Vol-120-Iss-18 by The GW Hatchet

Monday, February 5, 2024 I Vol. 120 Iss. 18

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INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

What’s inside Opinions

The editorial board argues oﬃcials aren’t relying on a coherent free speech policy. Page 6

Community members worry over MSSC staffing, funding FIONA BORK

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

IANNE SALVOSA NEWS EDITOR

JENNIFER IGBONOBA

CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

After the sudden resignation of former Multicultural Student Services Center Director Dustin Pickett, community members and former staff said the center has faced years of funding challenges and staff turnover. Students were optimistic for the future of the MSSC at the oneyear mark of Pickett’s term in October. He planned to expand the MSSC’s offerings to the Mount Vernon and Virginia Science and Technology campuses and strengthen the center’s LGBTQ+ and religious support. But following his abrupt departure, former and current community members who utilized the center said his departure reflects the MSSC’s shrinking autonomy from the University, which thwarts the center’s ability to support cultural student organizations. After Pickett’s resignation, only one full-time staff member — Student Program Associate Elise Greenfield — remains in the center after the MSSC’s LGBTQ+ resource leader AJ King left for a position at Howard University in December. Pickett did not return requests for comment regarding the reason for his resignation. Former MSSC Director Michael Tapscott, who retired last year after serving 19 years in the role, said Pickett and current MSSC staff were moving in the right direction to improve programming and relationships with student organizations coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pickett’s departure is “heartbreaking,” he said. See LEADERS Page 3

Culture

FIONA RILEY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

MOLLY ST. CLAIR REPORTER

Students are alleging that officials charged members of Students for Justice in Palestine and the Student Coalition for Palestine for misconduct. Students claimed this weekend that Students Rights and Responsibilities accused SJP of activity as an organization while suspended and charged the Student Coalition for Palestine – a group that formed after officials suspended SJP in November for projecting anti-Israel messages onto Gelman Library – with community disturbance, disorderly conduct and noncompliance with GW’s policies. The alleged punishment is a point of continued contention between GW and pro-Palestinian student activists, who have demanded GW voice support for Palestinians and condemn Israel since the war in the Gaza Strip began in October. University spokesperson Julia Metjian did not return a request for comment on the conduct hearings. On Saturday and Sunday, students held a pair of protests to demand officials drop the alleged charges against SJP and the student coalition and ask GW to divest from Israel, a call that’s taken hold at universities

TANNER NALLY | PHOTOGRAPHER A demonstrator speaks to the crowd at a protest against GW’s reported ties to Israel on Saturday.

across the country. The students declined to speak to The Hatchet due to “policy.” Pro-Palestinian students at GW and around the country have been retaliated against and doxxed for their beliefs and actions. About 150 students gathered ﬁrst at University Yard on Saturday to call for oﬃcials to drop all charges against the student

organizations in the coalition and demand oﬃcials reinstate SJP. Students later demonstrated their support for members of the organizations attending the reported conduct hearing in a gathering on Sunday night. The students also demanded GW cut ﬁnancial ties with weapons companies and defense contractors supplying arms to

HANNAH MARR

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The Board of Trustees unanimously voted Friday to change the Student Association’s name to Student Government Association. Board Chair Grace Speights called trustees to vote on the name change at their Friday meeting after SGA President Ari-

elle Geismar requested in October that the Board retire the former name to avoid the potentially misleading SA acronym, which is known to stand for sexual assault. Geismar said students and faculty have expressed that they are excited for the student governing body’s “new era” at GW. The SGA — which held the SA name for 51 years, spanning from 1973 to 2024 — will hold a

“transition day” and gauge student feedback for new logos for the organization, Geismar said. The SGA Senate voted to ask the Board to change the name at their meeting in October, sending their request onto the trustees. “I’m really looking forward to clearing up that confusion and changing the name to Student Government Association,” Geismar said.

CONTRIBUTING SPORTS EDITOR

Graduate student Grace Wiczek is used to holding down her square of the court, but last week the volleyball player found herself anchoring something else: a Capitol Hill podium. Wiczek was among the speakers at a briefing in the Russell Senate Office Building on Thursday that urged support for the Fair Play for Women Act, which aims to expand Title IX protections for women in collegiate and high school athletics. Wiczek’s remarks were just one part of her work to improve equity for women’s sports, as Wiczek is joining forces with junior women’s basketball player Maxine Engel to cofound a GW chapter of Voice in Sport, a Title IX education and advocacy group. At Thursday’s briefing, Wiczek, who recently concluded her graduate student season at GW, detailed her experience dealing with gender-based inequalities during her undergraduate career at Dartmouth. “I was soon reminded about these frustrations when I learned the women’s locker room was in a men’s away basketball locker room, the only renovations being cheap wall decals,” Wiczek said during her speech. “It reminded me again of the little social promotion for women’s teams that they received for a game in comparison.” Wiczek said she envisions the chapter

LEXI CRITCHETT | PHOTOGRAPHER Graduate student Grace Wiczek speaks on equity in women’s sports at a briefing in the Russell Senate Office Building.

will help to build a stronger community among female athletes and help them become advocates for themselves. Engel said that while GW does not have noticeable disparities or obvious Title IX violations, she is determined to start the Voice in Sport chapter to bring awareness to Title IX. “GW has no glaring disparities,” Engel said. “The money all evens out. I’ve talked

with our assistant athletic director, and I don’t see any issues within GW. But the biggest reason I just wanted to bring [the chapter] is I don’t think we do a good job of educating student-athletes on the gender equity side of Title IX.” Engel said she hopes to have the club’s ﬁrst general body meeting within the next month and is working on building a presence with athletes.

Officials to add housing for LGBTQ+ students next fall after SGA collaboration Members of the Student Government Association are collaborating with oﬃcials to create housing for transgender and nonbinary students in fall 2024. Director of Campus Living Dan Wright said any returning student who identiﬁes as

This is the second of nine resolutions passed by the two previous SGA senates that called for action from University ofﬁcials and garnered a public response from administrators. A University spokesperson said in November that trustees would not consider a resolution that requested the Board add the SGA president and vice president as voting members.

Officials open expanded Campus Store after delay CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

SPORTS EDITOR

REPORTER

See DEMONSTRATORS Page 4

MAX PORTER

SANDRA KORETZ

RYAN J. KARLIN

Israel. One demonstrator, who read a statement on behalf of SJP, said GW is sending SJP to student conduct proceedings for a second time following its initial suspension for alleged involvement in the coalition. It’s unclear when SJP is undergoing student conduct hearings.

Trustees rename SA to Student Government Association

BEN SPITALNY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Years after his time at GW, NBA forward Yuta Watanabe returns to D.C. Page 8

SJP, other pro-Palestinian groups face disciplinary proceedings, students say

GW athletes push Congress for gender equity in sports, start Title IX education group

HANNAH MARR

Sports

Potomac Phil predicts an early spring during a Dupont festival. Page 7

LGBTQ+ can opt to live in the 16-to-20-person affinity suites in District House for the upcoming academic year. Wright said LGBTQ+ students told Campus Living and Residential Education that they wanted a shared residential community space where their identities could be affirmed, which led officials to work with the SGA to develop the project. Wright said the CLRE and SGA proposed the development of the LGBTQ+ affinity in

the fall when they realized they had similar visions and collaborated to finalize the details of the affinity suite concept. He said they’ve collaborated with other student organizations like Allied in Pride and Transgender and Non-Binary Students of GWU to promote the suite. “CLRE jointly developed the concept of the LGBTQIA+ affinity with the [SGA], solicited feedback from LGBTQIA+-identifying student

organizations, and have been working with those student organizations to promote the aﬃnity suite,” Wright said in an email. CLRE included questions in the 2024-25 housing registration application that ask the student if they are comfortable living with someone with a diﬀerent gender identity from their own or an LGBTQ+ gender identity. See OFFICIALS Page 5

Officials opened the new Campus Store on Wednesday after pushing back the store’s debut date from the fall to February. The Campus Store at 2100 Pennsylvania Ave. opened its doors Wednesday, followed by a Friday ribboncutting ceremony with free gift bags and a performance by student musicians that was attended by trustees and other officials. The Campus Store includes an extra floor of merchandise, a screen playing recordings of GW sporting events and other videos, a children’s book section, an Apple products kiosk and an IT help desk. A step into the Campus Store — which sits next to Bodega, which is not yet open, and across from District House — and students are thrown into a sea of GW pride, with hats, Lululemon clothing and other merchandise decorating the entirety of the ground level. Customers can descend a flight of stairs or take an escalator to the lower level, which holds Apple products, a book section and additional merchandise. Officials announced their plan to relocate the Campus Store from the basement of the University Student Center to the

new 16,000-squarefoot, two-story space last January, saying the space will be able to host book readings and lectures. Officials delayed the opening of the store from late last fall to this month after facing supply chain issues. Colette Coleman, the vice provost for student affairs and dean of students, said at the event that officials are still deciding what to do with the old Campus Store space in the student center basement. “We’re in the process of thinking that through,” Coleman said. The Campus Store will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout the week, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Officials said they will extend store hours for some campus and local events. Coleman said it is “wonderful” to have the new campus store above ground and visible, which helps the brand. “You’re gonna be able to see it,” Coleman said. “No more being lost in the basement of the student center.” Seth Weinshel, the University’s associate vice president of business service, said the Campus Store is “state of the art” and a “flagship” space for GW. He said he thinks GW’s store is the best university store in the country.

NEWS

February 5, 2024 • Page 2

News

THE GW HATCHET

THIS WEEK’S

EVENTS

DIVERSITY ROUNDTABLE BREAKFAST

Monday, Feb. 5 | 9 a.m. | University Student Center Join the School of Business for a networking event to learn about companies’ diversity initiatives.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY Feb. 11, 1980

WE SHALL TRANSCEND ALL

Tuesday, Feb. 6 | 7 p.m. | University Student Center Attend a panel discussion with Black professionals as they share their experiences across various industries.

Thousands of students joined with anti-draft advocates to demonstrate their opposition to the proposed reinstitution of peacetime draft registration in a rally at Gallery Place.

Black Heritage Celebration to celebrate Black achievements, diversity

Endowment rises to $2.6 billion, officials say

BROOKE FORGETTE

IANNE SALVOSA

JENNIFER IGBONOBA

The Board of Trustees reported that GW’s endowment increased to $2.6 billion by the end of the calendar year, the highest value in University history. Secretary Avram Tucker said at a Board meeting Friday that the endowment, a financial foundation composed of real estate, investments and donations, rose from $2.5 billion at the end of fiscal year 2023 to $2.6 billion by Dec. 31, 2023. He said the University’s finances are “strong” despite inflation and “challenges” in the medical enterprise, which has lost $80 million in each of the past two fiscal years. “We’re in strong financial shape, both our real estate portfolio and our other investments,” Tucker said at the meeting. An increase in endowment signifies a larger pool for endowed professorships, scholarships, research and facilities. Some endowment funds are restricted to what donors want the funds to be used for. The Medical Faculty Associates — a group of physicians who teach at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences who helm GW’s academic medical enterprise — has accumulated about $200 million in debt as of October. Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes in October did not specify when he expects the organization to break even. Alumni Association President Maxwell Gocala-Nguyen said for the first time in recent years, all Alumni Association executive committee members have donated to the University. He said GW has almost 10,500 donors — 300 more than the number of donors at last year’s winter Board meeting. He said the Office of Development and Alumni Relations has raised $8.1 million of its $12.9 million goal for FY2024. For comparison, former Alumni Association President Will Alexander III said at last February’s meeting that officials had raised $8 million of their $13.5 million goal in FY2023 and had 11,000 donors out of their 18,500 donor goal. Gocala-Nguyen said officials are “on track” to have the most successful year for the President’s Fund for Excellence in five years. He said this year’s Giving Day will be from April 3 at noon to April 4 at noon, and he hopes to exceed last year’s record-breaking donor count of nearly 3,200 donors. “The GW donor community is very excited for President Granberg and the start of her tenure and making sure that she is successful and leading our institution to new heights,” Gocala-Nguyen said. He said he scheduled 10 Revolutionary Roundtable meetings with alumni to maintain and bolster alumni engagement. He said the Alumni Association launched a webpage for the roundtables so all alumni can participate. “Overall, it’s an initiative to engage, listen and support members of our community that either are not currently engaged with the institution or are super engaged, but really not making sure that they’re giving a philanthropic

STAFF WRITER

NEWS EDITOR

CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR

Student organizations will celebrate the achievements of the Black community and the diversity of the Black diaspora with programming during Black History Month. This year’s Black Heritage Celebration, titled “For Us, By Us: Celebrating Our Culture,” launched Thursday with 28 events hosted by various organizations throughout February, including a dance class and an arts and crafts session focused on Black idols. Student leaders said the month’s programming will honor the contributions individuals have made to Black history and culture instead of focusing on the trauma the community has historically endured. BHC Co-chair Milynda Armstrong-Stewart said the BHC executive board wanted to embrace celebration during Black History Month instead of centering on the hardships the Black community has faced in the past and present, adding that organizations could decide if they wanted to focus more on celebration or history. She added that the executive board works with the Black Student Union executive board and advisor E’Quince Smith and received support from the Multicultural Student Services Center. “The reason that we wanted to make it fun is because ultimately all the events that we do they’re for us,” Stewart said. “As a Black community, we understand and know all the struggles that we’ve had, so we wanted to make the month fun for us and to enjoy our culture and history rather than focusing on trauma.” Social media influencer Lynae Vanee kicked off the month’s programming with a keynote event where she discussed Black representation in entertainment. Vanee is known for her social media series “Parking Lot Pimpin’” where she talks about political and cultural issues affecting the Black community from a parking lot. Stewart said the BHC’s executive board compiled a short list of potential speakers before narrowing down candidates based on who best fit the theme and their budget. The group chose Vanee because of the content she talks about. “She’s young, she’s on social media, taking advan-

JENNIFER IGBONOBA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Students attend the Black Heritage Celebration’s kickoff keynote from social media influencer Lynae Vanee.

tage of that type of platform, so we felt like she really appealed to a younger, Black audience,” Stewart said. BHC Co-chair Molayo Ifebajo said the theme was inspired by Shark Tank Cohost Daymond John’s hiphop clothing brand FUBU, short for the name “For Us, By Us” and wanted it to be focused on “owning our own celebration.” Along with organizations, BHC will also host several events throughout the month including a service day to clean Garfield Park near Navy Yard and Capitol Hill, a karaoke night, their annual Soul Revue, a showcase of Black talent, and Finale, where students can connect and celebrate the month. Senior Rinella Casseus, the event director for GW Haiti, said this year is the first time the organization will be hosting an event for BHC. She added that the organization wanted to showcase the beauty and history of Haiti, the first free Black republic after the Haitian Revolution. “We got taken from our native countries and brought here and had no choice but to form our own cultures, whether it’s in America, in Latin America or wherever other parts that we were taken from our original places,” Casseus said. “That’s why we think it’s really important for it to be acknowledged.” Deseree Chacha, the president of the African Students Association, said this year’s theme presents an opportunity for Black people to celebrate their culture in their own way and showcase the parts of their heritage they value the most during Black History Month. She

SNAPSHOT

said there is a large Black diaspora on GW’s campus, which makes celebrating and supporting Black voices more impactful. “We are celebrating our culture, but in our means, in our way,” Chacha said. “A lot of times Black culture can be exploited and taken for granted, and voiced and advertised in a way that does not consult people from the diaspora or Black people in general.” Brianna Taylor, a senior and the president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., said her organization will host an event titled “Our Fashion, Our Fly” on Feb. 13, which will feature a presentation of different generations of Black fashion. She added that attendees are encouraged to show up dressed in their favorite era of Black fashion. “We wanted to shed a light on the history of Black fashion trends, and how Black fashion has changed over the years, what makes a trend in the Black community, how trends have changed and what Black figures in fashion have really made a statement in the community,” Taylor said. Taylor said this is the sorority’s first year since she’s been a member not hosting their annual “Black Love” event for BHC, where attendees engaged in conversations about romantic and platonic Black relationships. She added that the sorority decided to plan a new event this year because the organization has never discussed what fashion means to the Black community. Taylor said the change in fashion trends correlates with the growth in Black people’s freedom and individuality over the years,

as suits and style cohesion in the early 1900s morphed into baggy jeans and shirts at the tail end of the century. “Fashion is not just a means of the clothes that you wear, especially in the Black community,” Taylor said. “Fashion has become such a staple of resistance with everything from your hair to sneakers versus heels and things like that.” Senior Amanda Kikonyogo, the president of the Black Girl Mentorship Program, said the organization is hosting an event highlighting Black icons and inventions Feb. 29. She said attendees will participate in a competition to recreate Black inventions and icons using arts and crafts as well as an awards ceremony where attendees can present their work and share the stories behind their craft. “It’s a great way to inspire other people to sort of look into why this person might think this is a really great mentor or someone to look up to in the limelight,” Kikonyogo said. Kikonyogo said BHC is an opportunity for different Black communities and voices across campus to come together and attend each other’s events. She said showcasing Blackness should be carried out beyond Black History Month to create safe spaces to celebrate their achievements. “It really brings us together to attend each other’s events and have a monthlong of consistent programming where we’re really sort of supporting each other, reflecting and looking forward to the Black community and what we can do and the great things that we can accomplish,” Kikonyogo said.

KAIDEN YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Nestled in a corner of Eastern Market, Paik Produce offers Asian vegetables and fruits, spices and condiments, and Korean dishes like japchae and tteokbokki.

effort to GW,” GocalaNguyen said. Staff Council President Bridget Schwartz, who gave the first Staff Council report to the Board since its creation last year, said the council’s priorities include advocating for salaries that ensure staff can afford the D.C. cost of living and transparency in University budgeting. “Today marks a milestone for the council and for staff,” Schwartz said. Madeleine Jacobs, a trustee and the chair of the Board’s Committee on Academic Affairs, said fall 2024 applicants are “on track” to meet “targets.” She said graduate applications are up 10 to 15 percent from last year. Officials launched the Rev Up campaign in the fall to advertise GW’s graduate programs after graduate enrollment fell from 15,821 graduate students in 2017 to 14,383 in 2022. Board Chair Grace Speights said the Board has “strong support” for University President Ellen Granberg and Provost Chris Bracey’s plan to support the GW community and reestablish guidelines for free speech following student ire over the suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine at GWU, which led some students to accuse officials of silencing proPalestinian voices. Granberg and Bracey released a plan to review the Code of Student Conduct, offer educational programming for handling university life during times of conflict and support for those affected by the IsraelHamas war. “We know that reinforcing these principles amidst the issues we face can be challenging, but I have great faith in the GW community,” Speights said at the meeting. Student Government Association President Arielle Geismar said students, faculty and staff feel that administrators do not hear their requests due to a lack of voting representation on the Board. In November, the Board rejected the Student Empowerment Act, which requested the addition of the SGA president and vice president as voting members in Board meetings and committee sessions. She said prospective students are more attuned than in previous years to officials’ responses to students during campus crises, like the war in the Gaza Strip, and will feel discouraged from attending GW if they feel unrepresented in decision-making. She said officials must listen to students, faculty and staff if they want GW to be a University that upholds equality and justice. She said student leaders met with trustees Thursday night and requested for regular meetings between a council of student leaders and the Board. “GW must be on the right side of history by taking a stance engaging with stakeholders in ways that aren’t conventional,” Geismar said. At the meeting, trustees also approved a request from Geismar to rename the Student Association to the Student Government Association because of the “SA” abbreviation’s connotations to sexual assault and a Nazi paramilitary organization.

NEWS

February 5, 2024 • Page 3

THE GW HATCHET

MSSC opens LGBTQ+ resource room in student center NICOLA DEGREGORIO REPORTER

Officials opened a room with clothing and health resources for LGBTQ+ students in the Multicultural Student Services Center last week. About 15 students affiliated with various LGBTQ+ organizations attended the launch of the resource room Tuesday — which includes a gender-affirming wardrobe of free clothes and health resources like Plan B — hosted by the MSSC and Campus Living and Residential Education. The room will serve as a place for students to receive free gender-affirming care, one of the first spaces of its kind on campus. The room holds a closet that contains racks and drawers of clothing and footwear options to allow people to find clothing that affirms their gender identity. The closet also includes TransTape — a chest-binding tape — and contraceptives like Plan B and other sexual health resources. Shelves with progress pride flag pins, artwork and pamphlets about Descovy — a prevention drug for people at risk for developing HIV — adorned the room’s walls, along with a poster displaying messages of support to transgender students. The room also contains frames of the logos of LGBTQ+ organizations on campus, like Allied in Pride

and the Business Pride Network. Mitchell Foster, an assistant director in CLRE, said AJ King, the former assistant director of the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center, began planning the new room last year and inspired the collection of feedback regarding a future LGBTQ+ affinity living space. Foster said they began conducting small focus groups with students last semester about a potential affinity space for LGBTQ+ students in fall 2024 and hoped to further those conversations at this launch. “In my conversations with AJ, I was really inspired by his vision and his intention for such a resource, space or resource room to exist,” Foster said. “That also catalyzed conversations about if this resource room exists, how can we also make our residence halls more inclusive, especially to LGBTQ+ identifying students on campus.” Foster said officials primarily intended for the event to introduce students to the resources available in the room so they would feel comfortable continually using the space in the future. “That’s why I’m here tonight, so I could figure out if there’s interest for it and also get to know from the students what would they like in an affinity space, what would a comfortable and safe community look like for them,” Foster said. First-year Kaylee Allen said she

CAROLINE MOORE | PHOTOGRAPHER A pride flag and other decorative items adorn the wall of the MSSC's new LGBTQ+ resource room.

wished resources for LGBTQ+ students were mentioned in her mandatory First-Year Experience course. She said she had to seek out organizations herself but is glad to have found various communities to connect with during her first year.

“I’m looking forward to the collectiveness and connecting with everyone else in the community,” Allen said. “I think that’s going to be really important because you have to stick together and meet new people.”

First-year Pragya Natarajan said the space is smaller than she imagined but was impressed by its abundance of resources. “I wish that it was a bit bigger, but it’s pretty cozy,” Natarajan said.

GW Hospital lays off about 60 employees ERIKA FILTER NEWS EDITOR

FLORENCE TIAN | PHOTOGRAPHER The directory for the Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, housed within 2300 H St.

Officials shrink Nashman Center office space, cramping students, staff MAGGIE RHOADS STAFF WRITER

SACHINI ADIKARI STAFF WRITER

Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service employees have felt cramped since officials shrunk their office space in December and January. Officials moved Nashman Center operations from the third and fourth floors of the GW Hillel building to only the fourth floor, leaving 29 staff members and additional student employees with less workspace. University spokesperson Julia Metjian said the third floor of the building is now reserved for “future academic endeavors.” The Nashman Center moved to the third and fourth floors of the Hillel building in 2021 after

the Hillel building was completed in July 2021. Officials demolished the building that previously held the Nashman Center on 22nd Street in October 2021. Metjian said Nashman Center operations were unaffected by the decrease in space. She said officials made additional space on the Foggy Bottom Campus available to the Nashman Center. Metjian declined to comment on when officials moved all Nashman Center office space to the fourth floor of the Hillel building and whether offices would be moved back to the third floor. The third floor of the Hillel building included offices for Nashman Center programs like JumpStart at GW, which trains college students to serve in lowincome preschools, and Math Matters GW, which

provides free math tutoring to public middle school students in D.C. The fourth floor contained programs like GW SmartDC, which offers free literacy and math tutoring to K-8 students in the District, and engageDC, which connects GW students with partner organizations. But Nashman Center student staff said the limited space has impeded their work and ability to interact with each other. Cali Guastella, a junior majoring in accounting and a community engagement assistant for engageDC, said she primarily works remotely, but the decrease in office space has made it difficult for some of her colleagues to work in the Nashman Center. “I know there has been a lot of stress and chaos for people who work in the building,” Guastella said in an email.

GW Hospital laid off approximately 3 percent of its staff late last month. The hospital laid off approximately 60 workers, most in positions “not directly involved in the front line of patient care delivery,” according to a statement from the hospital provided to The Hatchet on Thursday. Representatives for the union acting on behalf of nurses, which has not yet been officially recognized, allege employees did not receive advance notice of their termination. A job elimination notice obtained by The Hatchet states that the hospital will pay terminated employees for any unused paid time off, and GW Hospital’s release states that the majority of laidoff employees were offered

other positions within the company. The hospital is “making every effort to support impacted employees,” including providing separation packages and helping transition employees into new roles, according to the statement. “We are restructuring certain functional areas and departments within The George Washington University Hospital to increase operational efficiencies and reduce costs during this challenging time in the healthcare industry,” the statement reads. Hospitals are still financially recovering from the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, made worse by inflation and labor shortages. A spokesperson for GW Hospital deferred comment to the statement provided to media. Ed Smith, the executive director of the District of Columbia Nurses Asso-

ciation, said some employees reported coming into work late last month to find that their badges were not working properly, only to discover they were laid off. Smith said the National Labor Relations Board has yet to weigh in on the hospital’s objection to nurses’ July vote to unionize, meaning the hospital does not officially recognize the DCNA as the union representing its nurses. The D.C. Council wrote a letter in June requesting the hospital allow the union vote and stop alleged unfair labor practices, like intimidation and coercion surrounding the unionization effort. “We’re going to continue to work to talk to our nurses in the various units, find out what their issues are and help them resolve the issues,” Smith said.

HATCHET FILE PHOTO

GW Hospital on 23rd Street

Student leaders uncertain of MSSC’s future after Pickett’s abrupt exit From Page 1 “It was a really magical place for a lot of years,” Tapscott said. “I felt like Dustin was getting that back, if not better. He was doing some great work.” Tapscott said the MSSC has faced low staffing since 2019, when about three employees left the division. He said following 2019, officials removed the administrative coordinator and program coordinator roles from the formerly fiveperson full-time staff. “All of those people had multiple years, great reviews, loved by the community, really iconic people,” Tapscott said. “But 2019, people were looking at the MSSC and how it was functioning and it just evidently became an uncomfortable place to work.” Tapscott said the decline in staff and return from COVID-19 created a loss of continuity for the MSSC, forcing Pickett to start “fresh” when he entered the position. “The fact that there’s been a lot

of movement in this particular division is disconcerting,” Tapscott said. “That’s where the issue lies. And that’s where the issue has to be addressed.” A University spokesperson said officials will launch a search to fill the vacancies in the center’s administration and are working to address the staffing needs on an interim basis in the meantime. The spokesperson said the center will continue normal operations and leaders within the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement will temporarily fill in the administrative gaps. The spokesperson declined to comment on why Pickett resigned, how officials will remedy the center’s low staffing and what officials will prioritize when seeking a new director. The spokesperson also declined to say why officials removed the administrative coordinator and program coordinator positions in 2019. “The MSSC plays a crucial role within the GW community, and we are committed to its success,”

the University spokesperson said in an email. “We invite students to engage in the space, attend programs, and utilize all resources available.” Tapscott said he hopes that Pickett’s brief tenure in the position sends a message to officials about the MSSC’s challenges with low staffing. He said officials need to show a “demonstrated commitment” to the division. “The role of a multicultural center, particularly on a campus like GW, is really critical,” Tapscott said. “It takes staffing and it takes funding and it takes support to ensure that it’s there in its place.” Michelle Yamamoto, a junior and a co-president of the Chinese American Student Association, said the organization recently started working with the MSSC. A week before his resignation, she had a Zoom call with Pickett about what support the center could provide to the group to put on their annual Lunar New Year banquet at the beginning of February. But now she is unsure of the

status of the MSSC’s support for CASA with Pickett gone. She said cultural organizations will “definitely feel the loss of support,” adding that the University does not treat its staff of color well, particularly in the MSSC, which doesn’t have “a ton” of funding. “I hope that they make some changes and, I don’t know why they left or anything, but just I hope they’re treating their staff well, and also actively looking to fill those spots because I think that all the cultural orgs really need a hub like the MSSC,” Yamamoto said. Senior Raheel Abubakar, the president of the Muslim Students’ Association, said he said goodbye to Pickett in person Thursday. He said people involved with the MSSC will prosper in the future as long as Pickett’s vision for the organization continues. “Dustin has been such an incredible director,” Abubakar said. “He is such a lovely man to speak to. He has been so unendingly supportive and I couldn’t imagine the MSSC without him. He’s one of the

people that I look forward to go see when I see the MSSC, and I think that a lot of how much the MSSC has improved in the last year has been a result of his efforts.” Laine Schlezinger, a junior and the president of Transgender and Non-Binary Students, said they felt “apprehensive” upon hearing about Pickett’s sudden resignation. They said when King left GW in December, officials told the group that Pickett would be their primary point of contact to seek support from for their larger upcoming events like Trans Day of Visibility in the spring, leaving members now uncertain of whom to reach out to. “Him leaving: That left us, as TNBS, wondering where is our contact at the center,” Schlezinger said. “Obviously with only one full-time staff member it’s like okay, we don’t want to overwhelm this person, but we have a chain of command and just over the past few months through expected and unexpected means, that’s definitely been dissolved.”

NEWS

February 5, 2024 • Page 4

THE GW HATCHET

Q&A: Miriam’s Kitchen outreach director talks The Aston, cold weather services ERIKA FILTER NEWS EDITOR

Tucked in the basement of the Western Presbyterian Church, just a block west of campus sits a pillar of the District’s mission to end chronic homelessness. Miriam’s Kitchen works with government and nongovernment groups to provide services for unhoused people across about half of the District, like its weeknight dinner services. Andy Wassenich, the assistant director of outreach at Miriam’s Kitchen, said the organization plans to expand its services when the D.C. government converts The Aston, a former GW residence hall, into a homeless shelter in the spring or summer — the first of its kind in Ward 2. Amid an ongoing legal battle over the fate of The Aston, coupled with days of hypothermic conditions and the clearing of an abandoned encampment at 23rd and I streets, Miriam’s Kitchen’s work pushes on. The Hatchet sat down with Wassenich to discuss the development of The Aston, Miriam’s Kitchen’s services during hypothermia season and the breadth of their outreach. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What does your work on the outreach team look like? What are you doing on an average day?

That looks different every day for everybody on the team, depending on their caseload. We cover a little less than half of the actual territory of the city. 25 percent of our job is doing what we call light-touch, get-to-know-you outreach, where we’re handing out supplies and just trying to build rapport with people across our territory. The other 75 percent is spent doing intensive case management with people who mostly are folks who are housingmotivated, but that’s not the prerequisite. We’re very housing-focused. To be an outreach worker, you have to be a real sort of jack-of-all-trades case manager.

What significance do you find, if any, that The Aston will be the first homeless shelter in Ward 2?

I don’t really find any particular significance in that, other than it’s probably long overdue. There’s significance that in comparison to most of the other shelters, it’s accessible. It’s not toward the reaches of the city. People can get around.

“Despite having made consistently clear that SJP is not a part of the Student Coalition for Palestine, the University has falsely accused SJP of involvement as a pretense for further attack on Palestinian political expression,” the demonstrator said. The demonstrator said officials also told every organization associated with the coalition that they will be sent to student conduct proceedings for “unfounded” claims of misconduct on campus. The demonstrator then announced Sunday’s protest in Kogan Plaza to demand officials drop all charges against SJP and the student organizations involved in the coalition. Demonstrators organized at around 1 p.m. in U-Yard on Saturday, holding signs that read “Long live Gaza, long live Palestine,” “Resistance is justice” and “Not in my name” – a movement of Jewish peace activists calling for a cease-fire. Some participants held up five banners reading “Divest from Zionist genocide,” “From the river to the sea,” “The youth carry the struggle forward,” “Students united will never be defeated,” and “End the siege on Gaza.” Representatives from nine student organizations spoke at the demonstration, calling on officials to divest from companies supplying arms to Israel and reinstate SJP: the Arab and Muslim Student associations, including No Guns for GW Student Coalition, Students Against Imperialism, Jewish Voice for Peace, and GW Dissenters. The demonstrator that read a statement on behalf of SJP said low attendance at “Dinner & Dialogue” – an ongoing four-part series of events for community

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY/VANDALISM

Athletic Complex Garage (Mount Vernon Campus) 1/28/2024 – 8:04 a.m. Open Case GW Police Department officers responded to a report of damages to the access control arm of the garage.

Case open.

THEFT II/FROM BUILDING

District House Reported 1/29/2024 – Unknown Date and Time Open Case A female student reported her laundry stolen from the laundry room.

Case open. AUDEN YURMAN | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Miriam's Kitchen, housed within the basement of the Western Presbyterian Church on Virginia Avenue

Has Miriam’s Kitchen been in touch with the Department of Human Services or any other D.C. agency in terms of coordinating services for the new shelter?

We are not the provider who’s going to be staffing it. We were involved in the advocacy for it. An existing homeless services provider has been contracted to staff it. Something that we need to think about is that people will likely be coming down for food. We’re already serving however many meals that we’re serving, so we want to be prepared. Potentially, even though meals will be provided at this shelter, people may be coming down to Miriam’s for meals.

The weather is a bit warmer now, but can you talk a bit about what your operations looked like during hypothermia season? There were 17 nights in a row of hypothermia alerts. Did that change operations at all?

For the outreach team, when there is a hypothermia alert on, our hours of operation change. Under normal circumstances, we have to have people in the field and available until 9 p.m., but when there’s a hypothermia alert, we have to have people available and in the field until 11. That’s something that we deal with every winter. We have a long stretch. In particular, the coldest night during the week that we had snow, there were warming buses that were available.

Demonstrators gather for weekend protests against SRR proceedings From Page 1

CRIME LOG

members on University free speech policy and rhetoric hosted by officials – indicates students’ realization that the University is not committed to protecting free speech. Only three students attended the first session held last week. Officials held a second session on Monday. Christy Anthony, the director of Students Rights and Responsibilities, said in the first session that SJP’s projections classified as “vandalism,” and as a result are unprotected under GW’s free speech policy. “These events have gone on with pathetically few attendees, from students who can see clearly the meaningless rhetoric from an administration who forces the oppression of one of the most vulnerable student populations on campus,” the demonstrator said. It has been 119 days since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,139 Israelis and has since led to the Israeli military’s killing of about 27,131 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children. A demonstrator speaking on behalf of the Guns for GW Student Coalition said officials’ decision to arm select GW Police Department officers has not protected students against displays of discrimination on campus. They said officials use armed officers for “oppression” and “intimidation” purposes at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. At least four Metropolitan Police Department cars and four officers congregated at 21st and H Street on Saturday. “Since this plan was put in place these officers have absolutely and unsurprisingly failed to protect us,” the demonstrator said. “They failed to protect us from the doxing trucks that showed up on our campus.”

One was here down at the 21st and E encampment, and there was another one in our territory up in Columbia Heights. We were asked to make sure that they had proper signage. That proved to be very challenging because those buses were not on schedule, and there were issues with the buses at various points throughout the week that we had to troubleshoot. So that took up a lot of time.

Did The Aston delay impact your work during hypothermia season?

To the degree that you have more people outside and that you have a limited number of beds available to begin with, yeah, it has an impact. I think we just look at it like, “It is what it is.” It’s hard to say what that impact was.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

One of the things about outreach in general is that people will often see somebody experiencing homelessness or who is really vulnerable or in really bad shape and wonder why nobody does anything. The truth is there’s very few people across the city like that who aren’t on our radars and that we’re not actually working with or trying to make a difference with. What people really need to understand is everything is self-directed, even to a degree that sometimes drives me crazy. If somebody doesn’t want to do something, the threshold to make somebody do something they don’t want to do is very, very high. A lot of the work that we do for and on behalf of people happens behind the scenes.

UNLAWFUL ENTRY

Tompkins Hall 1/29/2024 – 7:07 p.m. Closed Case GWPD officers responded to a report of a previously barred male subject inside Tompkins Hall. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the barred subject and explained the parameters of the previously issued bar notice. Officers then escorted the subject off GW property.

Subject barred.

HARASSMENT

Smith Center 1/31/2024 – 8:38 p.m. Closed Case GWPD officers responded to a report of a female student being harassed on social media by an unknown subject.

Referred to DSA.

LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION

Madison Hall 1/31/2024 – 1:11 a.m. Closed Case GWPD officers responded to a report of an intoxicated male student. Upon arrival, EMeRG officials were on scene and after medical evaluation, responders transported him to the GW Hospital emergency room for further treatment.

Referred to the Division for Student Affairs.

HARASSMENT

Smith Center 1/31/2024 – 8:38 p.m. Closed Case GWPD officers responded to a report of a female student being harassed on social media by an unknown subject.

Referred to DSA.

—Compiled by Max Porter

Health data science major educates students on emerging technologies LETICIA MARRERO MIRANDA REPORTER

NATALIE NOTE REPORTER

Milken Institute School of Public Health faculty and students said the school’s new health data science major launched last fall tackles emerging health technologies amid a rise in data science jobs. Milken officials began offering a Bachelor of Science degree in health data science in the fall and will expand the program next fall to offer a dualdegree option, according to the undergraduate and graduate program pages. Milken faculty and students said officials designed the curriculum to train undergraduates to collect biomedical, clinical and public health data using new technologies that research, health care and government agencies use to predict and improve public health outcomes. Ali Rahnavard, the director of the health data science major and an assistant professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics, said Milken officials wanted to offer the major to help students understand new data technology used to address issues like health disparities and disease prevention. He said teaching students about the technology in the context of biology and health policy prepares them for jobs in the health research community. Data science jobs are projected to grow by 35 percent from 2022 to 2032 with roughly 17,700 new jobs expected each year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The health data science major teaches students how to use data analytics, statistics and machine learning in the

KATELYN POWER | PHOTOGRAPHER Students sit in classes within the Milken Institute School of Public Health.

health industry according to the program overview. The overview states that graduates can contribute to health services planning, epidemic tracking and health promotion because they understand how to collect and interpret data in the context of public health challenges. “This major in the undergrad level provides more practical skills so that the students who graduate from this major can do job opportunities that actually reflect the needs of the society in terms of health,” Rahnavard said. Rahnavard said the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics decided to create the major in 2021 and formed a working group of six faculty to develop the curriculum in 2022. Milken officials and the dean approved the curriculum in July 2023. Rahnavard said he served as the chair of the working group and prioritized course offerings that give students an understanding of technology in different health fields. The major requires core courses like Research

Methods in Public Health, Introductory Biostatistics and Health Data Visualization, in addition to electives in selected areas of interest like biomedical engineering, statistics and biochemistry, according to the curriculum sheet. “Rahnavard said he is focused on recruiting current Milken students and students currently in high school, with five Milken students already planning to transfer into the major. Rahnavard said his main role as director is to collect feedback from faculty and students on the curriculum and make necessary changes to ensure the courses align with the program’s original mission: to prepare graduates for jobs in the health data science sector or graduate school. Rahnavard said the dual-degree program launching next fall combines the Bachelor of Science and master’s degree in data science to strengthen students’ skill sets and help them decide if they want to pursue a doctorate. He said officials will advertise the additional 27-credit of-

fering to students enrolled in the undergraduate program. The University also offers master’s and doctorate degrees in health data science. Keith Crandall, the director of GW’s Computational Biology Institute and a professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics, said the institute’s faculty helped develop the health data science curriculum with other biostatistics and bioinformatics faculty. “I’m hoping it will be a popular program because it really is a nice extension of a wide variety of majors to an area that not only has great graduate opportunities but also great job opportunities,” Crandall said. Crandall said the major exposes students to Python scripting and different types of statistical languages in the context of health — like R, a software for statistical computing, and SAS, a software for data analytics and analysis. He said these skills help students get hired in programming and data science jobs in the health industry.

NEWS

February 5, 2024 • Page 5

THE GW HATCHET

AUGUST FRIEBOLIN

Students honor ancestors, tradition at Lunar New Year celebration

MICHAEL HARIMAN

JENNA LEE

Satellites that stay over the same point could help provide faster and more accurate air quality alerts and save billions in health care costs per year, according to a study by GW’s Air, Climate and Health Lab. Researchers from GW, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency found that surveys of the same region taken from geostationary satellites — which stay in the same place relative to the surface of the Earth — provided more frequent air quality alerts than polar-orbiting satellites, which orbit around the poles of Earth. Susan Anenberg, the leader of the Air, Climate and Health Lab, said geostationary satellites better inform the public about poor air quality days, allowing people to reduce their exposure and avoid future health consequences like cardiovascular disease. Anenberg, the chair of the Environmental and Occupational Health Department, said the study’s authors sought to demonstrate the public health value of geostationary satellites for air pollution monitoring before the tentative NOAA satellite mission GeoXO. The NOAA mission, planned for the 2030s, would place more geostationary satellites in orbit over the Western Hemisphere to improve weather, air pollution and climate change monitoring. “The paper shows that if we had satellites that were geostationary, that hovered over the United States as the Earth spins and therefore were able to take measurements of the earth’s atmosphere every hour throughout the daylight hours,” Anenberg said. “If we had that capability, we would be able to provide better information to people to protect themselves on poor air quality days.” Satellites measure air pollution in the atmosphere by observing the quantity of light that reaches the surface of the Earth and the amount that is reflected off of particles in the air. In contrast, ground monitoring systems chemically monitor air composition, drawing in air and measuring the concentration of particles. Satellite and ground air pollution monitors measure levels of particulate matter in the atmosphere with a maximum diameter of 2.5 micrometers, or PM 2.5. Researchers have linked exposure to premature death, birth defects, lung cancer and more. The researchers analyzed several air pollution data sets from ground sensors and polar and geostationary satellites to calculate the number of person-alerts, or the number of days

QUINN GIORDANO

Geostationary satellites could provide better air quality alerts: study REPORTER

REPORTER

COURTESY OF SUSAN ANENBERG Susan Anenberg, the leader of the Air, Climate and Health Lab

under an air quality alert multiplied by the number of people in the affected region. They found geostationary satellites would generate 60 percent more person-alerts than polar satellites. Researchers determined roughly 1,200 more people per year would avoid premature death by factoring in estimates of how people reduce their exposure to pollutants based on these alerts. The researchers combined the estimate with existing data on the costs of asthma and pollution-related hospital visits and showed that the satellites could reduce $13 billion per year nationally. Anenberg said she hopes better air quality data collected from satellites will help individuals and policymakers make better health decisions like staying indoors and using air filters on poor air quality days or approving projects like GeoXO to improve air quality data. “There had been a recent review done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that shows that people do undertake behavior change when they know it’s a poor air quality day,” Anenberg said. “There’s a variety of things that people do. In some cases, they’re staying indoors and running their air conditioning with a filtration device. In other cases, they are just wearing masks when they’re outdoors.” Experts in satellite air pollution monitoring said this study will contribute to the burgeoning literature on the subject, helping convince policymakers of the usefulness of satellite monitoring. Jenny Bratburd, a researcher for NASA, said geostationary satellites could detect changes in fine particle pollution faster than polar orbiting ones, which would in turn provide more timely air quality alerts. “People want information about when it’s near and when they should

take action to protect themselves or even just the regular air pollution from say, like traffic, you know, that changes throughout the day,” Bratburd said. “So when you have geostationary satellites, you have a better ability to see those changes throughout the day.” Yang Liu, a professor and the chair of Environmental Health at Emory University, said there needs to be more studies demonstrating the public health benefits of using satellites to monitor air quality, a relatively new technology, for policymakers. “Remote sensing is very, very new. This level of modeling capabilities only became available probably for the past 10 years. Before that, we either don’t have the resolution, we don’t have the frequency or we simply don’t have the modeling tools to come up with accurate results,” Liu said. Liu said the EPA uses ground monitoring instruments to assess air quality in accordance with the Clean Air Act of 1990. Though legally required by the act, the technology is limited by infrequent data collection and missing data for rural areas, which satellites help combat, he said. “Two-thirds of the ground monitors only take samples once every three days, so that’s how you leave a big information gap in there. And again, because of its expensive operations, most of these monitors are only or mostly located in urban centers. We have 75 percent of U.S. counties without a single air quality mark,” Liu said. Liu said emerging disasters that originate away from urban centers, like wildfires and dust storms, demonstrate the need for a method of detection without relying on costly ground monitors, which satellites could provide. “That’s where I think remote sensing can provide the biggest value,” Liu said. “By nature, it has comprehensive spatial coverage.”

Officials designate District House affinity space for LGBTQ+ students next fall From Page 1 SGA President Arielle Geismar said as a member of the LGBTQ+ community she is excited at the prospect of allowing GW students to choose housing choices that better reflect their gender identity and preferences. She said the housing will be open to all LGBTQ+ students who express interest in the program. “It’s important to me that students feel as though they have housing options that reflect their comfortability level, because housing has historically been assigned by gender,” Geismar said. Under the current gender-inclusive housing guidelines, students of all gender identities can opt into living together. Gender-inclusive housing — which allows students who identify as different genders or have a different biological sex to live together — is available for all students in all residence halls. SGA Director of Housing Justin Emgushov said the initiative is “twopronged,” with the first goal being the addition of affinity housing for transgender and nonbinary students, and the second to overhaul the housing application forms. “It was very clear that our intentions were aligned with the administration,” Emgushov said. “That made it very easy to work with the administration on this policy proposal.” He said the SGA hopes to include various accommodations within the affinity housing unit, including a needle disposal container because many transgender and nonbinary individu-

RAPHAEL KELLNER | PHOTOGRAPHER SGA Deputy Secretary of Student Justice Carson Consiglio and SGA President Arielle Geismar sit on the steps of District House, which will soon offer housing for transgender and nonbinary students.

als use injected hormones and require a place to safely throw away their needles. Emgushov said the second prong was to overhaul the housing application process beginning in fall 2024 to make housing applications gender-based, rather than the current sex-based system. CLRE officials brought up the idea of changing the housing application during their conversations about implementing the affinity space, Emgushov said. “A lot of it mostly has to do with making sure that trans people on campus have a space where there are more people like them, that they can feel comfortable in,” Emgushov said. SGA Deputy Secretary of Student Justice Carson Consiglio spearheaded the initiative and said as a transgender man he experienced issues with finding transgender-affirming

housing accommodations “year after year,” which hurt his mental health. He said he and other LGBTQ+ students worry that they will have to live with someone who does not accept or understand their gender or sexual orientation. Consiglio said a student may tell CLRE staff they are transgender to ensure they are living in an LGBTQ+ friendly space or to make CLRE aware of their use of needles for transitionrelated medication. CLRE then refers the student to Disability Support Services, even if they don’t have a disability. He said that last year, DSS put him in an accessible room in Amsterdam Hall, which worried him because he felt he was taking a space away from someone with a disability that requires physical accommodation. He said his housing placement felt like

a “rushed solution” because it appeared as if CLRE didn’t know what to do with transgender students, which ultimately motivated him to work with other SGA members to develop t ra n sgender-accessible housing. Consiglio said the University previously offered LGBTQ+ affinity housing but that it was discontinued due to a lack of interested students and overall difficulty finding a space for every student. Consiglio said an affinity housing option for LGBTQ+ students would improve their housing experience because the spaces include private laundry rooms and bathrooms. “Just ensuring that we have resources and access to, honestly, just housing that would make us feel safe, is something that we’re working on in the coming years that I’m really excited for,” Consiglio said.

GW Chinese American Student Association and Vietnamese Student Association partnered for the first time to host an annual Lunar New Year celebration Saturday, featuring live dance performances, games and lively conversations. Lunar New Year, also called the Spring Festival, begins on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and is an annual holiday dating back thousands of years where people, primarily in Asian cultures, usher in the new year with festivals to honor ancestors, ward off negative energy and illuminate their homes with lanterns. Students brought the tradition to GW this year by gathering at tables in the University Student Center covered in red lanterns and red and gold streamers — hues meant to bring good fortune — to enjoy traditional eats for the new year like dumplings and banh chung, a Vietnamese sticky rice cake, watch traditional lion dance performances, play games of Mahjong and dine on a buffet of dumplings and spring rolls. “I want it to just feel like a big family gathering or a big family dinner,” said Michelle Yamamoto, a CASA co-president. “A big part of celebrating the New Year is gathering together with your loved ones and usually having a big banquet. So I just want everybody to feel like they’re in community with one another.” Yamamoto, a junior, said CASA and VSA usually put on separate New Year’s celebrations but decided to join forces this year to combine their resources and funding to put on more performances and activities for guests. She added that she wanted to build community with other Asian student groups on campus, which she felt hadn’t happened enough in the past. There has been a global push over the past decade to embrace Vietnamese, Korean and Malaysian cultures into the Lunar New Year celebrations by using “Lunar New Year” instead of “Chinese New Year” to refer to the holiday. Students kicked off the banquet with an interactive lion dance performance from the D.C.-based Hung Ci Lion Dance Troupe. One dancer wore a decorated lion head and other dancers braced the body to tell the story of the beast “Nian” — the center of Lunar New Year legends. Chamak, a multicultural fusion dance team, performed a dance to traditional Chinese music with black fans following the lion dance. Senior Siyu Wang closed out the performances with a traditional Chinese dance, donning a flowing red and green dress. Yamamoto said this year’s celebration continued the tradition of lion dancing, part of a Chinese ceremony during the new year to dispel evil and included new performances from groups like Chamak. She said the Lunar New Year gives Asian American students a sense of comfort because they can celebrate part of their culture while

far from home and family. “It’s so traditional to celebrate Lunar New Year with your family, so when you’re at school and really far away from your family and what you are used to it can feel a little bit isolating,” Yamamoto said. “I want people to be able to come and feel like they have a community even if they’re not at home celebrating with the people that they’re used to.” First-year Caitlyn Huynh-Nguyen, VSA’s marketing intern, said CASA contacted VSA about collaborating on the event over winter break. “We are so privileged to be collaborating with CASA, which is such a huge social culture organization on campus,” Huynh-Nguyen said. Huynh-Nguyen said the event offered envelope decorating to build off an East Asian tradition of elders giving younger relatives money in envelopes for the new year. She said they also included traditional Vietnamese games like bầu cua cá cọp, where students rolled dice stamped with animals and used candy as substitutes for money to bet on which animal the dice would land on. Huynh-Nguyen said she wanted Asian Americans on campus to have an opportunity to not only celebrate their heritage but also include all students in the annual celebration. “Hopefully we can have not only Vietnamese and Asian Americans come to this event, but also anybody because it’s open to everybody,” HuynhNguyen said. “We want to be able to share our culture with others and not just Asian Americans.” Junior Nadia Primer, Chamak’s president, said the group’s fan dance performance to Chinese pop song “Jì Míngyuè” — which translates to “Moonlight Thoughts” — included classic Lunar New Year elements, such as the incorporation of fans and the color red, as well as modern Chinese culture. Primer said Chamak integrates modern dances from multiple cultures globally into their performances to highlight different cultural styles of movement. “That’s what Chamak is all about, is instead of just seeing people dance and represent their own culture, you’re also seeing them dance and appreciate other cultures as well,” Primer said. Junior Natalie Wong, a Chinese exchange student, said she normally celebrates the new year in China and decided to come to the event to meet new people and celebrate her culture. “It reminds me of my family because we celebrate Chinese New Year together,” Wong said. “It’s a time where everybody, friends and family come together, so I’m excited to celebrate here at GW even though I’m far away from home.” First-year Lisbel So said the celebration brings back fond childhood memories of past Lunar New Year celebrations with her family. “When I was little, there was lion dancers and my parents would usually give me red envelopes, and I’d have to give it to the performers,” So said. “It was a sign of good luck or prosperity.”

KAIDEN YU | PHOTOGRAPHER GW Chamak, a multicultural fusion dance team, performs at the Lunar New Year celebration.

OPINIONS

February 5, 2024 • Page 6

THE GW HATCHET

WHAT THE UNIVERSITY WON’T TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK

Opinions

Why MSSC Director Dustin Pickett resigned last week p. 1 FROM GWHATCHET.COM/OPINIONS “GW taught me that being LGBTQ+ is okay.”

—HANNAH BURCH on 2/1/2024

GW faces ‘challenging times.’ Can officials unite us? STAFF EDITORIAL

After the fallout of the Israel-Hamas war tore apart the GW community last semester, officials are trying to stitch the University back together. Officials’ new approach to addressing community unrest, called “Strengthening our Community in Challenging Times,” is a sensible attempt to address divisions among students and faculty. But it remains to be seen just how far the University will tolerate students’ and professors’ perspectives, including those that are controversial, objectionable or even hateful. As a private institution, GW isn’t bound by the First Amendment. However, the University’s re-outlined free expression policy says it will continue to provide students and faculty with speech and expression protections that uphold “academic freedom, free inquiry and free expression.” Yet, as officials’ initial uncertainty over whether or not to stop members of Students for Justice in Palestine at GWU from projecting messages on Gelman Library last semester demonstrates, unclear speech policies cause confusion. While GW’s new plan is still being developed, officials risk relying on their personal judgment rather than a coherent policy. Other aspects of the University’s plan also deserve scrutiny. Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox is wel-

GIA KALYANI | CARTOONIST

come to speak on campus, but it will take more than a repackaged School of Media & Public Aﬀairs event to quell campus unrest and unease. The new “Dinner & Dia-

logue” series drew just three students to its ﬁrst event — attendance was too low and oﬃcials were too cagey to make much of an impact. The University cannot bear all

Now more than ever, speak up for what you believe in

was warned to kiss my career and future goodbye at a pro-Palestinian protest last semester, and I can’t say I was surprised.

Sanjna Moola Opinions Writer Students who support Palestinian liberation from Israel are being censored. But I won’t be intimidated into silence — I’m standing up for what I believe. The protest I attended was organized by the Student Coalition for Palestine, which aimed to support Students for Justice in Palestine at GWU after officials suspended the organization in November. My fellow protesters and I marched through Foggy Bottom. Then, a middle-aged white woman stepped into the street, phone in hand, and started filming us. What struck me was what she shouted while recording: “Say goodbye to your careers! Say goodbye to your future!” Her words rang in my head long after I returned to my dorm. I’m not the only proPalestinian student to be harassed — or worse. Harvard doctoral candidate John J. Abughattas was filmed and confronted by the wife of an economics professor for wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress that has come to symbolize the Palestinian cause. Palestinian students Tahseen Aliahmad, Hisham Awartani and Kinnan Abdalhamid were shot Nov. 25 in Vermont. Aliahmad and Awartani were wearing keffiyehs when the three men were shot. From cell phone vid-

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eos to acts of violence, it’s not just individuals who are repressing Palestinians and supporters of Palestine. When public and private universities, including GW, suspend student groups supporting Palestinian liberation and restrict demonstrations, they silence Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and pro-Palestine students. SJP claims it is facing another round of student conduct hearings for what the University alleges is its involvement in SCP. SCP, which includes Jewish Voice for Peace, Socialist Action Initiative, and Dissenters, is also claiming to face charges of community disturbance, misconduct and noncompliance for their recent protests. SJP and SCP have also previously accused GW of continuing investment in organizations affiliated with Israel that they argue directly aid the genocide in the Gaza Strip. Beyond what’s happening on GW’s campus, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) has called on the FBI to investigate pro-Palestinian protesters. Supporters of Palestinian liberation have accused social media platforms of censoring pro-Palestinian narratives, and Western media outlets refuse to acknowledge the long history of Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. Our institutions and media are contributing to Islamophobic and antiArab bigotry and creating pressure to remain silent about the Palestinian cause. Whether on the street or social media, in university offices or the halls of Congress, millions of people are trying to stifle support for the Palestinian resistance to Israeli forces. At the protest I at-

tended, that woman wanted me and my peers to worry that our actions would doom our career prospects and future livelihood. Despite the threat against my future from her, GW, Western media outlets and the U.S. government, I will not stand down. Through attending even more protests, gaining perspective from Palestinian peers and educating myself on the long history of liberation, I’ve learned not to let anyone or anything stop me from using my voice to defend my beliefs. Silence is the biggest indicator of how much power an institution, like GW or even the U.S., has over its members. As young people, using our voices to support Palestinians is crucial to their liberation. Palestinian people living in the U.S. and in Gaza do not have the luxury to speak freely about the injustices they face every single day. Almost 2 million civilians have been displaced from Gaza, more than 27,000 people have been killed and thousands more are injured, starving and sick. As scholars and humans, students have a duty to stand up for Palestinians’ right to self-determination and statehood so they can achieve liberation. As Audre Lorde wrote in “Sister Outsider,” “Your silence will not protect you.” Students should never let strangers, peers or the University stop them from advocating for their beliefs and rights. Once students like you and me overcome the fear of speaking up, we can create change for generations to come. —Sanjna Moola, a ﬁrst-year majoring in international aﬀairs, is an opinions writer.

the blame for low student turnout. Students can choose to participate in these events, and their participation is crucial in closing the rift on campus. But an open dialogue

works both ways: Students who feel GW isn’t listening to them are looking for something more than a discussion about civility or political polarization. Granted, offering affinity spaces for people impacted by the Israel-Hamas War and providing some guidance for students who have been doxxed deserves some praise. And enhancing religious programming on campus could provide students with much-needed community across faiths and cultures. But as officials admit, this plan is still very much under construction. No matter the details of the plan that comes to pass, GW is never going to allow total freedom when it comes to speech and protest, and understandably so. Universities require a baseline of mutual respect and civility to function: Students have to go to class, and professors and staff have work to do. At the same time, the entirety of University President Ellen Granberg’s plan assumes students want to participate in these events and work toward a future together. But the members of GW’s community who could benefit the most from these dialogues — those who rightly or wrongly distrust officials — are the same people who’d seem most likely to skip them. Who, or what, will break this deadlock?

Asking for help can make all the difference

f you ever need anything, you can ask for help. I remember hearing that phrase in assemblies and on ﬂyers all throughout elementary, middle and high school. I grew accustomed to hearing, but never truly believing, that there was always someone who could help.

Andrea Mendoza-Melchor Opinions Writer Something about being told to reach out for help always felt impersonal and insincere. When I would hear teachers or psychologists say this, I would think: There’s no way these people want to hear strangers complain about their lives and their problems. Why would a stranger be willing to help me out with my wstruggles and challenges? When I came to GW in the fall of 2022, I believed I didn’t need to reach out to anyone. I had never done so before, and I certainly wouldn’t change that now. But it was also my first year in college, and I was thousands of miles away from home, dealing with my mother’s death on top of financial problems. My professors insisted they were available to help me or willing to lend an ear, but I didn’t listen to them and let myself wallow in my academic problems. I would see the phone number for the school’s psychological resources at the end of emails and ignore it, even though I was having a difficult time dealing with my grief. The idea of reaching out to my professors or the school’s mental health resources was humiliating. Asking for help felt like an admission that I was not able to deal with what was on my plate. And I was still under the impression that no one would understand my situation or what I was going through.

I wasn’t convinced I needed to reach out to anyone until it became unbearable. So, when I reached out for financial, academic and mental help, it surprised me how willing everyone was to assist me. I remember scouring the emails the University sends for mentions of financial assistance to students. I was struggling to pay off my tuition and couldn’t rely on my family to help pay it off. For some people, $2,000 to $5,000 might not be a lot of money. For my family, it was a huge sum. I finally found and applied for the Cokie and Steve Roberts SMPA Student Support Fund, hoping for the best. Applying for the fund led to assistance in almost every way I needed. The people who had read my application asked my residence hall community coordinator to ask me if I needed to talk to anyone or wanted to make use of the school’s mental health resources. I was surprised — I did need to talk to someone. I was getting only a couple of hours of sleep each night, I felt emotional all the time, I had very little motivation and my mind was always on my mom. All it took was one application to connect me with an adult with whom I could talk about the struggles I was facing. When the University reached out, I finally felt like I wasn’t alone. Asking for help could bring relief after all. I reached out to one of my professors whose math class I was struggling in. Not only did he understand, but he seemed to know exactly what I needed. From adjusting deadlines to attending office hours, he made sure I didn’t fall behind. Knowing that someone was checking up on me gave me the reassurance I needed to get through a tumultuous time in my life. Eventually, I gathered up the courage to take care of myself, too. I showed up unannounced to speak to one of the school’s psychologists. While it didn’t solve every

problem in my life, it helped me to talk things out with someone who could listen. While it was still difficult, the following semester became slightly easier. I had regular appointments with a psychologist, felt more comfortable reaching out to professors and received financial help, which was a huge stress reliever for me. I still remember calling my best friend midday, crying as I told him that my biggest worry that kept me up at night was long gone. In the fall, I found myself in a similar situation again. I was struggling a bit with my academics and had even more financial distress than prior semesters. I was still a bit skeptical to reach out for help again. Yet I did. I realized a direct conversation with one of my professors could silence most of my worries. And I got to scream with joy on my way to class as I checked my email and realized everything was going to be okay financially: I was receiving the fund’s help for another semester. When someone from the board of the Cokie and Steve Roberts fund reached out to speak with me in person about my financial situation, they showed genuine concern for how they could help me in my upcoming semesters. Like me, many people can find asking for help difficult and daunting. I think we sometimes believe that asking for help will get us nowhere or that people simply do not have our best interests at heart. So we try to deal with everything by ourselves. However, during my time at GW, I’ve learned that asking for help is not only human, it’s a necessity: We can’t possibly deal with everything by ourselves. All we have to do is realize we shouldn’t have to. —Andrea MendozaMelchor, a sophomore majoring in journalism and mass communication, is an opinions writer.

Zach Blackburn, editor in chief Nick Pasion, print managing editor Jaden DiMauro, digital managing editor Grace Miller, managing director Nicholas Anastacio, community relations director Grace Chinowsky, senior news editor Erika Filter, news editor Ianne Salvosa, news editor Fiona Bork, assistant news editor Fiona Riley, assistant news editor Hannah Marr, assistant news editor Rory Quealy, assistant news editor Jennifer Igbonoba, contributing news editor Max Porter, contributing news editor Rachel Moon, contributing news editor Nikki Ghaemi, features editor Cade McAllister, events editor Ethan Benn, opinions editor* Riley Goodfellow, contributing opinions editor*

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Submissions — Deadlines for submissions are Friday 5 p.m. for Monday issues. They must include the author’s name, title, year in school and phone number. The GW Hatchet does not guarantee publication and reserves the right to edit all submissions for space, grammar and clarity. Submit to opinions@gwhatchet.com Policy Statement — The GW Hatchet is produced by Hatchet Publications Inc., an independent, non-profit corporation. All comments should be addressed to the Board of Directors, which has sole authority for the content of this publication. Opinions expressed in signed columns are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of The GW Hatchet. All content of The GW Hatchet is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without written authorization from the editor in chief. Cost — Single copies free. Additional copies available for purchase upon request.

CULTURE

February 5, 2024 • Page 7

THE GW HATCHET

THE

Culture

SCENE

KARAOKE AND ARCADE GAMES Thursday, Feb. 8 | Alice DC | Free Enjoy an action-packed happy hour experience complete with unlimited rounds of Pac-Man.

RELEASED

MARDI GRAS AFTER PARTY Saturday, Feb. 10 | Shipgarten | Free Experience a night of New Orleans flair while sampling beer from local breweries.

NEW TV SHOW: “EXPATS”

THIS WEEK:

Potomac Phil predicts early spring at Dupont Groundhog Day celebration NICOLA DEGREGORIO REPORTER

On the steps of the Dupont Circle Fountain, Potomac Phil sat stiller than seemed possible for a groundhog as news cameras steadied and the crowd swelled into the hundreds while dedicated fans and passersby stopped to see the commotion. Top hats adorned many heads in the crowd as they eagerly awaited the meteorological news that would make or break their new year. “In Phil we trust,” they collectively chanted in response to the news that the taxidermied groundhog whispered to his inner circle of Dupont Festival board members: Spring is coming early this year. The crowd erupted in cheers at the news the chilly winter would soon be gone — but that happy feeling soon turned into laughs of dread when they were told Potomac Phil not seeing his shadow also meant six more months of political gridlock. Phil’s proclamation was part of the annual Groundhog Day celebration in Dupont Circle Park on Feb. 2, hosted by the nonprofit Dupont Festival. This year they introduced the first Potomac Phil 5K, in conjunction with November Project DC. The crowd enjoyed croissants and coffee provided by the event as they waited to snap selfies and pictures with the groundhog. Unlike his famous companion Punxsutawney Phil, Potomac Phil is a taxidermy, explaining how he was able to maintain such total poise in the face of so many onlookers. But no one seemed to mind as they passed

LEXI CRICHETT | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A crowd gathers in Dupont Circle as Potomac Phil weighs whether to predict a long winter or an early spring.

around signs with political puns such as “We want Phil for Shadow Rep” and others with phrases of adoration like “I am a Phil-o-Phile” in joyous anticipation of the sunny skies now not too far ahead. Aaron DeNu, a founding partner and president of Dupont Festival, said the celebration in D.C. is over a century old and has been celebrated specifically in Dupont Circle for the past 13 years. DeNu said the event kicked off even before Phil’s 8:30 a.m. predic-

tion of spring, with the Potomac Phil 5K, where runners followed a course around Dupont Circle in the shape of a top hat, a headwear staple in celebration of the holiday since Punxsutawney Phil’s caretakers wear suits and top hats. He said he was happy with the announcement of an early spring and was excited for a revival of the city’s unparalleled patio culture. Vincent Slatt, a commissioner of the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission, said

Pick a color: Daylong activity plans for each Metro line NAN JIANG REPORTER

With U-Pass, all of D.C. is just a tap away — but with all those options, where do you start? Navigating the six color-based lines can feel like spinning a color wheel if you’re not accustomed to it. But even for the inexperienced, traversing the city and surrounding suburbs by rail lets you view the District’s diverse neighborhoods, food scene and sports all in a day’s work. Here are daylong adventures you can take along the District’s various Metro lines:

Blue Line

While large swaths of the middle of D.C. are accessible via the Blue, Orange and Silver lines, which mostly cover the same routes, hopping aboard the Blue Line provides easier access to suburban highlights. Start your day at Arlington National Cemetery, one of the most underrated tourist attractions in the area. Not only is it home to iconic American monuments like the Iwo Jima Memorial or Arlington House, but on a sunny day, it rivals the much more popular National Mall in beauty with more than 9,000 trees lining the walkways. To end the day, take the long ride back into the District and catch the city’s premier farmers market, East-

ern Market. Vendors peddle anything from fresh fruit to ancient antiques out of their shops on Tuesdays and the weekends. If you come on another day, fear not. Eastern Market is also home to a vast collection of indoor and outdoor vendors, ranging from flower salespeople to sellers as uber-specific as a stand for Greek superfoods, delicacies especially rich in nutrients.

Red Line

If you’d prefer to stroll up to Farragut North and set off on your Metro journey via the Red Line, you can start your day just a stop away and disembark at Dupont Circle. Begin with some caffeine at Teaism, an appropriately named tea-centric café in Dupont Circle. Teaism is the go-to for all things tea, and with a wide selection, there’s something for everyone. Next, tap your U-Pass again and embark to the Brookland-CUA stop, home of the Catholic University of America. The campus feels more like a place you’d find in a bizarrely named Upstate New York town rather than the District. Take the Metro west to Gallery Place-Chinatown and grab an early dinner at Spice 6, a peppery modern Indian restaurant. Stick with something you know like butter chicken, or stuff your face with a “Bahubali Burger,” a huge sandwich that combines Indian fla-

the event is a staple for the Dupont community and shows those walking through a glimpse of the neighborhood’s programming. District resident Julia Singer said the crowd seemed to be split between those on a mission to attend and other lucky passersbys, and the spontaneity of those deciding to stay and see what was happening added to the excitement. Fellow D.C. resident Anne Jastrszebski, who attended with friends Singer and Olivia Schwartz, said

Students reflect on Lunar New Year celebrations in new communities

vors with the quintessential American classic.

ELLA MITCHELL

Green Line

NORAH WOODS

The Green and Yellow lines both traverse many of the same areas in the District, and unless your goal is quality time in corporate Virginia, hopping aboard the Green Line gives more of an opportunity to explore the District’s diverse northern neighborhoods. Start at L’Enfant Plaza, often misunderstood as a transit hub because five Metro lines cross paths below. But just around the corner is the International Spy Museum, one of the more eccentric museums in a city filled with museums. After, walk a couple of blocks south to get to the Waterfront, one of the most vibrant locales in the District. Take a nice stroll along the Anacostia River and just enjoy the ambiance. In the neighborhood is Politics and Prose, an indie bookstore. With your new reads in tow, head north along the green line to the ShawHoward U stop. Grab lunch at Doro Soul Food, a bold Ethiopian American fusion that introduces new flavors to soul food staples. The chicken is certainly more fulfilling than whatever Thurston serves on a given day, but get the vegan tenders if you want to try some truly innovative food that blends Ethiopian and soul flavors.

KAIDEN YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER The zigzagging Metro map can lead commuters to a string of day-trip adventures.

the crowd’s sense of humor added to the energy and honored the “silly” joy of the holiday. Jastrzebski, a resident of Northeast D.C., said living in a less-established neighborhood adds to her appreciation for the community programming in Downtown D.C., specifically in Dupont Circle. Although Jastrzebski and Singer said they are former Pennsylvania residents and grew up celebrating Groundhog Day with Punxsutawney Phil — who the town of Punxsutawney said has been kept alive and forecasting since 1887 by a magical elixir — Singer said Potomac Phil being a taxidermy added to the intrigue of the event, which she had been waiting to attend since missing the grand forecast in 2023. “I didn’t know D.C. had one until I made a joke about wanting to go to Groundhog’s Day last year, and someone showed me a picture of Potomac Phil,” Singer said. “Then I forgot about it for a year until I saw one Instagram story on the Dupont Business District Instagram and sent it to everyone I knew and decided we had to go this year.” Mike Silverstein, a former ANC Commissioner and D.C. resident since 1981, said this was his 10th time coming to the event. He said the Groundhog Day tradition is a wonderful way to reconnect and renew the joy of a neighborhood community. “This is a great opportunity for everybody who’s been cooped up in the winter, or hasn’t been out seeing people on the street, to just get together and renew friendships and check and see how everybody’s doing,” Silverstein said.

STAFF WRITER REPORTER

The year of the dragon is just around the corner, marked by the Lunar New Year on Sunday — but observing the holiday can be a challenge for students away from home. Lunar New Year is the celebration of spring’s arrival, full of traditions from communal feasts to reconnecting with ancestors. While the holiday, landing on Feb. 10, centers around family, GW students have found ways to celebrate away from home through old traditions and new communities. This year will be the first time first-year Harry Liu is celebrating the Lunar New Year without his family. Typically, Liu celebrates the New Year in Myanmar, where he grew up. He said the biggest difference this year is he will be celebrating with his friends rather than his family. “Chinese New Year is mostly about family,” Liu said. “For example, a big thing we do is pay homage to our ancestors.” Liu said to do this ritual, his family sets up a shrine in their house, equipped with photos of his greatgreat grandparents and other ancestors. He said they burn incense and gather food. After their ritual is complete, the family enjoys the meal. Chinh Nguyen, a junior majoring in business analytics and the treasurer of the VSA, said he is happy to have found shared community within VSA. Kerry Han, a first-year majoring in public health, said when growing up in America, he didn’t have many opportunities to embrace his ethnicity via a fully fledged celebration of the Lunar New Year. Han said his family in recent years has become “Americanized” and no longer celebrates the holiday, but he’s appreciated the chance to do so at GW. Sophomore Sophia Lin said her family urged her to come home for Lunar New Year, as she did last year, but their schedules didn’t

AN NGO | GRAPHICS EDITOR

align. She said her family instead focused on helping her celebrate at school. She said her mom plans on sending red door decorations, a traditional part of the holiday intended to bring good luck and ward off evil. Lin said food is an integral part of the New Year. She said in her family, the food spread can vary: Sometimes they have hot pot and other times they enjoy a big family-style meal. Last year, Lin said her family collectively prepared about 15 dishes — so much that their table wasn’t long enough to fit it all. Lin said the spread included her personal favorite of stir fry rice cakes, steamed fish, soup, eggs, noodles and her dad’s fried pork ribs. She said each of the different dishes hold a special significance. For example, the steamed fish are kept whole, symbolizing health. Because stir fry rice cakes loosely resemble old coins, they are meant to bring wealth. Noodles signify longevity because of their length. Lin said her family really emphasizes eating two hard-boiled eggs dur-

ing the meal, representing rebirth. “It’s very much a full family endeavor,” Lin said. “We don’t have a really large kitchen, so sometimes it gets like, ‘You need to move out of the way!’ or that kind of thing. But it’s still part of celebrating: having family and being able to be like, ‘Oh, we have a free day to sit down and celebrate.’” Lin said it has been really difficult not to be able to go home for the New Year, but she is thankful to have found a home within Sigma Psi Zeta, a GW sorority focused on Asian and Asian-American culture. In contrast to the predominantly white town she grew up in, Lin said joining this organization has allowed her to find a community among other Asian Americans. “Even having a little bit of that and being able to share, this is something that’s really important and is something that is similar in every other culture, being able to celebrate with family,” she said. “Even on campus with friends it’s still good. Really good.”

February 5, 2024 • Page 8

Sports

SPORTS

THE GW HATCHET

GAMES OF THE WEEK

MEN’S BASKETBALL

LACROSSE

vs. Rhode Island Tuesday | 7 p.m. Men’s basketball hosts the Rams on Tuesday at the Smith Center.

NUMBER CRUNCH

3.87

vs. Howard Friday | 1 p.m. Lacrosse opens its season Friday at 1 p.m. when it takes on Howard at the Mount Vernon Field.

The tennis team’s GPA, the highest in the athletic department for the fall 2023 semester

From Foggy Bottom to Phoenix: Yuta Watanabe’s journey to the NBA BEN SPITALNY

CONTRIBUTING SPORTS EDITOR

SANDRA KORETZ SPORTS EDITOR

In September 2014, a shy, scrawny freshman arrived in Foggy Bottom speaking little English but carrying very high hopes. This Sunday, the same player returned to play basketball in the District — this time as a small forward for the Phoenix Suns, scoring 7 points as the Suns took down the Washington Wizards 140-112. Dubbed “The Chosen One” by Japanese media, Yuta Watanabe found incredible success during his four-year career at GW, helping lead the team to an NIT championship his sophomore year and winning Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year his senior year. He ended his collegiate career second in program history in blocked shots and games played and 15th in points scored. Not only was Watanabe able to find success on the court, but off it, as well. He earned a spot on the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll his freshman year for a GPA above 3.5, learned English, attended tutor sessions and never complained through the challenges. “Yesterday, I was actually on campus looking around,” Watanabe said in an interview following Sunday’s game. “It brought back to me so many memories.”

After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft, the 6’9” forward played in the Summer League for the Brooklyn Nets, impressing enough to earn a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. Following two years splitting time between the Grizzlies and the Hustle, a minimum-salary contract with the Toronto Raptors turned into an opportunity for real minutes. Watanabe was just the 10th GW player to make it to the NBA and is currently the only active Revolutionary in the Association. “Me being in the NBA from GW, I feel like I want to keep representing,” Watanabe said. “So I’m going to keep working hard.” Watanabe played in 50 games for the Raptors in the 2020-21 season, scoring 218 total points and shooting 40.0 percent from three. After one more year in Toronto, Watanabe joined the Brooklyn Nets, where he played the most of his career — averaging 16 minutes per game, playing in 58 games. Notably, by Nov. 20, 2022, 17 games into the season, he led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage at 57.1. “I had a lot of tough times, doing a lot of ups and downs, a lot of games and stuff,” Watanabe said. “So it’s not always easy, but always stay ready. Just always put in the work no matter what. And when you’re not always called, you just got to show up and play.” Despite playing for the Suns

SANDRA KORETZ | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Phoenix Suns forward Yuta Watanabe zeroes in for a layup.

for the last year, Watanabe said he has kept in touch with the Revolutionaries’ season and spent time on campus with Head Coach Chris Caputo last year. “I saw the new coach last year when I came to D.C.,” Watanabe said. “I know he’s a great coach, great guy. We have so many talented players. So I’m really excited for the GW team this year.”

Being the second Japanese player in the NBA and a onetime Olympian, Watanabe has faced a multitude of challenges playing professionally. He said when faced with hardship, he reflects on his time at GW for inspiration to push through. “I couldn’t really speak English. I had to go to classes and then see a tutor and then go to other classes, then lunch, practice, go to another

tutor,” Watanabe said. “I was so busy, but I was able to do that. I overcame a lot of tough times during the GW time. So, right now, my job is to play basketball.” Now, Watanabe is coming off the bench for the Suns, often only getting in at the end of the game if the Suns are up big. But on Sunday, as Watanabe once again stepped back onto a D.C. court, the crowd cheered.

Women’s basketball unable to make positive turn as A-10 competition continues KRISTI WIDJAJA STAFF WRITER

Women’s basketball (8-14, 1-9 A-10) extended their losing streak to six, struggling to find their offensive groove in a 51-71 loss to VCU (19-3, 8-2 A-10) on Sunday in Richmond, Virgina. The Revs sputtered out of the gate as the Rams took the lead at the start of the game and never looked back. The Rams were far more efficient on offense, shooting a scalding 50.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. Predictably, GW struggled against the Rams’ menacing defensive front that currently ranks first among DI teams in scoring defense, shooting 32.8 percent from the field and just 16.7 percent from three over the course of the game. Graduate student guard Essence Brown led the Revs in scoring with 13 points, shooting 6 of 11 from the field to go along with her nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Nya Robertson, who leads the team in scoring for the second season with 15.9 points per game, had another quiet offensive game. She scored just 7 points on a paltry two of 17 from the field and one of seven from beyond the arc. The Rams took control of the game from the jump, as guard Timaya Lewis-

Eutsey sunk a layup and a jumper to propel VCU to an early 9-2 lead. By the end of the first, the Rams had gone 10 of 15 from the field while holding the Revs to just five field goals on 29.4 percent shooting. Down 13 points with 3:40 minutes left in the first, Brown made a jumper to halt the 10-0 run Rams. VCU finished the quarter up 24-10, putting the Revs on the ropes early. With 19 seconds remaining of the first half, Robertson hit her first and only 3-pointer of the game to bring the halftime score to 24-42. The third quarter was more of the same for the Revs offensively, including a four-minute scoring drought, as they were only able to connect 27.27 percent of their shots. Brown ended the drought with GW’s lone third-quarter three with 4:33 left in the quarter. In the final quarter, VCU extended their lead with an early 10-0 run, giving them a 31 point lead, 71-40. With 4:30 minutes left and the game all but over, the Revs finally came to life, going on a 11-0 run to wrap up the game. The Revolutionaries have struggled throughout the course of conference play, consistently finding themselves outmatched on both ends of the court.

KAIDEN YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Sophomore guard Nya Robertson bounds past her opponent in a game against Rhode Island.

The squad is currently 1-9 and is tied with St. Bonaventure for 13th-place in the A-10 standings. The Revolutionaries will head back

to the Smith Center to battle against the Bonnies as they look to make a final push to turn their season around (4-17, 1-9 A-10) on Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.

Gymnastics sweeps back-to-back meets, sets season-high scores SYD HEISE REPORTER

Gymnastics took home backto-back wins accompanied by two back-to-back season-high scores at a pair of tournaments this weekend. With a season-high team score of 195.175, GW beat out Penn, Towson and William & Mary to win at the Towson Invite at the Show Place Arena on Friday. The Revs went on to beat Long Island University with a new season-best of 195.575 at a meet in New York on Sunday. On Friday, freshmen Sophia Tyeryar and Delaney DeHaan each posted a career-high 9.800 on the bars to tie for first in the event. Junior Rachel Katz followed with a solid 9.725 to help lead the team. Anneliese Silverman (9.700), Kendall Whitman (9.650) and Maya Peters (9.100) also added to GW’s impressive score in the rotation. Silverman led on the beam, putting up a 9.750 and taking first place in the event. DeHaan scored a second career-high during the invite adding a 9.700. Whitman and Junior Nancy Kiner matched performances to both scoring 9.675s. Sarah Zois and Brooke Izzo rounded out GW’s lineup with 9.500 showings on the beam. Whitman outshined all floor competitors to claim

first with a near-perfect 9.900. Silverman tumbled her way to a 9.875, tacking on another career-high score for the Revs. Sophomore Kasey Burke followed close behind, grabbing a 9.825 from the judge’s table. Marlee York, Zois and Payton Lynch also added to GW’s floor performances. Burke closed out the list of highs for the Revs, with an overall first-place finish on the vault. She scored the second 9.900 of the day for GW. Zois notched her highest score of the day with a 9.850. Whitman came on the trails adding a 9.800. York, Katz and Silverman tied vaulting, all scoring 9.775, closing out GW’s winning day. Whitman, Zois and Izzo swept the East Atlantic Gymnastics League awards for week three of competition heading into the Towson Invite. Whitman was named Gymnast of the Week for a previous all-around first-place finish at Towson on Jan. 25. This is her second time claiming the award this season. Zois earned Specialist of the Week honors for her continued success on the vault. She snagged the Gymnast of the Week title earlier in the season. Izzo won Rookie of the Week. Whitman was previously on the All-EAGL First Team for vault and floor. Zois has also made honors for her vault

Gymnasts chalk their hands and grips before mounting the bar.

performances, making AllEAGL second team in the event. Izzo is only in her first year of collegiate competition but has had an exciting season thus far. At Sunday’s competition, three Revs led the team to firstplace finishes in all four events. Silverman took first place all

around adding 39.175 to the Revs’ win. Whitman led on the floor and beam scoring 9.925 and 9.750, respectively. Zois placed first on vault with a score of 9.875. Katz evened out the effort on bars with a 9.825. The Revs competed in four events, scoring 48.675 on bars,

HATCHET FILE PHOTO

48.775 on beam, 49.200 on floor and 48.925 on vault. The Revs will be back home after their long weekend on the road for their Pink Meet. They will battle Kent State, University of New Hampshire, Towson and William & Mary on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.