Vol-120-Iss-7

Ad campaign to ‘Rev Up’ waning graduate enrollment

IANNE SALVOSA NEWS EDITOR SOPHIE LHERT REPORTER

A new GW marketing campaign is popping up across popular D.C. spots in an effort to rev up graduate student enrollment.

University spokesperson Julia Metjian said the Rev Up campaign will promote GW’s graduate and certificate programs on digital billboards in “high-traffic” areas across D.C. like Reagan National Airport, Nationals Park, Metro stations and bikeshare kiosks as well as digital ads on mobile devices, social media and audio and video streaming platforms. Metjian said the Rev Up tagline, which alludes to GW’s new Revolutionaries moniker, highlights the increased career opportunities for individuals with a graduate degree.

“The Washington, D.C. region is highly competitive with many universities with a presence in the area,” Metjian said in an email. “We want to make sure GW’s graduate programs are top-of-mind for those who are seeking graduate degrees or certificates.”

Graduate student enrollment has decreased by 9 percent in the past six years, from 15,821 graduate students in 2017 to 14,383 students in 2022, according to the enrollment dashboard. Graduate certificate, or nondegree program, enrollment declined from 372 students in 2017 to 314 in 2021 despite the addition of more than 20 certificate programs over the past five years. Higher education experts said the programs’ high cost and the lack of guaranteed job security may deter students from the certificate programs.

University President Ellen Granberg said at a Faculty Senate meeting last month that the Office of Communication and Marketing and the Office of the Provost collaborated to create the Rev Up campaign, which is the first major promotion of graduate programs in years.

Officials hired advertising agency Tribal New York to promote GW’s graduate programs in 2014 amid an enrollment slump but cut ties with Tribal New York and hired LMO Advertising in 2015 to carry out its online marketing. Officials paid $4,228,237 to LMO Advertising in Fiscal Year 2022, which is listed as Laughlin, Marinaccio & Owens Inc. on the University’s Form 990, a tax form for nonprofit institutions to report their revenues and expenses.

“As I understand it has been many, many years since we’ve done a comprehensive campaign to market our graduate programs,” Granberg said at the meeting. “And certainly this is a time when we’re looking to increase enrollment, so I’m delighted that that’s going on.”

Advertisements in Metro stations display a photo of a GW graduate with the caption “Make your career unstoppable,” and include a QR code and link to the Rev Up campaign website.

See FACULTY Page 4

Congress

evades

government shutdown with stopgap funding

ERIKA FILTER NEWS EDITOR

LIYANA ILYAS REPORTER

Congress passed a stopgap government funding bill Saturday, averting a government shutdown for the next 45 days.

President Joe Biden signed a shortterm funding bill — passed by the Senate less than three hours before the shutdown would have gone into effect — into law Saturday night. The funding resolution means student interns in federal offices can continue their work until at least Nov. 17, the deadline for Congress to either fund the government through next year or issue another stopgap measure.

Granberg outlines alumni engagement, access to education as priorities

IANNE SALVOSA NEWS EDITOR

University President Ellen Granberg outlined priorities for her tenure, like improving access to education and career services and encouraging research, at a GW Together event Saturday.

Granberg held a Presidential Conversation in Lisner Auditorium during Alumni and Families Weekend as part of GW Together, her national tour to speak with alumni and donors to leverage goals for GW’s future. Granberg, who began her term as University president July 1, said she wants to use the University’s ascension to the Association of American Universities, volunteering and

proximity to governmental institutions to kickstart the beginning of her tenure.

“As a president here, part of my job is to be a catalyst for all of that possibility,” Granberg said at the event. “To help our community to leverage our proximity, our pursuit of impact and our people and to ensure that we are marshaling the resources we need, creating the infrastructure we need and ensuring that the members of our community have the support they need to truly make a difference.”

Attendees asked Granberg questions about her plans for the University’s future, GW’s position in national rankings and the arming of some GW Police Department officers this

fall.

Granberg said the University would benefit from more alumni participation in donations and student mentorship. She added that alumni can attend the regional GW Together events to converse with her and other GW community members about how to improve the GW experience.

Alumni and donors gathered in Philadelphia last month for the first GW Together Presidential Reception and Granberg will meet with other community members in Denver, Chicago, New York City, Miami, Palm Beach, Florida, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle from October to March.

See GW Page 5

Officials announced that GW would have operated normally under a shutdown last week, but students interning at government offices may have lost work.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy struggled to work with the far-right flank of his party, who wanted dramatic spending cuts, to avoid the shutdown. The speaker eventually teamed with Democrats to approve the temporary spending plan. The measure passed the House with a vote of 335 to 91, with 90 Republicans and one Democrat in opposition.

McCarthy’s move may have put his speakership at risk. Far-right Republicans who warned McCarthy against teaming up with Democrats are reportedly looking to oust the California Republican.

Officials said in an email to students Friday that a potential shutdown would not affect students’ financial aid but could have delayed military-affiliated students’ education and tuition assistance packages, which are offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

Actress, alum Kerry Washington talks time at GW, new memoir

CADE MCALLISTER EVENTS EDITOR

GW alum and actress Kerry Washington discussed how her time at the University improved her acting at Lisner Auditorium on Wednesday.

Washington, who graduated in 1998 with a bachelor of arts in anthropology and sociology and attended GW on a now-discontinued Presidential Performing Arts Scholarship, said she learned to focus on the process of acting while studying at GW rather than booking jobs during a book talk for her new memoir. The conversation about the memoir — “Thicker Than Water” — with her “Scandal” co-star Tony Goldwyn was hosted by D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose.

After graduating from GW, Washington went on to play crisis manager Olivia Pope in the Emmy award-winning political drama “Scandal,” which ran for seven seasons from 2012 to 2018,

and starred in several movies, including as Broomhilda von Shaft in the 2012 western “Django Unchained.”

University President Ellen Granberg delivered introductory and concluding remarks, announcing the establishment of the Earl and Valerie Washington Endowed Scholarship, named after Washington’s parents. The scholarship will provide financial support to undergraduate students pursuing liberal art degrees in the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, according to a University release.

Granberg said Washington spoke with students from the Corcoran Theatre Arts Program before the event and that she is honored Washington continues to make GW part of her “remarkable journey” through campus visits.

Washington said she learned the “art of storytelling” at GW, including how to analyze a scene and create a character. She said

this education differed from her acting experience prior to coming to the University, where she mainly starred in commercials and as Heather in the ABC afterschool special “Magical Make-

Broadcast executive and producer, SMPA professor dies at 71

EDITOR

Michael Freedman, a broadcast news manager, editor and producer, professorial lecturer and the former University vice president of communications, died of pancreatic cancer on Sept. 18. He was 71.

Freedman began at GW as the vice president for communications in 2000 and started working as a professorial lecturer in media and public affairs in 2001, according to a University release. Faculty, students and friends remember Freedman as a devoted educator with a warm, kind and thoughtful presence who was passionate about introducing his students to the world of journalism.

Freedman was the executive producer of “The Kalb Report,” a television series that explored the role of the press in democracy, for nearly three decades from 1994 to 2023. He also led production at GW for more than 700 live CNN Crossfire telecasts in the early 2000s, according to the release. The release states that Freed-

man also served as the president of the National Press Club in 2020 and was the managing editor for United Press International’s broadcast division. He also served as the general manager of CBS Radio Network and won 12 Edward R. Murrow Awards for Excellence during his career. Freedman was also a senior vice president and journalist in residence at the University of Maryland Global Campus, per the release.

Joe Bondi, one of Freedman’s former students who graduated in 2001, said taking a class with Freedman was “everything a GW class should be” and included excursions to major newsrooms across D.C. and an “unbelievable” array of guest speakers in classes. Bondi said Freedman was a passionate professor and mentor and that the students he mentored over the years will represent his legacy.

“It’s one of the things that I think makes the GW education as amazing as it is, the city is your classroom and these practitioners are your teachers and there was just no better example of that than Mike’s class,” Bondi said.

Bondi said some of his favorite memories of Freedman include when he recruited Tony Bennett, an honorary doctor of music and GW President’s Medal recipient, to speak at his Commencement in 2001 and when they both rode the “rollercoaster” of the Washington Nationals’ 2019 World Series win together. Bondi said he and Freedman bonded over a love of baseball and kept in touch over the years by getting coffee together and talking on the phone during their commutes.

“Mike made friends everywhere he went. There were just very few people that weren’t his friend,” Bondi said. “He just had a kind of personality about him that people were just attracted to, and he kept his friends so close and that is a big part of his legacy is his network of friends. And we’re all connected through him.”

Heather Date, a former student of Freedman’s and the vice president for communications and engagement at UMGC, said she first met Freedman when she was a sophomore at GW in 1995 when he invited her to be a volunteer for “The Kalb Report.” Date said

Freedman cared deeply about media history, news literacy and journalism ethics and excellence.

“For 28 years, Mike Freedman was my mentor, colleague, and most of all — my friend,” Date said in an email. “I often said that

Over,” a comedy about a teenage

girl who wants to be popular. She said being a thespian at GW taught her that castmates must push each other to deliver better performances.

Mike was trying to ‘save journalism one crazy idea at a time.’ He saw boundless possibilities in ideas, and he saw unlimited potential in people.”

KARSYN MEYERSON | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

University President Ellen Granberg addresses students and families at the Presidential Conversation in Lisner Auditorium on Saturday.

KARSYN MEYERSON | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

“Scandal” star and GW alum Kerry Washington discussed her acting career and time at GW during a discussion at Lisner Auditorium on Wednesday.

COURTESY OF HEATHER DATE

Michael Freedman (left) sits alongside former CBS and NBC Chief Diplomatic Correspondent Marvin Kalb at a National Press Club event.

Korean American students find community through new student organization

A student organization is working to create a support network for Korean and Korean American students who said they have historically felt underrepresented on GW’s campus. Leaders of the GW Korean American Student Society — who launched programming this fall after establishing the group in April — said they wanted to revive a group for students who are Korean, Korean American and students interested in Korean culture after a former Korean student organization discontinued its operations during the pandemic. Executive board members of KASS, which now has about 40 members on GW Engage, said they hope the group will cultivate community among Korean and Korean American students at a predominantly white GW.

Mia Perlman, a senior and the president of KASS, said after growing up in a primarily white neighborhood of Austin, Texas, she wanted to find a community of people she could relate to when coming to college, like people who grew up cooking and eating the same foods as her. She said she was “disappointed” when she arrived at GW and realized the student organization for Korean American students, the Korean Culture Organization, shuttered during the pandemic.

“I didn’t have a very strong Korean or Korean American community outside my family,” Perlman said. “I knew no matter where I went to college, I wanted to find that there at my university.”

She said the group has already held a cooking night in Thurston Hall last month, where current and interested members made tteokbokki, a traditional Korean spicy rice cake. She said members also hosted a movie night at Thurston earlier in the semester where roughly 20 attendees gathered to watch Spirited Away, a film from Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli.

Perlman said KASS

is planning a trip to the Chuseok Family Festival at the National Museum of Asian Art on Oct. 7. Perlman said Chuseok, sometimes dubbed Korean Thanksgiving, is a harvest holiday in which family and friends express gratitude for their past and future. She said KASS invited all GW students to join them for the festival.

“I just hope that we can continue to build a strong community where people can connect with other students on campus,” Perlman said.

Jeongahn Lucia Hwang, a senior and the vice president of KASS, said she was born in South Korea and lived there until she was 12 before moving to the United States. She said she struggled to form a connection between her Korean and American backgrounds, which motivated her to make friendships with others who had similar experiences.

“This internal struggle led me to seek my community in college, and it fueled a strong desire to create a safe and inclusive space where individuals with similar experiences and interests could find belonging and connection,” Hwang said in a message.

Hwang said KASS held an interest meeting Aug. 28, where members anticipated 10 to 15 interested students to arrive but were surprised when about 30 people showed up.

“This turnout shows the strong desire among students to connect and engage with a community that aligns with their cultural back-

ground and values,” Hwang said in a message.

Havin Baik, a junior and the public relations director of KASS, said she felt like there was a space for Korean international students when she came to campus her first year but was disappointed there was no designated group for Korean American students and those interested in Korean American culture.

“Though I felt as though there were many of us, there was no sort of unified group,” she said.

Baik said KASS is open to not only Korean American students but anyone who is interested in learning more about Korean food, music and traditions. She said she hopes the group will forge an appreciation for a small part of the larger Asian and Asian American community on campus and provide a support network for students navigating college.

“I really hope that it can serve as a space to come together and be excited, not just about Korean American culture, events, food, whatever, but also just excited to go through our college experience knowing that there are people in our corner who will be able to support us,” Baik said.

Sarah Cho, a junior and KASS’s secretary, said the group is meant to represent all identities, including people who were born in the U.S. with parents from Korea, were born in Korea but moved to the U.S. when they were young and those who were born and raised in Korea.

Trustees remove Board age limit

HOARD REPORTER

The Board of Trustees eliminated its mandatory retirement age for its members in Fiscal Year 2022.

Officials removed the 75-year-old age limit for trustees in FY 2022, according to the University’s Form 990 financial report to the IRS. University spokesperson Julia Metjian said officials removed the age limit during a regular bylaw review to “enhance” the Board’s ability to attract and retain trustees.

Previously, trustees who surpassed 75 years old were forced to leave the Board at the end of the body’s term, which ends on May 31, according to a 2019 version of the bylaws.

Metjian declined to comment on how the removal of the age limit will impact the Board’s governance. She also declined to comment on why officials previously instituted a 75-year age limit and whether the Board enforced it. Article III of the Univer -

sity bylaws lists guidelines for trustee eligibility, with the latest bylaws stating that trustees amended the article on March 22, 2022. It’s unclear if this article was amended to update the new age eligibility rules.

State colleges and large private corporations enact maximum age limits for “board refreshment,” which promotes more diverse per -

“I want everyone to be comfortable whether it be they’re speaking English, they’re speaking Korean,” Cho said. “We’re not exclusive to a single language or experience.“

Anna McIntyre, a senior and the treasurer for KASS, said she felt like Korean American students were underrepresented at GW before the recent rise of Korean pop culture in the U.S., like the growing popularity of Kdramas and K-pop music, which she said has sparked more interest in Korean culture among students. She said she hopes the increased attention will motivate even more people to join the group.

“I hope it continues on and it continues to grow, and it continues to be a safe place for Korean Americans and people who are interested to explore their identity, their culture or learn more about this culture in a respectful and safe environment,” McIntyre said.

Daniel Choi, a senior and a member of KASS, said he feels there is a “disconnect” between the Korean international students and Korean American students on campus, which led him to join an executive board to help try to start a Korean American student association two years ago without success. He said he is happy he was able to find the community he was looking for two years ago through KASS’ formation.

“I just wanted to have a place where I could find people who are like me, who share my same identity,” Choi said.

spectives in governance, according to a 2021 Harvard University report. Of the GW’s eight peer schools that publicly list the university’s bylaws, only New York University and the University of Rochester have a maximum age limit for trustees. The University of Southern California will implement a new, 75-year-old age limit starting in 2026.

The GW Hatchet published its first newspaper, launching its debut print edition after officials changed the University’s name from Columbian University to George Washington University.

SARAH HOTCHSTEIN | PHOTOGRAPHER

BIANCA CAVES | PHOTOGRAPHER

Executive board members of the GW Korean American Student Society pose with the KASS initials in Kogan Plaza.

KARSYN MEYERSON | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

KARSYN MEYERSON | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

SARAH HOTCHSTEIN | PHOTOGRAPHER

SARAH HOTCHSTEIN | PHOTOGRAPHER

SARAH HOTCHSTEIN | PHOTOGRAPHER

KELLEN

LINDSEY SPAIN REPORTER SACHINI ADIKARI REPORTER

SAGE RUSSELL | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Board of Trustees Chair Grace Speights leads a meeting in May.

LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION

Thurston Hall

9/24/2023 – 12:25 a.m.

Closed Case

GW Police Department officers responded to a report of an intoxicated female student. GW Emergency Medical Response Group workers responded and, after evaluating the student, transported her to the GW Hospital emergency room for further treatment. Referred to the Division for Student Affairs.

DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY/VANDALISM

Mitchell Hall

Reported 9/26/2023 – Unknown Date and Time

Closed Case

Staff reported vandalism to several audio and visual equipment boxes. No suspects or witnesses.

SIMPLE ASSAULT

Public Property on Campus (800 Block of 21st Street NW)

9/26/2023 – 8:25 p.m.

Open Case

A male student reported an unknown male subject pushed him in the chest after they accidentally bumped into each other while walking down the street.

Case open.

THEFT II/BICYCLES

University Yard (Breezeway)

9/27/2023 – 1:00 p.m.

Open Case

A male student reported his bicycle stolen.

Case open.

THEFT II/OTHER

Public Property on Campus (1900

Block of E Street NW)

9/28/2023 – 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Open Case

A female student reported her scooter stolen.

Case open.

THEFT II/FROM BUILDING

Lerner Health and Wellness Center

Reported 9/28/2023 – Unknown Date and Time

Open Case

A staff member reported a jiu-jitsu mat was stolen. Case open.

LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION

Potomac House

9/29/2023 – 12:01 a.m.

Closed Case

GWPD officers responded to a report of an intoxicated female student.

EMeRG workers responded and, after evaluating the student, transported her to the GW Hospital emergency room for further treatment.

Referred to the DSA.

Law professor testifies in Biden impeachment inquiry hearing

FIONA RILEY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

GW Law professor Jonathan Turley testified at a Thursday hearing marking the start of an impeachment inquiry for President Joe Biden, arguing there isn’t yet evidence of an impeachable offense but that an investigation should still occur.

House Republicans accused the president of improperly benefitting from international payments to members of his family — namely his son, Hunter Biden — and began hearings Thursday to determine whether to impeach the commander in chief. But Turley argued there’s not enough evidence of wrongdoing by the president to warrant impeachment, though he said a deeper investigation should still be carried out.

House Republicans allege that Biden improperly benefitted from Hunter Biden’s international business deals, accusing the president of using public office to help support the deals. Biden has denied the allegations.

Turley was one of four witnesses who spoke before the House Oversight Committee about legal and constitutional questions related to the impeachment inquiry. The law professor submitted a 36-page written statement before testifying live Thursday.

“I have previously stated that, while I believe that an impeachment inquiry is warranted, I do not believe that the evidence currently meets the standard of a high crime and misdemeanor needed for an article of impeachment,” Turley said in the statement. Turley outlined facts and history regarding the so-called “influ-

ence peddling” but cautioned against asserting the current evidence as grounds for impeachment.

“My testimony also reflects the fact that I do believe that, after months of investigation, the House has passed the threshold for an inquiry into whether President Joe Biden was directly involved or benefited from the corrupt practices of his son, Hunter, and others,” he wrote.

House Republicans claim the president lied about not being involved in Hunter Biden’s business deals, pointing to alleged phone calls, meetings and wire transfers from a Chinese businessman to Hunter Biden that use the president’s home address, according to the Washington Post.

Ian Sams, a spokesperson for White House Counsel’s Office, sent a memo to national media organizations Sept. 12 arguing that House Republicans are engaging in a “baseless” inquiry of Biden’s actions without evidence of high crime and misdemeanor. The memo includes a 14-page appendix on seven “key lies” House Republicans are using for their impeachment argument, including that Biden engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national and that the Biden Administration is “stonewalling” congressional investigations.

“It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies,” Sams said in the memo.

CeraVe to fund dermatology residency next summer

in all specialties identifying as white, according to a 2022 study.

A skincare product company will fund a residency position for the GW Department of Dermatology starting next summer.

CeraVe will support a new, three-year dermatology resident beginning next July with funding they provided to the department, increasing the department’s number of available residency positions next application cycle from two to three. Professor Adam Friedman, the residency program director and the chair of dermatology, said creating an additional dermatology residency program will help reduce the shortage of dermatologists nationwide and could increase diversity in the dermatology workforce.

Dermatology is one of the most competitive specialties in medicine, with 651 total applicants vying for just 423 postgraduate year-two residency spots in 2017 nationally, according to a 2018 study. Just under two-thirds of active dermatology residents between 2019 and 2020 reported their race or ethnicity to be white, compared to the 56.2 percent of physicians

“Creating an additional position addresses both issues by increasing the workforce even by one dermatologist and also provides an additional opportunity to match for all those seeking such a competitive position,” Friedman said in an email.

Dermatology residents are paid and gain handson experience with patients while learning in traditional educational settings like lectures and seminars. Friedman said the position is open to candidates who have completed their first year of postgraduate work.

He said the new residency position will be “no different” than other dermatology residency positions within the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where residents receive training and opportunities like presenting at conferences and engaging in community service. He said CeraVe will fund the program but will not be involved in selecting or training the resident.

Friedman didn’t specify the amount of funding CeraVe will provide but said the costs would be similar to those of other three-year residencies. He said discussions be-

tween dermatology department faculty and CeraVe leadership about how CeraVe could support the dermatology community and address “gaps” in the specialty began in 2020. Friedman said there has been a “long” and “recognized” shortage of dermatologists, citing a 2017 study that found that the number of dermatologists in the nation must double to address the total skin disease burden.

“There is clearly a need for more dermatologists on many levels,” Friedman said. “One of the rate limiting steps is funding, which is substantial and not easily available.”

Friedman said dermatology department faculty composed and submitted a proposal for the residency position support to CeraVe, and CeraVe approved their proposal and signed an agreement with the department after the initial discussions in 2020 to finalize the partnership. He said the American College of Graduate Medical Education — the organization that oversees residency accreditation in the U.S. — also approved the additional residency position last month, completing the “lengthy process” to fund the new position.

CeraVe partnered with the Howard University Dermatology Department last year

SA Sustainability Committee launches composting competition

Residence halls will go head to head in a composting competition led by the Student Association’s Sustainability Committee this month.

SA Sen. Dan Saleem (CCASU), the chair of the Sustainability Committee, said the residence hall with the highest percentage of students who donate their compost throughout the month will win a prize to be announced Oct. 31. Students involved with the planning of the event said they hope the competition will increase the number of students composting at GW.

Students living on campus can bring their compost to Kogan Plaza during the month of October on Mondays and Tuesdays from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The compost collectors will write down the names and residence halls of the donors, tallying the amount of compost from each hall. The event organizers added that they encourage those who can’t join the competition, like off-campus students and faculty, to still bring their compost during collection periods.

After the tournament, student employees working for the Office of Sustainability will continue to offer composting at drop-offs throughout the semester and at

GW events.

Saleem said he’s hoping the competition contributes to a “major” increase in the amount of food scraps composted. Over the summer, the office reported it collected 1,664 pounds of compost from students, faculty and D.C. locals after collecting 3,344 pounds in the spring.

“Climate change is a thing, and there are some people who don’t believe that,” Saleem said. “We’re here to confront the facts of ‘Hey, this is a problem in our world, not just our University, and let’s do our part to fix it.’”

Saleem said he plans to create weekly posts on his senate Instagram account throughout the month, updating which residence halls are in the lead.

Saleem said the five-member committee met in July with Office of Sustainability Director Josh Lasky, Sustainability Associate Colin O’Brien and Director of the Sustainability Minor program Tara Scully to discuss their plans for the competition. Saleem said everyone was “receptive” to their idea, and the office hopes to host more events with the committee throughout the year.

“All we have to do is facilitate and organize how residence halls will be accounted for,” Saleem said. “The sustainability office has taken a huge step in helping

with that.”

diately return a request for comment.

Saleem said there will not be an additional composting location on the Mount Vernon Campus, but Vern residents can participate in the competition by bringing their compost to Kogan Plaza for counting.

“I feel like it would be easier to have somewhere to do it here rather than having to take the Vex and go all the way there,” said Alicia Molock, a Vern resident.

But Saleem said there are people from the committee, including himself, who would be “happy” to help students bring their compost to Kogan Plaza for them.

Sen. Dante Rodriguez (SEASU), the vice chair of the Sustainability Committee, said in a message that the committee has been working with the Residence Hall Association to promote the competition by sending emails to residents and hanging up posters reminding students to participate.

“Working with RHA is really key to this process, as the competition revolves around the different dorms competing,” Rodriguez said. “It will allow us to raise awareness for the competition and drum up interest right where people live.”

Rodriguez said the committee urges students to check that their food is compostable before donating it — contaminants like fruit stickers, rubber bands and plastic

wrap should not be composted.

RHA President Vero Famadas said in a message the association is in the “beginning stages” of working with the Sustainability Committee. They said RHA plans to begin promoting the competition at their general body meetings throughout October since Hall Councils were elected this month.

Shukthi Senthilraj, a junior studying cognitive neuroscience, said she had seen flyers for the competition in University Student Center elevators and wished the competition was getting more publicity. She said she plans on

to fund faculty training and infrastructure needed to perform clinical trials, according to a November release.

Experts in dermatology said the field is one of the most competitive specialties and that the program increasing the number of residency positions can help address the shortage of dermatology residencies and dermatologists.

Marc J. Kahn, the dean of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the federal government funds most residency positions and caps the number of residencies. He said medical school enrollment has been increasing while residency offerings are not, creating a shortage of dermatology residencies. He said the partnership between CeraVe and GW Dermatology is “helpful” in growing the number of residency positions because it is unlikely that the government will decide to fund more residencies. He said he would support similar partnerships at other institutions for all specialties to address the shortage of residency positions.

“If we’re going to increase the number of trainees in all specialties, we need to find creative ways to find residency positions,” Kahn said.

composting despite not living in a residence hall.

“I would do it because I do support composting,” Senthilraj said. “I’m an off-campus student so there’s no incentive for me, but I would still do it.”

Vijay Jayamani, a junior studying systems engineering, said he plans to bring his compost to Kogan for the competition after hearing about the event from an advertisement on campus.

“It’s just important for everyone to look out for the environment as well as to enforce a more sustainable campus,” Jayamani said.

—Compiled by Max Porter

CHELSEA ANTERO | PHOTOGRAPHER

Student Association Sens. Dante Rodriguez (SEAS-U), left, and Dan Saleem (CCAS-U) said they hope the competition will boost the number of students who compost.

FILE PHOTO BY ALLISON ROBBERT | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Professor Jonathan Turley argued there's not enough evidence of wrongdoing to warrant an impeachment of President Joe Biden but said an investigation should still be conducted.

RORY QUEALY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR RYAN J. KARLIN REPORTER

GW dance groups perform multicultural routine at World Culture Festival

Twisting and twirling under the silhouette of the U.S. Capitol, GW dancers spun in front of a sea of onlookers Friday for the first U.S.-held World Culture Festival.

Members of two student organizations for dancers, District K and GW Balance, performed alongside a group of collegiate dancers from across the country in a dance routine split into four different genres: contemporary ballet, Bollywood, hip-hop and African dance. The students joined thousands of people on the National Mall on Friday night for multicultural dances, speeches from international and national leaders and to savor delicacies from different cuisines from dozens of food trucks.

The Art of Living, a nonprofit organization led by controversial spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, hosted the weekend festival full of multicultural performances and food. Attendees laid on

the lawn or sat on folding chairs and observed events unfold on stage, while others participated in off-stage activities, including writing inspirational messages on multicolored paper hearts like “YOU ARE LOVED” and “BESOS PARA TODOS.”

Members of Balance and District K said they were honored to participate in the festival and showcase the techniques of their individual styles in the East meets West global dance fusion. The performance was choreographed by professional dancers like Omelika Kuumba, Jainil Mehta and Annelies Richmond.

Dancers for the hip-hop, Bollywood and African portions of the performance awaited their cue to begin their routines on different corners of the square stage. Contemporary ballet dancers, including several GW Balance members donning tan skirts and gold tops, kicked off the performance, gliding into different formations with pique turns and other classical ballet skills before transitioning to the Bollywood group.

Maria Fugel, a senior and co-president of Balance, said

Officials revise CorcoranNGA deal, aim to connect students and gallery staff

FIONA RILEY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

SARAH GROSS REPORTER

The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design revised an agreement with the National Gallery of Art last month to turn Corcoran gallery space in the Flagg Building into a hub for collaboration between departments and NGA staff.

The revision launched plans for renovations at the Flagg Building that will turn gallery space on the second floor into a center for interdisciplinary learning opportunities across Corcoran departments.

Lauren Onkey, the director of Corcoran, said new leadership at GW and the NGA inspired conversations between the gallery and Corcoran last fall to revise the 2014 agreement that allowed the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences to incorporate Corcoran.

Kaywin Feldman became the new director of the NGA in March 2019, and Lauren Onkey stepped into the role as Corcoran director in July 2021.

“It was kind of an opportunity to say ‘Okay, what do we really want to accomplish for the National Gallery, for the community and for our students?’” Onkey said.

Onkey said she hopes the spaces — which officials are updating with new doors, plaster and flooring — will be ready by fall 2024 for different classes to collaborate on art exhibitions, performances and teaching exercises.

“We could envision, for example, that there may be a class working in one of those galleries or a couple of classes together on a project that lasts for a semester or a year, that results in something publicfacing, whether that’s an exhibition or a performance or a workshop,” Onkey said.

The Corcoran Gallery launched in 1869 as a museum for historic and contemporary American art and established the Corcoran School of Art in 1878, which gained membership and accreditation status to the National Association of Schools of Art in 1971.

The Board of Trustees dissolved the museum operations of the Corcoran gallery in 2014.

the dance was tiring but that she knows how to maintain her stamina throughout intensive routines.

“It’s very high energy,” Fugel said. “It’s a lot of running and jumping. It’s not super long, but it feels very energy intensive.”

Fugel said the Art of Living invited the group and other dance organizations to perform in July. She said after she talked with the other co-president of Balance, Abbigail Seligman, they sent out an interest form to students, and 15 members expressed interest in performing.

Fugel said as the festival date approached, she grappled with finding a balance between practicing the choreography to ensure she remembered the routine while also conserving her energy for the performance.

“It’s something you learn being a dancer,” Fugel said. “I’ve grown up dancing. I’ve been dancing since I was three years old, so I think I just know what’s right for my body and how my body’s feeling.”

Sahana Withanachchi, a sophomore in Balance, said it was an honor to perform at an event with a large au-

dience because the group’s shows at the end of each semester in the University Student Center usually don’t attract as large of a turnout.

“The meaning of the performance feels bigger than it is,” Withanachchi said.

Hip-hop dancers, including members of District K — a K-pop hip-hop dance team — brought an upbeat

rhythm to the stage following the Bollywood segment. Sporting electric blue pants with white and blue tops, dancers ran onstage to deliver a routine complete with powerful jumps and ripple effects, where dancers mimicked each other’s moves before heading to a back corner of the stage to make way for the African

dance unit. Eva Dudzinska, a sophomore and member of District K, said her “jaw dropped” when she learned during the first in-person rehearsal that Emmy Award-winning choreographer and YouTuber Dominic Sandoval, better known as “D-Trix,” would teach the hip-hop section.

Milken master’s student receives award at Planned Parenthood gala

CADE MCALLISTER EVENTS EDITOR

GW and the NGA bought and divided up the assets, leaving the NGA with rights to the Corcoran art collection and giving GW the Flagg Building and Corcoran College of Art & Design, which they renamed the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design.

Corcoran faculty say increased collaboration with the NGA will connect students with D.C. artists and provide professional curatorial experience and interdisciplinary work.

Laura Schiavo, an associate professor and the former program head of Corcoran’s museum studies program, was on the planning committee with Onkey and other Corcoran faculty to revise the agreement. She said “productive conversations” began last fall between a group of roughly 12 members from the NGA and Corcoran to establish guidelines and ideas for collaborative projects like gallery visits, exhibitions and guest speakers in classes.

“We knew that we had parameters. We knew the National Gallery can’t turn over all their stuff for this collaboration, and on the flip side, faculty were not going to make everything they do about the National Gallery,” Schiavo said. “So we wanted to set up some sort of structure that the faculty in the Corcoran and staff at the National Gallery could work on.”

Schiavo said her Museum History and Theory class met at the beginning of the semester with curators from the Corcoran Legacy Gallery, a space in the NGA’s west wing where art from the original Corcoran Collection obtained by the NGA in the 2014 agreement are displayed, to learn about the process of selecting works that represent a large museum. She said students will talk more this semester with curators about the Corcoran legacy and develop twominute audio tours of the gallery.

“For my students, this is a very big time, unusual access opportunity for them to apply what they’re learning about museum history in an actual gallery space and thinking about how you bring those ideas to audiences,” Schiavo said.

RORY QUEALY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

A master’s student in the Milken Institute School of Public Health accepted an award from Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington at their Impact Gala on Friday.

Brittany House, a master’s in public health candidate, received the Catalyst Award for her work as a patient advocate and an abortion storyteller for PPMW, which includes recounting her experience receiving an abortion to members of Congress and lobbying for reproductive health care access. PPMW also honored singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and State Sen. Ariana Kelly (D-MD) with awards at the Waldorf Astoria event.

In an interview with The Hatchet, House said she felt “amazing” to have received the award, which represents the culmination of her seven years volunteering for Planned Parenthood. She said after growing up in a Catholic community in Baltimore, she had an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy when she was 21, adding Planned Parenthood empowered her to tell her

story and advocate for other women’s reproductive rights.

“Planned Parenthood gave me the tools and confidence to tell my story to actually give voice to other women who are like me,” House said. “If you have an unwanted pregnancy, you just shouldn’t have a baby just because, right? Like you have choice, and also your career matters.”

House said studying at Milken gave her a different perspective on American health care by teaching her about health care in other countries. She said

one of her favorite classes is Comparative Global Health Systems, and learning about the health care systems in countries like Poland and Cuba provides insight into how the American health care system can be improved to “do well” by patients.

House said she started her work volunteering as a patient advocate at Planned Parenthood after the 2016 presidential election because she was disappointed Hillary Clinton didn’t win and because she didn’t have money to donate to organizations

that protect reproductive health care access.

“At the time I didn’t really have a lot of money to donate, but I had time,” House said. “I definitely want to be at the forefront of abortion storytelling for Black women and definitely telling diverse perspectives and stories about our experiences with reproductive health access.”

House said the Catalyst Award is emblematic of her advocacy to reduce stigma around abortions by telling stories of people who have experienced the procedure.

Faculty report inconsistent graduate student enrollment, welcome marketing push

From Page 1

Despite the targeted approach toward bolstering graduate student enrollment, graduate program directors said enrollment has been inconsistent among some programs over the past few years but welcomed the prospect of increased enrollment.

Provost Chris Bracey said at a Faculty Senate meeting last month that the University enrolled a “strong” graduate class this fall led by a rise in international student enrollment.

Fran Buntman, the director of graduate studies for the Department of Sociology, said enrollment data has been “all over the map” because the pandemic made it more difficult to pinpoint trends. She said the sole consistent feature of the program is attracting people who want to change fields from their undergraduate degree because program faculty are open to students new to sociology and criminology.

“We definitely are seeing more people who have come from very different fields, who now want to pivot into sociology or into criminology who are coming to our program,” Buntman said. “I’d say if there was any trend, it would be that.”

Buntman said the Rev Up campaign will help bring awareness to program offerings, which is difficult for her to spearhead independently

due to the limited availability in her schedule to advertise programs. She added that there is currently an increase in interest for master’s degrees nationwide and that the campaign keeps GW on people’s “radar screen.”

She added that robust graduate programs are essential to attract “good talent” to GW and for the University’s financial success.

“What I’m hoping is that it will bring more attention to GW in general and our programs in particular so that we continue to attract interesting, smart, motivated people,” Buntman said.

Toni Marsh, the program director of the paralegal master’s degree and graduate certificate programs, said Rev Up is the biggest marketing campaign that she recalls in the 17 years she has directed the paralegal program. She said she thinks officials want to encourage graduate students to conduct research and make advancements in their industries at GW and that the Rev Up campaign will create a “buzz” of positive energy and lead to upticks in correspondence from prospective applicants and the number of applications.

“It’s always good when the University makes a concerted effort to support the graduate programs,” Marsh said. “When they pour the money and the energy and the time

and the manpower or the people power into supporting our programs, we immediately feel the effects, and it’s always good.”

Marsh said GW’s “rigorous” paralegal program is the only D.C. program approved by the American Bar Association and has an alumni network of individuals who work at “high-level” jobs, including the CIA, the State Department and the Supreme Court.

She said paralegal program enrollment has grown over the past year, and she hopes the program continues expanding and ensures that students succeed.

“I want to see my students get happy, be happy in their careers and thrive in their careers and that’s what they are doing,” Marsh said.

“And so I want that to continue.”

Ingrid Creppell, the director of graduate studies for the Department of Political Science, said master’s student enrollment for political science has not increased or decreased significantly in the past few years but that the Rev Up campaign will put GW “on the map” for political science students seeking a graduate education.

She said the program at GW differs from other graduate political science programs because students can choose to create their own multidisciplinary course schedule, which the Rev Up campaign should feature.

FLORENCE SHEN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Brittany House, a master's in public health candidate, accepted the Catalyst Award for her work as a patient advocate and an abortion storyteller for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington.

Officials launch Camp Wellbeing to combat midterm stress, promote harm reduction

Officials said they hope to combat students’ premidterm stress with petting zoos, outdoor yoga and a week of self-care programming between Sept. 30 and Oct. 8.

Sherry Leung, the director of student support, said the Office of Health Promotion and Education in the Division for Student Affairs is seeking to promote student well-being on campus through Camp Wellbeing — a weeklong series highlighting campus resources for students through the eight dimensions of well-being, GW’s wellness framework — and monthly harm reduction tabling in residence halls. She said through the week of events and resource tabling, officials in the OHPE will prioritize prevention over reaction and equip students with the resources to stay well during stressful times in college.

Leung said officials created Camp Wellbeing to increase student support as school ramps up for students between Weeks of Welcome — which span late August through late September — and midterm exams. She said the OHPE sees more students seeking support during the fall semester and at the beginning of the academic year.

“Concerns do vary, but a lot center around finding belonging and navigating the college experience,” Leung said in an email. “Our programming aims to align our services and resources with when students would need them most.”

Leung said the Camp Wellbeing Kickoff Fair, held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Kogan Plaza with 27 campus partners, marks the beginning of Camp Wellbeing. She said events will include petting

zoos, therapy dogs, outdoor yoga, a flu-shot clinic and more.

“We like to use the analogy of a toolbox. Our role at GW is to provide students with opportunities to add to their wellbeing toolbox. It’s up to the students to use the tools,” Leung said in an email.

She said they are trying to reach students who may not know where to seek support or feel uncomfortable approaching the Student Support Center through the residence hall tabling. She said they have tabled in Thurston and Shenkman halls so far and will table in District House on Oct. 28 from 8 to 10 p.m.

“Our goal is to meet students where they are,” Leung said. “We are trying to do that both literally in terms of the spaces they live in, but also in an approachable way that enables them to connect with our team.”

Mallory McPhersonWehan, a 2018 alum and the assistant director of health promotion and education who spearheaded the planning for Camp Wellbeing, said the week of events is meant to promote a holistic approach to wellness encompassing all eight dimensions of well-

GW is ‘stable’ in US News & World Report: Granberg

From Page 1

“At whatever level you have time and interest and resources, really what we want is we want you connected,” Granberg said.

When asked what plans she has to improve GW’s rank in the U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best national universities, Granberg said she will not tailor University priorities to receive a specific position in the rankings. She added that her priorities for improving the University’s graduation and retention rates and reducing student debt align with the criteria to move up in the rankings.

She said the University has remained “stable” in the rankings because U.S. News grouped GW together with other universities for the No. 67 spot. GW fell from No. 62 for the 2022-23 academic year to No. 67 for the 2023-24 academic year in the rankings, tying with Universities of Massachusetts-Amherst, Miami and Pittsburgh and Villanova and Syracuse universities.

“In this particular year, I would say that was a victory, although I fully understand that students looking at potential schools don’t think like that,” Granberg said.

When asked whether officials will reassess GWPD’s plan to arm supervisory officers with handguns, Granberg said she and a subcommittee of the Faculty Senate’s Physical Facilities Committee will assess the efficacy of arming GWPD officers after phase two of the “hybrid” arming plan, in which four lieutenants will start to carry firearms in October.

When GWPD Police Chief James Tate presented the implementation plan to the Student Association, Faculty Senate and Staff Council last month, he said the four lieutenants will start to carry firearms in late September.

She said officials held forums with students, faculty and staff to review the arming plan after phase one, which involved equipping Tate and Captain Gabe Mullinax with 9 mm handguns. She added that officials are forming an independent review commission of students, faculty and staff to review incidents of misuse of a firearm. Officials announced last month that the committee will include two students, three faculty members and two staff members.

“We’ll assess the effectiveness of the performance, the individuals participating and make sure that all the training is working the way it’s supposed to,” Granberg said. “And then we’ll decide at some point when the final stage of arming will take place.”

being — physical, emotional, financial, spiritual, social, intellectual, environmental and cultural. She said Camp Wellbeing aims to be proactive by ensuring students stay well, rather than only treating students when they are not well.

“You want to try to do as much prevention work so that you don’t have to do as much reaction and you lay the groundwork for a culture of prevention on campus,” McPhersonWehan said.

Raegan Persful, a firstyear graduate student and a substance-use specialist in the OHPE, said she hopes the events will make students more aware of the offices and resources available to them on campus.

“Talking to undergrad students, it seems like they think there’s not a lot of resources on campus for GW,” Persful said. “While there’s always room for improvement, there is quite a few people and offices that want to support students.”

Persful said the residence hall tabling is specifically geared toward harm reduction like safe alcohol consumption and where to get tested for HIV. She said they are giving away

Colleagues remember Freedman’s devotion to teaching, journalism

From Page 1

Steven Livingston, a professor of media and public affairs, said Freedman was a “consummate gentleman” and a beloved professor and colleague. Livingston said Freedman had a way of “zeroing in” on somebody when he was talking to them.

Mike. GW was a very personal place for him because the students felt like his extended family as well as his extended journalism family,” Sesno said. “And he wanted to impart to students the impact that journalism has, the courage that it often takes to do journalism and the benefits that everyone gets when journalism is done right.”

Nightcap Scrunchies that cover cups and glasses, dental dams, condoms, blood alcohol concentration cards and more resources to students.

Emily Htway, a firstyear graduate student and a sexual health specialist with the OHPE, said she has been promoting HIV awareness and testing resources like Take Me Home, a free and confidential HIV test delivery service, and HIV trivia games at the events and the tabling. She said college students should get tested regularly because HIV and sexually transmitted infection rates are higher on college campuses than in the general public.

People between the ages of 15 and 24 account for half of all new STI cases, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“That’s why this age group is so critical to destigmatize testing and really emphasize the importance of it,” she said.

Htway said testing rates are low among college students primarily because of the universal stigma around the disease, including misconceptions about its transmission or what populations it affects.

Livingston said he bonded with Freedman over being from Michigan and a “shared love” of the 1960s era of the Detroit Tigers. He was a quiet, gentle, thoughtful presence, never raised his voice and always treated people with utmost respect, and that’s a rare combination of talents and I’ll always associate that with him,” Livingston said.

Peter Loge, an associate professor of media and public affairs and the director of SMPA, said his fondest memories of Freedman were the conversations they would have about his concern and commitment to his students. Loge said when Freedman was sick, his primary concern was making sure he was still available for his students.

“What stands out is that everything I’ve heard from former students and friends of Mike’s is his commitment to and belief in broadcasting as a medium, and he believed fully and completely in his students,” Loge said.

Loge added that Freedman “brought students to history” by teaching media history classes at the Newseum and later the National Press Club.

“You and your classmates who are at WRGW and GWTV and The Hatchet and The Black Ace and MediaFile and everywhere else, you are the legacy,” Loge said. “And it’s up to us, up to me and my colleagues, to ensure that legacy.”

Frank Sesno, a professor of media and public affairs, said Freedman was a “tireless” teacher for his students. Sesno said Freedman brought students to the story and journalism “giants” to the classroom.

“It was very personal for

Sesno added that Freedman was proud to be a part of “The Kalb Report” and that Freedman was the “guy behind the camera” who brought the show together. Sesno said Freedman always made an effort to bring students into the show to give them the opportunity to learn from the featured journalists.

“He wanted young people to hear from older people to pass these traditions and this knowledge down through generations of journalists, aspiring journalists and people who understood or wanted to learn from journalism,” Sesno said.

Steven Roberts, a J.B. and M.C. Shapiro professor of media and public affairs, said in an email that Freedman was a “mensch,” or a person of high integrity and honor. Roberts said Freedman taught with passion and mentored dozens of students.

José Domingos, a barber at Puglisi Haircuts located at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, said Freedman came into the shop every week, was always happy and had a great personality.

“He’s a friend,” Domingos said. “He isn’t even like a customer. He’s like a friend to us.”

Antonio Puglisi, who owns the barbershop, said Freedman, a longtime customer and friend, was always nice to talk to when he came into the shop.

“We all feel sorry for the family,” Puglisi said. “We want to express our condolences.”

Freedman is survived by his wife, Renee, his two sons Danny and Brian, who are also GW alumni, five grandchildren and his brother, according to the Washington Post.

SEAS researchers, entrepreneurs win Department of Energy lithium extraction contest

MICHAEL HARIMAN REPORTER

A professor and student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science led a team that won a Department of Energy contest last month for a design that helps sustainably recover lithium.

A research team and business led by Xitong Liu, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Lingchen Kong, a fourthyear environmental engineering doctoral student, won the American-Made DOE Geothermal Lithium Extraction Prize, a contest where 40 participating teams developed novel lithium extraction methods. The GW team — one of three to win the contest — won a $500,000 prize for their design that uses electricity to capture lithium ions, which Kong said they plan to develop further.

“We know other competitors were also very excellent, and they have their expertise in this field, so we are very surprised and excited to know that we are selected as the winner,” Kong said. “But still, we are confident about our technology.”

Lithium is a highly reactive metal used in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for consumer electronics, electric vehicles and clean energy storage. The latter two are crucial for President Joe Biden’s goals of 50 percent electric vehicle adoption by 2030 and a netzero emissions economy by 2050, goals that prompted the contest, according to the DOE.

The DOE also held the contest to secure a domestic supply of lithium, a DOE-designated “critical mineral.” The U.S. currently imports 99 percent of its lithium supply.

The U.S. could extract lithium from the Salton Sea, a salt lake in Southern California, which may hold enough lithium to exceed American domestic rechargeable battery needs but can’t use the material unless they develop an ex-

traction method that wouldn’t damage the environment.

Conventional methods of lithium extraction, like solar evaporation, aren’t sustainable in the U.S. as they severely damage the environment and would require multiple rounds of environmental impact assessments and permits to begin operations, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Solar evaporation entails digging lithium evaporation pools that can be seen from space, consuming immense water and land resources. Liu said a new, more environmentally friendly method that uses the existing infrastructure of geothermal power plants in the Salton Sea is needed.

Lithium salts dissolve easily in water to form charged atoms, or ions. The team’s design is a type of direct lithium extraction, or DLE, which he said uses intercalating, or inserting, electrodes to take advantage of this charge. These electrodes, which commonly comprise the positive and

negative poles in batteries, readily store and release ions like positively charged lithium ions and negatively charged chloride ions.

He said by passing a current through these electrodes into geothermal brine — a mineral-rich solution found in geothermal sources like in the Salton Sea — the process can capture lithium and chloride, while other undesirable ions, like potassium and sodium, are left in the brine.

Liu said a major problem with many lithium extraction methods is that as geothermal brine cools, compounds that would otherwise be dissolved in hot brine form solids, which can prevent lithium recovery.

“Once they form precipitates on the surface of the material, they can basically block lithium transport,” Liu said.

Liu said his design addresses this problem by removing silica, which prevents lithium recovery, from geothermal brine in the first step.

“Silica is one of the main constituents in the geothermal brine, especially in [the] Salton

Sea, so that becomes a huge concern for even other technology as well,” Liu said. “So, how to deal with that is very important.”

Liu said once the process removes silica from the brine, it is then pumped into a tank where the intercalating electrodes capture lithium and chloride ions. He said the geothermal brine is then flushed back into the geothermal source and the tank is filled with recycled water. He said the electrodes then release the captured lithium and chloride ions into the water to form a clean lithium chloride solution.

Liu said this clean solution is then converted to lithium hydroxide solution, which battery manufacturers use to produce batteries. Finally, he said his design uses vacuum evaporation to crystallize lithium hydroxide into a solid before selling it to battery manufacturers.

Liu and Kong’s company, Ellexco, offers the technology and won $20,000 at GW’s New Venture Competition in April.

COURTESY OF XITONG LIU

Xitong Liu, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, was part of a GW team that won a $500,000 prize for their design that uses electricity to capture lithium ions.

TAYTUM WYMER | PHOTOGRAPHER

Students peruse resources like condoms and blood alcohol concentration cards during Camp Wellbeing tabling last week.

FROM GWHATCHET.COM/OPINIONS

—JESSICA RICH on 9/28/2023

Perspective: Who I am can’t be celebrated in a month

Iwas hoping to feel some touch of home and see the vibrancy of my culture during this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, which started Sept. 15 and lasts until Oct. 15. While GW marked its Latin Heritage Celebration with festivals, music and food, I felt more distant and isolated from my culture — it felt like my Hispanic/Latina heritage and Mexican-American identity weren’t at any of these events or that I couldn’t even fit into them.

I’m from Calexico, California, where about 98 percent of the community is Hispanic or Latino. My hometown is literally right next to the Mexican border, and we take deep pride in our heritage. September is one of the biggest months in our community, especially in school: la tricolor (the flag of Mexico) waves in our neighborhoods and decorates the walls of our classrooms. And you can see the colors of the Mexican flag — green, white and red — everywhere, from the clothes students wear to ribbons we interlace in our braided hair. Music in Spanish plays and

papel picado (paper-cut flags) hang.

And when my community celebrates Sept. 16, the anniversary of the 1810 day when Mexico declared independence from Spain, it’s as if Mexico had really just declared its independence. Our Spanish teachers dress in mariachi outfits, and students and teachers cover songs like Vicente Fernandez’s “Mexico Lindo y Querido.” We perform a traditional dance and others do El Grito (the cry), mirroring revolutionary leader Miguel Hidalgo’s battle cry of independence.

I did not expect to see a Mexican flag hung up in any classrooms at GW, but maybe I would see my culture represented in food, music and maybe some performances. Instead, I feel like the University took an essential part of my identity and tried to fit it into just another event.

What made the festivities back at home so enjoyable was that they were part of our identity. Eating Mexican food, listening and dancing to music in Spanish and watching telenovelas were daily things — not something that hap-

pened only when September rolled around. In other words, GW’s Latin Heritage Celebration events lack authenticity. That isn’t to say that the University’s offerings of dance classes, food and other festivities are problematic, but it’s like grabbing something I was used to doing every day and turning it into a special event. Now that it has been turned

“In the past few weeks, I had the jarring realization of how Hispanic and Latina I am — something I had never felt before.”

into an event, it feels like it can only be something that can exist during this month.

Only acknowledging my Hispanic heritage makes me feel like I have to compartmentalize – that I am either American or Mexican. But I am both. My last name is hyphenated to represent both of my parents, unable to be separated, in the same way that I am Mexican-

One step forward, two steps back for shared governance at GW

Shaista E. Khilji is a professor of human and organizational learning and international affairs. She served as the faculty co-chair of the GW Shared Governance Task Force. Arthur J. Wilson is an associate professor of finance. He was a member of the GW Shared Governance Task Force and is currently a faculty senator.

Shared governance provides checks and balances between faculty, administration and trustees to limit the concentration of power and develop campus-wide trust — a trust that trustees broke when they decided to arm GW Police Department officers without faculty input.

Arthur J. Wilson Guest Contributor

This was only a year after the faculty, trustees and administration agreed to a set of Shared Governance Principles, which faculty had hoped was the beginning of a collaborative partnership. Instead, the very purpose of shared governance at GW has now been called into question.

The Shared Governance Task Force, composed of faculty, trustees and administrators, met regularly from December 2021 to May 2022. This was not an easy task. We had a new University president, and the campus was recovering from an embattled former administration. Despite many heated moments that had the potential to stall discussions, we carried on. We conducted a survey, hosted faculty town halls and ultimately developed the Shared Governance Principles to strengthen “the participation and coordination among the Board, the Administration, and the Faculty and encourage robust and multi-directional communication,” which the faculty, trustees and administration endorsed in spring 2022.

Amid several mechanisms to bring together faculty, trustees and administrators, the Shared Governance Principles document also committed to holding “ourselves accountable for effective evaluation, continuous improvement, and ensuring we stay responsive to our environmental needs.”

Considering that the GW trustees decided to arm some GWPD officers without faculty input, we must ask: What went wrong? Were the Shared Governance Principles too lofty to

uphold — or too easy to set aside?

The trustees argue that campus security is their responsibility. They speak in dread of what they would say to parents if an armed individual attacked campus. However, shared governance is not about who gets to make the final decision or who is the fiduciary — it is about ensuring open discussions and upholding the shared governance principles the trustees endorsed on their accord only one year ago.

So why are the trustees skeptical of openly discussing with the faculty, even within the formal senate structure? It may be because they don’t understand the academic culture and nonhierarchical nature of faculty governance structures.

In their book, “The Insider’s Guide to Working with Universities,” James Dean and Deborah Clarke argue that most trustees don’t have the experience of a faculty member. When viewed from the world of corporate “efficiency” and topdown hierarchy, the deliberative and collaborative nature of universities can be puzzling. As a result, trustees may see faculty members as merely “employees” and get frustrated with their demands for data and slow decision-making pace.

From a faculty-centric perspective, the trustee view is misplaced and demeaning. Ideally, the administrators — the University president and the provost — could bridge this rift. Given the proliferation of managerialism, this would require a genuine act of bravery.

A numerical asymmetry between faculty, trustees and administration also contributes to misunderstandings. The trustees are smaller in number and can delegate most discussions with the faculty to their executive committee. The administration is hierarchical; therefore, it may accept trustee decisions even when they disagree with them. On the other hand, the faculty are far greater in numbers and nonhierarchical. The faculty motivations are also far more complex because of their disciplinary and demographic diversity.

Trustees ask: Who speaks for the faculty? GW’s Faculty Governance Plan refers to two central bodies — the Senate and the Faculty Assembly. As a major faculty representative body, the Faculty Senate acts on behalf of the University faculty. The Senate also uses its standing committees, composed of faculty and staff, as broader venues for discussing institutional matters. Hence, no single senator can speak for the faculty.

Faculty outside the senate structure are still members of the

American, hyphenated and inseparable.

I constantly find myself slipping words like mande into a conversation with friends because there is no exact English translation for the word. I also mix Mexican slang phrases like ni modo (can’t do anything about it) or no pues (I guess) with sentences I say in English. But few people here are able to understand me. So, I take any chance I get to speak in Spanish to the people who work at Subway or students who also speak Spanish.

I feel like I can only be a small part of myself when I’m on campus — I can only speak English, eat American food and talk about shows and music that are in English. It stings when I call someone from back home and hear the word pocha, a word for someone who speaks with a very strong American accent, because I haven’t had a full conversation in Spanish for months. I have to purposely water down my culture, like mispronouncing my name, or some people get confused.

In the past few weeks, I had the jarring realization of how Hispanic

faculty assembly. They may come together on an ad-hoc basis because they deeply care about an issue — as they have since the decision to arm GWPD. More than 230 faculty members have called for the pause and reversal of this decision. Therefore, the real test of governance in any University is to engage with this great complexity. The trustees are probably also weary of the faculty’s demand for data which they may think slows down its decision-making process. However, data-informed decisions improve operational efficiency and are more likely to create buy-in. The success of town halls organized by the Shared Governance Task Force shows that asking faculty for input generates goodwill. Hence, engaging with and not shielding yourself from the faculty is the key to building trust. One may hope that trustees and faculty will gradually learn to speak frankly and hear the other side in pursuit of shared governance. The administrators may also be able to help by stepping outside their narrow managerial roles. Perhaps the Shared Governance Principles, with their focus on “robust and multi-directional communication,” will help build a stronger foundation of trust, but we are not there yet. Instead, the trustees’ decision to arm GWPD officers without faculty input — and the administration’s attempts to promptly carry out that decision — indicates we have taken several steps backward.

Despite the aforementioned challenges, we still believe shared governance is the best way forward. There is no promised land here, and we expect GW faculty and the campus community to be tested again. So, what should the faculty do? We recognize that the corporatization of higher education has been exhaustive. Heavier teaching and workloads, deteriorating pay and conditions, fewer tenure lines and administrative bloat have weighed us down. But it is also precisely why we must become actively involved in faculty governance and push back collectively. We need to raise our collective voice to make it count. That means looking beyond our publish-orperish reality and committing a few thankless hours to faculty issues because there is no shared governance without vigorous faculty involvement. And without shared governance, our best will become a distant past.

As long as the faculty are actively involved and advocating for shared governance, it is not a lost cause. Or is it?

and Latina I am — something I had never felt before. I felt like I had to separate myself from my identity. The more I try to explain my phrases in Spanish, my name or my taste in music and food, the more isolated I feel.

I was looking forward to this month not just because I miss home or miss my culture but because my culture is a part of me. I looked forward to feeling like myself for a month, speaking Spanish, dancing, listening to music and eating food with flavor. But the festivities at home weren’t so much about celebrating our heritage as they were about celebrating who we are. Instead, I feel like I am losing myself. In truth, this isn’t GW’s fault or anyone else’s. But it is me coming to the realization of and accepting the fact that I will always feel a little like an outsider and learning not to assimilate, as isolating as it can feel. Hispanic Heritage Month is not just about celebrating our culture or heritage. It’s not about celebrating something that is separate from us, nor even an extension of us — it’s something that is inherently us.

—Andrea Mendoza-Melchor, a sophomore majoring in journalism and mass communication, is an opinions writer.

DC’s latest public safety plans deserve a closer look STAFF EDITORIAL

Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who represents the area including Foggy Bottom, unveiled a comprehensive package of legislation last month designed to “improve safety for D.C. residents.”

No Washingtonian should have to fear for their safety — but how can the Council guarantee that?

While parts of Pinto’s “Secure D.C. Plan” have merit, her proposals deserve scrutiny. Her plan would empower the Metropolitan Police Department, which has a history of abuses, and trade away civil liberties without a guarantee of public safety. And some of these policies, namely stop-andfrisk and pretrial detention, aren’t as effective at reducing crime as their supporters may claim.

Pinto’s plan follows previous legislation that the D.C. Council passed in July amid rising violent crime. Homicides in D.C. have surged 37 percent in 2023, reaching 214 total homicides so far this year. Meanwhile, other major metropolitan areas like New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia are experiencing a decline in homicide rates this year, dropping anywhere from 2 to 21 percent.

It’s against this backdrop that Pinto has trotted out seemingly “tough-on-crime” legislation. D.C. law already allows police to “frisk” civilians with their consent, but one bill would permit MPD officers to stop-andfrisk — pat or sweep the outside of someone’s clothes to search for weapons — anyone they “suspect is on probation or parole for a gun conviction” in a public place.

These searches could go so far as to potentially violate Fourth Amendment rights, as several D.C. judges said in a letter of concern to Pinto. And even if it is constitutional, stop-and-frisk policing isn’t a surefire way to prevent crime. In 2019, 86 percent of MPD’s stop-and-frisks did not lead to a warning, ticket or arrest. These searches also disproportionately target Black people, who

make up 47 percent of D.C.’s population — they’re the target of 91 percent of those searches that didn’t lead to a warning, ticket or arrest. Studies show that repeated, unwarranted stop-and-frisks can lead to long-term anxiety and depression, as well as worsen community relations and breed distrust with local police forces.

Pinto is surely aware of the implications of the stopand-frisk policy, adding “it is not the intent of the Council to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct searches for the sole purpose of harassment” to the text of the legislation. But this language does nothing to actually prevent racial discrimination by police officers, a demonstrable issue in MPD.

Another part of the plan expands pretrial detention — when someone is detained while they await trial. Instead of improving public safety, pretrial detention effectively leads to mass incarceration. In fact, 93 percent of people released pretrial nationally are not rearrested for any offense, violent or nonviolent, while awaiting their trial. Only 1 percent are rearrested for a violent offense.

Granted, some policies in the plan have the potential to make a dent in crime. The package of legislation includes installing an emergency call box system at bus stops along commercial corridors across the city and establishing a first-inthe-nation board to provide policy recommendations on protections for transgender and gender-diverse people to the D.C. Council. The Secure D.C. Plan would also expand community access to safe and clean recreational space.

Given the choice between “tough-on-crime” policies that damage community relations — and don’t actually address the problems D.C. is facing — and more proactive, preventative measures, we favor the latter. Violent crime is an issue. It’s not a given that expanding police power and implementing discriminatory policies will address it.

Andrea Mendoza-Melchor Opinions Writer 609 21st St. NW Washington, D.C. 20052 gwhatchet.com | @gwhatchet

Opinions 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.

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denotes member of editorial board Business Office Eddie Herzig, business manager Paige Baratta editorials assistant* Auden Yurman, senior photo editor Florence Shen, assistant photo editor –features Sage Russell, assistant photo editor news Jordan Tovin, assistant photo editor –culture Sandra Koretz, sports editor Ben Spitalny, contributing sports editor Nick Perkins, culture editor Jenna Baer, contributing culture editor* Nicholas Aguirre Zafiro, video editor Ava Thompson, assistant video editor Charlie Mark, assistant video editor Cristina Stassis, copy chief Faith Wardwell, publishing assistant Shea Carlberg, senior copy editor Lindsay Larson, assistant copy editor Anna Fattizzo, research assistant

WHAT THE UNIVERSITY WON’T TALK ABOUT THIS WEEK

Armenian Students Association fosters safe space for Armenian students

Amid the ongoing military conflict at the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Armenian Students Association is leading protests, fundraisers and providing a safe haven for GW’s Armenian students.

Nareg Panossian, the president of the ASA and a junior majoring in public health, said the association aims to foster collaboration, preserve Armenian culture and take a proactive stance on the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of West Asia. Following the dissolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a region largely composed of ethnic Armenians claimed by Azerbaijan, the bulk of the population has fled to Armenia fearing persecution from Azerbaijani authorities.

“Our primary goal as an organization is to first and foremost create a community space for Armenian students on campus,” Panossian said. Panossian said creating a safe environment for Armenian students on campus has allowed them to share their heritage and find strength amid the devastating conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, fostering a sense of belonging and resilience within a culturally diverse University setting.

This vision is the bedrock of the association’s mission, driving its initiatives to create a supportive environment for Armenian students. Their efforts include organizing events, like World Food Nights, to working with the GW Armenian

Law Students Association on celebration of Armenian history at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum.

In preserving their language and making cultural connections, Panossian stated that the essence of their culture comes to life in personal, everyday interactions. The warm greetings he received from Armenians on and off campus,

heartfelt conversations with Armenian restaurant proprietors who acknowledged his heritage and spontaneous interactions in public spaces exemplified Armenian culture’s deeply ingrained warmth and hospitality in the District.

But due to the unresolved nature of the conflict, Armenian culture is endangered according to Panossian.

Panossian said the lack of robust

Running late to class? Queue up these hype songs to motivate yourself

Everyone’s been there: It’s 9:30 a.m., and you’re just getting out of bed, T minus five minutes until your class in the Elliott building begins. As one makes the mad dash across campus, there’s no time to dawdle, so stopping to grab a coffee is out of the question. The only way to get that extra pep in your step is to listen to a motivating, energy-packed song to push yourself to get to class on time.

Here are The Hatchet staff’s picks for the best hype songs for when you’re running late to class:

“AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM” by Beyoncé (feat. Kendrick Lamar)

Lizzie Jensen | News Podcast

Host When struggling to get out the door, Beyoncé’s “AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM” always motivates me to move. The track is my go-to hype song for all sorts of situations like job interviews, tests, first dates and any other stress-inducing circumstances. It was especially pertinent when I was late to my microeconomics class last semester and was reminded about the discipline by Bey through her lyrical economics reference: “I’m supplyin’ my man, I’m in demand soon as I land.”

“Beach House” by Carly Rae Jepsen

Editor

When I’m daydreaming about escaping D.C. but am forced to strut to class, I look no further than “Beach House” by Carly Rae Jepsen. In the track, Jepsen sings about the fantasy of a man who can provide a beach house in Malibu, at the cost of hurt feelings. Her lyrical descriptions of being overwhelmed with the shenanigans of her male suitors match my anxious need to get to class on time.

“Oh No!” by MARINA

Charlotte Geyskens | Reporter

When I lack the time to get ready for the day ahead, I turn on “Oh No!” by MARINA, formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds, a pop-fueled, energetic and motivating anthem. The zany, dance-worthy instrumental brings a wave of nostalgia for the best of the last decade’s pop music. Between the fast tempo and the bouncy sound, it’s impossible to feel bored or sluggish while listening.

“Everything is Embarrassing” by Sky

Ferreira

Caitlin Kitson | Senior Staff

Writer

With only a few minutes to mentally prepare for the walk to class, it’s hard to shake the anxiety of trekking through Kogan Plaza and risking running into seemingly everyone I’ve met since my freshman year. To remedy my irrational embarrassment, I listen to the fittingly titled “Everything is Embarrassing” by indie

sleaze icon Sky Ferreira. With lines like “Could have been my anything, now everything’s embarrassing,” Ferreira speaks to the general awkwardness of being alive.

“Don’t Lose Your Head” from SIX: Live on Opening Night

Annie O’Brien | Culture

Podcast Host

My current favorite anthem comes from “SIX,” a retelling of Henry VIII’s six wives from the perspective of the wives. In the show, Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second and first beheaded wife, sings “Don’t Lose Your Head.”

“Don’t Lose Your Head” infuses Boleyn’s story with humor, humility and sass. While your professor probably won’t chop off your head if you arrive tardy to class, imagining beheading as a consequence for tardiness speeds up your gait.

“I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick

Murphys

Zach Blackburn | Editor in Chief Director Martin Scorsese is the king of the needle drop. Crib from Scorsese’s “The Departed” and listen to this fiddle-laden anthem from the Celtic band Dropkick Murphys. Sure, the characters who jammed to the song’s sailor-themed lyrics on their way to a criminal meet-up all ended up dead by the time the film’s credits rolled. But that’s the price of a jig that rocks too hard.

involvement from the United States and European Union in addressing the challenges faced by Armenians, including the ongoing conflict, has been deeply disheartening.

Despite that, he said high-level visits from U.S. representatives have given him hope that the conflict will be taken seriously by Americans.

Panossian stated that the association’s goals involve organizing

JENNA BAER CONTRIBUTING CULTURE EDITOR NICK PERKINS CULTURE EDITOR

With orange leaves falling, white cardigans coming out of closets and temperatures quickly dropping, there’s no better time to break open a recipe book and fix up a soup. But if you aren’t in the mood to spend all evening in your cramped kitchen chopping vegetables and stirring broth, the District boasts plenty of seasonal soups to slurp down this fall. From pink, vegan Russo-Ukrainian chowder to an iconic D.C. dish, try these soups around the city.

Ben’s Famous Chili Bowl, Ben’s Chili Bowl

For a side of history with your soup, venture out to Ben’s Chili Bowl. The restaurant has been home to celebrity patrons like Barack Obama and Bruno Mars and is credited as the originator of the half-smoke, a D.C. spin on the chili dog.

As the name suggests, Ben’s Chili Bowl also offers a chili bowl ($6.79 to $8.99), which comes with either beef, turkey or just vegetables. The dish is full of peppers, sure to make you feel toasty as the hustle and bustle of Ben’s regulars stream in to get their chili. But be warned — if you try to down too much at once,

protests, fundraisers, and educational initiatives to raise awareness about the ongoing crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and to foster unity and resilience within the Armenian community. In the past, the group has protested outside of the White House and hosted demonstrations to which some members of the association continue to do to this day.

Panossian said students should explore the resources and information available through the ASA’s Linktree. He said now is the time to actively engage in shaping policy, raise awareness for Armenian culture and promote a sense of solidarity among Armenians and their supporters.

Aline Keledjian, the vice president of the ASA and a senior studying international affairs and history, said she tries to use the group as a way to bring together Armenian students from across D.C. She said her own involvement has given her a chance to meet more people with Armenian backgrounds.

Keledjian said she thinks the organization serves an important purpose as a tool for educating people about events happening in Armenia. She said people might not always be aware of everything happening nearly 6,000 miles away, but that doesn’t diminish its importance.

“I know that there’s so many things happening in the world and it’s overwhelming to have to pay attention to everything, but it is important to just like have some sort of basic awareness because this is such a horrific thing that’s happening,” she said.

the dark chili can spatter all over your fall fits. 1213 U St. NW. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Borscht, sPACYcLOUd

While fall favorites like a Thanksgiving turkey might put meat at the center of the table, there are plenty of vegetarian soup options in D.C. to enjoy as the leaves fall from the trees. sPACYcLOUd, an Adams Morgan-based, vegan Russian eatery, offers dishes from dill-infused fries named after Leon Trotsky ($14) to vareniki ($22), a Ukrainian spin on the dumpling.

The star of their menu is their borscht ($8), a soup that combines nearly every vegetable under the sun into a hearty broth. The reddishpink dish has a twinge of sweetness from the beets and potatoes, balanced out by the grounded flavors of the rest of the dish.

2309 18th St. NW. Open 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Bi-Partisan Chicken Soup, ChickenPrescription

Whether you feel like a night in with a comforting bowl of chicken noodle soup or are trying to kick a nasty cold, look no further than Prescription Chicken to heal you. The familyrun business operates as a

soup delivery service in the DMV for those needing a quick pick-me-up that only a warm cup of soup can provide. Though some soup skeptics claim a clear broth is never filling, Prescription’s bi-partisan chicken soup ($15) is carbo-loaded with enough matzah balls and noodles to satisfy both sides of the aisle. Filled to the brim with sauteed carrots and onions and rounded out by a dill-infused chicken broth, this meal is the antidote to congested days.

1819 Seventh St NW. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

A.S.S. Chaplin’sRamen,

Run by Chef Myo Htun, who studied under a master ramen chef in Tokyo, this swanky eatery is known for both its very strong beverages and flavorful bowls of ramen and mazemen, a thickened broth version of ramen. Located a half-hour metro ride from campus in Shaw, the lively atmosphere and savory broths are well worth the journey.

Chaplin’s A.S.S. ramen has a lemongrass and coconut milk base seasoned with red chili, mirroring a curry dish. Full of chicken chashu, scallions and noodles, this peppery dish is not for the faint of heart.

1501 Ninth St. NW. Open Monday through Thursday 4 p.m. to 1:45 a.m., Friday 4 p.m. to 2:45 a.m., Saturday 12 p.m. to 2:45 a.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. to 1:45 a.m.

POLINA VEKCHINA REPORTER

Soups around campus to keep you warm while temperatures drop

JORDAN TOVIN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

GW HATCHET STAFF

TAYTUM WYMER | PHOTOGRAPHER

From left to right, GW Armenian Students Association Secretary Julie Tilimian, President Nareg Panossian and Vice President Aline Keledjian hope to provide a safe space for Armenian students on GW’s campus.

On the water: An early morning Potomac ride-along with the women’s rowing team

SANDRA KORETZ SPORTS EDITOR

The harmonies of singing girls and loud music erupted into the dark sky early Monday morning. The tunes and giggling aren’t the remnants of a Sundayinto-Monday night out — rather, the 6:30 a.m. ruckus is the sound of the women’s rowing team prepping for their first practice of the week.

With Taylor Swift blaring at the Thompson Boat Center — a boathouse on the shore of the Potomac River shared between GW and Georgetown University — the team is diving deep into training to prepare for their fight to repeat last year’s conference championship. Last year’s Atlantic 10 Championship was the team’s first time winning the conference, winning a trip to the NCAA Championship.

But as the team looks to hold onto their momentum, with an all-new coaching staff this year, they’ll first have to endure an 11-practices-per-week regiment as they prepare for their 10-month season.

“We’re trying to build from a really great, really high watermark spot as a program,” said Head Coach Paul Allbright.

Allbright took the helm at GW after former Head Coach Marci Robles left after taking home the hardware to work at a local elementary school in July. Allbright, the former head coach of the Georgetown team, oversees GW’s warmups: a quick stretch and conditioning, 10 feet from the Hoya boats.

In groups of nine, the women make their way to a set of racks in the boathouse — sleek, specialized boats are stacked five high, nearly touching the ceiling. The approximately $60,000 carbon-fiber vessels stretch almost 60 feet long and weigh 200 pounds, requiring eight women to lug the vessel to the dock.

The groups of eight flip the boat from the racks onto their shoulders. With guidance from their respective coxswain — the de facto navigators of the boats who are also tasked with motivating the crew during workouts and races — the teams gingerly veer from the boathouse and downstream to the dock.

The morning darkness is only just beginning to dissipate

GW Athletics launches Buff and Blue Campaign

GW is raising funds for its athletic programs with the 2023 Buff and Blue Fund Challenge. The fundraiser helps to fund the university’s athletic programs, with money being raised primarily going toward scholarship costs, travel and nutritional needs of athletes in addition to academic support. Donors can give directly to an athletic program, or to the fund as a whole, which covers overall investment to GW athletics.

“GW Athletics strives to provide our teams with operating budgets within the top one-third of their respective conferences,” the University said on the fund website.

In 2022, GW Athletics raised more than $200,000 from over 1,100 donors, more than half of whom were alumni studentathletes. With the hopes of reaching similar success this year, the Buff and Blue Challenge is once again a competition; you can enter to fi nancially support a GW athletic team of your choosing, and cash prizes are awarded to the winning teams in most donors, most dollars raised, highest former studentathlete participation rate and most improved on total donors from last year.

Supporters can also offer a matching gift, with several alumni-athletes matching donations to their former programs. Men’s basketball alumnus and former NBA player Tyler Cavanaugh has offered to match dollar for dollar up to $1000 for other men’s basketball alumni donating to the program.

Last year, the water polo program won the highest alumniathlete giving percentage award, gymnastics raised the most money, baseball had the most donors, while volleyball had the greatest improvement in their alumni-athlete giving percentage.

As of Oct. 1, The Revolutionaries raised $68,383 with 289 donors, with 30 percent of those donors being former student-athlete alumni, 37 percent being family members, 17 percent being current studentathletes, and the remaining percentage coming from friends, faculty, current non-student athletes and non-student athlete alumni. GW Athletics has raised 45 percent of its $150,000 goal, with the campaign ending on Oct. 6 at 11:59 p.m.

Thus far, the baseball program has raised the most money, collecting $20,820 with just nine donors. Women’s lacrosse has raised the second highest amount, $8,805 from 66 donors, the most of any program.

The Buff and Blue Challenge was made possible through GW Athletics Advisory Council member Annemargaret Connolly’s philanthropic efforts. Connolly is a GW Law ’88 alumna, and along with her husband, Ken Frank, provide additional prizes that are distributed to the various winning programs. The money awarded to the winner of each challenge is provided through a donation by Connolly and Frank.

To show support for GW Athletics and the Revolutionaires, you can make a donation online to the Buff and Blue Fund Challenge.

when the boats enter the water at about 6:45 a.m., a dark gray cloud serving as the transition between night and day. With the morning tapping out at roughly 60 degrees, a headwind gusting down the river meant the temperature felt more like below 50.

The teams settle into their boats, passing around pairs of clip-in shoes as they attach their feet to the vessel and adjust their oars into their oarlocks. Today, the team of almost 40 is splitting into two groups of two boats. One set will go with Assistant Coach Elena Esteban, and the other will ride with Allbright.

Allbright divides the women into groups of nine. At this point in the early season, he aims to even out the talent on each boat, combining rowers across skill levels across boats. Later in the season, he’ll split the women up into skill-based teams for competition. But for now, it’s about making the team better.

Before they can start rowing, the women quietly hold their oars above the water perpendicular to their bodies, ensuring they can balance the boat. If they aren’t balanced, the craft won’t glide straight. The team signals to the coxswain and coach that they’re stabilized and ready to go, so practice begins.

Allbright sits in a specially made launch boat, designed to eliminate its own waves so as to not disrupt the rowers near him. Allbright steers the boat behind the rowers and carries a custom-made megaphone to give motivation and advice to the rowers.

“Being smoother on the water, trying to keep things as positive and empowering as possible with as much transparency and respecting them enough to know they can know some of the plan and that kind of thing,” Allbright said.

The commands are sparse, indicative of his trust for the coxswains who direct their respective boats down the river. The teams communicate in lingo obscure to the inexperienced ear: “Stay long,” “Seek out hinges before knees break” and “Slipping the blade out,” echo over the quiet Potomac.

A headwind forces the rowers to exert more effort. They begin their “full-boat” practice at 7:15 a.m. rowing 18 strokes a minute, bending their body forward

then extending backward to pull themselves through the water. Allbright intensifies his instructions, asking rowers to move at 22 strokes per minute for 14-minute, 12-minute and 10-minute intervals, with a 90-second break between sets.

“So with the new coach, I think it’s been a really important part of our shift to continue our championship culture,” sophomore Bianca Rose said. “We won the A-10s for the first time last season. And we appeared at NCAAs for the first time ever, which was super, super exciting. So I think with a whole new coaching staff, it’s been really fun to get to know a different standard and a different level of excitement, training to push ourselves to the next level.”

The on-the-water practice wasn’t the team’s only meeting Monday — they reconvened seven-and-a-half hours later at 4 p.m. for weightlifting practice.

But back on the river on this early morning, Allbright said he adjusted his practice plan because of a storm that had just passed through the District, raising water levels and leaving behind debris. The ensuing conditions forced Allbright to reroute the rowers north.

Normally, the team glides past the monuments during their morning practice in a path toward Reagan National Airport. Instead, the small convoy heads up the river toward the Mount Vernon Campus. The lush green trees along the coast make for a more scenic practice than usual, especially as day breaks and the sun begins to peek from behind the clouds.

The team rows about three miles up the river against the headwinds, forcing longer strokes. They stop at Fletcher’s Boathouse in the Palisades, at which point the coxswain turns the boat around, and the team rows the three miles back.

Arriving back at the Thompson boathouse, the women lift up the vessels up the shore and hose the muck of the Potomac off the boats, before reracking the vessels once again.

Allbright gives a pep talk with advice before the women yell out a GW chant and head toward campus for their 9:35 a.m. classes.

They’ll do it all again in 22 hours.

Men’s soccer handed back-to-back losses

SYD HEISE REPORTER

Men’s soccer suffered a two-nil loss against a tough University of Delaware team on a rainy Mount Vernon Campus Tuesday. The Revolutionaries then took on Massachusetts Saturday, falling 0-3 on the road.

GW struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities while the opposing squads dribbled through their defense with relative ease. The team is now 2-6-3 with zero Atlantic 10 wins.

“It was all about us trying to build some momentum and get our confidence back going into Saturday,” Head Coach Craig Jones said. “We didn’t get the results we wanted.”

Tuesday’s game was a feisty match filled with yellow cards, three on the Revs and two on the Blue Hens. The teams tallied 20 total fouls, but Delaware didn’t let the aggressive play shut them down, coming out strong with three shot attempts in the fi rst 20 minutes of the match.

GW’s defense appeared to be caught watching as Delaware unleashed a fast-paced offensive assault throughout their fi rst-half charge. An impressive save by senior goalie Duncan Wegner in the 14th minute slowed the Blue Hens down, giving the Revs time to reset their formation. But the defense allowed an early Delaware goal in the 23rd minute that put GW back on their heels. There was a lull in action from both teams for the middle stint of the game, which ended with a Delaware goal in the 73rd minute.

“I mean the biggest thing is communication,” said Wegner on anchoring his defense even

when they aren’t getting the results they want. “I’m just trying to lead the guys and you know, stay positive as much as I can.”

Bad touches, slips and stopped play defi ned the match, as both teams had difficulty fi nding momentum, but Delaware adjusted despite the weather and three substitutions for injury in the second half. The Blue Hens outplayed GW offensively in the 0-2 shutout with 13 shot attempts against the Rev’s five, none of which were on goal. GW looked to end their losing streak on the road Saturday at UMass but were ultimately shut out 0-3 in what was their fifth-straight loss and a disheartening in-conference blow. The match was less chippy than Tuesday’s matchup with Delaware with zero yellow cards given to either team, yet the Revs found themselves on the short end of a similar result. To open, a loose ball found the foot of Minutemen grad student Michael Rojas for his

first goal of the season and the game. Then, senior Alec Hughes added to his lead in A-10 goals only minutes later. UMass delivered a coup de grâce style header to extend their lead over the Revs in the final ten of the game to cement their three-goal win. The Revs’ offense failed to capitalize on their few scoring opportunities this week but found defensive mistakes to be more troublesome. The team is looking to clean up their defense going forward this season.

“The goals we’ve conceded over the last four, five games, a lot of those goals have been self-induced,” said Coach Jones. “It’s immature decisions by our players. And that’s not immature from a first-year freshman, that’s all the guys making those mistakes.”

GW will face off against Saint Louis Tuesday before hosting Saint Bonaventure Saturday at The Vern. Both matches kick off at 3 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN+.

NUMBER CRUNCH

Men’s water polo’s senior center Viktor Jovanovic is fourth in the Middle Atlantic Conference with 28 goals.

JAMES SCHAAP | PHOTOGRAPHER

Freshman midfielder Ben Hissrich defends the ball in a match against the Delaware on Tuesday.

MARGOT DIAMOND REPORTER

George

The GW women’s rowing team embarks on an early-morning practice down the Potomac River.

FLORENCE SHEN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

FLORENCE SHEN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

FLORENCE SHEN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR