to achieve their academic missions of providing high-quality medical education. She said the SMHS’ services will vary as the makeup of ISUMS faculty and curricula continue to develop and officials identify educational needs.

“GW is well recognized internationally for our medical education programs,” Ayas said in the email. “That recognition will continue to be enhanced by our support of ISUMS.”

Darwish Badran, the president of Ibn Sina University, said SMHS personnel will hold online courses and seminars for ISUMS faculty to aid in their development when the partner-

ship takes effect. Badran said SMHS faculty will supervise teaching activities, curriculum and student assessment while they teach courses like microbiology,

immunology and pharmacology. He said Jordanian higher education authorities require medical universities to have an agreement with

an internationally “highranking” university, and ISUMS chose GW because of its reputation and “longstanding relation” with Jordan Hospital.

Armed officers will receive MPD training on de-escalation, GWPD chief says

From Page 1

Tate said Metropolitan Police Department officers will help train supervising officers on use of force, de-escalation and firearm usage.

refer mental health-related dispatches to EMeRG and wait on standby for EMeRG responders to notify them on whether officers need to enter a scene instead of intervening directly, which can be “overwhelming” for the subject.

what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable. And then we hold the line.”

FILE BY ANTHONY PELTIER

Metro approves $4.8 billion budget, adjusts fare rates

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Board of Directors approved an operating and capital budget of $4.8 billion for fiscal year 2024 Friday, which includes plans to both increase and reduce fares for certain riders starting July 1.

The budget includes a discount on trips for low-income customers and a Metrorail fare hike for long-distance travelers to prevent a budget deficit in the next fiscal year, return ridership to pre-pandemic levels and support an increase in bus and rail service frequency, according to the FY 2024 proposed plan. The release states WMATA officials will institute a region-wide low-fare program to make services more accessible to low-income customers, which offers Metro riders a 50 percent discount on trips if enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal initiative that offers low- or no-income individuals food-purchasing assistance. Officials will roll out the fare hike and lowincome fare program July 1.

Officials will cap the MetroAccess fare –a shared door-to-door transit service for individuals who can’t use the rail or bus services because of disabilities

– at $4 to increase ridership and revenue for MetroAccess after the pandemic caused both to decline. Officials will eliminate weekday peak and off-peak fares, setting the maximum cost for riders who travel long distances to $6 on weekdays, $2 on nights and weekends and adding a base fare price of 40 cents per mile after riders travel three miles. “This is a win for customers,” Principal Director for the Federal Government board member Sarah Kline said. “We know MetroAccess serves our most vulnerable populations. To make this change for customers who use this service really does highlight our focus on equity across all Metro services.”

WMATA’s capital budget of $2.4 billion –part of the six-year Capital Improvement Plan of $14.4 billion – will allocate funds for infrastructure projects and ensure the Metro is “safe, reliable and efficient” for riders, the release states. Customers can expect officials to build new bus garages for new Metrobuses and MetroAccess vehicles as part of the Capital Improvement Plan, advance the rollout of 8000-series railcars and perform technological upgrades to the Blue, Orange and Silver rail line corridors, according to the release.

Officials state trains on Green and Yellow

lines are expected to arrive every six minutes when officials fully implement the budget, with the Yellow Line operating between Huntington and Mount Vernon Square and the reopening of the Yellow Line Bridge on May 7. During peak service, Orange Line trains will run every seven and a half minutes during peak hours, which are 5 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m., and every 10 minutes in off-peak service from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 to 9:30 p.m., according to the release. The release states officials will introduce and disperse new printed system maps over the next couple months to reflect the Yellow Line changes and the new Potomac Yard station expected to open this May, while updating digital maps immediately.

Three-quarters of Metro trains will run every six minutes once officials fully implement the budget and high frequency-service for the bus network will begin on 21 lines to improve efficiency and ridership, according to the release.

“The result will be a more useful network, offering better access to jobs and other destinations,” the release states.

“These improvements address our customers’ top priorities and support the redesigning of Metro’s Better Bus Network.”

Tate said officers who will carry firearms have “distinguished and honorable” past careers as police officers and have not ever been the subject of “issues or concerns.” He said many of the officers who are set to carry firearms have previously done so for “many years with no issues.”

GWPD unveiled bodyworn cameras and officer training reforms in August 2020, which included defense tactics, bias training and de-escalation tactics among 18 topic areas, after students voiced concern about the divide between GWPD officers and students.

Tate said he’s met with student organizations including the Student Association, Black Student Union and students involved with Fraternity and Sorority Life to discuss the University’s plans to arm GWPD officers. He said students encouraged him to remember the need for de-escalation during incidents involving weapons where a subject might be experiencing a mental health emergency and remain “accessible and approachable” to students as GWPD implements the plan to arm officers.

He said GWPD officers now

“This is a path that we have to walk together and that’s what I intend to do,” Tate said in an interview.

Tate said he is aware that incidents of police misconduct that disproportionately affect people of color cause “concern, anxiety and pain” and added it is difficult to win people’s trust in “this environment” and his line of work. He said the department implemented vehicle dashcams and recorded radio conversations to help strengthen the community’s trust in officers and counter police malfeasance.

More than 95 percent of civilian deaths caused by police involve a firearm. Police were nearly three times more likely to kill Black people than white people between 2013 and 2019, according to a 2022 report by Everytown Research and Policy, a gun control advocacy nonprofit.

“It hurts, it absolutely hurts people of color to see that happen over and over, and as a man of color myself, I understand,” Tate said. “The only way I know to assuage fears and concern is to make sure that I set the tone at the very top of GWPD in terms of

Wrighton said in an interview when he started his job as University president in January 2022, trustees were already discussing issues relating to campus safety and security like arming officers, including the concern over firearm-related police brutality. He said in the email the University is working with 21CP Solutions, Inc. – a law enforcement consulting group consisting of police chiefs, lawyers and academics – “to help guide its planning” to arm officers.

Wrighton said GW will appoint a review board that will oversee armed officers. He added students will be able to provide feedback on the proposed policy on GWPD’s website, and he will post a draft of the University’s proposed useof-force policies online for community members to examine.

Wrighton said he couldn’t recall a single incident during his time at GW where it would be necessary for GWPD officers to use a firearm. Tate said GWPD officers equipped with firearms could have more effectively intervened in situations like recent Canada Goose jacket robberies near and on campus, some of which involved guns.

“An unarmed officer is really limited,” Tate said. “They really can’t respond in that state and be effective.”

Faculty push back against lack of input in Board's decision to arm officers

From Page 1

Wagner said officials could make other decisions to increase the GW community’s safety, like investing in the University’s mental health care services.

Officials said they were looking to increase the number of counselors in Counseling and Psychological Services from 12 to 18 in fall 2021 following an influx of student appointments, which officials attributed to the effects of returning to campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. CAPS currently employs 10 staff clinicians and one staff psychologist, according to the CAPS website.

“We are making a choice to arm our police officers on campus, and I understand

there’s a dearth of mental health professionals to be able to fill this,” Wagner said. “But that’s a choice about safety. How could we prioritize that better to protect our community in a different way?”

Philip Wirtz, a faculty senator and member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, said he was “sworn to secrecy” after he learned of the Board’s decision to arm GWPD officers at a senate Executive Committee meeting Tuesday, two months after trustees made the decision. He said this decision has not been the only instance in which officials did not consider faculty opinions before making a move affecting the entire University.

The senate approved shared governance principles

that aim to increase collaboration and give faculty a “key decision-making” role in the University last April. The Board approved the shared governance principles in May 2022, which sealed about a yearlong effort to repair relations between faculty, administrators and trustees after a period of tense divisions leading up to the end of former University President Thomas LeBlanc’s administration.

“I am taking away from the Board the responsibility that they are able to make these decisions without bothering to consult anyone,” Wirtz said. “Or if they do consulting, they consult them and say ‘By the way, this is off the record, we don’t want you talking about this to the colleagues.’”

Losing SA candidates congratulate Geismar following presidential victory

From Page 1

SA Executive Chief of Staff Keanu Rowe placed third in the race for SA president and was eliminated with 26.4 percent of the votes in the second-to-last round.

Rowe said he was disappointed by the election results, but he is “proud” of the work he and his team put into the campaign. He said he awaits Geismar’s administration with excitement. Rowe said he would like to continue partici-

pating in the SA moving forward.

“She brings a unique perspective, and I think she’ll do a great job,” Rowe said.

Koenigs said Geismar was an “amazing” candidate, and she is excited to see a president who shares her “feminine-presenting and queer” identities. She said she wants to see Geismar address sexual assault issues as well as dining and campus accessibility.

“I think she has some really good ideas about sexual assault

and I’m really excited to see what she does,” Koenigs said.

In ranked-choice voting, students rank candidates in order of their preference. Candidates with the fewest first-choice votes are eliminated from the first round of tallying the results. The JEC eliminates candidates with the fewest votes in each round in descending order of second- and third-choice votes and so on until one candidate reaches 50 percent of the vote, clinching the election.

The JEC postponed the SA elections twice, first in February to accommodate the late appointment of JEC members, which came about two months behind schedule. Last month, the JEC pushed back the elections by a week to Thursday and Friday after disqualifying three candidates, including incumbent SA President Christian Zidouemba.

The JEC disqualified Zidouemba after they ruled he impersonated other candidates and wrong-

fully collected signatures to appear on the ballot for his reelection campaign. Zidouemba appealed the JEC ruling to the Student Court but later withdrew his case, saying he was no longer running for reelection.

A total of 59.09 percent of voters approved the constitutional referendum, which clarifies language in the SA constitution and prevents the executive cabinet from removing the president, which the cabinet attempted to do last summer.

LILY SPEREDELOZZI | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR School of Medicine and Health Sciences personnel will help Ibn Sina University for Medical Sciences officials train and recruit permanent faculty, according to a release the medical school issued last month.

Opinions

WHAT THE UNIVERSITY WON’T TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK

“The music industry should be a place where every person can see themselves positively reflected, and country music shouldn’t be the exception.”

—JULIA KOSCELNIK on 4/13/2023

From Georgia to Georgetown, juxtaposition gives neighborhoods character

There are only so many puns to make about an intensely local, yearslong dispute over two “Transformers” sculptures outside of a Georgetown townhouse. So here goes nothing – there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to this quintessentially Georgetown quarrel.

The life-size statues are built out of an assortment of car parts and bear a striking resemblance to Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.

If you haven’t seen these artful Autobots yet, you can find them standing guard on the sleepy sidewalk of Prospect Street. But you should hurry. The Old Georgetown Board, a federal panel with the power to approve or deny architectural and aesthetic changes in the neighborhood’s historic district – which effectively encompasses all of Georgetown –ruled earlier this month that the statues must come down because they threaten the neighborhood and its “historic character.”

The Board and neighborhood groups argue the sculptures stick out like a sore thumb in a neighborhood of federalist architecture, cobblestone streets and grand 18th-century manors. Most neighbors of Newton Howard – the Georgetown University neuroscientist who owns the disputed duo – decorate their homes with planters instead of reflecting mankind’s relationship with machines.

These sculptures don’t spoil the neighborhood’s history or its character. But they are different, and that’s a sin in Georgetown. When I cast my gaze across Rock Creek from Foggy Bottom, I see a deeply suburban mindset behind Georgetown’s drive for sameness. While the neighborhood is far from a masterplanned community, its attitude toward anything different reminds me of where I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta.

Community swimming pools, cookie-cutter homes and, most of all, conformity define towns like Johns Creek and Cumming, Geor-

gia. Homeowners associations measure the height of your grass, check the color of your shutters and track when you put your trash out – at least mine do, anyway. The homes in these tightly run neighborhoods lack the centuries-old history of Georgetown’s housing stock, but the overriding focus on preserving “neighborhood character” – not to mention

Finding calm while cocooned in Kogan Plaza

Iwas born in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley and raised by the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Feeling connected to or like I was a part of nature, rather than just a spectator, was a critical part of my upbringing. I didn’t have to go out into nature – I was living in it. But I didn’t know how much nature mattered to my day-to-day life until I left Virginia for Foggy Bottom.

The only thing I knew before college was that I wanted to live in a city rather than near one. I didn’t expect to miss everything back home when I chose GW, but the soullessness of concrete buildings and the endless number of heavily windowed offices became a constant reminder of what I left behind – the cows as they grazed in my neighbor’s pasture, the clean and dewey air, the constant horizon of rolling blue mountains and the shadows left on them during cloudy days. Most of all, I missed the tree in my front yard where my hammock lives all summer and I can sit, shaded, staring right at the mountains.

Now, if you walk through Kogan Plaza and turn toward the large patch of trees on the way toward the fire station or Monroe Hall on a spring day, you’re likely to find me

nestled in my hammock, reading a book, snacking on a makeshift picnic spread, listening to music or taking a nap.

Often, I find myself surrounded by visitors – other hammockers coming and going in neighboring trees, slightly sheltered from the buzz of people on a nice day in Kogan. They hang their hammocks on the grave of Staughton Hall, along the walkways of Kogan sure to see someone they know, tied from a tree to a railing attached to Corcoran Hall, along Pennsylvania Avenue and scattered in the trees of the National Mall.

It is in the trees that I and my hammocking compatriots can find tranquility in the middle of a cold, competitive city and the fast-paced, rigid sterility of GW. Unlike my nature-filled Virginia valley, campus life in D.C. is paralyzing. I long for the quiet I found in nature back home each time I stand on the corner of 23rd and G streets, waiting impatiently to cross or cannot sleep because of the constant chatter of people outside every night. Even trying to take a walk in the fresh air to clear my mind turns into an annoying game of “dodge the tourists.”

Seeing other people enjoying nature and hammocking in the trees like me is the closest I have come to feeling back at home. In a way, my two-person black and teal hammock has also been the place

where I have felt most at ease while in college. I am able to disappear from the hustle of the outside world I share with my peers and return to my roots, a moment to breathe away from my stressful and fast-paced campus life with a good book.

I have found my escape in my hammock –pink flowers rustling in the trees over my head, the wind whistling over me, easing my anxieties away. The breeze transports me back to the mountains and refreshes my mind. I find calmness and purpose in my hammock, where nature becomes the balance between urban life and my rural fantasy.

As for the other people scattered in the trees, I can only hope they also feel connected to nature and the peace it can bring to our busy lives. I feel a camaraderie with my fellow hammockers at the most basic level because of our shared, inherent human need for nature – a place where you can let go of your worries and forget the pressures of the city and monotony of campus life.

When I am in my hammock, I can keep my longing for Shenandoah National Park at bay. It tides me over until it is summer once again, and the Virginia country roads can take me home to the quaint and familiar tree in my grandparents’ yard.

—Grace Miller, a junior majoring in English, is the design editor.

property values – is the same.

But from Georgia to Georgetown, people are quietly rebelling against the same old same old, the rules of HOAs and federal boards be damned. Come to my neighborhood in Georgia, and you’ll understand what I mean. Stroll past that faux skeletal triceratops that lounges on my neighbor’s lawn, chowing

down on the leafy contents of a potted plant. Admire the bravery of the homeowner who dared to use a chain link fence instead of a wooden one. Stop by the house on the corner – though Christmas comes but once a year, its enormous, illuminated sign reading “JOY” is the gift that keeps on giving all season long.

Whether it’s a triceratops or a Transformer, the gaudy and the garish still aren’t worldor neighborhood-ending threats. At a certain point, they’re just part of the neighborhood.

I’ve gone to bat for historic preservation on campus after the University in 2021 demolished Waggaman House, which housed the Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, and razed Staughton Hall in 2022. But the Old Georgetown Board’s decision isn’t an attempt to maintain historic or noteworthy architecture – that’s not what’s at stake here.

Instead, the Board and residents are focused on preserving a nebulous vibe of “old.”

You can maintain a building, but freezing a neighborhood in time is impossible – Georgetown has traffic lights and stop signs, and its well-to-do residents seem to have swapped the horse and carriage for BMWs and Range Rovers. If automobiles pass the test in tony Georgetown, then why can’t Autobots?

Juxtaposition gives neighborhoods their character. Just look at Foggy Bottom’s Historic District, where apartment buildings and hotels mingle with historic row houses. The past and the present complement each other and so do historic preservation and self-expression. Who wants to live in a museum piece? A little individuality here or there is a fair price to pay for the maintenance of D.C.’s historic architecture and urban fabric. The best neighborhoods can make room for new buildings, uses or people who want to be different.

Whether I stay in D.C. or move elsewhere once I graduate next year, I don’t only want a neighborhood with character – I want a neighborhood with characters. Let’s not let historic preservation quash self-expression. —Ethan Benn, a junior majoring in journalism and mass communication, is the opinions editor.

Title IX rules offer sympathy, not support for transgender student-athletes

The Department of Education proposed changes to Title IX regulations earlier this month that would prevent schools and states from blocking transgender student-athletes from participating in school sports based on their gender identity. But the potential rules contain a glaring contradiction that nullifies the very protections they’re offering for trans studentathletes.

If the rules come to pass, public K-12 schools, colleges, universities and private educational institutions that receive federal funding, like GW, would no longer be able to “categorically ban” trans athletes from playing on a team consistent with their gender identity. Yet the rules would still permit schools to bar trans student-athletes from participating in school sports based on a variety of factors to allow “fairness in competition.” And while these criteria – like the student’s age, the level of their education and the competitiveness of the sport in question – are supposed to be disconnected from gender identity, states and schools could surreptitiously use them to remove trans students from school sports. These changes wouldn’t guarantee students-athletes’ right to play basketball, run track or wrestle competitively – they’d give anti-trans activists a playbook to get away with anti-trans discrimination.

“Fairness in competition” is a vague idea that assumes trans student-athletes threaten sports simply because of who they are. And while some student-athletes will always have advantages

over their peers, whether it be longer limbs or a larger lung capacity, that is a fact regardless of gender identity. But under the proposed changes, anti-trans activists could point to “fairness” and “competitiveness” to restrict trans students’ participation in school sports.

Anti-trans legislators could baselessly argue that a fifth grade basketball team is as competitive as the NCAA to justify removing a trans student-athlete from play in direct defiance of the Department of Education’s pledge to protect them.

Some states, like Florida, have already indicated their plans to double down on anti-trans discrimination and fight the proposed rules “tooth and nail” should they go into effect. If states and schools could undermine, attack or ignore protections for trans student-athletes, how would these proposed changes help them? With or without these reforms to Title IX, trans studentathletes are losing their ability to play school sports.

Between 2020 and 2023, 21 states banned trans studentathletes from participating in K-12 and collegiate sports teams consistent with their gender identity. While court injunctions have blocked laws in three of those states – Utah, Idaho and West Virginia – from going into effect, student-athletes shouldn’t have to rely on the legal system to ensure they can keep playing their chosen sport.

These laws wrongly assume trans athletes pose an existential threat to sports, and such legislation puts a small group of people – and sometimes a single student-

athlete – under statewide scrutiny.

Opposition to trans student-athletes isn’t about fairness – it’s just one prong of a broader attack to remove trans people, especially trans youth, from public life. The same state-level politicians crying foul over trans student-athletes are stripping trans people of their access to medically necessary and gender-affirming health care.

Compared to the cruel, craven actions of state legislators, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s and President Joe Biden’s public-facing support for trans people is both unprecedented and much appreciated.

But sympathy and rhetoric are not enough to combat an onslaught of anti-trans hate and discrimination.

To meet the moment, the Department of Education should have updated Title IX with an uncompromising, unflinching commitment to student-athletes’ right to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity without exceptions for “fairness” or “competitiveness.” If these regulations give an inch, then anti-trans activists will take a mile.

Instead, the rules the Department of Education proposed seem to aid those who want to discriminate as much as those who’d be on the receiving end of that discrimination. While introducing protections for trans student-athletes may be a watershed moment in American history, trans youth deserve the right to participate in school sports now – not a footnote in a textbook in the future.

MAURA KELLY-YUOH | STAFF CARTOONIST

Maude Latour draws crowd into student center at ‘chaotic’ Spring Fling

JULIA KOSCELNIK CONTRIBUTING CULTURE EDITOR

Indie-pop artist Maude Latour lit up a stage that turned out to be much smaller than expected during what she called a “chaotic” and “absurd” Spring Fling Saturday.

Latour’s performance, which was initially set to take place in Potomac Square before inclement weather forced a scramble for a new location, abruptly moved indoors to Columbian Square on the first floor of the University Student Center, just yards away from Panera Bread. Latour said she and her band – guitarist Alex Foote and drummer Will Haywood Smith – had an hour to transform their set from a full-fledged band performance to a strippeddown, acoustic gig. As a crowd of about 200 fans packed into Columbian Square at 6 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. start time, the small

room began to burst with contagious energy. Latour arrived on a small stage with a pastel balloon arch behind her and started with a performance of a softer version of her recent upbeat single “Heaven,” generating excited cheers from the crowd.

After finishing her first track of the night, Latour joked about her band frantically practicing downstairs just moments before, saying they “just put it together.”

She shifted to the fan-favorite track “Lola,” which she dedicated to protecting transgender youth and abortion rights. To Latour’s visible delight, the crowd sang along to every word of the song’s hook – “Keep my girls protected / I’m turned on when I’m respected / For my planet, for my daughters / Make my music, drink my water.” Latour shocked the audience with a performance of an unreleased song, “I Am Not the Sun,” which she

said she will release in a few weeks.

Latour said she is “putting out a lot of music in the next two months” and asked the crowd if they’d enjoy a “listening party” of an exclusive new track. After encouraging cheers from the crowd, Latour played the recorded studio version of her upcoming unreleased track “Twin Flame.” The chorus – “Stay by my side / You’re my twin flame for life” – had fans singing along even while hearing the song for the very first time.

After taking a quick break from singing and performing while listening to “Twin Flame,” Latour returned with her single “Trees,” telling the audience in between songs that she “will never forget” her experience playing at GW.

Latour told The Hatchet she was impressed by the crowd’s turnout and ability to remember every word of her lyrics.

across US

CLARA DUHON CULTURE EDITOR

If you’ve ever wanted a tattoo but weren’t sure about the commitment, Ephemeral Tattoo will make those worries – and your ink – disappear. At this “made to fade” tattoo parlor, which opened last month on the H Street Corridor, visitors can get real tattoos applied through the regular ink-and-needle process, but with Ephemeral’s first-of-its-kind ink, the tattoo will gradually fade away in about one to three years. Ephemeral’s D.C. studio is the most recent edition to join six other locations in cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York City as a comfortable outlet to test out the world of tattoo artistry without the fear of subsequent regret hanging over your head.

Ephemeral bases each studio around its respective location, nodding to the club culture of Atlanta for its studio in The Big Peach, drawing inspiration from the desert for its Houston location and highlighting a gallery of local art for its D.C. spot.

Ahead of your appointment, you’ll fill out a form to share your design idea, placement and style. Once you arrive for your scheduled time, you’ll enter the sleek, artsy spot as soft music and the hum of tattoo machines fill the atmosphere.

At Ephemeral, your design will fall into one of two defined categories – “The Subtle” or “The Statement” – depending on the size, shading and complexity of your design. A smaller, more minimalist tattoo will fall on the subtle side, with prices ranging from $195 to $245. For a bigger, prominent choice, your design will land on the statement side, costing between $350 and $550.

For my visit, I opted for a small and dainty fleur de lis design on the back of my shoulder with strokes of varying thickness but mostly consisting of fine lines. My session was complimentary, but a small tattoo like that would cost between $195 and $245.

Walking up to the chopping block, I worried about the intensity of the pain, but my nerves subsided as the process began. In my ex-

perience, the pain level felt equivalent to receiving a shot at a doctor’s office. While laying on the bed and chatting with the artist about music, I actually had a quite comfortable experience during the roughly 10 minutes it took him to transfer the design onto my shoulder.

Knowing my tattoo would fade in a few years, I could concentrate on the excitement of how the temporary design would accessorize my body instead of fretting about a lasting permanence.

While the tattoo is expected to vanish between one to three years, Ephemeral offers a complimentary tattoo if your tattoo lasts less than a year. If your tattoo lasts longer than three years, you’ll get your money back. And if you think your tattoo could use some perfecting, Ephemeral will give you a free touch-up within 60 days after your appointment.

“I understand a lot of our clients are first-timers, and they don’t know,” Burgess said. “And they’re really unsure. To actually see them happy at the end is – it’s rewarding.”

“Everyone actually knew all the words, and it was so beautiful,” she said. “The performance went

great, I was shocked at the actual turnout and everyone being deep in the cult with me. It was awesome.”

The thunderstorms may have been a setback, but the show must go on – and Latour ensured that it did.

Corcoran senior explores body dysmorphia, stress in fine arts thesis

Fine arts senior Alyx Williams wants to redefine the tools she uses to make artistic statements.

As she prepares to present her senior thesis project for the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, Williams breaks away from using artistic utensils as a mere means to craft her work. Instead, she listens to how her body “interacts” with her materials to create art, forming a relationship between her tools and herself.

In NEXT, the Corcoran’s annual showcase for senior thesis projects, Williams will unveil two projects, including a 30-foot-long stretch of fabric capturing silhouettes of her body in various poses entitled “See” and a six-foot-tall clay sculpture, “Doodle,” which depicts scribbles she draws to relieve stress. As she worked in “physical conversation” with her materials – watching and listening to the art while crafting the pieces – Williams explores themes of body dysmor-

phia, emotion and release through her two installations which will go on display in the Flagg Building Thursday.

For her senior thesis, Williams’ physical being will take center stage.

She said she explored cyanotypes, a photographing printing process, in the Smith Hall of Art last month to create silhouette imagery of her body on a 30-foot-long piece of stiff fabric for “See,” the first portion of her thesis. Williams said she spread the fabric over cement and laid on top in various positions. She said after holding her positions for an uncomfortable 10 to 20 minutes, the UV light from the sun created silhouettes, illustrating the struggles of body dysmorphia manifesting themselves.

“A lot of it talks about body dysmorphia with the images of my body, not feeling comfortable in who you are,” she said. “And I want to exemplify and create a space where people understand that they’re not alone in those feelings.”

She will hang this cyanotype fabric a few feet above onlookers’ heads in the Flagg Building – between floor and ceiling – pushing viewers to recognize their pain and their own bodies as they strain their necks to see the installation.

“I’m forcing my audience to be physically aware of themselves,” Williams said. “The process has been an exploration of materials but also an exploration of my own bodily awareness and corporal reality.”

Williams said she wants her art to create a space where people who experience internal struggles of body dysmorphia understand they are not alone.

“I want my work to be this freeing thing for me,” Williams said. “I want it to be this world in which I can express myself and express how I’m feeling as well as what other people are feeling in the moment when I’m making it.”

The NEXT exhibition will be open in Gallery One in the Flagg Building May 1 to 19. The NEXT Festival Extravaganza will take place May 4 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Alumnus to open upscale vegan restaurant in West End later this month

JULIA KOSCELNIK

CONTRIBUTING CULTURE EDITOR

Sometimes you walk away from a Netflix documentary feeling nothing – other times you decide to sell your four restaurants and start one of the hottest new vegan chains. A week after watching the documentary “Cowspiracy” about the damage of animal agriculture and factory farming on the environment in 2016, alumnus Steven Salm made the switch to a plant-based diet and changed his four restaurants’ menus to consist of at least 25 percent plant-based offerings. Salm noticed an improvement in his health and energy levels and decid-

ed to fully commit to a plant-based life, selling his four restaurants and founding an animal-free restaurant chain in 2016, PLANTA, with a new location opening near campus later this month.

Salm said the restaurant’s newest location will open in West End April 26 featuring an Asianinspired, plant-based menu. The business will be located on New Hampshire Avenue across from the popular bagel spot Call Your Mother. Salm said he is thrilled to bring the chain to the city of his alma mater.

“It was an amazing city and a great campus experience, and it’s so exciting to come back and share this

with the D.C. community and touch into the campus life,” Salm said.

Salm, a 2007 graduate of the School of Business, has always had a love for the food industry. He said he worked in various restaurants serving and bartending during his time at GW, and he has cooked since he was a young child on Long Island, New York.

“I was always insanely passionate about food and cooking and entertaining, and it just became part of our lifestyle when we had an apartment on campus,” Salm said in an interview. PLANTA has 11 current locations – one in Bethesda, two in New York, three in Toronto, one in Chi-

cago and four in Florida. Beyond its upcoming West End opening, PLANTA also plans to expand to Atlanta, SoHo and two California locations – Marina del Rey and Brentwood – in the near future, according to the restaurant’s website.

Salm said he hopes the new restaurant gives diners one of their first chances to try a local, vegan sitdown restaurant.

“I think that PLANTA is going to be a huge hit given both the proximity and the offerings and just our overall engagement that enjoys PLANTA,” Salm said. He said the restaurant’s menu does not include artificial fake meat or imitation dairy products, in-

stead focusing on whole foods that include vegetables in their natural form, like burgers made out of vegetables and cheese made out of nuts.

“I always get so excited when we introduce new items at every opening,” Salm said. “It’s an opportunity to test and get initial feedback, so we will be introducing a few new salads, noodle dishes and sushi items to this menu.”

He said while PLANTA is entirely plant-based, vegans and carnivores alike can enjoy the restaurant’s offerings.

“We don’t build our restaurants for vegans, we build them for everybody,” Salm said.

‘Made to fade’ tattoo chain opens in D.C. as trend spreads

SOPHIA MOTEN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Latour told The Hatchet she was impressed by the crowd’s turnout and ability to remember every word of her lyrics.

SAGE RUSSELL | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Senior Alyx Williams said she wants her art to create a space where people who experience internal struggles of body dysmorphia understand they are not alone.

MAXIMUS VOGT STAFF WRITER

DARIA NASTASIA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Once you arrive for your scheduled time, you’ll enter the sleek, artsy spot as soft music and the hum of tattoo machines fill the air.

Veteran guard reflects on collegiate basketball career after breakout season

SPITALNY STAFF WRITER

In his final season playing collegiate basketball, graduate student guard Brendan Adams became a true pillar of the Colonials’ offense, finishing second on the team in scoring and assists.

Adams joined the team as a senior in the 2021-22 season following three years at the University of Connecticut, where he averaged 4.9 points in just under 18 minutes per game. In his first and senior year with the Colonials, he teamed up with the talented backcourt duo of James Bishop and Joe Bamisile, and he stepped up in his graduate season to become a consistent starter and number two scorer on the team.

Starting 14 out of 29 games for the Colonials, Adams averaged 8.2 points per game on a measly .380 shooting clip in the winter of 2021-22. The team finished with a disappointing 12-18 record and officials fired coach Jamion Christian after the season, turning to former Miami Associate Coach Chris Caputo to lead the program. Bamisile, too, left the team, joining the Oklahoma Sooners and leaving a hole in the Colonials’ backcourt.

With the departure of Bamisile, Adams stepped up to a full-time starter role as a shooting guard, exploding onto the Atlantic 10 scene with a dominant and career-high 17.4 points per game. He shot .470 from the field and earned the A-10’s Most Improved Player award.

“I don’t think it was just one summer, one offseason,” Adams said. “I think it’s an accumulation of all the work I’ve put in every

summer for my whole life. I don’t see growth as an overnight process. You never know when it’s going to come.”

Entering the season with a new coaching staff, Adams found Caputo’s free-flowing, isolationheavy system easy to adopt and player-friendly. He credits the freedom and trust from Caputo with boosting his confidence to new levels.

Adams’ success came hand in hand with his backcourt partner Bishop, who had a career year of his own, leading the A-10 with 21.6 points per game. The Baltimore natives’ existing friendship and rapport from playing against one another in youth games transferred to the collegiate court in the form of communication and cohesion.

“We’ve known each other pretty much our whole lives,” Adams said. “We’ve been playing basketball with and against each other since we were seven or eight years old.”

This past season, Adams etched himself into the GW record books, playing 37.6 minutes per game, tied for the highest in GW history. His longest game included a 48-minute double-overtime performance against Richmond in February where he scored a career-high 35 points and broke GW’s single-game 3-point with nine shots from deep in a 107-105 win.

In his fifth year, Adams took pride in his veteran presence, staying level-headed through difficult stretches like the midseason, conference-play slide and understanding that even the hottest teams can cool down. He said Caputo instilled a forward-looking mentality, no matter the score of the previous game – Adams’ career-

high, game-winning performance against Richmond followed a threegame losing streak.

Outside of his success on the court, Adams earned A-10 AllAcademic honors while majoring in business administration at the School of Business. He credits his success to his ability to stick to a routine, carving out time to study in his room or at tables outside South Hall, where he lives on campus. With his NCAA career in the rearview mirror, Adams says he

Golf head coach anticipates strong season finish as A-10 tournament approaches

Golf Head Coach Chuck Scheinost spent his college life in dark rooms editing movies.

But when Scheinost reached his senior year of college, he realized he could not spend hours on end editing in a dark, locked room. Preferring blue skies and green roughs, Scheinost said he decided to pursue his life’s second love, golf. “I started searching around, knew I loved golf, and so I applied for pretty much anything and everything that summer,” he said.

Before becoming GW’s head coach in 2013, Scheinost spent six seasons coaching at the University of Northern Colorado, where he transformed the program from a brand-new Division I program to a contender in the America Sky Golf Conference.

During his tenure at GW, the team recorded three topfour finishes at the Atlantic 10 Championships. The Colonials have hit their stride in the past two years, shattering multiple program records like breaking the low round record in 2022, which was just set a couple of years before under his leadership.

Scheinost grew up playing recreational golf with his parents. He said he got to play on a more challenging course

during a trip to Myrtle Beach in ninth grade where he became interested in competing, which led him to try out for his high school golf team.

Scheinost began his coaching career after graduating from Hastings College in 2004 when he joined Lenoir-Rhyne College in North Carolina as an assistant coach during the 2004-05 season.

Scheinost said he came to GW due to his “connection” with D.C. as he would visit the city every Thanksgiving vacation with his college roommates since one of them lived in the District. He said his time coaching the Northern Colorado golf program opened up opportunities around the country, leading to GW approaching him for the top position.

He said the GW team was in a “little bit of disarray” and had no golf gear or practice facilities when he joined in 2013. But he said he leveraged his meeting with former President Donald Trump, whom he met at the PGA Junior World Championship in July of 2013, to get a personal introduction to the Country Club At Woodmore general manager, where the GW team began to practice.

Scheinost said when he came to GW, he wanted to set a different tone and make the program more competitive after it spent a season with six

last-place tournament finishes in 2012. He said the team’s mindset began to change when alumnus Logan Lowe joined the program in 2016.

Lowe was the only freshman to make the team that season when he broke multiple program records, like tying for the second best 54-shot low score in the Elon Phoenix Invitational and would go on to record the lowest round in school history with a 65 in the Marshall Invitational in his sophomore year.

Scheinost said COVID-19 split a close-knit 2020 team, making it difficult for the team to build chemistry since they were unable to practice together. He said the downtime during quarantine and the subsequent rise of online communication allowed him to recruit more players from other countries like Mexico, China and the Philippines.

“I think they’ve realized that a big piece of trying to bring a team together on an individual sport is getting guys that are going to fight through tough rounds,” Scheinost said about the current players.

“Because they care too much about the guys next to him to break down and give in.”

Scheinost said this year, the team has put in extra practice on the green and in the golf simulator, which has set them up for an A-10 Championship run.

wants to play basketball for as long as he can.

“Right now I’m kind of going through all the processes and seeing what’s available,” Adams said. “I just signed with an agent, so I’m just looking forward to seeing what’s next for me as far as a professional career.”

Adams played in the 3X3U National Championship in Houston earlier this month, a showcase of elite college seniors representing their respective programs with

their college threads in a pickup basketball setting. Adams stood out from the competition with highlight-reel scoring and scorching hot 3-point shooting that helped his squad, Team Hoopers, win the tournament title.

He said the tournament gave him the chance to don the Buff and Blue one last time after his collegiate career, which ended in a disappointing playoff loss to Saint Joseph’s in the second round of the A-10 tournament.

Gymnastics closes out season with regional run

KRISTI WIDJAJA REPORTER

Junior Kendall Whitman and graduate student Deja Chambliss ended their 2023 gymnastics season at the regional stage at the University of Denver March 31. Whitman scored a 9.925 on floor and tied for third in the overall floor exercise category while Chambliss earned a 39.250 in the all-around competition. Their placements in the top 16 for their respective events secured them a spot on the regional stage after the NCAA committee selected the top 12 allaround competitors and top 16 individual event specialists based on national qualifying scores, where Chambliss totaled a 39.345 NQS in the allaround, a category of gymnastics that includes all events, and Whitman totaled a 9.915 NQS on the floor.

“We are proud to represent GW in the postseason,” Chambliss said in an email Wednesday. “GW is a respected team in the gymnastics world, and we were honored to wear that and represent this school to the best of my ability.”

Whitman’s floor routine on the regional stage was her 10th floor

routine to reach above a 9.900 mark this semester, tying for third overall in the competition with her score of 9.925 and finishing seventh overall in the Denver Regional. Chambliss earned a 39.250 in the all-around with 9.850 on the vault, 9.675 on bars, 9.850 on the beam and 9.875 on the floor, recording a sixth place finish in the all-around and a fifth place in the vault.

The two gymnasts had significant roles on the team during the past two seasons, leading the team to new heights with nationally ranked routines and returning to the NCAA regionals together for their second straight year. Whitman’s first trip to regionals came last year in Raleigh, North Carolina and the then-sophomore scored a 9.890 on the floor, placing second overall in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League conference on the floor.

At Chambliss’ last competition of her collegiate career, she ended with a score of 39.315 in the all-around competition during last year’s NCAA Raleigh Regionals and was named EAGL Gymnast of the Year. She also qualified for the NCAA Salt Lake City Regionals in her junior year where she earned a 9.825 as an

individual competitor on vault tying for second overall on vault with a 9.850 at EAGL Championships.

“Reflecting on my performance in Denver, I am proud to have ended my career on a high note,” Chambliss said in an email. “I went out and hit four on four routines. We talked about how we wanted to go in and just do our jobs and that’s exactly what we did.”

Head Coach Margie Foster-Cunningham said she was proud of Whitman and Chambliss’ respective performances through the season. She said Whitman’s level tumbling passes, which she called the “the most difficult of skills,” were “outstanding” and excited the crowd.

FosterCunningham said as Chambliss’ collegiate career comes to a close, her impact on the program has been immense and she was proud of her performance on the regional stage.

“Deja is a beautiful athlete that has represented GW with class for the past four years,” FosterCunningham said in an email Wednesday. “She had an excellent day. We are so fortunate to have had her representing us at the national level.”

The minutes per game average for both graduate student guard Brendan Adams and senior guard James Bishop – a program single-season record

BEN

SAGE RUSSELL | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

This past season, graduate student guard Brendan Adams etched himself into the GW record books, playing 37.6 minutes per game, tied for the highest in GW history.

NURIA DIAZ SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY OF GW ATHLETICS

Head Coach Chuck Scheinost relies on personality tests to understand how to blend players’ personalities and ensure they think of collegiate golf as a group sport, not an individual one.

FILE PHOTO BY SABRINA GODIN

At graduate student Deja Chambliss’ last competition of her collegiate career, she ended with a score of 39.315 in the all-around competition and was named EAGL Gymnast of the Year.