Vol-120-Iss-12

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Monday, November 13, 2023 I Vol. 120 Iss. 12 INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

What’s inside Sports

Men’s and women’s basketball both brought home victories this week.

Pages 6

Opinions

The editorial board argues public characters in charge of GW set the tone for campus.

Page 7

Class of 2026 retention rate among the highest in GW history: data IANNE SALVOSA NEWS EDITOR

RACHEL MOON

CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

Culture

A peek into GW traditions to revive and some to leave in generations past.

Page 8

FSK Hall residents relocated to hotels, report damage after flooding ELLA MITCHELL

Vice Provost for Enrollment and Student Success Jay Goff said at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday that the Class of 2026’s retention rate is one of the top four highest retention rates in University history.

Goff said GW retained 91.9 percent of the Class of 2026’s 2,985 first-year students during the annual enrollment update at the meeting. The first-year international student enrollment of 219 students this fall has surpassed the amount of first-year international students in fall 2020, 2021 and 2022 and is approaching pre-pandemic levels, according to his report.

“We believe this signifies that many of our new, postpandemic global outreach efforts have been very positive and have made a very positive impact,” Goff said at the meeting.

Provost Chris Bracey said in April that officials prioritized recruiting students from a wide range of countries to achieve the three-year upswing in international student enrollment after dropping by 52.3 percent in 2020 when the pandemic paused overseas travel.

Goff said 706 Indian international students are enrolled at GW this fall, a 59 percent increase from last year’s total enrollment from India. He added that officials expected fewer international students from China to enroll, on par with national trends, and officials will work to provide more outreach to “student populations” from

REPORTER

FIONA MURPHY REPORTER

CHUCKIE COPELAND | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Vice Provost for Enrollment and Student Success Jay Goff seated at a Faculty Senate meeting.

the country.

He said the fall 2023 firstyear students are one of the most “academically talented and diverse” classes in University history — the result of new strategies to reach out to groups of students who have not considered GW in the past.

The class of 2027 has an average high school GPA of 3.72, a mean SAT composite score of 1412 and a mean ACT composite score of 32, all of which are higher than or equal to the firstyear classes from 2019 through 2022, according to Goff’s report.

“Nontraditional” student enrollment has remained below pre-pandemic levels, especially for nursing, health care and civil service programs, Goff said.

“The various deans and their leadership teams are working to find innovative ways to improve the connections with the students and to adjust our offerings to better meet their needs,” Goff said at the meeting.

He said the six-year graduation rate for students who entered the University in 2016 reached an “institutional record” of 84.8 percent. Students in the 2016 first-year cohort all graduated at the same rate, regardless of their eligibility for Pell grants — a federal undergraduate award for students experiencing financial need — which officials said is the result of the summer recovery academy and “success” coaches

for academically struggling students.

He added that officials piloted an app for students in the schools of Business and Engineering & Applied Sciences where students can map out a four-year course plan and answer questions about their goals to study abroad or complete an internship during their time at GW. He said department chairs and academic advisers will then assist the students to work with their course plan to ensure they can accomplish all of their desired tasks.

He said officials will implement the app for Elliott School of International Affairs and Milken Institute School of Public Health students in March.

Ceiling repairs on FSK Hall’s eighth floor accidentally triggered the building’s sprinklers on Oct. 31, damaging walls and ceilings, according to University spokesperson Julia Metjian.

More than two dozen students said they waited nearly five hours to reenter FSK after officials evacuated students from the building to the University Student Center after the sprinklers’ activation. The sprinklers led to flooding that caused students to report out-of-order elevators and damaged walls, hallways and staircases still undergoing repairs, along with damaged personal belongings.

Metjian said “trusted remediation vendors” are managing repairs, including patching and painting damaged walls and ceilings and that all work aside from elevator repairs is now complete.

Four students said GW sent them to stay in nearby hotels the week of the flooding while facilities workers repaired water damage in their rooms.

Sophomore Isabella Insignares said officials moved her and her roommate, Emme Seeley, to the Courtyard Marriott on 20th Street for five nights and relocated them to Yours Truly on New Hampshire Avenue for an additional night when the Courtyard Marriott was fully booked.

Insignares said the flooding damaged her rug, clothes, dishware, books, luggage and shelves. Seeley said the flooding fused together pages of her high school yearbook and bled the ink of sentimental notes left by friends, including tributes to a classmate who passed away in her senior year.

“It very much feels like they saw us as an annoyance or a burden,” Insignares said.

DSS staff turnover strains resources, creates competition for services, students say

Officials suspend student accused of removing posters of Israeli hostages

RACHEL SILVERMAN

ERIKA FILTER

SOPHIE LHERT

RORY QUEALY

A pair of Disability Support Services leaders have stepped down in the past two months, staff turnover that students said has created delays and a lack of resources for more than 25,000 graduate and undergraduate students.

DSS Assistant Director Diedre Lamb departed from the University just over a year after she joined the team and fewer than two months after Director Maggie Butler left her position in September to work as an “accessibility consultant” at GW. In the wake of understaffing, students said they’ve faced long processing times for test accommodation requests and difficulties contacting staff members.

DSS’ workforce decreased from 11 staffers in the 2018-19 academic year to six staff members in 2022-23. Former employees attributed their departure to an unsupportive environment and leadership changes in the unit.

University spokesperson Julia Metjian said Myra Waddell

Officials said they have temporarily suspended and removed a student from campus after they allegedly tore down more than a dozen posters depicting Israeli hostages inside the GW Hillel building Friday.

Officials placed the unnamed student on interim suspension, pending the completion of GW’s “student conduct process,” according to a Thursday statement shared with The Hatchet. Officials said they also barred a different person from campus for one year after they “engaged in harmful, verbal misconduct” toward a Muslim student Oct. 7, the day Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.

Officials said the individual barred from campus is not an employee of GW. Officials said Students for Justice in Palestine at GW’s Oct. 24 projection of messages criticizing Israel, GW and University President Ellen Granberg onto Gelman Library is “under review” in the student conduct process.

“The university takes seriously its commitment to addressing all forms of harassment, discrimination, bias,

REPORTER

NEWS EDITOR

REPORTER

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

HATCHET FILE PHOTO The Disability Support Services office in Rome Hall in 2020.

now serves as the interim DSS director. She said interim leaders, a new DSS staff member, part-time staff and other staff are currently filling DSS responsibilities for students from all schools and programs.

She added that officials are seeking two new positions in the DSS office, in addition to a new director and assistant director. Metjian declined to comment on when and why Lamb left her position as assistant director and how officials plan to support remaining DSS staff.

Students have faced increased wait times for responses and a shuffling of representatives due to staff members being “overworked” from understaffing and a lack of administrators starting after Lamb and Butler’s departure, said sophomore Sophia Lindsay, the Disabled Students Collective’s underclassmen representative, support group leader and DSS liaison.

“Students will definitely notice that things are going a little bit more slowly,” Lindsay said.

and violations of university policy,” the statement reads.

A pair of GW Hillel leaders told Hillel community members Monday that the organization rehung the posters of Israeli hostages and said the GW Police Department would increase patrols and “visible security presence” following the incident. Adena Kirstein, the executive director of GW Hillel, and Robert Snyder, the chair of its Board of Directors, said Hillel is continuing to review its security protocols with GWPD, the Board of Directors, Hillel International and Secure Community Network.

The leaders said GW Hillel has “at times” chosen to limit access to the building to individuals “who have a GWorld card but who nonetheless we believe should not be allowed to enter.” They did not specify why they believed these individuals should not enter the building or when these access restrictions took place.

“There is nothing more important at this moment than the safety and security of our students; we know that President Granberg and her leadership team have also made this their top priority and we look forward to their continued partnership on this issue,” GW Hillel’s Monday statement reads.

Further details about the incident of misconduct toward a Muslim student were not provided.

SA Senate to vote on resolution requesting student voters join Board of Trustees HANNAH MARR

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The Student Association is set to vote on a resolution that would call for adding voting students to the Board of Trustees on Monday.

If approved by the SA Senate, the Student Empowerment Act will request the Board add the SA president and vice president as full voting members and grant them access to meetings and all committee sessions. The Board consists of 22 trustees — 18 of whom are GW alumni — who oversee University decisions and hold full body meetings three times a year.

As the highest form of government at GW, the Board has made pivotal

decisions like arming the GW Police Department and loaning money to the Medical Faculty Associates.

Students have long demanded the Board add student trustees. Students in 2005 called for the establishment of a voting student trustee position and requested that Board meetings be open to the student body, but former University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg and former Board Chair Charles Manatt spoke out against the addition of a student trustee because it would present a conflict of interest.

In 2016, trustees created a task force to consider adding a student member to the Board and former SA President Erika Feinman campaigned on adding

student representation simultaneously. A year later, the task force decided they would not change internal rules to add a voting student but decided to expand student leaders’ roles at meetings and in committees and task forces.

SA Sen. Ethan Fitzgerald (CCAS-U), who sponsored the Student Empowerment Act, said he created the initiative because he heard through conversations with students that they have felt Board decisions don’t incorporate enough of their perspective.

“As young people and as people that are attending this University actively, I think that would provide a valuable perspective to those on the Board of Trustees and act as a compliment,” Fitzgerald said.

AN NGO | GRAPHICS EDITOR

NEWS

November 13, 2023 • Page 2

News

THE GW HATCHET

THIS WEEK’S

EVENTS

HEAD-TO-HEAD DEBATE: SHOULD THE U.S. DEFEND TAIWAN?

Monday, Nov. 13 | 6:30 p.m. | University Student Center Attend a debate between Heritage Foundation adviser Alex Velez-Green and CATO Institute Senior Fellow Eric Gomez.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY Nov. 14, 1977

PRESS AND MEDIA RELATIONS IN A COMBATIVE POLITICAL AGE

Tuesday, Nov. 14 | 6 p.m. | School of Media & Public Affairs Join a panel featuring political communications professionals as they discuss key issues that political campaigns are facing ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Quigley’s Pharmacy, now home to Tonic, reopened for business after the D.C. government cleared the restaurant’s owner of charges that he had evaded more than $18,000 in taxes.

Students celebrate Indigenous culture during Native American Heritage Month LANA KHALAF REPORTER

LYDIE LAKE STAFF WRITER

November marks a monthlong celebration of Indigenous culture and community across the country, landing on GW’s campus where students are hosting a series of events to celebrate Native American heritage.

Students said they’re celebrating Indigenous culture through campus events like dance performances, film screenings and discussions with community members for Native American Heritage Month, a nationally recognized annual celebration during the traditional American harvest season each year. Executive board members of student group Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights said they hope to foster community and raise awareness of GW’s representation of Indigenous students through these events.

Riya Sharma, a senior and co-founder of Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights, said Native American Heritage Month provides a space for Indigenous students to celebrate themselves but that nonNative students should also take the time to educate themselves through programming because they reside on Indigenous land.

“It’s more than just celebrating the culture and moving on and forgetting about it,” Sharma said.

KATELYN POWER | PHOTOGRAPHER Rappahannock Tribe dancers from Virginia stage an hourlong drum and dance performance in the University Student Center on Friday.

“It’s making a lasting impact and making sure that native voices are present beyond November.”

She said about 10 students — both Native and non-Native — attended the month’s first event, a beading workshop Nov. 4 with Melanie Bender, a Choctaw and Apache artisan from Tennessee.

Sharma said giving students the opportunity to learn beading

from a Native American artist was significant in honoring the artwork’s prevalence in Native communities.

“That’s something that the students were able to learn and now can take with them,” Sharma said. “They could keep the beading loom afterward. They can keep the knowledge afterward.”

Sharma said David Silverman,

a professor of early and Native American history at GW, will be a guest speaker for the group’s Monday night event centered around the Indigenous history of Thanksgiving in Phillips Hall for part of the month’s programming.

Noah Edelman, a sophomore and co-vice president of SINAR, said GW doesn’t attempt to in-

crease Native Americans’ low student enrollment, with Native students making up 0.05 percent of GW’s undergraduate body and about 0.2 percent of their graduate population, per 2023 GW data.

Edelman, a Hatchet opinions writer, said since coming to GW, he’s learned he is the first Native person that a lot of people have met.

“If we can give people here maybe even their first exposure to Native culture, if they’re confused or upset, whatever, if they can see that it exists, they can look at it tangibly, I think that’s a success for us because that gets in their minds,” he said.

Jacob Brittingham, a first-year and member of SINAR, said moving away from the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma to GW was “weird” because GW students are unfamiliar with the Choctaw people but that he has introduced his culture to peers by explaining tribal sovereignty and traditional regalia.

He said SINAR and the Multicultural Student Services Center’s month of programming help spread awareness about Indigenous culture across campus, but Native American heritage should be celebrated every month.

“It’s just recognizing and celebrating the cultures and understanding the struggles but also the triumphs of each tribe, Native Americans as a whole,” Brittingham said. “It’s a time to bring awareness. It’s a time to celebrate.

It’s a time to become more knowledgeable.”

Meet the graduate student bolstering GW’s sexual wellness resources RORY QUEALY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

RYAN J. KARLIN REPORTER

A graduate student is strengthening the Office of Health Promotion and Education’s sexual education resources as GW’s first-ever sexual health specialist after noticing a sex-related stigma on campus after her first few months at the University.

Emily Htway, a graduate student in the Milken Institute School of Public Health, established the “GW Love Hub” in the University Student Center’s Student Support Center, which offers free safe-sex products like condoms, dental dams, lubricant and pregnancy tests to GW community members. She said she hopes to use her new position to create a campus community where students feel comfortable learning about and

discussing sexual wellness at GW, where she’s noticed a lack of awareness and acceptance toward sexual health compared to her undergraduate school, the University of California, Davis.

Htway said some GW students come from communities or households that “demonize” sex, ingraining taboos. She said she’s met GW students who had never seen a condom before and seen students taunt their friends for seeking sexual health resources.

“Students at UCD were usually pretty willing to ask questions and explore resources, but GW students on the whole have a lot more hesitancy,” Htway said. “I hope to understand this difference more and more as I spend more time here.”

Htway said OHPE staff have distributed more than 3,000 products since the “GW Love Hub” opened in mid-September.

SNAPSHOT

She said she has also created a website with educational guides and resources for HIV and STI testing, consent, birth control and emergency contraception, communication and pleasure, and masturbation. She said by the end of the semester, she will add guides for menstrual health, navigating abortion and pelvic health — or the functioning of the bladder, bowel and reproductive organs.

“You can’t deny talking about sex all day is way more fun than your average 9 to 5,” Htway said.

Htway said she noticed a lack of sexual well-being support from the University when she first came to GW, particularly in the availability of sexual well-being knowledge and products.

She said the sexual health environment at GW contrasted from her undergraduate university, UC Davis, where she worked as a sex-

ual well-being coordinator with their Health Education and Promotion.

Htway said she had a strong understanding of how to institute a “robust, sustainable” sexual well-being program at a university level because of her role at UC Davis, where she wrote and developed sex education programming and sexual well-being guides. She said GW students are more “averse” to conversations about sexual well-being, unlike students at UC Davis, likely because California is one of few states with comprehensive sex education and an “open culture around sex/sexuality.”

“When I got to GW, I was pretty quickly able to identify two big areas for intervention: access to knowledge and access to harm reduction resources,” Htway said. “Taking inspiration from what worked at UC Davis, I started working on

filling those gaps.”

She said sex education for college students is consequential for their sexual health, referencing a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that half of sexually active people will get a sexually transmitted infection by age 25 and won’t know because they will be asymptomatic.

Htway added that many college students, including many GW students, did not learn sexual education or lived in states that taught abstinence-only sex education.

“I am grateful for the opportunities I have, and my hope is that I can make lasting impacts to improve the sexual well-being of our campus community and beyond,” Htway said.

Mallory McPherson-Wehan, the assistant director of Health Promotion and Education, said the office annually employs two graduate students, this year Htway

JORDAN TOVIN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

A leaky valve on H Street led to minor flooding and water outages on campus Thursday, which some students decided was worthy of a selfie.

and Raegan Persful, a substance use specialist. Last year, both graduate students were focused on substance use on campus, she said.

McPherson-Wehan, in consultation with Program Associate Dylan Precourt, said she was open to one graduate student focusing on a topic other than substance use this year. When Htway reached out to them for the position, they let her create the position of sexual health specialist because of her extensive experience on the subject, she said.

“Emily emailed us during the summer, and we interviewed her, and we’re like, ‘She’s incredible,’” McPherson-Wehan said. “So we were pretty fine with her kind of making that grad position her own, which has been very sexual well-being focused.”

McPherson-Wehan said the OHPE did provide sexual health resources when she was an undergraduate and graduate student at GW. She said due to staff turnover, the OHPE eliminated these offerings around the 2018-19 academic year.

“I feel like one of my goals in Emily’s time at GW, whether that’s two years or longer, is to make sure that the things that she’s creating are sustainable for our office to continue doing,” McPherson-Wehan said.

Precourt said OHPE staff have seen excitement among students around the new offerings. He said Htway has worked with the Student Health Center to better understand what services the center offers and advise students on what is available.

“She’s done a lot of work with the nurse practitioners and the other medical staff from the health center in terms of making those resources more well known and understanding the process of obtaining them,” Precourt said.

Precourt said Htway’s website is a great resource for students and added that the feedback form found on the front page of the website will help improve their offerings going forward.

Along with the two graduate students, the OHPE also employs five undergraduate students who work as well-being student coordinators, Precourt said.

He said the coordinators work in the office with a variety of responsibilities, including assisting Htway on the development of sexual health resources.

NEWS

November 13, 2023 • Page 3

THE GW HATCHET

Student organizations struggle to rent on-campus event venues, meeting spaces FIONA BORK

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

NICOLA DEGREGORIO REPORTER

Student organizations said rising venue prices at Lisner Auditorium and limited meeting spaces on campus have made it difficult to book spaces necessary for programming.

Student organization leaders said the price of larger venues on campus like Lisner Auditorium and the City View and State rooms in the Elliott School of International Affairs impedes their groups from putting on campus events, while the elimination of meeting spaces in the District House basement during the building’s summer revamp keeps them from securing consistent meeting spaces. Student organizations said the lack of availability of campus meeting and rehearsal venues has hindered their ability to host meetings and events that attract a large audience.

Krissy Cralle, a thirdyear law student and the director of GW Law Revue — a student group that showcases law students’ artistic talents — said they estimate renting Lisner for

their annual spring show this year will cost them more than $29,000, including costs for their show date and rehearsal dates. The price for Lisner rentals rose by 5 percent compared to last academic year due to changes in labor fees, according to documents obtained by The Hatchet.

Cralle said after requesting money from the Student Bar Association and the University-Wide Programming Fund — an effort by the Student Association and the Division for Student Affairs to fund campus-wide events for student organizations — Law Revue is still $7,000 short of being able to afford to rent Lisner for its show this spring. She said Lisner — which costs more than $12,000 to rent for one eight-hour day — is the only campus venue large enough to hold the 400 people they expect to attend.

“Our ideal is to be in Lisner and to be able to put on the show that we have typically put on and without the funding, that’s not possible,” Cralle said.

Cralle said the University has a responsibility to support student organizations by making rooms accessible in price and available.

CRIME LOG THEFT II/FROM BUILDING

GW Hillel Center 11/3/2023 – 5:21 p.m.

Open Case GW Police Department officers responded to a report of stolen posters that were located inside the building.

Case open.

THEFT II/OTHER

Public Property on Campus (2000 Block of H Street) 11/4/2023 – 7 p.m.

Open Case A non-GW affiliated female complaint reported their purse stolen after leaving it unattended on a street pole.

Case open.

THREATS TO DO BODILY HARM, HARASSMENT: E-MAIL AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Off Campus Reported 11/5/2023 – Multiple Dates and Times Open Case A male student reported being the victim of harassment via their Instagram account. The threat involved “something” in a language other than English on a Students for Justice in Palestine website.

GWPD did not immediately return a request for comment requesting clarification on the report.

Case open.

—Compiled by Max Porter

University spokesperson Julia Metijan said student organizations are not charged the “standard rental fee,” but officials may factor in additional fees for temporary staff and equipment to the final price to use certain venues.

Metijan declined to comment on the price to rent the Lisner and Jack Morton auditoriums and the State and City View rooms in the Elliott building, as well as how the prices have changed since last year.

“The Division for Student Affairs and Events teams are committed to continued support for all student organizations, and will continue to prioritize accommodating requests needed for our available spaces,” Metijan said in an email.

Cralle said officials should provide a discount for student organizations to be able to rent out these large spaces.

“Maybe it’s fair to charge somebody who is not affiliated with the University that for an event space in D.C., but as students who are paying to be at this University, feels like we shouldn’t have to struggle this hard to put on a show that has existed here for almost 50 years at

A dim City View Room overlooks the landscape of the National Mall.

this point,” Cralle said.

Margaret Korinek, a senior and the director of GW Comedy Nights, said renting space on campus is one of the “most frustrating” parts of her role. She said the group would like to book Lisner for their shows — which usually attract about 150 people — but cannot afford the space. She said renting out Lisner comes with

ANNALIESE PERSAUD | PHOTOGRAPHER

a lot of “unnecessary” fees like paying for GW Police Department officers to be present and people to operate lighting, which students can “easily” do themselves.

She said the group instead rents out Lisner Downstage for $80 from the Student Theatre Council on campus but many attendees have to sit on the floor and they usually have to turn

people away due to a lack of space.

“It’s frustrating when there’s so many other auditoriums on campus that, without SA funding, I know we can’t afford, but also we don’t have spaces that are being provided to us and the [University Student Center] won’t successfully fit everyone that wants to attend,” Korinek said.

GSEHD, DC Public Schools launch equitycentered leadership cohort CONNOR FOX-MOORE REPORTER

NATALIE NOTE REPORTER

A Graduate School of Education and Human Development program partnered with DC Public Schools this fall to launch an equity-centered leadership cohort for teachers and administrators.

The first cohort of GSEHD’s Educational Leadership and Administration 18-month program began taking classes on equity in education — an initiative to aid underrepresented students and properly allocate school resources — to earn either a master’s or educational specialist degree by spring 2025. In June, GW faculty and DCPS administrators selected 16 DCPS staff, including current and aspiring principals and teachers training for administrative positions, to participate in the first cohort that will prepare them for leadership positions in the public schools.

The Wallace Foundation, a private organization that helps school districts across the United States fund projects to promote improved education, financed the cohort through a five-year grant to help build an “equity-centered pipeline.”

Rebecca Thessin, who leads the project as the principal investigator and an associate professor of educational administration, said GSEHD initially partnered with DCPS in spring 2020 on a research project investigating the best ways to teach aspiring DCPS leaders about equity

in education so they can effectively communicate, support and build relationships with students and families.

She said reworking parts of the curriculum to focus on the fair treatment of students in education led DCPS to submit a grant application to the Wallace Foundation for funding to create an equity-centered leadership grant.

“It began with a research project where we had a number of findings that then led to how we approached the work of redesigning our program to better support aspiring leaders’ development in DCPS,” Thessin said.

There were 49,890 students enrolled in DCPS in the 2020-21 academic year, with 58 percent Black students, 21 percent Hispanic and Latino students and 16 percent white students, according to data on the DCPS equity and strategic programming page. The page states that officials used this data to identify disparities, finding the existence of an “opportunity gap” between white students and students of color, that around 10 percent of DCPS teenage students are parents and 93.4 percent of DCPS students with disabilities were students of color in the 2019-20 academic year.

DCPS’ equity strategy and programming initiative uses this data to identify policies and resources centered around antiracism and inclusion, like preparing teachers for diversity, equity and inclusion lessons, providing resources for family and caregivers to support students at school and a guide for helping students with disabilities.

Thessin said training future principals and school leaders to build

and maintain resource support for students with different needs and circumstances, like family responsibilities and disabilities, helps ensure “high-quality education” for all DCPS students.

“There’s very clear research showing the effect that a principal has on student learning and student outcomes,” Thessin said. “There is no doubt now that school leaders have the second-greatest impact behind the teacher, and the knowledge, skills and success that students will have in life based on their experience in school.”

Leslie Trimmer, the co-principal investigator of the program and an assistant professor of practice in educational administration, said the students in the cohort are also full-time DCPS employees, so courses are hybrid with both in person and online instruction.

She said the majority of courses faculty offer are eight weeks long.

At the end of each class, there is an internship component designed for students to observe individual-level student support and apply strategies learned in class — like accounting for different students’ needs and backgrounds when allocating the school’s funds and resources, Trimmer said.

She said students will also complete a 200-hourlong internship over the summer which will help them apply what they learned and bring new experiences to the classroom when they return.

“Every one of our classes has internship time designated that students will then take that theory and research and then go practice it and apply it right then in their school,” Trimmer said.

Cultural student associations host annual Diwali celebration HANA MANAYE REPORTER

LINDSEY SPAIN REPORTER

More than 100 community members brought the light of Diwali to the University Student Center Friday, with a night of festive performances, prayer and feasts.

Diwali — a five-day celebration derived from the word “Deepavali,” which means “a row of lights” — is one of the largest festivals in India, usually falling in late October and early November based on the Hindu Lunar calendar. Leaders of the Hindu Students Association and Indian Students’ Association said they wanted to bring Diwali to GW to foster community around the celebration — which traditionally involves fireworks, food and prayer — and encourage the University to continue to fund events like these to spread cultural awareness on campus.

Dhvani Modi, a junior and the president of HSA, said Diwali offers an opportunity to bring South Asian culture to GW as a predominantly white institution, which is important for community members who might not be able to return home to India to

celebrate the tradition.

“For me, it’s something that brings us together as a culture. It’s one of our biggest celebrations in Hinduism, and it’s also celebrated widely in Indian culture as well,” Modi said. “I think it’s something we can use to bring us together, spread our culture.”

Attendees donning traditional South Asian garments like sarees, lehengas and kurtas graced the floor, mingling until the event fully began before commencing with a prayer and giving thanks.

Aryan Kumar, a senior and the co-president of ISA said the prayer, known as Arti, is a ceremony greeting and giving thanks to God and celebrates the triumph of good over evil of the Hindu Goddess Durga Maa. “Our plan was to start with Arti because first we want to pray to God before we, it’s like giving our thanks before we go into anything else throughout the night,” Kumar said.

Organizers placed a platter with a flame in the center of the student center, which Modi said participants use in prayer as a method to “serenade the Gods.”

Following the prayer, members from GW Garmi, a competitive Bollywood fusion dance team, and

GW Chamak, a multicultural fusion dance team, performed traditional Indian dances.

After the two performances, HSA and ISA members collaborated to present guests with a variety of cultural cuisines.

From the classic South Asian staple dish of samosas to others such as paneer curry and gobi manchurian, the multitude of different dishes from across the Indian subcontinent was heartily enjoyed by all those in attendance.

After the feast, dancers dressed in cultural attire engaged the crowd in performances to traditional Indian songs.

Anirudh Prasanna, the first-year representative for ISA, said Diwali is primarily a dharmic tradition — consisting of beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — celebrating the triumph of good versus evil. He said the “festival of lights” not only involves lighting candles and setting off fireworks but making offerings to the gods, or pujas, and celebrating with loved ones by dressing up and enjoying traditional cuisines.

“The fact that we were able to celebrate Diwali and other traditional celebrations, like we do right now means a whole lot to

Community members pose at Friday’s Diwali celebration.

me,” he said.

He said he was worried he wouldn’t find people similar to him in sharing Hindu beliefs when coming to GW but was reassured in the community he ultimately found.

“Once I found a community that was not only accepting of my beliefs, but also a community of people that had the same beliefs as me. I was not only reassured, but I enjoyed being on campus,” Prasanna said.

First-year Rhea Sharma

said she decided to attend the event to connect with the Hindu and Indian community on campus to discuss their backgrounds and their experiences at GW. “I hope that other Indian students get to find a similar community like I have. I found a lot of friends through the ISA and the HSA and events held here, cultural events, so I hope other students also get to experience this,” Sharma said.

Ankita Saxena, a first-

KAIDEN YU | PHOTOGRAPHER

year student who attended the celebration, said growing up in the United States, she hasn’t had an opportunity to “reconnect” with her South Asian roots. She said the Diwali show was a way to deepen ties with her roots and it was “nice” to see the GW community celebrate her culture.

“I’m just happy to see everyone here, not just Indians, but everyone come together and celebrate Diwali, and just, it’s special to see that,” Saxena said.

NEWS

November 13, 2023 • Page 4

THE GW HATCHET

EVENTS EDITOR

Family of student killed in Parkland shooting discusses gun violence

FIONA BORK

SACHINI ADIKARI

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

REPORTER

Students from GW for Israel set up empty chairs displaying the names and faces of Israeli hostages in Kogan Plaza on Friday while community members gathered to share stories of their loved ones in captivity.

More than 30 community members gathered around rows of nearly 240 chairs, each representing an Israeli person whom Hamas had taken hostage during the militant group’s surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people. Noam Kara, the Jewish Agency Israel Fellow for GW Hillel, recited the hostages’ names and ages before speakers shared their testimonies about their personal connections to the hostages.

Senior Sophie Kaufman said 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg — one of the Israelis who Hamas is holding captive in the Gaza Strip — is a family friend of hers who was always in a good mood and would always make her laugh. She said their parents would joke when her and Goldberg were little that they would get married one day.

“I find myself going through stages of disbelief, complete and utter sadness, anger and back to disbelief again,” Kaufman said in a speech.

“I’ve been angry, I’ve been struggling, confused, conflicted and hurting. I found myself lost in the terror of everything going on and at the same time I am commanded to carry on.”

Kaufman encouraged audience members to support each other through check-in texts and hugs.

“Lean on your friend and allow yourself to cry out to the mountains, cry out in fear and cry the anger, cry,” she said. “We are all here to listen to each other’s screams on the other side, bring them home.”

Last week, officials said they suspended and removed an unnamed student from campus accused of tear-

The parents of a student killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and gun violence experts discussed the family’s petition for stricter gun policies in the United States to prevent mass shootings in Lerner Hall on Thursday.

Manuel and Patricia Oliver, parents of their late son, 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver, joined law professor and Director of the GW Civil and Human Rights Law Clinic Arturo Carrillo, Global Action on Gun Violence Founder Jon Lowy, and Michael Haggard, the Oliver family’s attorney and an expert on gun violence to discuss their work in gun violence prevention. Kailee Vick, Caroline Uehling and Laura Mezzanotte — students of the law clinic — also spoke on the panel, which was hosted by GW Law. Joaquin Oliver was one of 17 students and teachers killed in a shooting at the Parkland, Florida, high school in 2018. His parents and family attorney filed a petition Thursday with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights — an independent judicial body of the Organization of American States — that argues U.S. gun policy violates international human rights laws by infringing on Joaquin Oliver’s right to life. Global Action on Gun Violence and the GW Civil and Human Rights Clinic supported the petition.

Manuel Oliver and Patricia Oliver said it is their job to protect their son’s rights and hopes the petition will establish a precedent to reduce gun violence.

“Today we are using legal power, very common sense human rights, to call out the fact that the government failed,” Manuel Oliver said.

“I am Joaquin’s dad, I have to protect the legacy of my son. It’s actually today starting to bring a major change to the reaction from families of victims in terms of how to do things.”

Carillo said petitions that go to the OAS take a long time to get there due to the organization’s inefficiency. He said CHRL clinic students expedited the complaint because of structural deficiencies behind gun violence, like the

Students share memories of Israeli hostages with empty chair demonstration in Kogan Plaza CADE MCALLISTER

KAIDEN YU | PHOTOGRAPHER In Kogan Plaza, individuals set up empty chairs with signs depicting the hundreds of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas.

ing down more than a dozen posters from inside the GW Hillel building, according to a Thursday statement shared with The Hatchet. The posters resembled the same flyers as those displayed on chairs during Friday’s demonstration.

Aaron Schwartz, a senior and member of GWI, said he met with the parents of one of his childhood friends since first grade, 22-year-old hostage Omer Neutra, who are “on a mission” to get their son back. He told the group to keep Neutra in their prayers and to not let their memories of the hostages be forgotten.

“I just want to remind everyone we want to be able to say where we were and what we did in this time of hardship,” Schwartz said in a speech.

“When so many people are divided, we just want to be able to say that we stood together, that we remember the people that we care about.”

Hailey Figur, a 2023 graduate, said she became friends with Neutra in high school and that she remembers his smile and jokes. She said she finds what little comfort she can in that the hostages may feel their “outpour” of

love and support, adding that community members must allow themselves to feel sorrow.

“We must not allow ourselves to fall deep into toxic positivity and ignore what is real,” Figur said in a speech. “It is a grave situation with grave consequences we see going on.”

She said Neutra decided to join the Israeli army after spending a gap year in Israel. Hamas abducted Neutra while on duty at the Israel-Gaza border on Oct. 7, Figur said.

“Bring Omer home,” Figur said in a speech.

Yuval David, an actor, filmmaker and activist from the D.C. area, said 32 of his friends and colleagues were killed in Hamas’ attack. He said when Kara read the names at the beginning of the demonstration, he heard the names of his own friends.

“I have two friends who are held hostage. I did not have time to sit Shiva, to mourn for the loss of my friends — actually, it’s not a loss.

They were stolen from me. They were stolen from us. And they were stolen from their own lives,” David said in a speech.

CLRE announces increased security personnel in residence halls RACHEL MOON

CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

Campus Living and Residential Education officials announced in an email to students Friday it will be increasing security personnel presence in residence halls on the Foggy Bottom campus in response to ongoing and planned activism within the District.

Some residence halls will have increased security staff located in residence hall lobbies beginning Friday, while others will have the

change implemented in the “coming days.” Students will also be required to tap their GWorld cards at a second reader upon entry to their residence hall lobbies, according to the email.

The email stated that Townhouse Row, Building JJ and other “specialty townhouses” have had no changes made to their tap access requirements, but officials have increased security patrols around the townhouses’ areas.

University President Ellen Granberg said in a statement last month

that the University is working to “strengthen” campus security by increasing GW Police Department patrols, monitoring outdoor spaces and increasing the amount of assigned security officers in residence halls “as needed.”

Neighborhood hubs desks, which are centers located in certain residence halls where student staff can help students check out items like tools, kitchen utensils and blue carts, may be moved within buildings to accommodate the increased security staff, according to the email.

under-regulation of the gun industry in the United States.

“The goal is to get it through the different stages of the procedure before the American commission to a final decision on the merits, which is what we were talking about comes out in the shape of a report. It’s essentially a declaratory judgment,” Carillo said. “Not a court but a legal body that says there’s international responsibility here. The United States has failed in its basic duties to protect Joaquin and to redress the harm to him and his family.”

Lowy said he worked at the Brady Center — a nonprofit that advocates for gun control and against gun violence — for 25 years and led the legal division for the majority of that time. He said he left the organization to get out of U.S. politics and work in the international sector for human rights, where he can work to combat gun violence globally.

“We can create new pressures on U.S. policy and also help other countries that are affected by U.S. gun policies like Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, Canada, other countries that have strong gun laws but are being flooded with guns from the U.S.,” Lowy said.

Lowy said people should not accept the excuses American lawmakers make for their inaction on gun violence prevention like the power of the National Rifle Association or the increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

“The fact is, civilian gun violence causes an overwhelmingly greater number of deaths and injuries than all of the armed conflicts combined,” Lowy said. “The majority of that problem is caused by U.S. gun policy.”

Haggard — who also represents the family of teacher Scott Beigel, a 35 year old who was also killed in the shooting as well as other victims’ families — said a ban on assault weapons in the U.S. is the “first step” to allow his clients suffering from gun violence to feel justice. Haggard said an assault weapon ban is the most sensible way for American lawmakers to avoid guns ending up in the wrong hands.

“We allow people who have a lot of trouble open access to guns,” Haggard said.

“That’s not a good solution.”

Students gather on library steps for pro-Palestinian sit-in FIONA BORK

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

FIONA RILEY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

About 200 students walked out of their classes for a silent sit-in at Gelman Library on Thursday to join the international call to “Shut it Down for Palestine” and condemn the GW’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.

With a banner that read “End the siege on Gaza” draped on the ground below them, hundreds of students silently sat on the ground and steps outside the library while one demonstrator recited the names and ages of more than 1,200 Palestinians who have been killed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. The crowd later marched to the State Department, demanding the United States terminate funding that contributes to the killing of Palestinians.

The demonstrator began reading off a list of names and ages of the Palestinian lives lost in the war at around 1 p.m. At approximately 3:20 p.m., the demonstrator announced that he had read off 1,000 names. Thirty minutes later, he announced he’d read 200 more.

“These 10, 11,000 deaths are what this University continues to invest in. That is shameful. That is shameful,” the demonstrator said after he had finished reading the names. “This school is complicit in genocide. Your tuition is being invested in genocide. It is funding genocide.”

Since Hamas’ initial attack Oct. 7 — which killed 1,400 people in Israel — and Israel’s subsequent declaration of war on the Palestinian militant group, Israel has escalated airstrikes and its siege on Gaza. More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in the airstrikes, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which operates under the political arm

of Hamas.

A dozen student organizations on GW’s campus sponsored Thursday’s walkout: GW SJP, Black Defiance, Jewish Voices for Peace, No Guns for GWPD, Students Against Imperialism, Dissenters, Arab Student Association, Caribbean Student Association, Armenian Student Association, UndocuGW, Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights and Organizers for Revolutionary Climate Action.

Students engulfed the right side of Gelman Library, wearing face masks, keffiyehs draped over their shoulders and holding up cardboard and poster signs.

Throughout the three-hour demonstration, more students filtered in to join the growing crowd, which, at its peak, reached from the top of the staircase to the base of the Kogan clock. One demonstrator waved a large Palestinian flag from the balcony of the library as another continued to read off the list names and ages of those killed.

Members of the crowd held signs that read “GW complicit in genocide,” “You named us Revolutionaries for a reason” and “GW stop funding genocide.” Other signs included “GW undergraduate enrollment is 11,000, so is the death toll in Gaza,” “Racism is not new at GW” and “We will not stay silent.”

“Dear President Granberg, how are Arab and Muslim students meant to feel safe here?” one demonstrator’s sign read. “We are called ‘terrorists’ or ‘antisemitic’ for simply advocating for Palestinian human rights.”

Another demonstrator held up a sign reading “Glory to our martyrs.” During the sit-in, the nonprofit organization StopAntisemitism posted a picture of the demonstrator on X — the site formerly known as Twitter — asking users to identify the student, adding that “applauding” those murdered in the initial Oct. 7 attack is

KAIDEN YU | PHOTOGRAPHER Hundreds of students walked out of their classes Thursday to protest GW’s response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

“horrifying” and should not be accepted as the norm in the U.S. About eight Metropolitan and GW Police Department cars parked on H Street while several officers patrolled the perimeter of Kogan throughout the gathering.

Demonstrators rose from the library’s steps after nearly three hours of silent sitting and began marching down H Street, turning left onto 23rd Street and ending at the State Department, where they joined demonstrators from the Palestinian Youth Movement.

As they marched, members of the crowd chanted phrases like “We will free Palestine within our lifetime,” “Granberg, Granberg, shame on you” and “No peace on stolen land.”

Demonstrators reached the C Street entrance to the building at about 4 p.m., where they stood

and continued to chant phrases like “Biden you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” “Occupation has to go” and “Israel is an apartheid state.” Shortly after, volunteers from the crowd started reading stories of Palestinian survivors in the Gaza Strip and some yelled at employees leaving the State Department building to quit their jobs.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited Israel four times since Hamas’ attack Oct. 7 and has reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s “right to defend itself” in a press conference earlier this month following similar statements last month. The Israeli government agreed to a daily, four-hour pause on military operations in Gaza per requests from President Joe Biden and other members of the White House administration, National

Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced Thursday.

Senior State Department officials are conducting “listening sessions” for U.S. diplomats in countries in the Middle East and North Africa who expressed concerns with the Biden administration’s response to the war.

Last week, about 40 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Kogan Plaza and marched through campus to the Smith Center to protest University President Ellen Granberg’s inauguration, carrying the same “End the siege on Gaza” banner brought out during the walkout. The protesters called for the University to condemn Israeli military action in Gaza, retract all their past statements on the war and cut financial ties that have contributed to the killing of Palestinians.

NEWS

November 13, 2023 • Page 5

THE GW HATCHET

Homecoming in Foggy Bottom: Employees return to in-person work en masse CRISTINA STASSIS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

MAGGIE RHOADS REPORTER

More than a year of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic left Danielle Fisher longing for human interaction.

To find a connection, Fisher, who used to work as an office manager for a technology company called The Knot Worldwide in Maryland, said she decided to switch jobs after finding a position in Foggy Bottom that would satisfy her social nature.

She said she didn’t want to wait around to start working with people again as her former company gradually phased workers back into the office in 2021 — which led her to jump into a new, in-person role as a property manager for the realty group overseeing Western Market, MidAtlantic Realty Partners, LLC. “I wanted to move to an on-site role because I missed the interaction with people,” Fisher said. “There’s a lot you don’t get from behind the computer.”

Fisher is one of scores of workers who have returned to in-person work in the Dis-

trict in the last two years.

Prior to the pandemic, between 2017 and 2019, only 6 to 7 percent of District residents worked from home, in alignment with the national average. But once COVID-19 hit, D.C. had the highest rate of workers who worked remotely, with just under half the District’s workforce clocking in from home in 2021, during the height of the pandemic. As the city eased back into in-person work a year later, the number of remote workers fell to 33.8 percent.

Many of the District’s workers returned to their old stomping ground of Foggy Bottom, the home of the glimmering office buildings for some of the District’s largest employers like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. As of September, return-to-office rates sat at 62 percent in non-federal buildings and 33 percent in federal buildings in D.C.’s central business district, which includes Foggy Bottom.

Anthony Montione, a portfolio manager at Bank of America in the Foggy Bottom area, said he was working remotely for about 18 months during the pandemic at another company before leaving and transitioning to

in-person work at the bank in August. He said he is more “wired” for in-person work, which allows employees to quickly meet coworkers and adapt to the office culture when starting at a new company.

“I like people,” Montione said. “I like to be around people.”

Montione said older generations want to return to in-person work more than younger generations.

“Demographically, people that are more experienced in the workforce probably are more apt to return in person,” Montione said.

Jennifer Eldridge, a senior climate environmental officer for the State Department, said she now works in person three days a week after starting her position in June 2021 and working online for six months. She said workers at the State Department transition back to in-person work differently based on their area of focus because some workers have to deal with classified information that forces them to work in person.

“Those folks have to be in the office just by the nature of their job,” Eldridge said.

The return of workers has played into the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station

Workers walk through Western Market.

becoming the most frequented terminal in the District, with an average of more than 11,000 daily rides. Ridership at the station has steadily risen since 2021 after it dipped to a decade-low 4,129 average daily riders that year due to the pandemic.

Eldridge said she enjoys her hybrid schedule because it’s easier to have a healthy balance between work and life. She said she feels bad for

FILE PHOTO BY SAGE RUSSELL | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

workers who have children at home or are low in a company’s hierarchy, like interns, because they work in person most days and may not have many coworkers.

“I feel for people who need mentoring or who are learning the job and are still just trying to get to know their colleagues,” Eldridge said. “It’s really hard.”

Chris Barnes, the president of the American Fed-

eration of Government Employees Local 1534, a union representing federal employees, said President Joe Biden’s order in August for more federal employees to return to in-person work by the fall has negatively affected employee morale, hindering workers’ work-life balance.

“This is causing recruitment and retention issues at the Department of State and other agencies,” Barnes said.

Alumni donation to fund upgrades to technology, classrooms in Duquès Hall RORY QUEALY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

GW will use a $2.5 million alumni donation to upgrade technology and workspaces in Duquès Hall, according to a release last week.

The release states that Henry “Ric” and Dawn Duquès donated $2.5 million for physical updates

to classrooms and technology upgrades to their namesake hall on 22nd Street, which houses the GW School of Business. The gift will add the Duquès Family Instructional Innovation Studio, which students can use to make multimedia content like podcasts and videos, “enhanced technology” and workspaces to Duquès Hall’s sixth floor

as well as update the entrance foyer.

“The Duquès family is once again providing philanthropic funding needed to make the necessary building upgrades that will greatly enhance our students’ experience,” Anuj Mehrotra, the dean of GWSB, said in the release.

Ric and Dawn Duquès donated $5 million to GW in 2002 at their

daughter’s graduation from the University, which funded the initial construction of Duquès Hall as an extension of Funger Hall. The more than $50 million construction project moved the business school from the Hall of Government to Duquès when the building opened in 2006.

The couple gifted the University $2.5 million to update technology

Caribbean Student Association to resurface campus presence with community service, culture JENNIFER IGBONOBA CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

A revitalized cultural organization is bringing back a space for Caribbean students on campus.

Leaders of the Caribbean Student Association said they started programming this fall to provide a community for Caribbean students and community members who want to learn more about Caribbean culture. They said the group aims to establish a presence on campus and expand the organization’s outreach to students through programming like community service opportunities, regular social events and class-targeted programming.

Members of CSA, which went inactive in the fall of 2021, resurfaced the organization’s campus presence by hosting a welcome mixer, horror movie night and community service events this semester. The group has also held class-specific programming, including a Freshmen Game Night and Sophomore Trivia Night.

CSA has also cosponsored events with other organizations like the University of Maryland CSA’s annual Fall Fete on Sept.

30 — where students enjoy free food, performances and music — and Students for Justice in Palestine at GW’s walkout Thursday.

Cierra Bain, a junior and the organization’s cosocial media director, said CSA hosted one welcome mixer her first year of GW and that she didn’t know why the organization ceased its programming shortly after. Bain said she and Isabella Marte, the other co-social media director, hope that keeping in touch with other organizations of color and ones they share similar beliefs with will help CSA cultivate a caring social environment.

“We want to sponsor a big and unique family,” Bain said. “We want to gather a huge audience and not only individuals of Caribbean descent or heritage but for anyone who is willing to celebrate and cherish our cultures as well.”

and classrooms in October 2022.

Dawn Duquès previously served as a member of the National Council for the Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Ric Duquès is a member of GW’s monumental alumni and is a trustee emeritus. He attended GW on a four-year basketball scholarship.

Officials modify first-year experience course one year after its establishment FIONA RILEY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

RACHEL MOON

CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

SAGE RUSSELL | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Members of the Caribbean Student Association pose for a portrait.

Bain said she and Marte have strived to boost CSA’s campus presence by posting on the organization’s communication channels like Instagram and GW Engage, as well as promoting their programming in group chats on GroupMe, like gwu free food & advice.

“Just infiltrating every single source that GW students would use is how Isabella and I try to make CSA known on GW’s campus,” Bain said.

Bain said the organization held a community service event in partnership with Jumpstart — a national AmeriCorps program that places college students to serve preschool children in lower-income neighborhoods — in late October.

She said she and about 18 other volunteers created various learning activities, including cutting out laminated objects like cars and bubbles for students to identify during exercises and using emojis to create “emotional storyboards” that help children express and recognize their feelings.

“Each and every one of them did impactful work,” Bain said. “It was really, really nice to be in there.”

Bain added that she enjoyed seeing GW staff interested in learning about CSA at an Oct. 27 event in Duquès Hall — a collaboration between CSA and Jumpstart to develop materials to help improve literacy skills — where an

IT staffer stopped by to observe the event and followed the organization’s Instagram account after.

Co-President Joanna Destil, a junior, said CSA’s creation was “a gradual thing” after she and other students realized an umbrella organization for Caribbean students was missing from campus.

“There’s so many people in GW that are staff, faculty and they’re also Caribbean,” Destil said.

“It’s so cool to see that there’s Caribbean people in each and every level of everywhere, so this is a way to bring everyone together.”

Co-President Imani Granville, a junior, said the purpose of the organization is to bring awareness to the hundreds of islands that encompass the Caribbean and a network where students can learn more about their culture and others in the neighboring islands.

“We want to be seen, and we want to be heard and we want to be represented, and that’s what CSA is here to do,” Granville said. “We’re here to represent, and we’re here to care for and we’re here to cater to our Caribbean students and make them feel more at home.”

Granville said CSA plans on collaborating with multiple cultural organizations to represent the multiculturalism of the Caribbean, which includes people of African, Europe-

an, Indigenous and Asian descent.

“We want to broaden our horizons because it’s not just Black people in the Caribbean,” Granville said.

Granville said she and Destil worked with the Office of Student Life last spring to reestablish the organization and met with other groups and community members, including former Black Student Union President Gianna Cook, to receive advice on the organization’s success while maintaining a worklife balance.

Marte, a sophomore, said the organization launched their first general body meeting at the end of September with a welcome mixer where attendees socialized as music from across the Caribbean filled a room in the District House basement.

Marte added that the organization held an event with Martha’s Table in early October, where they helped set up a fresh-produce market and parents could come pick up groceries and recipe cards. She said the organization feels that community service is critical to being Caribbean.

“That’s a key ideal in every Caribbean culture, whether it’s a Hispanic Caribbean culture or a Latin, Caribbean culture, or whether you’re Jamaican, Dominican, Puerto Rican, like this is all a valuable part of all of our cultures,” Marte said.

One year after the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences launched a course exclusively designed for first-year students, officials altered the course to help students better engage with community resources.

CCAS First-Year Experience, or CCAS 1001, launched last fall as a required, onecredit pass/fail class for firstyear students to learn how to structure their learning at GW, explore majors and minors, reflect on their own identities and learn about campus resources, according to the undergraduate academic advising page. CCAS Director of Undergraduate Advising Candace SumnerRobinson said CCAS officials completed a curricular review of the 50-minute course this year and updated the coursework to include more lessons to encourage students to familiarize themselves with GW community resources.

Sumner-Robinson said CCAS 1001 underwent a “great deal” of changes after its first year to ensure the curriculum benefits students after taking input from students, instructors, administrators, advising staff, administrator and campus student services offices. The changes to the curriculum, which includes information on available student support and campus resources, give students more room for “reflection” and interaction with resources like the University’s library system, she said.

Sumner-Robinson said students from the fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters provided feedback via forms administered to students and faculty on course content.

She said students asked for the lessons to focus more on available student resources.

“A thorough review of the assignments and other curricular materials were evaluated by the coordinators of the course and thorough consultations were conducted by seasoned instructors within CCAS to ensure the effectiveness and timeliness of the

information and resources shared with students to aid in their success and to support the instructors that lead each section of the course,” Sumner-Robinson said in an email.

Sumner-Robinson said officials adjust the number of CCAS 1001 courses offered based on the number of CCAS first-years. This semester, there are 76 sections of the course, compared to 86 in fall 2022, according to the schedule of classes.

CCAS Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies Rachel Riedner said a committee of CCAS faculty and advisers designed the CCAS 1001 course to help freshmen adjust to college. She said the committee consulted the Center for Career Services and the GW Writing Center on the curriculum to see what academic and planning support new students need.

Denver Brunsman, a professor of history and the chair of the history department, teaches one of the 76 sections of CCAS 1001 that the University offered this semester.

Brunsman said he “jumped” at the opportunity to teach CCAS 1001 when officials asked if professors would be interested in instructing the class during its inaugural year last year and agreed to teach a section again this year because it is paramount that faculty orient and connect with first-year students.

“Orienting first-year students to the University is incredibly important,” Brunsman said.

Brunsman said he has seen students utilize the resumes they have built in class when they apply for student worker positions in the history department. Brunsman added that there’s value in having students get to know and feel comfortable speaking with a faculty member in the class, which can strengthen their sense of belonging on campus.

“Students who don’t make it through their first year, and the number that drop out, the reason is often because they feel alienated or they don’t feel like they have a connection to anybody on campus, so if the class can help with that and provide someone, then I think it’s useful,” Brunsman said.

OPINIONS

November 13, 2023 • Page 6

Opinions

THE GW HATCHET

WHAT THE UNIVERSITY WON’T TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK The cost of damages in FSK Hall after flooding late last month p. 1 FROM GWHATCHET.COM/OPINIONS “Bodies grow. It doesn’t mean we are any less worthy — it just means we’re not children anymore.”

—PAIGE BARATTA on 11/09/2023

GW’s leadership can learn from past presidents and current tensions STAFF EDITORIAL From dividing students, staff and faculty to representing the best GW has to offer, officials’ reputations range from the good to the bad to the ugly. The rotating cast of characters at the helm of GW sets the tenor and tone of the University and determines how students experience their time here.

Officials’ words and presence carry immense weight on campus. As leaders, what they say and how they say it — or what they leave unsaid — can ripple across our community and linger well after they depart. Look no further than former University President Thomas LeBlanc, who united the University against him because of his long-term vision for GW, disregard for faculty input in the shared governance process and use of a racially insensitive analogy.

It’s hard to find many supporters of LeBlanc on campus today, but his tumultuous tenure still has lessons for officials, including his permanent successor, Ellen Granberg: If you’re going to lead GW, talk to the people — especially students — you’re leading. As Granberg settles into her presidency, we hope she bolsters her presence and defines her reputation among the University community.

Granted, some officials don’t need to be in the spotlight. Interim University President Mark Wrighton’s

GIA KALYANI | CARTOONIST

term came at a pivotal moment for the University, which wasn’t without its fair share of controversies.

Yet for many students, it seems Wrighton stayed above the fray as a quiet caretaker — he’s perhaps best known for walking his dog, Spike, down F Street.

The spotlight has already found Granberg, though. While campus tensions are certainly high right now, Granberg hasn’t

been able to seize the moment and define her leadership in a way that sticks.

Under what we can only imagine to be constant scrutiny and demands to say something, Granberg has rolled out several statements that have earned both students’ praise and scorn.

However, a few hundred words are no replacement for a presence on campus — a presence

When North meets South, cultures collide at GW

C

oming to GW as a third-year transfer student has been a whirlwind of experiences that I never anticipated, but I did not expect to be one of the few Southerners at this University.

Zay Naeem Opinions Writer Growing up in Tennessee, it was difficult to find people with similar interests and ambitious mindsets. The student body at the small state school I transferred from was made up almost entirely of people from Tennessee. It was comfortable — but not challenging. I had always felt like a big fish in a little pond. From the moment my first year began, I knew I needed more diversity, intensity and motivation from the university I attended.

By the end of syllabus week at GW, I knew that I was no longer a big fish.

While I had come to the right place, Southern culture is a foreign concept to most GW students. My peers are always surprised when I tell them I’m from Nashville, Tennessee, and they always ask me the same questions: Is everyone there racist? Is everyone white? Have you ever had good pizza? Although I am fond of the South, I can understand where the stereotypes come from.

I’ve always been used to being the odd one out, but it usually comes in the form of being the only person of

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color in the room. In 2023, most of GW’s students came from Northeastern states or Virginia and Maryland. The 207 students from Tennessee that year made up just 0.95 percent of the student body. When my peers from New Jersey talk about not knowing how to pump gas or my friends from New York talk about the importance of a perfect bagel order, I realize how prominent major cultural and regional differences are within the U.S. For the first time in my life, I have caught myself constantly defending the South. There is a common assumption that Southerners are simpleminded and uncultured, and it never feels good when your home gets whittled down to harmful stereotypes.

Northerners are quick to judge, especially if they have never experienced true Southern culture, which is slow-paced, kind and welcoming to all.

When I think of home, my mind goes to neighbors waving to each other on the street, people holding doors open for each other and the overuse of “please” and “thank you.”

Of course, racism and ignorance are prominent in the South. But even as a woman of color, I could never condemn my home.

Yet I was taken aback by the negative responses and attitudes about the South when I arrived at GW. When I returned home for fall break, I faced inverse attitudes from my friends in Tennessee. They asked me

if I was a Yankee now and got annoyed when I used Northern slang. I’ve spent my whole life in Tennessee, so I never knew how deep the regional rivalry was for both parties.

I adore the cultures of both the North and the South and understand what they each lack.

Historically, Southern states are a bit deserving of their negative reputation, but the beautiful aspects are often overlooked. When the question of racism is brought up regarding the South, I cannot deny its prominence — but racism is prominent everywhere in America. I’ve been called a terrorist in Tennessee and in D.C. Learning about Northern culture has been exciting and humorous at times, especially with the petty, lighthearted comments I get from friends both here and in Tennessee. Now that I am no longer in Tennessee, I can recognize what it truly has to offer and appreciate where I come from. I look forward to long drives down plush, green backroads in the rural areas close to my homes.

I miss a classic Southernstyle breakfast, especially biscuits and gravy.

Transferring to GW opened my mind to the cultural differences in the country. The diversity here is everything I wanted — I just didn’t take into account how diverse the United States is.

—Zay Naeem, a junior majoring in international affairs, is an opinions writer.

Granberg has, outside of attending community events, yet to establish.

Officials moved her inauguration and other related events online over safety concerns, demonstrating just how much current events have overtaken what could have been Granberg’s “honeymoon period.”

All of this is to say that through no fault of her own, the University

community and students in particular haven’t had a chance to get to know Granberg. Questions remain regarding her vision for GW and simply who she is as a person.

For all the power that they wield, the University’s best officials, like beloved former Dean of Students Cissy Petty, are simply human beings whom students can and should get to know — and

vice versa. Or as Petty herself said in a November 2021 interview with The Hatchet: “It doesn’t matter what position you have, it’s just about making a connection.”

Of course, Granberg and other top-level administrators won’t have the time to meet with the University’s nearly 26,000 students. That’s not in their job description, nor is trading F Street House for a room in District House. But it is worth asking whether a personal approach, one which Petty exemplified, might help Granberg and other officials steer GW through the present.

Whether on a bench in University Yard, after a game in the Charles E. Smith Center or in line for lunch at Shenkman Hall, these informal encounters could demonstrate officials’ willingness to listen.

Officials shouldn’t expect that a statement or email will satisfy every student — or that they’ll even read them in the first place. A face-to-face, person-toperson conversation with students is an opportunity for officials to lead from the front.

From Granberg on down, officials now have the opportunity to revolutionize what leadership means at the University — to build relationships and gain trust with students who are looking for a personal touch, not just another statement.

Let’s listen to our peers most affected by the Israel-Hamas war

W

hen I planned my bat mitzvah, went to Savta’s house for Passover, and marked every Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat, I never imagined I’d have to defend my Judaism to the world. But now I do.

Jenna Fox Opinions Writer I am a Jewish first-year student at GW, where I’ve always felt accepted, wanted and safe. That’s changed.

While I’ve never felt like my life is in danger, I feel scared to express the person I am and the beliefs that I have — what will people say to me if they take my message the wrong way?

I shouldn’t be scared to say that the United Nations should condemn Israel for the war crimes it has committed and the thousands of Palestinian children and innocents it has slaughtered. I feel Israel needs to be held accountable and that innocent people deserve justice. But I’m scared to say this because then I’m a “fake Jew.” Am I an imposter? What will my family and friends think?

At the same time, I shouldn’t be afraid to say I believe terrorism is terrorism. Hamas needs to be quashed because the only way to free the people of Palestine is to rid the Earth of Hamas.

Walking out of Gelman Library and seeing

“Glory to our martyrs” projected onto the wall scared me, and I cannot believe officials allowed that to happen — the University’s statement afterward felt like it was saving face. Seeing posters of missing Israeli children crumpled up or torn down around campus makes me wonder if there is any good left in this world.

But I’m afraid to say all of this because then I’m “Islamophobic.”

Again, I’m not afraid for my physical safety — I’m afraid to talk about such heavy issues for fear of how other people will react. But my fear about nothing being done about injustices in our world overpowers any fear I have about speaking up.

I want to do my part and speak up, especially after last weekend’s protests in D.C. Innocent Israelis who were killed on Oct. 7 and families who have since been killed in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip all deserve the same justice. But for every 99 peaceful protesters who just want the best for the Palestinian people, it seems that another person will defend terrorism.

Posting infographics, projecting messages and tearing down posters won’t give anyone justice.

It just spreads hate. The only thing that will bring anyone justice is if we band together and listen to our peers who are at

the center of this conflict — not just the people who are shouting the loudest and the angriest.

We need to put our differences aside for one minute and realize we are more similar than we are different.

Listen to the voices of the Israeli students at last month’s vigil: Their friends and family back home sent them texts, what may have been their final words, explaining how much they mean to them or letting them know they have been called up as reservists to defend their country. Hear the stories of Palestinian students: Whole branches of their families have been killed, they cannot get in touch with relatives who survived and they may never be able to go home again.

These are the stories of real people — people who lived and died and deserve justice. These are the stories we need to promote, not yelling back and forth until the point of exhaustion.

I am tired of trying to speak louder than people who speak nonsense, tired of writing so my voice can be heard, tired of not being listened to.

If you want to call me names and tell me I’m doing something wrong, go ahead. But we must open our ears and listen.

—Jenna Fox, a first-year majoring in political science and communications, is an opinions writer.

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CULTURE

November 13, 2023 • Page 7

THE GW HATCHET

THE

Culture

SCENE

UMBRELLA ART FAIR Friday, Nov. 17 | 1325 5th St. NE | Free Check out this festival featuring more than 150 artists from the DMV and beyond.

RELEASED

IMPROV CLASS Sunday, Nov. 19 | MLK Jr. Memorial Library | Free Expand your creativity and quickthinking skills in this free improv class.

NEW TV SHOW: “THE BUCCANEERS”

THIS WEEK:

When Nathan Met Edy: Iconic GW couple engaged JENNA BAER

CONTRIBUTING CULTURE EDITOR

NICK PERKINS CULTURE EDITOR

Romance at GW isn’t dead.

Despite a hellish dating scene wrought with devil’s advocates and narcissistic hillterns, recently engaged seniors Edy Koenigs and Nathan Orner prove love can be found even in the most hopeless of places.

Koenigs said students flocked to congratulate the pair after posting their engagement on Instagram, including many peers that she and Orner had never met.

“For people I don’t know to know of our relationship is very odd,” Koenigs said.

Koenigs said students have long associated them as a pair, often referring to her as “Nathan’s girlfriend” and him as “Edy’s boyfriend.” But since running against each other for Student Association president, the dynamic duo have garnered even more attention from the student body, an experience Orner likened to living in the dystopian drama “The Truman Show.”

Koenigs said the two first met in fall 2020 through a comparative politics class discussion on Zoom their freshman year. During the Zoom call, in true Elliott devil’s advocate fashion, a debate sparked over whether or not COVID was real. Orner, who was cooking dinner, stepped in to guide the chatter. Koenigs said Orner’s calmness during the chaos was what first attracted her to him.

“Literally like he was making pulled pork at the time,” Koenigs

COURTESY OF EDY KOENIGS Nathan Orner twirls his bride-to-be Edy Koenigs during an engagement photoshoot inspired by the Disney Pixar film “Up.”

said. “And he was able to mediate the conversation of people going absolutely crazy.”

She said while many of her other GW friendships remained online, she and Orner met in person when he visited her in Baltimore shortly after interacting in digital classes. But Koenigs said Orner trekking out several times to Baltimore didn’t make reaching typical relationship milestones any easier.

Orner awkwardly jumped the gun, telling his family they were official-

ly in a relationship before actually asking Koenigs to be his girlfriend.

Koenigs said she spotted a text on his phone to his father referring to her as his girlfriend and demanded he ask her properly.

“This kid actually told his family that he had a girlfriend before I even told him yes to being your girlfriend,” she said. “‘And I’m like, no, I’m not your girlfriend.’ Then like a week later, I became his girlfriend.”

In regards to perhaps the couple’s most famous moment on cam-

pus, running against each other for SA president, Orner said their decisions to run were made independent of each other. He said they both agreed on many of the issues at stake in the election.

Koenigs said the two had been thinking about diving into the electoral battlefield for a while, and ultimately decided that even if they had to go head to head, that was no reason to sheath their swords and not run.

Though the ballots ultimately

declared Arielle Geismar the victor, the true winner of the election was love. Koenigs said they considered their time campaigning another shared experience which ultimately connected them further.

Not unlike their shared ambitions for student government, Koenigs and Orner were in sync about their engagement. While they were eating dinner together one night, Koenigs jokingly fashioned a set of rings from paper towels before kneeling down and asking him to marry her, a reference to a TikTok she’d watched. Little did she know he had a ring already waiting for her and immediately proposed back to her.

Koenigs said the couple has been joking that they would get married since freshman year, with Koenigs insisting that the engagement happen on Halloween, her favorite holiday.

“I absolutely love Halloween,” she said. “I told him, ‘If it’s not Halloween, I’m not getting married.’”

Since the engagement came about a month earlier than Koenigs anticipated, they held off on announcing their new relationship status. They were still able to incorporate their shared love for the holiday by announcing their engagement online, dressing up as Carl and Ellie from “Up.” But don’t hold your breath waiting for a wedding invitation. Koenigs said the couple plans to wait until both of them graduate from law school so they can have a nicer wedding on lawyers’ budgets, rather than the limited funds of two college students.

“I want to have a really nice wedding,” she said.

Travel through The Hatchet’s archives to learn about bygone GW traditions NICK PERKINS CULTURE EDITOR

NORA FITZGERALD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

GW is full of weird traditions.

But a look into The Hatchet’s archives reveals the University’s calendar used to be peppered with happenings so foreign to current GW students you’d be forgiven for thinking they were happening at Georgetown. Here are three GW traditions that have gone the way of the dinosaur and whether they should stay extinct or experience a “Jurassic Park”style resurrection.

The Old West, Niche Disney Flicks and the Roman Empire Once Celebrated Fall

While GW’s Spring Fling remains a time-honored tradition, the cherry blossom season musical event used to have a fall counterpart known as Fall Fest. Each year, students would crowd into the “Quad” — now University Yard — for a themed carnival. Activities included everything from petting zoos and screenings of “Con Air” to free snow cones and sumo showdowns.

Each year’s festival had its own theme — some of which have aged better than others. While the GW Program Board was ahead of its time for forcing the entire

student body to think about the Roman Empire back in 1990, events like the 1997 festival, which was based around the largely forgotten Brendan Fraser movie “George of the Jungle,” might not capture the same attention in 2023.

Verdict: If Program Board picks more relevant themes, the ferris wheels and indie musical artists of Fall Fest should get to once again adorn campus.

The Glory of GW Homecoming

Much like the festivities that surround a typical high school homecoming week, GW used to put on an annual, weeklong extravaganza in late January and early February. The themed week would include activities like block parties, parades, talent shows and obstacle courses.

The week typically kicked off with an annual talent show followed by movie showings, block parties and parades and concluded with basketball games. At the traditional Friday night dinner dance, students could bop along

to WRGW-provided music, ending the night by voting on a GW homecoming king and queen.

Verdict: Bringing the event back to GW can help students live out their “High School Musical” fantasies.

An All-Night Camp Out to Register for Classes

As stressful as signing up for classes is now, somehow it was even worse 30 years ago. Prior to the internet, class registration at GW was done on a first-come, first-served basis. Students would stay up all night waiting in lines outside the Smith Center to write their names on class lists in the morning.

In 1986, this process started to resemble more of what we have today, with registration split up over a few days based on people’s class year.

Verdict: Leave this tradition in the past — registration is hard enough as it is, and there’s no need to add an all-night camp out to a process that already induces stress for weeks on end.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AUDEN YURMAN | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR The front page of a 1986 edition of The GW Hatchet.

JORDAN TOVIN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR William Wilson Corcoran Visiting Professor of Community Engagement Caroline Woolard engages with students during a roundtable discussion.

Visiting arts professor brings focus to sustainability, conceptual sculpture MAXIMUS VOGT STAFF WRITER

Function and utility are at the forefront of a Corcoran College of Arts & Design visiting professor’s sculptural pieces that embody minimalism and sustainable art.

William Wilson Corcoran Visiting Professor of Community Engagement Caroline Woolard is teaching a course each semester this year where she is asking her students to examine the scope of their art-making process, from deliberation and planning to its circulation as a completed work. In her course, “The Art Worlds We Want,” she said students consider how to financially maintain themselves as artists in a time when it’s increasingly difficult for artists to earn a living.

Woolard said she will teach a course each semester during her one year at the University and be given space and materials from officials to create a public project in the spring. She said art is a form of research students across disciplines can leverage art projects toward their goals, be it a sculpture or lengthy essay. She said her students learn how to study a multisensory experience and communicate their visual or emotional findings with their audience by focusing not just on how to make art but also on where it ends up.

“Art-making is a well-

recognized pedagogical vehicle that enables learners to synthesize knowledge,” Woolard said over email.

Woolard said artists must be interdependent so they are all able to collectively thrive. She said the well-being of people, creating a community and responsible environmental practices are the central tenets of her movement for a solidarity economy, which focuses on helping ensure artists are paid and natural resources are sustainably used over the ruthless pursuit of profit. She said this movement for people over profit exists both in and out of the art world.

Woolard said that one barrier artists face is the burden of debt from pursuing an art degree. In 2014, Woolard started BFAMFAPhD, an organization that brings together artists, designers and tech workers to discuss the impact of debt on those in creative fields.

These meetings center around the question, “What is a work of art in the age of $120,000 art degrees?”

Woolard said that while she was in the District, she spent her time meeting with co-ops like Delicious Democracy and nonprofits like Beloved Community Incubator, which provides support to worker-owned businesses.

In her artistic practice, Woolard said she creates conceptual sculptures — works meant to both act as

furniture and help solve conflicts among groups. She said that traditional meeting spaces like drab cubiclefilled offices are transformed into a space of possibility as her works force groups to face each other and focus on the tactility of the sculpture.

She exemplifies this in her recent exhibition, “A Stone Holds Water” at the Miriam Gallery in New York City. The purpose of the project was to create a space for people to reflect on ecological and political developments from 2020.

Mia Donalson, Woolard’s apprentice and teaching assistant, said Woolard is interested in creating work inspired by the Fluxus artist movement in the 1960s and ‘70s that was organized around performance, community and ideas that stretch the conceptual boundaries of what is considered art like noise music and experimental literature. They said that the current art world is monetarily centered, but other formats of value for art, rather than just something that can be bought and sold, are something many artists are interested in.

“Looking at alternative solutions and community support methods to develop and continue pushing for an art world we want that is more focused on other values and not solely on the monetary value of art as a commodity,” Donalson said.

November 13, 2023 • Page 8

Sports

SPORTS

THE GW HATCHET

GAMES OF THE WEEK

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

WATER POLO

vs. American Wednesday | 6 p.m.

Women’s basketball welcomes American for a crosstown matchup as they look to move to 3-0.

NUMBER CRUNCH

25

at Wagner College Friday | 7:30 p.m.

Water polo travels to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, to take on Wagner College on Friday.

Nya Robertson is tied for first in the country with 25 3-point attempts.

Bishop leads men’s basketball to win over William & Mary MARGOT DIAMOND REPORTER

Men’s basketball took home their second win of the season against William & Mary, with a close 95-89 victory Saturday.

Fifth-year senior guard James Bishop IV led the team with 32 points while shooting 44.4 percent from the field, going 8-18.

Bishop also successfully sunk 15 out of 16 of his attempted free throws, the most on the team.

William & Mary dominated the majority of the first half, firing 21 3-point shots, connecting on eight of them and building a 2130 point lead with 8:50 left in the first half. But the Revs moved to close the point gap, going 3-9 on threes and 12-29 on field goals.

With just 51 seconds left in the first half, redshirt sophomore guard Maximus Edwards threw an outlet pass to freshman guard Trey Autry after coming down with a strong rebound, who laid it up for two, allowing the Revs to pull ahead, 43-42.

After earning A-10 Rookie of the Year last season, Edwards is continuing to perform well early in the season. He finished with a double-double in the Revs’ first game of the season Saturday afternoon, scoring 15 points and coming down with 11 rebounds.

Playing 27 minutes, the secondmost of any Rev, Edwards remains an essential piece to the

Revs’ potential success.

“We have a lot of guys that can score the ball,” Edwards said. “So if I’m not scoring, you know, we just have to do it on the defensive end, and if the ball’s coming, I just have to make the right play on offense.”

Redshirt freshman guard Garrett Johnson was also crucial to the win, sinking all six free throws en route to a 15-point night after his collegiate debut against Stonehill on Nov. 6, where he scored 21 points. His strong performance Saturday marked the beginning of his collegiate career after he withdrew from Princeton after a benign tumor was discovered in his hip, which led him to nine rounds of chemotherapy over two-and-a-half years.

“I’m really happy for Garrett,” Head Coach Chris Caputo said of Johnson’s performance against Stonehill. “I said, listen, don’t feel like you got to do that every night. Like you just got to get better, play well, do your job.

You know, don’t feel like there’s any added pressure because some eyes are on you.”

The Revs took off in the second half, hitting 59.3 percent of their field goals. They also capitalized on their opportunities at the charity stripe, going 17-20.

Despite the Revs leading the entire half, the Tribe was able to close the gap significantly in just

MAYA NAIR | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Fifth-year guard James Bishop attacks the defense.

the last few minutes of the game, shrinking the GW lead from 14 to 6 in just under a minute.

Bishop turned the ball over three times between the last 0:54 and 0:12, allowing William & Mary to gain back 8 points with the Revs scrambling to

hold onto the ball.

“We got to do, again, a little bit better job of working on some of those press break situations,” Caputo said of facing press defense late in games.

Coming up, the Revs will

attempt to go 3-0 against Hofstra at the Smith Center on Tuesday night with tipoff set for 7 p.m. The Revs are out for revenge after falling to Hofstra last season despite Bishop scoring his career-high 44 points.

Women’s basketball takes down Manhattan in comeback win KRISTI WIDJAJA REPORTER

Women’s basketball defeated Manhattan on the road, 55-49, Friday, thanks in part to a comeback in the third quarter.

The Revolutionaries trailed throughout the first half of the game, trailing by as many as 12 points, midway through the second quarter. They turned the game around in the second half as a result of better shot selection, shooting 52 percent from the field, and defensive stops that held the Jaspers to a 28.6 percent shooting percentage.

Sophomore guard Nya Robertson struck first for the Revs, knocking down a 3-pointer in the second minute of the game off an assist from graduate student guard Essence Brown. The Revs’ offense sputtered early and the Jaspers took advantage, jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead three minutes into the game.

They continued to trail throughout the first period, but with one minute remaining in the quarter, Brown used her length and strength to get over the defender for a layup to make the score 7-13.

With 26.2 seconds left, graduate student forward Mayowa Taiwo was fouled and split a pair of free throws, notching her first point of the season. The first quarter ended with the Revs down 19-10 as they struggled to get points on the board.

Throughout the second quarter, the Revs held the Jaspers in check defensively, forcing an airball on a 3-point attempt of their first possession. Madison Buford banked in a layup off the glass in the

second minute, the Revs’ first basket of the quarter after two consecutive turnovers.

With 6:38 remaining in the quarter, Head Coach Caroline McCombs called a timeout with the Revs down 24-12, the largest deficit of the game. Coming off of the timeout, the Revs went on an 8-0 run that shifted the momentum as freshman guard Monica Marsh knocked in a shot down low and graduate student guard Nya Lok scored a fast-break layup.

The Revs relied on stronger defense to close the gap, forcing a Manhattan 10-second violation with their aggressive full-court press with 48 seconds left in the half. The second quarter ended with GW down just 6 points, 20-26, as they held the Jaspers to just 7 points in the period.

In the third quarter, graduate student forward Maren Durant scored off an assist from Robertson in GW’s first possession as the Revs looked close the deficit. Robertson collected another assist, this time to Buford, in the second minute.

Robertson got a bucket of her own, sinking a layup with the help of a Durant screen with 4:28 remaining in the quarter.

Buford scored another bucket as the Revs trailed by a point and made another layup as she helped the Revs take their first lead of the game with 2:59 remaining in the quarter with a score of 32-31.

With three minutes to go in the third, graduate student forward Faith Blethen hit her first 3-pointer of the game, which extended the GW lead to 4, causing the Jaspers to call a timeout. Right out of the timeout, the Revs’ defense forced a Jasper turnover, giving the ball back to the Revs.

JENNIFER IGBONOBA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Graduate student guard Madison Buford pushes the ball up court.

With just under two minutes remaining, a Buford 3-pointer extended the GW lead to 38-31, their largest lead of the game. The Revs held Manhattan to just 7 third-quarter points and only two field goals.

In the midst of a large back-andforth fourth quarter, Blethen hit a clutch 3-pointer that gave the Revs a 7-point lead, 49-42, with two minutes left in the game. With 28.1 seconds to go in the game, Taiwo drew a foul down low and

sunk both free throws, pushing the lead to 51-45.

Buford was fouled shortly after and also made a pair of free throws at 19.4 seconds. The Revs got the rebound of the Jaspers’ final missed shot and held onto the ball until the buzzer sounded, cementing their 55-49 victory.

The Revolutionaries will head back to the Smith Center on Wednesday, where they will face American University at 6 p.m.

Cross country concludes their season at NCAA regional competition MARGOT DIAMOND REPORTER

The women’s and men’s cross country teams found success in the NCAA MidAtlantic Regional Friday afternoon following impressive performances at the A-10 Championships last month.

The women’s team finished in 11th place in the 6K, and the men finished in 10th place in the 10K at the regional meet this weekend after GW women’s and men’s placed second and fifth, respectively, in their A-10 Championship races last month. The regional race also marks the end of both team’s 2023 seasons before they pick it back up in 2024.

Following their solid showing at the A-10 Championships, the women’s cross country team’s 2023 season ended following the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional competition in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, finishing in 11th place out of the 27 teams competing.

The women finished the 6K race, with a score of 343, while crosstown rival Georgetown earned a combined score of 48, taking first place in the event for the second season in a row.

The women’s team collected five new personal record times

in the 6K event Friday, with the biggest standout being sophomore Sarah Mitchell, who paced the Revs with a personal record of 20:51.1. Mitchell’s time is the sixth fastest in program history and resulted in her individual placement in 32nd place in the race. Following Mitchell was freshman Julia Shanes, who marked a PR of 21:16.1, finishing 57th as an individual and earning the 10th-fastest time in GW history.

Sophomore Una Boylan made a PR time of 21:30.8 and placed 75th, and freshman Lola Dinneen placed 82nd with a PR time of 21:36.5. Senior Catherine Ruffino set a PR time of 22:48.1 and placed 150th, and Junior Olivia Syftestad came in 103rd with a time of 21:56.7.

The men’s cross country team kicked off their race at 1 p.m. in Bethlehem, competing in the 10K race. The Revs finished 10th out of 26 competing schools, with Princeton winning the team title with a score of 41, compared to GW’s team score of 339.

Sophomore Jacob Heredia led the GW pack in the regional race with his record-breaking pace of 30:49.5. Just milliseconds ahead of the previous record, held by graduate student Ryan Fowkes, who paced a 30:49.9 10K

An empty track waits for runners to take their mark.

during the 2022 season. Close behind Heredia was sophomore Austin Brotemarkle, who came in at 31:00.3. Brotemarkle’s time is the third-fastest time in GW program history, putting him in 49th place overall out of the 187

runners.

Another race for the record books is junior Kevin Conlon, who earned his new personal best of 31:21:0, finishing 68th in the race and earning the sixthfastest time in GW history.

HATCHET FILE PHOTO

Senior Lucas Brown finished with a time of 31:44.6 and Fowkes came in shortly after that at 31:57.8. Rounding out the Rev finishers was junior Pierce Kapustka, recording a time of 32:43.7.