The Hoya: April 19, 2024

Distinguished Teaching Professor of Business Law

Thomas Cooke Dies at 74

Lauren Doherty Senior News Editor Thomas Cooke (LAW ’74, ’76, ’84), a professor in Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business (MSB) for nearly 50 years, died April 8 in Rosslyn, Va. He was 74. Cooke began teaching at Georgetown in 1976 and specialized in business law and federal income taxation. He received the Georgetown University Vicennial Medal for 20 years of service at the university in 1996 and won the Georgetown University Distinguished Teaching Award.

Born June 22, 1949, Cooke graduated from Don Bosco Preparatory School in Ramsey, N.J., in 1967 before receiving his undergraduate degree in political science and sociology from Villanova University in 1971. He graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center three times, first with a Juris Doctor degree in 1974, then a Master of Laws (LLM) in 1976 and a Master of Law and Technology (MLT) degree in 1984.

Cooke focused his research on topics of legal ethics, international business law and procedure in federal tax law.

Kirsten Anderson, an accounting professor in the MSB, said Cooke was an irreplaceable part of the Georgetown community and that he fully embodied the traits of a lifelong Hoya. “I don’t think it is possible to love Georgetown or being a Hoya more than Professor Cooke did,” Anderson wrote to The Hoya. “He gave his heart and soul to this place and its people.” Outside Georgetown, Cooke was an avid horse racer, and he owned TBC Stables, a standardbred horse stable whose horses raced in many east coast states. He enjoyed listening to music by ABBA and the Bee Gees, discussing college basketball with students and vacationing abroad in destinations including Vietnam, Thailand and South Africa.

Allan Eberhart, a dean and See COOKE, A7

Office of Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), a parent union supporting many university employees. If there are no objections to the election after seven days, the NLRB will certify the results, which will allow OPEIU to bargain with the university on RAs’ behalf for new terms and conditions of RAs’ employment.

everyone extremely, extremely happy,” Olea Tapia told The Hoya. “It is a show of democracy. It’s a show of camaraderie. It is a show that really impersonates this idea of worker solidarity and of us being able to show up for our coworkers and the larger Georgetown community.”

in favor of union representation by Local 153 of the

RA and GRAC organizer Ulises Olea Tapia (SFS ’25) said RAs have formed the first undergraduate union at Georgetown and in Washington, D.C. “Today the RAs of Georgetown made history and that just has

A coalition of RAs first announced their intentions to unionize in a letter to Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) March 22, citing grievances with the university such as arbitrary dismissal, insufficient compensation and

Evie Steele Executive Editor Georgetown University students voted to approve a referendum that would encourage the university to establish gender-inclusive housing by the Fall 2025 semester, according to results the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) Election Commission announced April 13. The referendum, which ran April 11 to April 13, asked students whether they would favor the university establishing measures toward “comprehensive genderinclusive housing” like opening options for students to room with people of different genders and asking students whether they would support roommates identifying as

Catherine Alaimo Senior News Editor

Four juniors in the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) received the 2024 Goldwater Scholarship in recognition of their accomplishments in scientific and mathematical research.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which the U.S. Congress established in 1986 to commemorate Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), rewards students for their commitment to research in science, engineering and mathematics with $7,500. Universities nominate 1,353 candidates competing for 438 scholarships in the 2023-2024 cycle.

This year, the foundation named all four of Georgetown’s nominees — Dua Mobin (CAS ’25), Giselle Rasquinha (CAS ’25), Morgan Rice (CAS ’25) and Jonathan Riess (CAS ’25) — as scholars. Mobin, a double major in biology of global health and government, said winning the scholarship assured her scientific aspirations, an honor that is particularly impactful as she sometimes faced hardship as a first-generation, low-income (FGLI) student. “It really solidifies my vision and made me realize that the uncertainties in my head about my future don’t have to define my career path or what the outcome will be from my Georgetown experience or my career,” Mobin told The Hoya

Since her freshman spring, Mobin has worked at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, in a lab tackling the intersection of tumor biology and health care disparities

SPORTS

VINCENT ROMANO/THE HOYA Georgetown University students endorsed a resolution encouraging the university to create comprehensive gender-inclusive housing in a referendum which ran April 11 to April 13.

OPINION

Cobb, Mehta Create GU for All

After a contentious election season in which allegations of misconduct led to an annulled result, Jaden Cobb (CAS ’25) and Sanaa Mehta (SFS ’25) won a special election to lead the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) in October 2023.

Full disclosure: Sanaa Mehta previously served as a columnist for The Hoya’s Opinion section in Spring 2023.

Cobb and Mehta were sworn in as president and vice president of GUSA Nov. 5, with the pair beginning their tenure at the start of the spring semester in January. Their platform focused on transforming Georgetown into a “Georgetown for all,” promising to prioritize inclusion and belonging in their executive agenda.

The Editorial Board applauds Cobb and Mehta for their efforts thus far. Cobb and Mehta have made tangible progress on some of their initial goals — from designating $30,000 for cultural organizations on campus to passing a referendum that encourages the university to establish gender-inclusive housing, the first referendum to pass since 2019. The Editorial Board encourages Cobb and Mehta to maintain this momentum during the second half of their term.

Cobb and Mehta have shown particular tact in their ability to work within the GUSA bureaucracy to make their campaign promises a reality. Cobb expressed that implementing change starts with talking to student groups on the ground instead of thinking and acting entirely on their behalf.

This strategy reflects a sincere effort to make GUSA accessible and effective for the undergraduate student body. Moreover, Cobb said he and Mehta have remained committed to increasing the funds the university allocates to cultural organizations.

“We understand that cultural organizations have a unique place, different from other clubs and organizations on campus, as they create a sense of belonging and a sense of safety and security here at Georgetown,” Cobb told The Hoya Mehta said this fund will help marginalized students find community on campus. The GUSA senate initially allocated $15,000 to the diversity fund. Mehta and Cobb then spoke to the vice president of student affairs who agreed to match the senate’s contribution, bringing the fund’s total to $30,000.

“It was important for us to establish a diversity fund because we are committed to helping marginalized communities and one of the ways we can help is through cultural organizations on campus,” Mehta wrote to The Hoya

Furthermore, Cobb and Mehta have advocated the LGBTQ+ community at Georgetown, including through the gender-inclusive housing refer-

HOYA HISTORY

October 29, 1977

The Business School has recently been the center of controversy at Georgetown in the wake of registration mix-ups, charges of underfunding and administrative shake-ups.

Fall registration 1977 saw many non-business school students totally shut out of business courses, and business students who could not get the courses they wanted. The problems of registration led to a renewed outcry from many people involved with the Business School that the school was underfunded.

The budget for the Business School is $659,481 for its 950 students. The budget for other schools within the University are: College 4,396,315 for 2140 students, School of Foreign Service 2,602,540 for its 1193 students; School of Languages and Linguistics $2,228,244 for its 861 students. Mel Bell, University Finance Officer, said of the figures, “The comparison of budget figures cannot be used for the question of whether the Business School is underbudgeted because a lot more business students take courses in the College, than College students take in the Business school.”

Dean Ronald Smith, in his first year as Dean of S.B.A., told the Hoyas, “I have yet to make judgment on whether the Business School is underbudgeted.” Dean Smith however has asked the University for more funds. Dean Smith says his aim is to “try to get maximum use out of my limited resources.”

In an attempt to accomplish this

endum, which passed April 14. They collaborated with other student leaders to draft a referendum proposal, then successfully put the gender-inclusive housing referendum on students’ ballots.

Beyond the public-facing efforts of the Cobb-Mehta executive, the two have been working behind the scenes to promote diversity within GUSA.

However, Cobb and Mehta still have work to do to ensure students are aware of their administration’s achievements. Only 1,157 of Georgetown’s nearly 7,000 students voted in the special election which elevated the pair to the GUSA executive. Despite the inclusive housing referendum — which took place from April 11 to 13 — receiving more votes than any other referendum since 2019, it still only had a 31% voter turnout. Even after concerted advocacy from GUSA and student clubs, nearly 70% of undergraduates were not interested or able to make their voices heard.

In their initial platform, which they released prior to the October election, Cobb and Mehta detailed plans to work on establishing a pre-orientation program for international students, reducing printing and laundry prices and creating meal plan rollover options, allowing for students with limited meal swipes to utilize unused swipes from previous weeks. They have yet to bring these plans to fruition.

The Editorial Board encourages the Cobb-Mehta team to continue working on these projects while maintaining transparency with the Georgetown student body and working to boost student engagement with GUSA. For students to feel confident in and engaged with GUSA, they must know what is going on within Georgetown’s student government, both big and small.

The Cobb-Mehta agenda is admirable — as is the attitude they bring to the job. Cobb has demonstrated commendable seriousness and care in his commitment to the role.

“This job is not for the weak,” Cobb said. “This is a full-time job. It’s a lot, but it is what I signed up for. The position holds a good amount of weight that allows for things to get done if the right people are in office.”

“We are down for the fight,” Cobb added.

If Cobb and Mehta maintain the level of enthusiasm and ambition they brought to their first five months leading GUSA, the Editorial Board is confident that current and future students will feel the impact of their efforts to create a Georgetown for all.

The Hoya’s Editorial Board is composed of six students and is chaired by the opinion editors. Editorials reflect only the beliefs of a majority of the board and are not representative of The Hoya or any individual member of the board.

goal and avoid this year’s registration problems a series of pre-preregistration meetings were held throughout the Business School. At the”e meetings, held in early October, students were asked what courses they wanted for next semester. The Business School, working closely with the School of Foreign Service and the School of Languages and Linguistics, had these two schools hold meetings with their respective students to get an idea of their students’ demand for courses in the Business School next semester. Using the data collected from these meetings, course subjects and curriculums will be made for next semester that will fully employ the limited funds and professors of the Business School.

Under this program Dean Smith told the Hoya, “I can’t promise students their course section or choice of professor, but 1 think the S.B.A. will be able to fulfill the course demands of all its students and of students outside the School of Business Administration. A drawback to this new system is that students are expected to take the courses they indicated they wanted at pre pre-registration, and that add·drop in the Business School will be very difficult.” The School of Business Administration is also making changes in the area of administration and faculty. With the upcoming departure of Assistant Dean Chase there is an opening for a new Assistant Dean. Dean Smith told the Hoya, “In the future I hope to have

all administrators teach courses so they will get a better understanding of the students.” As for future faculty hiring, Dean Smith said, “There is a need for more faculty to cut class size. There is already money in the budget for the hiring of three full time professors. These positions should be filled by fall semester.” The professors will be full time, for according to Smith full time professors are generally more accessible to students in office hours.

According to members of the Business School Academic Council, Dean Smith is attempting to bring the students of the Business School more into the decision making process through close work with the Business Academic Council. One member of the Council said, “Dean Smith wants student input, and realizes that for students to react intelligently they must be given information. Dean Smith is accessible to the students, and is bringing them into the decision making process.”

The rigidity of the Business School requirements have become more evident each year. Each class in SBA has its own set of requirements, and changes to strengthen the curriculum have been made the last two years.

As for the future, Dean Smith told the Hoya, “I hope Georgetown becomes a National Business School. I feel the school is moving in the right direction.” Dean Smith said of his workings with the rest of the University, “I feel I have the full support of Father Healy and Father Kelly behind me.”

The Editorial Board applauds Cobb and Mehta for their efforts thus far. Cobb and Mehta have made tangible progress on some of their initial goals.”

Jaden Cobb (CAS ’25) and Sanaa Mehta (SFS ’25) are entering their sixth month as president and vice president of the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA). In these past months, the two have strived to create an inclusive environment through measures such as the gender-inclusive housing referendum and designating $30,000 for cultural organizations on campus. As they prepare to enter the second half of their term, they will continue to work

on other projects like decreasing laundry prices and developing a rollover meal plan proposal.

The Hoya conducted a poll to gauge students’ satisfaction with Cobb and Mehta’s work as GUSA president and vice president. Out of the 225 respondents, 80.9% said they were satisfied, while 12.4% said they were not satisfied with their work. Additionally, 6.7% of students said that they had no opinion of the executive’s work.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Rohini Kudva

POLL

On a chilly fall morning, I found myself on the doorstep of a man who had illegally used thousands of dollars meant for student scholarships to purchase his own house in Georgetown.

At that house, recorder in hand, I stood ready to face this man, the former treasurer of the Georgetown Delta Phi Epsilon (DPE) fraternity, who has also faced allegations of sexism and xenophobia. A few knocks and two unnerving minutes later, an old man in a bathrobe creaked open the door just a couple of inches.

I introduced myself as The Hoya’s senior news editor, and said I was writing a story about his use of charitabledonationsfromGeorgetown University graduates to buy his own home in 1990 — a home that is now worth more than $1.1 million. Other news outlets had published the story without his comment, but I felt that making every effort to include him was the ethical route.

I asked him about the purchase of his home and where the money had come from. Despite standing at his door for nearly 30 minutes with my cosenior news editor, he answered none of my original questions and denied all the allegations against him. It was only after I gained access to private deposition documents that implicated him, that I got him to go on the record. After lengthy negotiations with him and consultations with a legal hotline, my co-editor and I published the article with his side of the story too.

the university would drop some breaking news like the detection of the first Omicron case on campus. The news team became my family, and I craved spending hours, perhaps a few too many, in The Hatchet’s townhouse on 21st Street NW.

At the start of my junior year, I transferred to Georgetown, fairly confident that my student journalism journey had reached its end. It felt impossible to integrate into a totally different newsroom so late in my college years.

I told myself I would pick up one quick story for The Hoya, Georgetown’s newspaper of record, just to test it out and avoid any regrets about not trying. The next week I picked up another article, and before I knew it, I was writing three in a week.

The Hoya’s coffee-stained carpets and quote-cluttered walls quickly became my natural habitat, as I worked my way up from a reporter to senior news editor and from executive editor to editor in chief.

As editor in chief, I have realized that being a leader means taking the same extra steps I would have as a reporter. While I have missed going out and knocking on the doors of financial wrongdoers myself, I have found it just as gratifying to encourage my staffers to pursue challenging avenues, even when stories could technically survive without those pursuits.

Taking the Extra Step Students, Reflect on Your Role in the Climate Crisis

The first interview I conducted as a student journalist was nowhere near as exhilarating.

Before coming to Georgetown, I sat in my childhood bedroom during the pandemic as a reporter for George Washington University’s independent, student-run newspaper The Hatchet, speaking to a researcher about a device that used nanoholes and wavelength technology for COVID-19 diagnoses.

To say the assignment was confusing is an understatement.

After the interview, I spent my night watching YouTube videos with titles like “Introduction to Nanophotonics.” By the end, I almost forgot I had no intention of pursuing a Ph.D. in biological engineering but was merely a reporter.

That was how I filled my otherwise isolating freshman year — diving deep into research on whatever story my editor assigned, packing my afternoons with interviews and spending my nights writing. When my news editor asked me in the spring if I was interested in being the health and sciences editor, I eagerly jumped at the opportunity.

The defining moments of my sophomore year became leading my reporters in fast-paced coverage of the pandemic. Just when I thought I could put my computer down,

Whether it’s climbing to inspect people’s vents for a mold outbreak story, racing to 30 restaurants to investigate their compliance with the university’s plastic policy or breaking news while sitting on the ground in front of McCarthy Hall, I have learned that producing strong content is about taking the steps I never thought were part of a student journalist’s job description. The Hoya is what it is because of the details. Every time a reporter goes out of their way to get that additional source, a copy editor enters a two-hour debate about the placement of a comma between coordinate adjectives and a photographer takes that extra step to get as close to the subject as possible, the paper becomes better. I urge my successors to keep fighting the small battles. There will be plenty of big battles to address, and you’ll have no choice but to face them. It’s winning the small ones, the ones easy to ignore, that makes TheHoya the best paper it can be. I know you all have what it takes, as long as you remember that no edit is too small. Here’s to finding my next chapter’s headline.

— 30 — Michelle Vassilev is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and is the current editor in chief of The Hoya

VIEWPOINT • CHAPPLE

If you are asking yourself, “What’s the point of making sustainable choices?” you are not alone. People across the planet are coping with the impacts of climate change in different ways. Climate change is causing rising temperatures, more extreme weather events and melting glaciers and ice caps. Biodiversity loss is occurring at an alarming rate, with species going extinct due to habitat loss, pollution and other human activities. Our overconsumption and disposable culture lead to overflowing landfills and plastic waste polluting our oceans and waterways.

While these problems may feel daunting, your daily actions can have a real and lasting impact — even small, sustainable choices are immensely important. If the potential to reduce your contribution to the climate crisis isn’t incentive enough, think of it this way: You can benefit from taking action by gaining feelings of empowerment, personal development and new connections with people. And, to be honest, society — and the earth — needs more people to

Up the Ante in Making New Friends

With less than a handful of weeks left to go in the semester, a few of you might question the timing of this piece on making new friends. Surely, there isn’t enough time to build anything significant with any of the cool people you’ve been (platonically) crushing on. Hear me out — the best time to kindle a new friendship is now. Despite how chaotic and overwhelming the last few weeks of the semester can be, I always find that the scarcity of time inclines people to take more risks, just for the sake of squeezing in one last memory before the semester’s out. And, for the more risk-averse among us, the last few weeks are the perfect window of time to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks; if everything goes well, you’re setting yourself up to have a budding friendship to pick up when you guys return in the fall. And if the vibes are less than ideal… Well, there’s plenty of fish in the sea and plenty of semesters to go fishing. You’ll get it right next time.

In the meantime, let me set the scene: You’re intrigued by a classmate who always has the most random thing on their laptop during class. Or you’ve built a steady rapport with the guy who always matches your side-eye when That Person says something questionable again. The point is that you’ve been eyeing this person for a hot second, and you want them to give you a chance. Here are a few ways to make it happen in the time we have left. Up the ante. Here’s my bone to pick with grabbing coffee or Leo’s on a first hangout — it’s easy and low stakes, but it’s boring. Worse than boring, it’s uninspired. It goes back to my first point about

people wanting to make memories before they go — do something memorable! Even if you do end up just getting food or a coffee, turn it into a walk! Grab a drink from Blue Bottle and sit on the canal to soak up the sun. Or grab a delicious grilled cheese from Say Cheese! at the far side of M St. (a personal favorite). In my opinion, even running errands together incites a more engaging and unexpectedly fun experience than grabbing a meal at Leo’s. Doing something novel, or at least having a novel element in the experience, will almost never fail you. It shows the other person that you’re someone who’s willing to make that extra effort to have a good time.

Corollary: break past the Dead Zone. Another way intentionally offbeat experiences up the ante is by breaking past the dead zone. We’ve all been there. You like a new friend, and you’ve been wanting to move past the “schedule a meal a week in advance” stage to being on “someone I can spontaneously call up and hang out with” terms with them. But if you’ve set a precedent of grabbing a meal at Leo’s every once in a while, trying to break out of that routine can feel intimidating. When you start a friendship outside of this mold, you set yourself up to vault over that stagnancy entirely. After all, it’s hard to feel awkward or stiff with someone if they’re helping you pick out a new shampoo — there’s something about the casualness of the situation that helps your brain see this new friend as an already familiar person. Pick your battles. Maybe you’re on the other side of this equation, and someone you’ve gotten to know tangentially has mustered the courage to ask you to hang out

sometime. There just isn’t enough time in the day. There are a few tacit signals you can give to let them down easy (“I’m just so overwhelmed with everything, but let’s grab a meal when we’re back next semester!”), but it’s important to firmly signal to them that it’s not personal. On the flip side, if you’ve put yourself out on a limb and had it fizzle in your face, take it in stride and keep it moving. Under no circumstances should you let it be representative of your ability to make new friends or how willing others are to befriend you. Be graceful about it, and know when to leave well enough alone. After attempting to befriend this one girl once or twice over a semester, I set it aside and thought nothing else of it. Serendipitously, after a memorable night during finals last semester, she quickly became a good friend of mine who makes me instant noodles when my soul needs it. The point is that some friendships are just meant to happen at a different time, and pushing for something that isn’t meant to happen right now is typically detrimental in the long run.

I think everyone can agree that it’s been quite the semester. As I close out my column for the last time, I invite you to take a minute and ask yourself if you’ve taken enough risks this semester. If not, well, we have three whole weeks left to go. Bye, you lovelies. I know you hate to see me go. Stay safe, and do everything for the plot. You know I’m waiting to hear all about it.

Ciao,

Diane Kim is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. This is the fourth installment of her column “Asking for a Friend.”

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contribute their efforts in order to get through this mess. The time is now to explore your role in the ecological crisis. We still have a window to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, like extreme droughts, heatwaves and disrupted ocean currents, which would lead to impacts such as natural disasters, devastating health dynamics and irrecoverable loss of ecosystems. Studies show that our individual actions matter, especially for residents of wealthy countries who emit the vast majority of greenhouse gasses.

To mitigate the most dire outcomes for the planet, each person needs to reduce their carbon footprint by a third. While some of your carbon footprint is outside of your control — like the emissions that come from the energy composition of the grid — taking action on things within your span of control can have an impact.

Just by using your Hoya Transit card or the GUTS bus instead of single-occupancy rideshare, you can reduce your carbon footprint by 2.2 tons per year, which equates to 15% of the average

American’s carbon footprint. You’re already on your way to making a meaningful difference.

When you recycle at home and compost when you are at Leo’s all year, you help to reduce the national carbon footprint. The combined effects of all Americans’ recycling and composting has equaled the effects of taking 42 million cars off the road.

If you reuse your water bottle when you hydrate, you not only reduce plastic waste but also diminish climate change and even infectious disease, one of climate change’s major impacts on human health.

Reporting a leaky faucet in your residence hall to Facilities helps reduce water consumption — in turn reducing the energy and emissions it takes to make water drinkable. Substituting beef with another food for one meal a day can reduce your personal dietary carbon footprint by 48%.

And swapping your flight up the EastCoastfortheelectrifiedNortheast Corridor Amtrak train allows you to emit 72% less greenhouse gas emissions than flying.

By exploring your role in the

ecological crisis, you can find ways to make a positive impact.

The efforts of Georgetown University students, faculty and staff matter, as does the commitment of the university as an institution. From planning and facilities to investments, Georgetown is taking action to address the climate crisis — but the individuals that make up our institutions are also instrumental in making a positive impact on climate change.

In a recent letter entitled “Laudate Deum,” Pope Francis emphasized our personal roles in addressing the climate crisis. “Nonetheless, every little bit helps, and avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people,” Francis wrote. “There are no cultural changes without personal changes.” Students have the power to drive meaningful change towards sustainability. Even the small sustainable steps each of us take can collectively help create a thriving future.

Meghan Chapple is the vice president of sustainability at Georgetown University.

Support Economics Research at GU

Say you’re a bright-eyed, enthusiastic first-year excited to register for your first semester of classes at Georgetown University. Before you know it, like most other firstyears, you’ll quickly find yourself seated in the dimly-lit Intercultural Center Auditorium for the course “Principles of Microeconomics. In the first week, you’ll handwrite your class notes. By the fourth week, you’ll start using class time to check emails on your laptop. And once it hits the fifth week, you’ll stop showing up to class entirely. Then, overcome with panic, you’ll desperately reappear the week before the final exam. Unfortunately, this lack of enthusiasm and engagement sums up many Georgetown students’ experience with economics on campus. This is a real shame, because students consequently remain unfamiliar with how interesting and varied cutting-edge economics research really is. By ignoring their potential passion for economics, students are unaware of the opportunities Georgetown offers to pursue this research as an undergraduate — like the Carroll Round, a student-run international economics conference.

As a member of the 23rd Carroll Round Steering Committee, I call on undergraduate students to get involved with our conference and their academic departments to demonstrate student commitment to undergraduate research.

Our goals as a committee are two-fold: to double down on our commitment to economics across the world and to help incubate

undergraduate economics research here on campus, ensuring that students are aware of what potential careers in economics research could look like.

The first challenge to our mission is the fact that no one knows about the Carroll Round. Let me explain: Every April, our student-run steering committee invites a few dozen of the world’s brightest undergraduate student researchers in economics to come to Georgetown and present their original research over two days. Topics range from explaining patterns of development in emergingmarket countries to machine learning and AI. Additionally, we invite keynote speakers to lecture and mentor our participants. This experience is often a highlight of many undergraduate careers.

We really want to highlight not just the “what,” but also the “why” behind the Carroll Round.

Though all of our participants are incredibly accomplished and have written impressive papers, the papers themselves aren’t quite the point. Rather, we want to foster a space for undergraduates to learn about how they can showcase their work and their papers in the first place. In universities across the United States, undergraduates increasingly want research opportunities. And unfortunately, undergraduates often encounter barriers to research on account of their age or lack of experience. We want to help break down these barriers by providing students opportunities

to engage in research, especially since recent studies cite undergraduate research as a top predictor of future success.

Going forward, the Carroll Round wants to interact more with students and continue to create programs that illuminate potential career paths. As economics lies at the heart of human organization, we hope to grow more interest in the field by engaging with Georgetown undergraduate students. For instance, we’ve partnered with the Cawley Career Center this year to organize seminars hosted by industry professionals on careers in international development at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. We hope to engage with students about the economic career paths or opportunities they’re interested in — from graduate school to policy work. These principles stay at the forefront of our mind as the 23rd Carroll Round rapidly approaches and we prepare to welcome our newest group of participants from Friday, April 19 to Sunday, April 21. In the future, we’d love more submissions and outreach from Georgetown students. After all, doing so may help you find a career, community and opportunities with true variety and global impact. Your ideas are in demand.

Ben Whitfield is a first-year student in the School of Foreign Service.

ILLUSTRATION BY: JYOTSNA VENKATESH/THE HOYA

GU Students Train to Combat Drug Overdose Cases Amid Ongoing Opioid Crisis

With opioid-related deaths rising in Washington, D.C., Georgetown students have collaborated with neighborhood organizations to increase awareness about drug use and tackle the ongoing crisis.

Anya Warrier Special to The Hoya

As the local Washington, D.C. government continues to try and reduce record-high opioid overdose death rates, Francesca Hales (CAS ’26) is among a group of Georgetown University students aspiring toward making their own impact.

The Georgetown Homelessness Outreach, Meals and Education Program (HOME), a Georgetown Center for Social Justice (CSJ) outreach organization that does direct service and advocacy work for homeless people, is one of the clubs that is working to increase awareness about drug use and combat the ongoing opioid crisis. Serving as a research and advocacy coordinator at HOME, Hales is part of an effort to educate and train students to deal with overdose scenarios.

Hales said the current circumstances necessitate increasing awareness about the District’s drug problem.

“Especially as an individual living in D.C., basic understanding of harm reduction and overdose prevention is very important,” Hales told The Hoya

The District reported 518 opioid-related deaths in 2023, making it the city with the third highest opioid mortality rate in the country, according to a March 20 report from the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The 2023 number represents a 12% increase from the number of deaths in 2022.

The new statistics on opioid overdose death rates follow a public emergency declaration from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in November 2023 over the opioid crisis.

“We have too many people dying in our city related to fentanyl overdoses most specifically,” Bowser said at a Nov. 13 news conference.

Only 10% of people with a substance use disorder seek treatment, and this percentage is even higher among the African American population, signaling an inequity in access and trust in treatment facilities. Kush Modi (CAS ’25), a HOME street outreach coordinator, said the organization is planning to increase the number of on-campus training and education sessions to spread awareness about the District’s worsening drug problem to the student body amid the developing crisis in Washington, D.C.

“We want to get as many students trained as possible because of the opioid crisis among unhoused people in D.C.,” he told The Hoya “Hopefully we’ll never have to use [the training], but it’s important to at least know about the crisis.”

Georgetown Students’ Approach

In response to the crisis, Georgetown students have been mobilizing to increase awareness on campus. Multiple clubs are partnering with the D.C. non-profit Honoring Individual Power and Strength (HIPS) to host training sessions to teach students how to administer naloxone (Narcan), a nasal opioid overdose treatment. Fentanyl was the cause of 98%

of opioid-related fatal overdoses in the District in 2023. A trace amount of fentanyl can be fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdose deaths continued to rise in 2023 and 2024, but the D.C. Council and Mayor Bowser recently allowed the public health emergency declaration to expire. HOME conducts Narcan training sessions at least once a semester.

Health Law at the Georgetown Law Center, said students’ response to the crisis has been quick and effective, especially in terms of providing access to Narcan.

“I’ve been impressed by student engagement on this issue,” Labelle wrote. “HoyaDOPE, a medical student group, plays an important role in getting naloxone to people at risk of overdose.”

istering Narcan and knowing when to call authorities. Bailey said it is urgent to save lives, while also making incremental progress toward safer drug practices, so the safest change to drug policy is legalization.

showers, take clothes from our clothing drive, take food from our kitchen,” Jackson told The Hoya. “And now we also have people to write prescriptions and help people find housing.”

to host musicians and raise money for Ward 2 Mutual Aid, an aid organization that provides services for those struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If more people are trained, the chances of people dying from overdosing are much lower.”

KUSH MODI (CAS ’25) HOME STREET OUTREACH COORDINATOR

Hales said that she is hoping to have them become a larger part of HOME’s mission. “We’re trying to have it be mandatory for everyone in the program and have training sessions a few times a semester,” Hales said. Eliza Zaroff (CAS ’25), an attendee of a HOME Narcan training session in Fall 2023, said that the training sessions allow students to be more confident in dealing with unexpected crises. “We’re in this sort of bubble at Georgetown,” Zaroff told The Hoya. “We don’t think it’s ever going to happen here, but I guess that’s the point. It can.” Modi said the training sessions provide a greater level of security on campus. “We always want more training sessions, and a lot of our volunteers have expressed a similar opinion,” Modi said. “If more people are trained, the chances of people dying from overdosing are much lower.”

Hales said Georgetown students understand the severity of the opioid crisis, even though they are less exposed to it than advocates at HIPS.

“Even though college students use drugs differently, there are still drugs here, and there can still be harms that we have to prepare for,” Hales said.

In addition to HOME and Hoya Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (HoyaDOPE), other clubs such as H*yas for Choice and Homeless Outreach Programs and Education (HOPE) have hosted training and education sessions to prepare students to administer Narcan. These student organizations have used training as a way to change mindsets about drug use and make them more prepared for an opioid overdose incident.

Professor Regina LaBelle, the director of the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at the O’Neill Institute

Johnny Bailey, HIPS community outreach director, said the drug problem in D.C. started spiraling out of control when fentanyl became widely distributed in 2019.

“It’s always been an issue, but around 2019 or 2020 the supply chain got broken, and poison like fentanyl started getting mixed in with the dope to extend the supply,” Bailey told The Hoya. “Overdose isn’t even the right word anymore. These people are being poisoned. The drug world has become unsafe in a way that it was not before.”

In 2023, there were 43 opioid overdose deaths per month in D.C. compared to 17 opioid overdoses per month in 2018.

Hales said looking forward, she wants to make the training sessions more accessible to everyone on campus, and the university could set up optional training sessions during schoolwide events such as New Student Orientation to help clubs expand their reach.

“Clubs can hold Narcan training sessions, but we’re not going to get the same reach as if it were sponsored by the university,” Hales said.

Georgetown’s Involvement with Neighborhood Organizations

Since beginning as an education service for sex workers in D.C. in 1993, HIPS has expanded its aid to incorporate drug users and their communities. Bailey visits Georgetown’s campus a few times a semester to talk to students about opioid use and administering Narcan.

Bailey said he speaks at Georgetown and neighboring schools frequently because he wants to include younger voices.

“The question is how can we better bring in the youth?” Bailey said. “Nonprofits have a problem with reaching youth altogether. D.C. is terrible with it.”

Bailey said youth involvement helps raise awareness about drug use because students are less exposed to the crisis.

HIPS has partnered with HOME to host training sessions on the main campus during the fall semester where students were invited to practice administering emergency doses of Narcan.

Hales said HOME members have greatly benefitted from working with HIPS and plans to continue doing so in the future.

“Everyone in the program has done training with Johnny,” Hales said. “I’m really glad that the people in our organization have these basic skills.”

Hales said basic skills include identifying overdose, admin-

“In a perfect world, we can make drugs safer and have them regulated, but you know that’s not going to happen so we’re just trying to chip away at some of the other things that people are suffering from,” Bailey said. Hales said Bailey’s presentations on harm reduction have been meaningful and compelling because they focus on preventing deaths.

“He talked about safer supply at the last talk, which was such a radical thing for me, but the way he explained it made me realize how it could save lives,” Hales said. Bailey said many of his ideas on combating the drug crisis come from personal experience. As a former DJ involved firsthand with D.C.’s drug scene, Bailey worked hard to overcome his drug addiction, went back to school and earned a degree in social work. Now, 10 years sober, Bailey said it is his goal to help people with similar experiences. “It’s so hard when the people you love to help, your clients, they die,” Bailey said. “So much of what they die from, I wouldn’t have died from since I have insurance and a house, so it’s hard to see this situation and feel a little bit helpless.”

In addition to speaking at universities like Georgetown about drug use, Bailey hosts self-management and recovery training (SMART) sessions, one of the many services that HIPS provides. Roxanne Jackson, leader of HIPS’s transgender discussion group, said that HIPS provides all-encompassing care for those struggling with drug abuse. “We do a lot — we hold discussion groups, let people take naps or

Hales said Bailey discusses the root of the District’s drug problem to provide better context for those who are not familiar with it. “He gives everyone this really deep structural view of drug use and the opioid epidemic, and it’s even more compelling because he speaks from personal experience,” Hales said.

Student Clubs’ Efforts to Help Off Campus Grow

In addition to Narcan training, HOME attempts to tackle other societal factors that contribute to the increase in opioid overdose cases, such as lack of access to affordable housing.

LaBelle said D.C. is struggling due to structural and societal limitations like limited access to medical services and housing in certain wards.

“D.C. faces significant societal barriers, including workforce shortages and a lack of access to treatment that works,” LaBelle wrote to The Hoya

Hales said HOME frequently works with off-campus organizations to provide direct aid and raise money and awareness.

“We take a holistic approach to housing justice,” Hales said.

Two of HOME’s teams do direct-service work with community partners, and their third team, Research and Advocacy, does work to find sustainable solutions to housing justice.

Hales said other HOME initiatives include capacity building for local organizations and building awareness on campus through events. HOME hosted a benefit concert with another on-campus club, Prospect Records, on April 13

Kayla Barnes (SFS ’26), a leader in the CSJ’s program for First-Year Orientation to Community Involvement (FOCI), said CSJ programs like HOME have been trying to get more involved in the Georgetown and wider D.C. community.

“Just to realize D.C. is more than the Georgetown bubble and by being in this community we have the responsibility to build relationships with the people around us outside the bubble,” Barnes told The Hoya HOME’s coordinators hope the Narcan training sessions can serve to destigmatize the conversation around harm reduction and drug use.

Modi said the easiest way to start is by getting trained and keeping Narcan close by. “I’ve never had to use my Narcan, but it’s so simple to be Narcan trained,” Modi said.

Hales said people still find harm reduction measures, like keeping Narcan close by, to be unusual.

“The stigma is definitely a barrier,” Hales said. “People freak out when they see I have Narcan sometimes, but it’s really just a preventative thing. Even if I’m not using drugs, someone around me might be.”

“It’s not promoting drug use, it’s just being prepared,” Hales added.

Like Modi, Hales hopes students take advantage of Georgetown organizations’ on-campus training sessions.

“Going to a training session and learning important history and skills takes just an hour of your life, versus being in a critical situation and not knowing what to do,” Hales said. “I see the payoff there is very high.”

Sydney Hudson Science Writer

The Earth Commons, Georgetown University’s hub for environmental sustainability, launched a month-long Get Outside Challenge encouraging students to spend more time outdoors in celebration of Earth Month.

The challenge, which began March 18 and concludes on Earth Day, April 22, provides participants with weekly prompts to complete outdoor activities like hiking and meditating, with the goal of improving their mental and physical health. Other Georgetown organizations have also encouraged participation in the challenge, including Outdoor Education, the Office of Sustainability, Student Health Services, Counseling and Psychiatric Services, Health Education Services, Campus Recreation, the Disability Cultural Center and Campus Ministry.

Claire Cheah (SFS ’26), a student program assistant at the Earth Commons who led the majority of planning for the Get Outside Challenge, said that, when designing the challenge, she was inspired by Nature Rx, a nationwide grassroots movement campaigning for the health benefits of spending time in nature.

“Nature Rx is actually a national

program which was started in D.C. by a group of doctors,” Cheah told The Hoya “Nature Rx partners with physicians, healthcare professionals and social service providers to prescribe spending time outside.”

Operating on the notion that spending time outdoors is not a onesize-fits-all goal, the Earth Commons offered various paths students could take for the Get Outside Challenge, including tracks for aspiring artists, naturalists, adventurers, influencers, volunteers and sages. The tracks featured different nature-based activities depending on the participant’s preferred activities.

Elizabeth Mao (CAS ’24), a guide for Outdoor Education, a university organization that sponsors wilderness-based activities, said that the wide range of possible prompts should make getting outside more interesting and feasible for a larger group of students. “This is a great way for people to go out and explore things they might not have thought to do before, especially activities that are fairly easy to engage in and widely accessible, such as taking photos or learning more about plants on campus,” Mao told The Hoya Cheah said that by offering diverse ways for students to participate in

the challenge, the Earth Commons hoped to compel a wide array of Georgetown students to consider developing their own unique relationship with outdoor time.

“We want to show students the benefits of getting outside, encouraging people to follow their own paths within nature,” Cheah said.

The artist path, for instance, prompts students to journal while sitting outside and engage in outdoor photography. On the other hand, students on the adventure track are challenged to visit every location on the Earth Commons’ map of green spaces in the District. Participating students submit a selfie for proof as well as a short written reflection for each completed activity, and the students with the most submissions can earn prizes such as REI discounts, Georgetown merchandise and free dinner from Chaia Tacos.

Mao said that she has seen strong student engagement with the Get Outside Challenge.

“I have some friends who have taken this opportunity to lay in the sun or attend events that they might not have known about if they hadn’t seen the Get Outside emails,” Mao said. Spending time outdoors has also been proven to have a positive im-

pact on health. Nature Rx reports that immersing oneself in nature is not only associated with elevated physiological well-being but improved mental health.

According to Lois Wessel (GRD ’96), an associate professor at the Georgetown University School of Nursing with expertise in community health and environmental justice, nature often proves to be a calming, healthy presence.

“Connecting with nature is good for physical health, mental health and

Pharmacology Lecture Explores ‘World of GABA’

Sahana Arumani Deputy Science Editor

A Georgetown University pharmacology and physiology professor gave an overview of “The World of GABA” in the Stephen and Mary Krop Lectureship in Pharmacology on April 12. Dr. Tom Krop and Dr. Paul Krop (CAS ’65, MED ’69) started the lecture series in 2000 to commemorate the legacy of their father, Stephen Krop (GRD ’40), a pharmacologist whose work pioneered treatments for chemical warfare agents and ways to detect drugs in the body, among many other accomplishments. This year’s lecture, in the Schering Foundation Library, featured Stefano Vicini, professor in the department of pharmacology and physiology, who surveyed the expansive field of research on a crucial brain molecule.

Tom Krop said the lecture series works to advance innovative perspectives, something he said his father always sought to facilitate through important scientific conversation and collaboration.

“Dad believed in spreading research results, new ideas and approaches to therapy between doctors and institutions, and I feel that this lecture series accomplishes that goal,” Tom Krop wrote to The Hoya Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the most common inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and spinal cord, played the role of protagonist in Vicini’s talk. GABA slows electrical impulses between nerve cells, or neurons, which is important for sleep, muscle relaxation and anxiety control. Due to its myriad effects, GABA is widely used in therapeutic drugs to treat neurological and psychological disorders, from nerve-related pain to anxiety.

Over the years, Vicini and many other researchers have studied how GABA affects larger brain processes, including its role in therapeutics.

“My study linked the function of GABA channels (opening and closing) to the duration of the synaptic activation that underlies the frequency of the brain waves,” Vicini wrote to The Hoya Vicini also explained the mechanism by which these brain waves are propagated. Electrical impulses are controlled by the entry of charged molecules into neurons. If positive charge flows in, the impulse is allowed to travel. GABA, however, slows these impulses by binding to a receptor, causing the flow of negative charge into the cells instead.

Synthesized in 1883 — about 70 years before it was discovered in the brain — GABA’s complexity eluded researchers for decades before the intricacies of its effects came to light by researchers like Vicini.

Vicini also noted that GABA has important links to Parkinson’s disease. Vicini’s team found that one of GABA’s cellular functions could have important clinical applications in such efforts.

This function, Vicini explained, is called tonic inhibition. This is when free GABA molecules that exist in the fluid surrounding neurons bind to a unique type of GABA receptor that is not confined to the synapse, where neurotransmitters are usually released.

“Because tonic inhibition provides a powerful mechanism to regulate excitability of key neurons in the basal ganglia, it may serve as a novel therapeutic target for the ameliorating motor disturbances associated with Parkinson’s disease,” Vicini wrote.

To study the effect of benzodi-

HOYA

A pharmacology lecturer explored the discovery of GABA, a brain molecule, and highlighted how scientists can apply their understanding of it to therapeutics.

azepines — a class of depressants that also bind to the GABA receptor — Vicini said one has to look at the synapse, or the gap between the neuron that is releasing GABA and the cell that is receiving it.

“If you want to study what happens at the synapse, you have to become a synaptic vesicle,” Vicini said during the event. A synaptic vesicle is a bubble-like structure that houses neurotransmitters before they are released from the end of a neuron. To envision what is happening at the cellular level, Vicini said he and other researchers use the patch-clamp technique, where a small “patch” of cell membrane containing GABA receptors is isolated, and the voltage, or movement of ions, across individual channels is measured.

“The patch-clamp technique allowed my lab and those of others to observe the effects of the benzodiazepines on the GABA channel and, consequently, the prolonged duration of the synaptic inhibition,” Vicini wrote. These experiments also revealed that benzodiazepines

uniquely affect different types of GABA receptors, influencing sleep, anxiety and memory formation.

John Partridge, associate professor in the department of pharmacology and physiology and longtime colleague of Vicini, noted that, ultimately, the clinical applications of these substances rely on the gating of ion channels.

“All of these drugs that are very clinically useful, benzodiazepines, general anesthetics, even alcohol, all contribute to the opening and closing of these channels that allow the flux of electricity through excitable cells, like the ones that are in our brain,” Partridge told The Hoya.

Although Vicini gave an overview of many researchers’ discoveries, Vicini’s own contributions to the field of GABA research for the past 40 years are extensive, as echoed by Partridge.

“His influence has really put an extremely positive light on Georgetown and the importance of research, and associating Georgetown with research heading into the future,” Partridge said.

GU Undergrads Share Research at Annual Conference SPOTLIGHT: GU Community ‘Gets Outside’ in Earth Month Challenge

with me about my research,” Dhingra told The Hoya. “It’s an exchange where we’re able to give each other advice from our own backgrounds.”

Dhingra said explaining her research to other people helped her find new angles from which to probe her primary research questions, which involve studying the link between how people age biologically and the discrimination they face throughout their lives.

by others,” Feng told The Hoya. “I feel like the more questions people ask me about my research, the more I know they’re interested in it. I love to talk about it and brainstorm with people about potential experiments we can do in the future.”

undergraduates to create a poster explaining their research and deliver short, informal research presentations to conference attendees. This year, Makenzie Thomas (SOH ’24) and Nick Cohen (SOH ’25) co-chaired the conference’s planning committee with support from faculty advisors Jan LaRocque and Alex Theos, associate professors of human science, and Carol Hom, program manager of the department of human science. Roma Dhingra (CAS ’24), a student presenter who has participated in the conference for three years, said that the conference promotes interdisciplinary appreciation and collaboration by bringing together researchers from various scientific disciplines.

“The conference, for me, is a place where, for one and a half hours, people from so many different backgrounds — from wet lab backgrounds, psychology backgrounds, medical backgrounds — will have conversations

“I’ll take away something new for my own research because these conversations will help me look at my research from a new perspective,” Dhingra said.

While Dhingra and others presented in one of two hour-and-a-half student poster sessions, the event also featured a keynote address from Dr. Sharon Savage, director of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) clinical genetics branch and clinical director of NCI’s division of cancer epidemiology and genetics. The day concluded with a handful of student oral presentations and an awards ceremony for presenters.

While presenting at the first student poster session, Anqi Feng (CAS ’24), a student researcher at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, said that engaging others in her research through presenting her poster was a gratifying experience, personally and professionally.

“I think it’s definitely rewarding to see your own work being appreciated

Similar to Dhingra, one of Feng’s favorite parts of the conference was getting input on her research from other scientists. Feng studies membraneless organelles — small blobs of protein and RNA with specialized roles in cells — and is interested in using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to see how nuclear speckles, a type of membraneless organelle, help cells organize their DNA.

Feng said that she found new inspiration for her project while talking with one of the conference’s judges, a professional researcher who works with the same gene editing technology that Feng uses to explore the role of nuclear speckles.

“One of the judges that came over was an expert in CRISPR, so after talking to her, I knew which direction I’m probably going to go next, which was a total surprise,” Feng said.

The conference also helped students hone professional skills, like oral presentation and making a scientific poster, according to Baiyue Zhao (CAS ’24), a student researcher in the lab of Georgetown chemistry professor K. Travis Holman.

“This is my first conference, so I think it’s a great way to practice presenting

my research to other people and also learn a little bit about what other people are studying,” Zhao told TheHoya Zhao’s research seeks to use a special compound to increase the octane number, or measure of fuel stability, of gasoline. Since branched hydrocarbon molecules, rather than linear molecules, create higher octane, better quality fuels, Zhao tested the compound’s ability to separate out gasoline’s linear hydrocarbons from its branched hydrocarbons.

Zhao said that preparing for the conference challenged him to distill months of chemistry experiments into a simple, digestible poster. “We did a lot of experimental work, but we only have this one panel for this student poster, so it really makes you think about how to organize the data and see what are the most important parts of the introduction and the data,” Zhao said.

Feng said she hopes that in the future, the conference will continue to make scientific research more accessible at Georgetown, encouraging younger undergraduates to get involved in on-campus laboratories and meet principal investigators (PIs). “If you’re a younger student who’s looking for a lab to join, this might be an opportunity for you to reach out to PIs based on the poster, if you’re interested,” Feng said. “I’m a senior now, but I wish that when I was a freshman, I had more of those opportunities.”

spiritual health,” Wessel told The Hoya “How someone interacts with nature really depends on the person, but everyone can have protection against chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes and depression.”

Wessel said that despite the obvious advantages of getting outside, many students find themselves spending more and more time indoors, in part because the academic structure of student life is not conducive to being in nature. “Educators do not do enough to

Inequity in Private Equity: Private Firms Threaten

Shiva Ranganathan Science Columnist

Private equity firms, which invest in other private firms rather than purchase shares of public companies, pose a significant concern in the healthcare industry. They offer investors the opportunity to profit off of the private market when the public market appears to lack earning potential.

Supporters of private equity have argued that it brings innovative success to every industry it is used within. However, within health care, private equity presents a fee-for-service mentality that jeopardizes patient outcomes and physician satisfaction for the purpose of maximizing revenue.

According to Atul Gupta, an assistant professor of health care management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a key feature of private equity firms is that they engage in leveraged buyouts — acquiring other firms mainly through borrowed funds. This in turn creates a situation where these firms no longer have stakes in the success of the companies they acquire, including health care firms.

One hallmark of private equity investment is firms’ short-term market exit strategy — staying in the market for roughly five to eight years — following their acquisition of other firms. This strategy allows private equity firms to focus entirely on profits during a certain time period without regard for what happens after the market exit. Private equity firms also often expect about 20% of profit from the acquired firm over the short market lifetime. These characteristics suggest that the top priority of private equity is profit-making.

Given their clear financial intentions, private equity firms have no place in health care, where they cause problems for both health care providers and patients.

Private equity firms have laid off numerous physicians and hospital administrators to reduce wage payments, and those who remain have reduced benefits and harsh working conditions, hampering the provision of high-value care.

Five studies examined by the British Medical Journal found private equity-owned nursing homes either cut their staff number or shifted the skill balance from nurses to more assistants to lower operating costs. These actions were in turn found to be linked to higher mortality. Nursing homes acquired by private equity firms experienced a 10% increase in mortality rates among Medicare beneficiaries. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, infection and mortality rates in these nursing homes were over 30% higher than statewide averages. In addition, the abrupt closure of

private equity firms can reduce access to health care in areas that originally had inclusive treatment options for a diverse population. The Atlanta Medical Center (AMC), one of the most prevalent hospitals in Atlanta, is one major case of this. AMC’s 2022 closure marked the end of 120 years of operation, and the exit occurred only eight years after its acquisition by the Wellstar Foundation, a nonprofit in name only which operated much like an official private equity firm. Since AMC’s closure, neighboring hospitals have struggled to keep up with the health care demand. Several of AMC’s resources for low-income areas, such as safety-net hospitals for communities of color, were erased from the Atlanta health sphere after its closure. Inequity in care provision between lower-income and high-income communities only exacerbated the overcrowding problem. In this case, patients were suddenly redirected to hospitals not designed to provide diverse care.

As far as any argument for the benefits of private equity goes, most studies that claim to show positive impacts of private equity tend to focus solely on cost-cutting rather than patient outcomes. However, even their cost efficiency can be disputed. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that insurance payers and patients saw cost increases of up to 32% for care by private equity-acquired firms.

Another one of the few claimed benefits of private equity is that it funnels more advanced technology into health systems, but private equity spending on technology advancements has decreased by almost 60% since 2022.

Currently, the minimum threshold for reporting private equity acquisitions is $111.4 million, which provides transparency for hospital buyouts, but this threshold is not low enough to capture the acquisition of many lower-cost clinics and smaller practices. As a result, cost-cutting transparency is threatened.

Policy efforts to reduce the harmful effects of private equity in health care aim to increase transparency and oversight measures. This includes more frequent investigations, antitrust legislation that restricts information between merging companies and discussions about training physicians to be equipped to stand up against their organizations if their treatment of workers is poor. Lobbyists have also worked to reduce the reporting threshold for acquisitions so that more firms are required to be transparent.

However, to truly prioritize value-based care and patient outcomes, equitable health treatment for patients of varied demographics is the minimum requirement. This goal is severely undermined when firms with profit-maximizing interests take charge of health services and value patients solely for their capital.

ILLUSTRATION BY: KATHRYN SCHWEICKERT/THE

Students Support Quintina Daniels, Dining Worker, After Apartment Fire

Georgetown University students have raised over $11,500 as of April 18 to support Quintina Daniels, an employee at Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall (Leo’s), after a fire engulfed her apartment March 29 and left her near homelessness.

Julian Barrios Cristales (CAS ’26), started the campaign for Daniels, whom students affectionately know as “Ms. Tina,” after learning she had lost nearly all of her possessions in the fire and was soon to be unhoused. As of April 18, the campaign had amassed over $11,000 from 607 donors — well above its original $2,000 goal.

When Cristales showed Daniels the amount of money students raised after one day of the fundraiser, Daniels said she could barely contain her relief and excitement.

“It just started raining, and I went outside, and I just start screaming, just being thankful,” Daniels told The Hoya. “I haven’t seen hail balls in a long time, and they were the size of mothballs, and I was just letting the rain and the mothballs just hit me. And it just felt like everything was just washing away. It felt so refreshing,”

Cristales said he became friends with Daniels in the spring of 2023, with the two since coming to know each other on a personal level.

“Quintina is the type of person that’s so loving, so high energy,” Cristales said. “She truly cares for us kids. In a way, she treats us like her own kids.”

Cristales said he was inspired to start the fundraiser after Dan-

iels told him about the fire and her family’s struggle to find reliable housing.

“The feeling sat with me inside. So, I was sitting on the lawn with some friends, I was there for like an hour and I just kept pondering. I kept turning in my stomach, and I was like ‘I guess I can start a GoFundMe and just post on Instagram,’” Cristales said. According to Daniels, the fire started after her stovetop overheated and burst into flames. Daniels said she had turned it on to keep warm, but as she went to turn it off, the stove lit up in flames.

“By the time I got to my kitchen, that’s when I see just blazes,” Daniels said. “I just got to screaming and I stopped throwing water on it since I think I made it worse by trying to throw water on it.”

Daniels attempted to pull the fire alarm, which turned out to be broken, before calling 911. Although the fire department quickly put out the fire and evacuated the building safely, Daniels said her landlord did not arrive until hours after and has since cut off all communications with her and her family. “He took the phone off,” Daniels said. “There’s no connection. Everything is just no communication. When you do get in contact with him, it’s always just missing off the phone. ‘I’m gonna call you back’ and he doesn’t.” Under Washington, D.C.’s housing code, Daniels’ landlord must pay her relocation assistance while her unit is being rehabilitated, but Daniels said she has been forced to pay for housing through the GoFundMe’s donations instead. “When it comes to my housing

situation, I will try to seek more legal action,” Daniels said. “My situation is illegal right now.”

The apartment fire is not the first one Daniels has experienced. Daniels said her apartment exploded, displacing her family and destroying her possessions, when she was 13 in 1994.

“It was a real traumatic event to experience at 13,” Daniels said. “I was displaced out of my home. We lost everything. The whole building, the whole sidewalk, the whole complex crumpled in front of our face.”

“It was really traumatic for me on the 29th of March,” Daniels added. “It brought back a childhood memory.”

Jordan Forbes (SFS ’27) said she saw a link to the GoFundMe on a friend’s Instagram story and decided to donate in an effort to give back to university staff.

“They work so hard, they deserve the world from us, they do everything for us,” Forbes told The Hoya. “If I can help her maybe worry a little bit less about one of these parts of this awful situation, then it will be worth it.”

Until Daniels can find stable housing, Cristales said he and his teammates on the men’s varsity soccer team will continue to help her. The team hosted a volunteer pieing event in Red Square to raise funds for Daniels April 18. Cristales said it is important for the Georgetown community to take time to build meaningful relationships with hospitality and maintenance staff.

“You never know what other people are going through so sometimes a conversation or another nice gesture can make their day,” Cristales said. “Be a good neighbor in whatever way you can.”

WHAT’S NEW IN MULTIMEDIA?

Check out the newest episode of “Behind the Bulldog,” where host Teddy Gerkin (CAS ’26) interviews Liam Mason (CAS ’26) and Zach Schulman (CAS ’27) on Georgetown Hockey, philanthropy and team bonding.

All podcasts are available to stream on Spotify, Soundcloud and thehoya. com. Videos are available on YouTube and thehoya.com.

Inaugural Mx. Georgetown Features

Drag, Celebrates Queer Community

Caroline Rareshide

Georgetown University’s inaugural student drag competition, Mx. Georgetown, saw a drag king use an acronym to explain why most of his School of Foreign Service (SFS) friends are single.

“My SFS friends are very talented, they’re very smart. You could say they have a lot of Charisma, Uniqueness, a lot of Nerve and a lot of Talent,” Emily Scheibe (CAS ’24), under the drag persona Jack the Bulldyke, said at the April 12 event.

The competition featured six student drag queens and kings who performed in a pageant format in the Intercultural Center (ICC) Auditorium, with the winner crowned Mx. Georgetown. GU Pride, a student organization for LGBTQ+ people at Georgetown, GU Queer People of Color (QPOC), an organization for LGBTQ+ students of color, and the Georgetown Program Board (GPB), an organization that provides affordable events to students on campus, sponsored Mx. Georgetown, which organizers plan to hold annually.

The six drag queens and kings — Lexi Con, Ivy League, Justin Beaver, Lex Luth Whore, Jack the Bulldyke and Prince of Cats — first answered three questions from the emcee. They then performed a coordinated dance to “PURE/HONEY” by Beyoncé before demonstrating their individual talents through standup, song and art. In the final performance, contestants each lip synced to their song choice.

Olivia Yamamoto (SFS ’24), , under the drag persona Justin Beaver to mimic Justin Bieber, said they approached the Q&A portion of the show by trying to imitate “the worst man you know” and recreate their childhood dreams as a Belieber, a fan of Bieber.

“I think my purpose on that stage was to heal the now-lesbian or queer former Beliebers and have me up there pretending to be Justin Bieber and making their dreams come true,” Yamamoto told The Hoya.

Calvin Engstrom (CAS ’24), who performed under the drag persona Lexi Con, as a nod to his position as president of the Georgetown Undergraduate Languages and Linguistics Society (GULLS), said he chose to lip sync to Kate Bush’s “Babooshka” because it represented Lexi Con’s transformation from a purely academic student to one who also enjoys more social aspects of college life.

“I wanted it to be just ridiculously campy, because in the best lip syncs, you tell a story of some sort,” Engstrom told The Hoya. “And I think ‘Babooshka’ tells a great story, and it translates in a weird and wonderful way to the bimbofication of Lexi Con.”

Jack Dougherty (CAS ’26), a member of GU Pride who was the main organizer of the event, said his research into queer history and drag in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas, inspired him to put on Georgetown’s first drag show.

“What steered me there is the history of drag, especially from my hometown, knowing that there can be something that preserves or snapshots these little yearly moments in this community,” Dougherty told The Hoya. “Because I don’t think we have that. And I really want to create that.”

The competition was named Mx. Georgetown to play off GBP’s annual Mr. Georgetown event, an annual male beauty pageant, according to Dougherty.

Scheibe said that, while Mr. Georgetown gives its contestants the opportunity to explore their masculinity, Mx. Georgetowngivesitsparticipantstheopportunity toexploregenderinasimilarway.

“Now we had an opportunity for queer people to do it, and in such a

strange and bold and really out there way, showing people that you can express yourself however you want and especially with the theme of gender or really, I guess, the absence of gender,” Scheibe told The Hoya.

Allie Gaudion (CAS ’26), who was the drag queen Ivy League — “the princess of your dreams or nightmares” — said she found community among the participants of Mx. Georgetown.

“It was this whole new section of queer life that we hadn’t really touched before,” Gaudion told The Hoya. Engstrom, who was ultimately crowned Mx. Georgetown, said winning was a pleasant surprise but that he wanted to commemorate the moment with the other contestants, recognizing their role in the production too.

“I was over the moon and also ready for everyone else to get back on stage and celebrate the fact that so many people went into putting this together,” Engstrom said.

Scheibe, who made it to the final round with Engstrom, said that people coming together and doing

died,” Al-Shihabi told The Hoya. “So the reason that we have these dieins is for people to really understand the gravity of the situation and to really be able to see the amount of people who have been killed.” The die-in followed several peaceful protests and walk-outs SJP has organized and concluded the group’s

Apartheid Week, a week that sought to reflect on Gaza’s history through teach-ins on apartheid practices in South Africa and Palestine. More than 30 people attended the die-in protest.

Iklil Bouhmouch (GRD ’24) read testimonies of witnesses and final words of those killed in Al-Shifa hospital that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) besieged from March 18 to April 1. Bouhmouch said these readings would remember and honor those killed in Gaza. “As the genocide continues and the number of people killed and injured continues to rise, many have chosen to look away or have become desensitized,” Bouhmouch wrote to The Hoya. “It’s imperative that we continue bearing witness, feeling empathy for the destruction of human lives, as well as listening to and amplifying Palestinian voices.”

Al-Shihabi said SJP decided to time their die-in protest to coincide with GAAP Weekend so SJP could demonstrate its commitment to creating a space for pro-Palestinian voices on campus.

“By organizing that protest, we hope to show pro-Palestinian and Palestinian Muslim students that Georgetown is a campus that welcomes and accepts them and tells Zionist students that they are not welcome on our campus and their beliefs actively harm and discriminate against Palestinians,” Al-Shihabi said. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in

southern Israel that killed over 1,000 Israelis, Israel’s military response has killed over 33,000 people and has left over 76,000 people injured, including over 13,000 children in Gaza. Civilians who live in the Gaza Strip experience a severe shortage of food, water, shelter and access to hospitals.

The ongoing crisis has displaced 1.7 million people in Gaza, causing overcrowding and poor sanitation, which increases the spread of diseases.

The spokesperson said students can freely express ideas and viewpoints in Red Square, a designated free speech zone, adding that the university is committed to ensuring freedom of expression and a safe, welcoming campus.

“While members of our community exercise freedom of speech, we work towards a living, learning community that is free of bias and geared toward thoughtful, respectful dialogue,” the spokesperson wrote. Brandon Wu (SFS ’24) said he attended the protest because of the university’s lack of divestment from companies that fund Israel’s violence toward Palestinians.

“It is unacceptable that our tuition dollars are funding military investment abroad that is actively contributing to the death of 33,000+ Palestinians and the risk of famine faced by 1 million Palestinians in Gaza,” Wu wrote to The Hoya.

The university spokesperson said members of the Georgetown community who support divestment can contact the Committee on In-

vestments and Social Responsibility, which advises the university on sustainable investment strategies.

Al-Shihabi said SJP’s greatest goal is for Georgetown to actively work to end the conflict in Gaza by divesting from companies such as Amazon that sell technology to the Israeli military. Although Georgetown President John DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) called for a ceasefire in Gaza April 2, Al-Shihabi said this move came far too late.

“We had many protests, many statements released, many petitions and finally DeGioia released and issued the ceasefire statement,” Al-Shihabi said. “This statement was a long time overdue. It shouldn’t have had to have been released after there were over 100,000 casualties.”

Since November 2023, SJP has called on the university to establish a working group to collaborate on measures to protect Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students on campus.

Al-Shihabi said the significance of SJP’s die-in lies in their demand for the university to take more concrete action regarding the war in Gaza.

“We appreciate the statement, but I just want to reiterate the importance comes down to taking action. It’s very easy to write a couple of sentences,” Al-Shihabi said. “We need the working group for Palestinian students and we need divestment immediately because we at Georgetown and our tuition money is going to funding a genocide.”

drag creates space on campus for others to do the same.

“I really hope there will be other opportunities anywhere you go,” Scheibe said. “I never thought that there would be for me to really try that, and then they ended up appearing.”

Sarah McCammon, a journalist with National Public Radio (NPR), spoke about the exodus of young women and LGBTQ+ community members from the white evangelical church in the United States.

Michael Scime Staff Writer

Thomas Cooke, Beloved Business Professor, Tax Law Expert, Dies at 74

COOKE, from A1 professor of finance, worked with Cooke for 35 years. He said Cooke — an avid traveler — loved South Africa, but not as much as he loved the Hilltop.

“He really loved South Africa and spoke passionately about the country to the students,” Eberhart wrote to The Hoya. “Of course, he loved Georgetown even more and I always thought of him as ‘Mr. Georgetown’ because of his long tenure — just missed achieving his 50th year working on the Hilltop — his love of teaching and his constant presence on campus.”

His passion for teaching

inspired Cooke to help Carlos Manuel Sera (MSB ’18), an 81-yearold who was just a few credits shy of graduating from the Georgetown School of Business in 1959, obtain his undergraduate degree. Cooke instructed Sera in federal income taxation, primarily over the phone, to help him earn his final four graduation credits.

Sera died in June 2018, six weeks after he graduated from the MSB.

Nina Simon, a business law professor, stepped in to teach Cooke’s class this semester when he stepped down due to health-related issues.

“It was an honor to step in to assist when he became ill this year,” Simon wrote to The Hoya. “I will miss him very much.”

Dylan Williams (MSB ’26), a student in Cooke’s Fall 2023 “Business Law” class, said his former professor was admirable and authentic.

“The two things I look for in a good teacher are passion for their subject and a genuine care for their students,” Williams told The Hoya. “Professor Cooke embodied exactly that. You could tell from the first class that he loved what he was teaching and wanted the students to succeed.”

Jason Schloetzer, an associate professor in accounting and business law,saidCookehadawayofmakingthe environments he was in happier.

“Tom had great behind-thescenes qualities,” Schloetzer wrote to The Hoya. “He brought joy to a room without even saying a word,” “You never knew what story he might tell or comment he may make, but you knew something good would happen.”

In 2020, Poets & Quants, a news organization that covers business education, named Cooke a top 50 undergraduate business school professor.

Marybeth Kane (MSB ’24), another of Cooke’s former business law students, said Cooke was one of her favorite professors. “His passion for his work was infectious, igniting a love of learning in his students,” Kane wrote to The Hoya. “Professor Cooke’s kindness, patience, and unwavering support has solidified his standing as one of the best professors I’ve had in the MSB.”

Matthew Cypher, a professor and the director of the Steers Center for Global Real Estate, said he met Cooke on his first day at Georgetown 12 years ago. Cypher, whose office sat across Cooke’s,

said his colleague was joyful and passionate.

“Professor Cooke was evidence that you can most certainly have fun in your job and if you are not having fun – you need to do something else,” Cypher wrote to The Hoya. “He was a character, and we had so much fun shouting things back and forth across the hall.”

“If you can conclude your working career by saying that you were passionate about your profession and cared deeply for your employer, you win,” Cypher added.“Professor Cooke won.”

Abigail Kane (MSB ’26) and Will Lambert (MSB ’26) took “The Real Estate Game,” an MSB first-year seminar that Cooke and Cypher taught together, in the Fall 2022 semester. They said Cooke made them feel welcomed in their first semester at Georgetown.

“As our first year seminar professor, Professor Cooke was one of our first introductions to Georgetown,” Kane told The Hoya. “His knowledge and passion for teaching was inspiring and excited us for the rest of our time here.”

“He will truly be missed, but his impact will long be felt by those who knew him,” Lambert added.

The Holy Trinity Church in the Georgetown neighborhood held a funeral mass for Cooke on April 16. Anderson said the MSB is working on plans to celebrate Cooke’s life, with details forthcoming.

Georgetown Resident Assistants Will Unionize, Pending Vote Certification

“All of us at Georgetown hold Prof. Cooke’s family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” a university spokesperson wrote to The Hoya UNION, from A1 after the April 16 election in an email to RAs, which a university spokesperson sent to The Hoya. “We are encouraged that many RAs made their voices heard.”

“When the NLRB’s certification is finalized, we will assemble the appropriate team to work in good faith with OPEIU to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement,” Daugherty added. Sam Lovell (CAS ’25), an RA and GRAC organizer, said the successful unionization efforts reflect Georgetown RAs’ long-term advocacy. “I don’t think words can describe how awesome this moment feels,” Lovell told The Hoya. “GRAC has only existed for about two months, but the movement long precedes us, and so this has really been a combination of a lot of different emotions and experiences, and I think it’s safe to say that we’re all feeling really, really great and looking forward to negotiating a new contract that serves the interest of every RA.”

Lovell said RA’s unionization will show student workers at Georgetown and other campuses that unionization is an option.

“I’m super excited for what this movement means not only for RAs on our campus, but also RAs at other campuses and undergraduate workers at Georgetown,” Lovell said. “If you’re a student worker at Georgetown

Georgetown Students Support Gender-Inclusive Housing in Vote

REFERENDUM, from A1

said the referendum’s success is especially important to them given that they have been unable to access gender-inclusive housing in the past.

“As a non-binary student, this referendum and the results mean the world to me,” Moynihan told The Hoya. “Ninety percent of my peers are calling for the current housing system, that discriminated against me, to change.”

“I feel very seen. I feel very cared for. I feel very respected and affirmed by all of my peers, and it’s just wonderful,” Moynihan added. “It just shows that we have an incredibly supportive and affirming student body.”

At least 450 U.S. universities offer gender-inclusive housing, according to research by the non-profit Campus Pride, which advocates for safe college campuses for LGBTQ+ students. These schools include every member of the Ivy League, D.C. schools George Washington University and Howard University and Jesuit schools like Fordham University, Gonzaga University and Loyola Marymount University. Henshaw said the referendum will offer LGBTQ+ Georgetown students the same living standards as these schools.

“This referendum will be incredibly impactful in making Georgetown a more inclusive and affirming campus for so many students, catching us up with the

rest of the country,” Henshaw wrote to The Hoya. “Incoming LGBTQ+ first years will not have to worry nearly as much about living in a hostile environment, and students in all years will more easily be able to live in comforting and safe spaces.”

Gisell Campos (CAS ’25), the communications director for GU Pride, said adding a question “regarding whether a student would be affirming and supportive of a roommate who identifies as LGBTQ+” to first-years’ housing survey gives all incoming students the opportunity to adjust to college alongside a supportive roommate.

“Everyone deserves to have that freshman roommate experience, just a random roommate, someone that you don’t know,” Campos said. “Part of that experience is, ‘Oh, we get along because we like the same bands, and we get along because we like the same foods, but we argue because I don’t wash the dishes. We argue because they come home late at night.’ That’s what the college experience should be for your first year.”

“I think it’s super-important that now this referendum allows trans students to have that experience without transphobia being a part of it,” Campos added.

GU Pride Treasurer Mrudula Chodavarapu (MSB ’26) said the referendum result means more students will feel comfortable living as themselves in on-campus spaces.

“There’s so many genderqueer students on campus who are terrified, who aren’t openly out, partially because of roommates,” Chodavarapu told The Hoya. “It’s obviously not going to solve everything, but it’s a huge step in the right direction.”

For the gender-inclusive housing policies to take effect, they must pass a vote from Georgetown’s Board of Directors, the 42-member body which approves all major university policy changes.

Dylan Shapiro (CAS ’26), a student who voted in support of the measure, said the referendum result shows students’ united support for the board approving gender-inclusive housing.

“The students of this university want a university that is more inclusive, that is more accepting,” Shapiro told The Hoya. “I think it’s great that the referendum passed, but now we need the administration to listen to their students and make that permanent university policy.”

Moynihan said the referendum result demonstrates that students value inclusion, in line with Georgetown’s Jesuit value of cura personalis,caringforthewholeperson.

“I think it shows that we really live up to the values that many of us chose, in coming to this school, to follow,” Moynihan said. “It shows that we really care about each other and we really want the best for every single student here.”

who’s an undergraduate, who’s had a negative experience, this should send the signal that unionizing is a viable alternative.” Lovell said he expects RAs to be in negotiations with the university by August.

Scott Williams, an organizer with OPEIU, said the RA union will begin surveying members to prepare to collectively bargain with the university.

“What are the policies that they want to improve? How do they want to make this?” Williams told The Hoya. “We’ll be working on electing a bargaining committee and that bargaining committee will be members who are elected to represent all RAs and work on creating policies and negotiating those policies with the university.”

Daugherty said next steps would include a collective bargaining agreement between the union and the university.

“While there is no way to predict the length of negotiations, the process of negotiating a first collective bargaining agreement generally takes approximately a year, and sometimes more,” Daugherty wrote in an April 10 email to RAs.

RA Tessa Smiley (CAS ’25) said they appreciated the university’s fairness in the RA unionization process. “We’re very thankful for the cooperation from the university ensuring that we had a fair election tonight,” Smiley told The

Hoya. “They didn’t engage in any sort of union busting.” Elise Merchant (CAS ’25) said RAs’ unionization will allow them to better support their residents.

“An RA who is more supported in this university space is only going to be able to better cater to their residents and their needs, so I think it’s serving the greater student body in such a positive way,” Merchant told The Hoya Nico Reyes (CAS ’24), another RA, said the entire Georgetown community, including community directors (CDs), who serve as RAs’ supervisors, will benefit from the results of the April 16 election.

“I think it’s a great day for people that think that college needs to be more affordable, more accessible,” Reyes told The Hoya. “I think it’s a great day for the CDs that do great work and work hard to care about the community, because we’re going to use our position to elevate them as well. There were no losers today.”

Merchant said she will always remember walking into McShain Large Lounge and seeing the ballot box.

“For it to be actualized, to come in person and vote in McShain, where we do our RA trainings, I’m always gonna remember that,” Merchant said. “RAs who are here next year, they’re not gonna understand that this is where we had an election. This is where we’ve created a union where now we can have actual negotiations with the university.”

Goldwater Scholarship Rewards

Four Students’ Science Research

GOLDWATER, from A1 with Rebecca Riggins, a professor of oncology at the Lombardi Center.

Mobin, who will attend medical school at Georgetown’s School of Medicine (SOM) through the Early Assurance program — which admits certain Georgetown undergrads to medical school at the end of their sophomore year — said she seeks to continue her tumor biology research and become a physician-scientist to remedy health care disparity among minority populations.

“I want to use what I see in the clinic and treatment plans that don’t work well with certain minority patients or treatments that might not be as effective in certain populations and use those clinical observations to serve as the compass for my lab research,” Mobin said. Rasquinha, a biology major and women and gender studies minor, has concentrated her research on virology and infectious diseases since she was in high school. She currently researches potential treatments for hepatitis D, a liver virus, under the guidance of John Casey, a professor of immunology and microbiology at the SOM. Rasquinha said she wants to earn dual doctorate degrees of medicine and philosophy to become a physician-scientist

and revolutionize disease prevention — especially in the field of drug development — through reciprocal interactions with her patients.

“I believe that the fight against disease must encompass scientific developments from bench to bedside, and I want to work at the intersection of basic science and clinical research to employ developments from both fronts in creating effective therapeutics,” Rasquinha wrote to The Hoya

Full disclosure: Giselle Rasquinha wrote for The Hoya’s Science Section in Spring 2023. Riess, who studies mathematics and physics, has researched theoretical nuclear physics focusing on string theory — or the physics of particles — with Kai Liu, the chair of Georgetown’s physics department, and Hovhannes Grigoryan, a professor of physics.

Riess said he started research in these disciplines and hopes to earn a doctoral degree in them because the philosophical characteristics of math and physics captivate him.

“It is a good framework to understand the world around us,” Riess told The Hoya “The research topics that I do really examine, those fundamental questions of what are the elementary constituents of the universe and so forth, and mathematics

is just the natural language to describe that with,” he added.

Rice, a biochemistry major, researches the role of biochemistry in cellular processes in the Braselmann lab. She won the Clare Boothe Luce Scholar Award — which is dedicated to supporting women in STEM — in 2023, allowing her to continue her research in cancer metastasis, or the disease’s spread from its initial location to other parts of the body over the summer.

Rice said Georgetown’s science faculty has broadened her academic background and prepared her to conduct cancer research, which spans multiple scientific disciplines.

“By learning about different aspects of cancer mechanisms, from biology to chemistry and everything in between, I was able to learn about many small parts of the big picture, and I hope that my research can start to fill in some of the gaps,” Rice wrote to The Hoya Rasquinha said she has dreamed of winning the scholarship since she first learned about it during her first year at Georgetown.

“I am so thankful to be a part of this community of incredibly intelligent and passionate researchers, and to be recognized as someone that can make a difference with my research interests,” Rasquinha wrote.

HAAN JUN (RYAN) LEE/THE HOYA

Resident assistants (RAs) voted to form a union in an April 16 election that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that protects workers and enforces labor law, oversaw.

VINCENT ROMANO/THE HOYA

More than 30% of students voted in a referendum April 11 to 13 on whether to establish gender-inclusive housing at Georgetown, exceeding the 25% threshold for it to pass.

Maren Fagan Academics Desk

Editor

The Circle of Indigenous Students’ Alliance (CISA) presented its Native Art Showcase with live poetry, dancing, music and visual art presentations at an April 12 event.

CISA, an organization that elevates the voices and culture of Indigenous students on campus, followed the theme Le Emátanhanpi, which in the Lakota language is interpreted as “We Belong Here.” The showcase featured seven performances and four artists and art groups on display, with the performances featuring four poetry readings, one song, one dance and an oratory.

Rachel Two Bulls (CAS ’24), a Lakota student who organized the event, said the thematic emphasis on the concept of belonging comes from the diversity of Indigenous culture and the idea of environmental belonging.

“CISA and the theme of indigeneity on campus has been really difficult to harness just because of how diverse and spread out we are,” Two Bulls told The Hoya “I think belonging to the land is something that is big in culture but not necessarily something that is talked about and let alone something that different groups can talk about together and still understand because we’re from different places, but I think once we establish ourselves as belonging to a community, it becomes easier to actually identify with Indigenous groups.” “Capturing the big picture narrative is what we’re trying to do,” Two Bulls added. The showcase, also sponsored

through Campus Ministry, ended with a raffle for three winners to receive select pieces of art from the showcase.

Sophia Monsalvo (CAS ’26), a Colombian African American student who performed at the CISA showcase for the first time, sang “Saber Olvidar,” which in Spanish means “to know forgetting.” She said she chose to join the showcase because of the strong community she has found in CISA and among Indigenous people. “I chose to sing tonight in general because I just started getting involved with CISA last year and it was about a really big journey of reconnecting with my own Indigeneity and understanding what that means in the Latin American context,” Monsalvo told The Hoya “CISA has really helped me find community in that and speak and be able to exist in that.” “I really love any chance I can get to share my energy and space with people,” Monsalvo added. At the showcase, Simone Guité (CAS ’26), a member of the Chinook Nation, shared her oratory titled “Tonto Got His Indian Money” to draw attention to the fact that the Chinook Nation has not yet received permanent federal recognition. Guité said she created the oratory after a research project in which she examined how her family’s history connects to United States history.

“I looked at my tribe, so I came in having a really strong foundation and knowing a lot of the nitty-gritty tribal legal cases and dates and events,” Guité told The Hoya. “And so then I thought what better way to

Japanese Government To Donate New Cherry Blossoms to Tidal Basin

Georgia Russello Senior Features Editor

In a speech delivered to Congress

April 11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that Japan will donate 250 cherry blossom trees to Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. The gesture follows a statement from the National Park Service that the city will implement a three-year project to rehabilitate the seawalls that currently border the Tidal Basin, a man-made reservoir between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel. The existing seawalls have been deemed no longer structurally sound due to rising sea levels and drainage issues in the area. Kishida said that Japan would be giving the United States a new installment of cherry blossom trees to celebrate the anniversary of America’s independence.

“I know that the National Park Service is undertaking a rehabilitation project in the Tidal basin,” Kishida said in his remarks before Congress. “As a gesture of friendship, Japan will provide 250 cherry trees that will be planted there, in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of your independence.” The restoration project, supported by the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund, which protects landmarks that line the Potomac River, requires the removal of around 200 of the Japanese cherry blossom trees that currently surround the National Mall.

According to a March 12 statement from the National Park Service, the project will begin in summer 2024 for a $113 million restoration project.

“This critical investment will ensure the park is able to protect some of the nation’s most iconic memorials and the Japanese flowering cherry trees from the immediate threats of failing infrastructure and rising sea levels for the next 100 years,” the statement said. Adam Liff, a professor of modern Japanese studies at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service, said the gift demonstrates diplomacy in action.

“The Japanese cherry trees and the annual festival have become not only widely-recognized symbols of U.S.-Japan friendship, but also of Washington, D.C., itself — attracting people from all over America each year,” Liff wrote to The Hoya “What a remarkable legacy for the gift — to become the prima-

share it rather than presenting a big whole paper than my own personal stories and family stories.”

Monsalvo said she chose her showcase song because of its resonances with an experience common among many Indigenous people — channeling hope by remembering the many different parts of their identity.

“I know a lot of that feels like remembering the ancestors and remembering the legacy and life that we still hold within ourselves as Indigenous people,” Monsalvo said. Two Bulls said that events like CISA’s showcase help capture the lives of Indigenous people and communities in their own words, something that many Georgetown students may not understand.

“I think creating spaces like this to talk about something more than struggle, despite how difficult it is for us to splinter and then have to come back together as a group, to look at something about us rather than something about what we’re struggling with,” Two Bulls said. “It is also instilling in us that there is a place amongst others in Georgetown that is for you, in that identity as an Indigenous person.” Guité said that events like the Native Art Showcase help her and other Indigenous students build community on campus, which she said is not always easily accessible. “I think a lot of times there’s obviously not a lot of spaces that are meant for Indigenous people to share their stories and their artwork,” Guité said. “So having this event is a great way for that to happen and a great space to create more community and come together and share our own experiences.”

event, showcasing Indigenous art with themes around belonging.

Student Performers Raise Money for Mutual Aid In Cosmic Bloom Outdoor Concert at Observatory

Kate Hwang Graduate Desk Editor

ry natural symbol of the nation’s capital — as well as a great example of the importance of public and cultural diplomacy.”

Japan first gifted cherry trees to Washington, D.C., in 1912 as a gesture of friendship between the United States and Japan. The initial gift consisted of 3,020 trees of various varieties planted along the Tidal Basin.

Liff said the United States reciprocated this diplomatic relationship after World War II by donating buds from the D.C. cherry trees to Japan, restoring their tree population.

“Though it is common knowledge that Japan gave hundreds of cherry trees to America a century ago, less widely appreciated is that after the devastation of the war the U.S. government assisted in restoring the parent grove back in Japan by sharing budwood from its D.C.based descendants,” Liff wrote.

“So the trees are both a figurative and literal example of the renewal of U.S.-Japan friendship after the war, and of bilateral exchange,” he added.

Manato Matsuoka (MSB ’26) is the social chair of Japan Network (J-NET) at Georgetown, a Japanese language and culture club. He said the gift demonstrates a renewed connection between Japan and the United States, adding that the club hopes to similarly share Japanese culture through a series of cherry blossom-related events.

“Usually around the cherry blossom festival in Japan there are a lot of picnics and festivals and stands,” Matsuoka told The Hoya. “We kind of wanted to replicate that here at Georgetown.”

According to Matsuoka, the club will be hosting Sakura Matsuri, a cherry blossom festival, April 21 to mirror festivals that happen across Japan to celebrate the cherry blossoms each year. “Cherry blossoms are very symbolic of Japan and they are the Japanese tree,” Matsuoka said. ‘For Japan to put these trees in America is a symbolic gesture of the ties that America and Japan have together.”

Matsuoka said a vibrant, strong relationship between Japan and the United States — expressed through cultural institutions like D.C.’s cherry blossoms — is a rare constant in a hectic world.

“Even though what is going on in this world is getting crazier and there are a lot of things going on, Japan and America still have great ties together,” Matsuoka said. “We are still something that wouldn’t break apart easily.”

Georgetown University student bands and artists performed in Prospect Records and the Homelessness Outreach Meals and Education (HOME) program’s Cosmic Bloom concert April 13 to raise money for low-income and unhoused individuals and families in Ward 2 of Washington, D.C., which includes the university.

Prospect Records, Georgetown’s student record label, and HOME, a student-run organization that instructs teach-ins and raises awareness on homelessness in D.C., partnered to host the concert, with funds from ticket sales going to Ward 2 Mutual Aid, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping Ward 2’s homeless population. The outdoor nighttime concert took place at the Heyden Observatory, a lookout spot and historic building near Georgetown’s campus recreation space, and included student groups and performers and sold food and concessions.

The show’s setlist included songs ranging from early-2000s

pop to modern-day hits to alternative and rock covers.

Clare Didden (CAS ’26), co-president of Prospect Records, opened the show by performing original songs and said she appreciated the concert’s atmosphere.

“I got to play my original songs in front of my friends, which was a great opportunity to share my passion in an overwhelmingly supportive space,” Didden wrote to The Hoya “Seeing students cheer for their fellow peers makes me hopeful about the future of the creative communities on campus, because the student body has so much talent to offer and it is just starting to be fully recognized.”

After Didden, Ruby Gilmore (SFS ’26) performed a repertoire including an original song and songs by Noah Kahan and Olivia Rodrigo, before Araujia, a four-piece student jazz quartet, performed rock and alternative music.

Kicking Cans, a six-member band, played indie and alternative music, while Suitemate, a fivepiece student band, performed a blend of early 2000s to 2010s covers and The Ordeal, a four-piece student boy band which closed the

night, performed rock songs. James Dolan (CAS ’25) said student bands were enthusiastic to participate in the concert.

“There have been way more student bands on campus than we’ve ever had post-COVID so it was great to have so many recognizable groups,” Dolan wrote to The Hoya Dolan said the event spotlighted student-formed bands, rather than forcing together individual musicians.

“In years past, Prospect would organize bands to play at the end-of-semester shows, and they would generally fall apart soon after,” Dolan wrote. “This year, we organized shows (like this one) to accommodate these organically-founded bands, all of which seem to be groups of friends who have genuinely enjoyed making music together over the course of the year.”

Sophia Kelleher, a volunteer with the group, said that proceeds from the event will help Ward 2 Mutual Aid purchase groceries and distribute them to homeless individuals living in Ward 2. She also added that the group often partners with Georgetown through collaborations with HOME.

“We get a lot of volunteers from them, students who help us out, and they sometimes do cool stuff like this for us,” Kelleher told The Hoya. “It is 100 percent volunteer run and our critical work would not be possible without our amazing volunteers.”

Kush Modi (CAS ’25), a board member for HOME, emphasized the importance of volunteer support in making events like the Cosmic Bloom Concert possible.

Dolan said organizing the Cosmic Bloom concert was a positive experience for all team members, especially after they had difficulty showcasing live music during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Guiding the music scene through this change has been a gratifying experience for everyone on the Prospect team for sure, and this past show was such a release for us,” Dolan wrote.

Didden said that the collaboration with HOME and Ward 2 Mutual Fund made performing extremely rewarding.

“Knowing that your music and efforts are making a concrete difference made the concert all the more rewarding,” Didden wrote.

justice issues. Andrew Schoenholtz, a professor and co-director of Georgetown Law’s Center for Applied Legal Studies, delivered the 2024 lecture, “The Challenges of Protecting Refugees at the Border During Humanitarian Crises.”

Schoenholtz said refugees cross into the United States through the southern border for a variety of reasons, including fleeing oppressive or unsafe regimes.

“They’re fleeing an oppressive regime,” Schoenholtz said at the event. “Some are coming simply because it’s just not safe compared to their own countries.”

“We have a long history of something we all call the American dream. And for some people, that’s a draw, that’s what brings them here,” he added.

Schoenholtz said many of the migrants entering the United States at the southern border emigrate from the same few countries in Central America, establishing networks that lead to a steady stream of immigrants from those countries.

“There are particular nationalities who have been coming for many, many years. There’s a long connection, and once the connections in the migration world begin — and this is true for the history of international migration everywhere, not just the United States — once they begin, they don’t just stop like that. The connection’s been made,” he said.

The number of migrants crossing into the United States via its southern border with Mexico has soared since the COVID-19 pandemic, with an average of 150,000 to 200,000 migrants crossing the border per month in 2023. Migrants are primarily emigrating from Mexico, Venezuela and the “Northern Triangle” countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Harriette Hemmasi, dean of Lauinger Library, said Schoenholtz’s lecture pressed attendees to consider how immigration and other humanitarian issues affect their own lives.

“His inspiring lecture challenged us to consider how those issues intersect with our lives and what each of us can do to help those in need,” Hemmasi wrote to The Hoya

Discussing the humanized aspect of immigration, Schoenholtz said

most parent immigrants come to the United States to protect their children from systemic violence in Central American countries.

“If they had young children, a 10 year old girl or an 11 year old boy, that was the age the gangs were recruiting in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala,” Schoenholtz said. “If you were the mother or father, you would probably be doing what those mothers and fathers did, which was try to bring them here, but you didn’t have any legal path to do that.”

Schoenholtz said any migrants coming from Central America often come to the United States because they do not feel safe in other countries they pass through, or because safer countries such as Costa Rica are overwhelmed by migrants’ mass arrival. He proposed several possible solutions for these aspects of the crisis, saying officials should work to address the root causes of migration and prevent migrants from reaching the southern border in such large numbers.

“Why don’t they stop along the way in other countries where they can reach safety? Because they’re not reaching safety,” Schoenholtz said.

“The United States and Canada, the high income countries in our region, should assist low- and middleincome countries in figuring out how to provide protection to humanitarian arrivals,” he added. Schoenholtz said anti-immigrant

sentiment in the United States has long existed, shifting between different groups of immigrants over time before American society and the immigrant groups adapt to each other.

“That’s always been the situation. Every group that came to the United States, from the beginning — the Irish were the first ones who were disliked. They were papists, they were never going to be able to be a part of this country. Then the Germans came. The Germans — how were they ever going to adopt to our form of government?” Schoenholtz said. “The problems of the ideas of being here a while, my feeling is we need to try harder.”

The U.S. population at large is harboring increasingly anti-immigrant sentiment, and in a January 2024 CBS/YouGov poll, nearly half of respondents said they agreed with former President Donald Trump’s remarks that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country. Schoenholtz said the influx of migrants the United States faces along its southern border is not a unique issue, but one unfolding across the globe.

“What’s happening here in our hemisphere, it’s happening around the world. It’s a global phenomenon. It’s not just here. There’s a large increasing number of displaced people globally. Women and children are particularly vulnerable,” Schoenholtz said. “Forced migration is very destabilizing for all involved.”

Eighteen GU Undergraduate Students Win Seats in GUSA Senate Election

Evie Steele and Aamir Jamil Executive Editor and GUSA Desk Editor Eighteen students won election to the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) Senate, according to results the GUSA Election Commission announced April 13. The new senators will represent the Classes of 2025, 2026 and 2027, with six senators representing each class. They will serve for a year-long term, starting this week and ending in April 2025. Evan Cornell (CAS ’27), Han Li (CAS ’27), Sienna Lipton (CAS ’27), Julia Revill (SFS ’27), Sahil Sud (SFS ’27) and Keatyn Wede (CAS ’27) won election to the six Class of 2027 seats. Incumbents Nico Santiago (CAS ’27) and Rai Hasen Masoud (SFS ’27) both lost their races for reelection. Cornell said he hopes to improve transparency and communication in the Senate, focusing on construction, dining and campus services. “My priorities for this next session of the Senate will include transparency across campus institutions, better communication when it comes to campus dining and Henle Village construction, GUSA representation and everyday needs on the Hilltop like more trash cans, reusable water filling stations and printing,” Cornell wrote to The Hoya Cornell added that he will advocate for term limits so more students can join the senate and feel included by GUSA. “GUSA and the Senate have had a tendency to feel inaccessible to outsiders for some time now,” Cornell wrote. “I will also push for term limits in the

Senate. As much as I like and respect my fellow senators, I do believe the best way to approach change on campus is to better allow new faces and ideas to come to the Senate.”

For the Class of 2026 seats, incumbents Meriam Ahmad (SFS ’26), Dylan Davis (CAS ’26), Ethan Henshaw (CAS ’26) and Rhea Iyer (CAS ’26) and new candidates Ahmad Abuirshid (CAS ’26) and Tina Solki (MSB, SFS ’26) won election. Incumbent George Currie (CAS ’26) lost his seat, with new candidate Hassan Malik (SOH ’26) also losing and incumbent Yasin Khan (SFS ’26) declining to run again. Abuirshid said he will focus on listening to students, adding that he joined the senate to contribute to improving campus after transferring to Georgetown this semester. “My number one priority is listening to the students,” Abuirshid wrote to The Hoya. “One main focus we should all hone in on is inclusivity. I wanted to run because as a new transfer this semester, this school really made me feel welcome.”

“I know it’s time for me to give back, and I’m very excited to start,” Abuirshid added. Chijioke Achebe (SFS ’25), Robert Della Bernarda (CAS ’25), John DiPierri (SFS ’25), George LeMieux (CAS ’25), Samuel Lovell (CAS ’25) and write-in Dua Mobin (CAS ’25), all incumbents, won election unopposed to the Class of 2025 seats. The senate certified the election at its April 14 meeting before swearing in the new senators. The new senate unanimously elected Ahmad as speaker and Iyer as vice speaker. Henshaw will chair the Policy

and Advocacy Committee (PAC), which drafts and proposes legislation, Hermonstine will chair the Finance and Appropriations Committee (FinApp), which allocates over $1 million in funding to student organizations annually, and LeMieux will chair the Ethics and Oversight Committee, which upholds the GUSA bylaws and constitution.

Discussing her plans for her speakership, Ahmad said she will focus on helping all senators pass and advocate for their legislation.

“We’re all passionate about different things in the Senate, from mental health to Leo’s to admissions policies to GUTS, and my goal will be to help every Senator advocate for what matters to them,” Ahmad wrote to The Hoya “I am also excited to continue working on some of my personal projects, which include printing on campus, dining and expanding Canva Pro access,” Ahmad added. Ahmad advised incoming senators to specialize on specific issues and solutions in their advocacy. “I encourage all Senators to identify two to three issue areas on campus that they are passionate about and find tangible solutions to the problems that they identify,” Ahmad wrote.

As vice-speaker, Iyer said she plans to improve transparency in GUSA, establishing more communication with the student body.

“Whether that be through our Instagram account or through tabling, GUSA should be accessible to the students,” Iyer wrote to The Hoya. “GUSA is an organization for the students and they deserve to know what we’re doing to advocate for them.”

GU Law Graduate Calls on University To End Live Bulldog Mascot Tradition

A Georgetown University Law Center graduate wrote a letter to Georgetown President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) advocating for the discontinuation of Jack the Bulldog, the university’s live animal mascot, citing health issues and concerns specific to his breed. Sheila Choi (LAW ’21), founder and CEO of The Fuzzy Pet Foundation (TFPF), wrote the letter to address her concerns about animal exploitation, claiming the overwhelming and noisy environment of school events could induce stress for Jack’s high-maintenance breed. Choi’s interest was sparked by the unexpected death of the former Jack last year. Citing breed-specific information about Jack, Choi said factors like loud noises and hot temperatures could overwhelm him.

“The concern is that Georgetown is using a brachycephalic breed, that Jack is, to use as a mascot to cart around at sporting events, where there are large and loud crowds in a room that is not necessarily temperature controlled,” Choi told The Hoya . “We could totally depend on a live human mascot instead of exploiting a live, sentient being.”

In her letter, Choi argued that Jack’s breed is genetically prone to numerous health issues, including breathing difficulties, heat stroke and skin infection. She raised moral and health concerns about the use of a metal choke collar, noting that it obstructs dogs’ breathing and poses a risk of damage to the trachea, which serves as an airway passage.

“The animal rights community globally agrees that chain collars should never be used, as they can cause undue harm and discomfort,” Choi wrote

in the letter. “Such practice, widely considered inhumane, does not align with our Jesuit values of compassion and care for all God’s creatures.” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) stressed the broader issue of using live animals for college mascots, arguing that subjecting animals to close contact with large crowds of people is speciesist, stressful and inhumane. PETA wrote directly to Georgetown University following the announcement of the new Jack after the previous Jack passed away in 2023, stating that breathing-impaired breeds (BIBs) struggle to perform basic tasks due to breathing difficulties. “Many BIBs can’t even enjoy a proper walk or chase a ball — things that make dogs’ lives joyful and fulfilling — without gasping for air.” PETA wrote in the letter.

“We ask that you resist the urge to maintain the status quo and instead make good on Georgetown’s commitment to the ‘common good’ by moving away from this cruel tradition of using deformed dogs, thereby inadvertently driving up the demand for them.”

In addressing these assertions, a university spokesperson spoke to the importance of the tradition surrounding Jack the Bulldog and offered assurance regarding Jack’s well-being.

“Georgetown always takes special care to prioritize the health of Jack the Bulldog,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya . “The university has long been committed to placing the health of each Jack before his official duties, and has strict requirements to ensure Jack’s safety and wellbeing.” Victoria Han (MSB ’26), an owner of three dogs at home, said that the noise of sports games reaches her dorm, Village C West (VCW), and voiced concerns about Jack’s well-being if he were to attend such events. “Sometimes when I am sleeping on my bed in the

morning, I can hear the music from the field. Imagine how Jack the Bulldog, who has better hearing, feels when he is exposed to the loud noises,” Han told The Hoya Valerie Ng (CAS ’26) said Jack’s presence contributes to a sense of unity and happiness on campus, noting that while stressful environments are unhealthy for Jack, the Jack Crew’s training prioritizes Jack’s well-being in these situations.

“I think that the dog itself brings a lot more joy to the campus,” Ng told The Hoya. “Everyone likes dogs, and Jack creates a sense of unity among students because he brings happiness to students when they see him on campus.”

“I believe Jack Crew only recruits people with experience with dogs, so I feel that he is being well taken care of. If he were stressed, they could probably tell from body language,” Ng added.

The spokesperson also stated that the Jack Crew is adeptly trained in Jack’s care, and has historically been successful.

“Jack is cared for by his caretaker and the Jack Crew, a group of students who have received training on ensuring Jack’s health, safety and wellness as they take him on daily walks and escort him to onand off-campus events,” the spokesperson wrote. “The Jack Crew has helped look after the mascot for the past 20 years.”

Choi said she supports the complete end of using live mascots, arguing that despite training and requirements, the negative effects outweigh the positive, and Jack is better off in a safe and comforting environment.

“I wanted to be a voice for Jack and hopefully the school will listen and put an end to this,” Choi said. “This practice of using live mascots for the school is very outdated. I feel that Jack would really benefit from a stable, loving home as an indoor pet and not required to go out to these stressful events.”

uptick in

scams, which see thieves attach small devices to credit and debit card readers to steal the cards’ information, has raised concerns among D.C. residents about measures taken to ensure consumer safety. According to a police report, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) identified multiple suspects and are currently seeking more information.

John Perry-Miller, a Northwest D.C. resident of nearly seven years, became suspicious of a Safeway kiosk’s card reader when checking out his groceries at the grocery chain’s Wisconsin Avenue location.

“I get to the kiosk and I scan my items and I notice that, on the credit card machine, the screen and the frame were pretty well used, but the keypad was brand new,” Perry-Miller told The Hoya. “I thought that was very strange, and I had an inkling that it might be a skimmer.” Skimmers can collect and store the information of any card used at the machine, which its installers can later retrieve. These scams are estimated to cost financial institutions like banks, corporations and consumers upwards of $1 billion annually.

Suspicious of the device, Perry-Miller said he told a Safeway employee that it was a skimmer, but that the employee was dismissive — until the two worked together to pull the device off the kiosk. “I went back into my car and I

was sort of in shock,” Perry-Miller said. “If I had put in my debit card, they would’ve had all my banking information before I got my groceries back to my car.”

Afterward, Perry-Miller posted about the experience on X, formerly Twitter, and quickly gained traction as other District residents voiced concerns about similar experiences. Perry-Miller said he was dissatisfied with Safeway’s response, as the company only reached out to him after he discussed the skimmer with NBC.

“NBC had reached out to Safeway and had gotten a response before I did, which is horrible PR by the way,” Perry-Miller said. “An hour after my interview with NBC, I got a message from Safeway and it was the same generic, copy-and-paste response they had sent to NBC. I was pretty offended.”

Safeway assured NBC and Perry-Miller that they would work with MPD to address the skimmer and take precautions to avoid such theft going forward.

“Safeway takes these issues seriously and is investigating this matter, in coordination with law enforcement, to ensure appropriate action has been taken,” Safeway wrote in a statement to NBC. “In addition, we have implemented additional controls and associate training to help prevent this type of activity in the future.”

Ruby Gilmore (SFS ’26), a Georgetown University student who frequently shops at Safeway, said she is troubled by the news of the skimmer at the Georgetown location. “It is a bit concerning, and I’d definitely be sure to be more conscientious about what I’m doing when I check out,” Gilmore told The Hoya. “The possibility of it happen-

ing to me is definitely worrying.”

MPD found another skimmer in a Northwest D.C. 7-Eleven April 16, heightening concerns about scamming.

Gilmore added that she thinks Georgetown students should be especially alert when shopping, as the increased popularity of digital payment may shift consumer focus away from traditional scamming methods.

“Georgetown students specifically should just be aware since so many of us who have to buy groceries have to do so at Safeway,” Gilmore said. “I don’t think that we as young people are often cognizant of these kinds of scams since they’re not as common with the increase in contact-free payment methods.” MPD similarly encouraged vigilance among District residents, releasing images of two suspects they believe to be involved in the recent scams.

Aaron Chan (MSB, SFS ’26), another Georgetown student and Safeway shopper, said he was unaware of the recent scams around D.C. or card skimmers in general.

“I have barely any knowledge of card skimmer scams,” Chan told The Hoya. “This is maybe my second or third time hearing a mention of them. I’ve never looked into them with any detail.”

Perry-Miller said the recent scams should serve as a warning for all D.C. residents, especially those not used to living in metropolitan areas.

“I think it’s important for those who might not be familiar with these scams and things,” Perry-Miller said. “You have to be vigilant living in a big city. You can’t care if you look stupid, because if it means I’m not getting my bank information stolen, I’m okay with that.”

the financial burden of making higher education more accessible for the middle class.

Michael Korvyakov (MSB ’27), who debated on behalf of GUCR on the economic policy round, said he felt the damaging impact of government intervention would be prohibitive to a successful public intervention. “Government subsidies are proven to increase cost,” Korvyakov said during the debate. “The answer to increasing tuition is less government intervention.”

cans support Ukraine or not,” Graham said during the debate. James Nichols-Worley (CAS ’27), the foreign policy speaker for GUCD, strongly opposed his counterpart’s ambivalence on aid to Ukraine.

people that

are, and not the monsters that our echo chambers paint them to be,” DeJorge told The Hoya The Bipartisan Coalition sought to make problems relevant to the campus community a central theme of the debate.

In the context of a forthcoming 4.5% tuition increase at Georgetown, the moderator first asked debaters if the government or private universities should bear

Adi Vishahan (CAS ’27), the GUCD counterpart for the question, took the opposing stance and said that both the private and public sectors have roles to play in making college more attainable for lower and middle-income earners. “College is unaffordable. Both the government and private institutions need to do more,” Vishahan said during the debate. The second section of the debate turned toward foreign policy. The first question centered on whether or not the United States should send aid to Ukraine in its efforts following the February 2022 Russian invasion.

Knox Graham (SFS ’27), a GUCR speaker, said that the Republican Party is cognizant of the need to aid Ukraine but worries over the long-term implications of funding.

“It is necessary for Ukraine to get aid, but we do need to look at the long-term prospects. It is likely that Ukraine is going to lose regardless of whether the Ameri-

“American ammunition and Ukrainian manpower will decide the fate of the free world,” Nichols-Worley said during the debate. The debate’s formal questioning concluded with a discussion of social topics ranging from abortion to free speech on college campuses, which Alexis Childs (SFS ’27), a representative of GUCR, and Sydney Carroll (CAS ’27), a representative of GUCD, led. Georgetown student Muhammad Usman (SCS ’25) said the debate showcased a combination of practical fluency in current events and an ability to hear other perspectives.

“The debate showed their passion for politics and how up-to-date they were with the current political atmosphere,” Usman told The Hoya. “I loved to see the mutual respect they had for each other despite having different political views, which is something that is rarely seen nowadays.”

Usman said that by the end of the event, he walked away impressed with the caliber of debate from first-year students.

“I enjoyed the debate between the first-year students from GUCD and GUCR,” Usman said.

“I am happy to see the future of our country and our university is in bright hands.”

MADISON FOX-MOORE/THE HOYA

The Georgetown Bipartisan Coalition hosted its first-year debate between members of Georgetown University College Republicans (GUCR) and Georgetown University College Democrats (GUCD).

Song Lim Special to The Hoya

@GUJACKBULLDOG/INSTAGRAM

Sheila Choi (LAW ’21), the founder and CEO of The Fuzzy Pet Foundation (TFPF), said the noisy Georgetown University campus environment could be detrimental to Jack the Bulldog’s health.

MEN’S BASKETBALL MEN’S LACROSSE

Sorber, Williams and Mulready Arrive in DC, Excel at

CAPITAL CLASSIC, from A12

struggled with in the past.

“When I feel like the game is on the line, I don’t get tired,” Sorber said. “Tired is out of the situation. It’s all mental.”

Behind his physical play, Sorber earned several trips to the free throw line, igniting an 8-0 run over the last three minutes, which culminated in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by teammate and North Carolina State commit Paul McNeil Jr.

For his efforts throughout the game, Sorber won MVP honors, tallying 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Williams ended the afternoon with 12 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds on 4-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Mulready added 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists to go along with a steal. Sorber concluded with a message to Georgetown fans. “Don’t be afraid to come see me,” Sorber said. “I’d love to meet y’all and be ready.”

BASEBALL

DENVER, from A12

the crease. To close out the half, graduate attackman Graham Bundy Jr. scored a perfectly placed behind-the-back goal to give the Hoyas a 6-4 lead.

To start the third quarter, the momentum began to shift. Although Georgetown won the opening faceoff, they committed a costly turnover, allowing a Denver defensemen to score from deep in transition and sparking a huge reaction from the Pioneers’ bench. Eager to gain momentum back, senior defensive midfielder Dylan Hess set a solid pick from behind the net, freeing up senior attacker Aidan Carroll for a score. After another Denver goal, Haley added an unassisted goal that also began from behind the net. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Hoyas held an 8-6 lead. Unfortunately, the final frame of play was a disaster for Georgetown. The Hoyas won a single faceoff, allowing Denver to dominate the possession time. As a result, the Pioneers outshot the Hoyas 12 to 2 in the fourth quarter. Denver ultimately took the lead with 4:37 remaining in the

game and scored once more at the 1:32 marker. Georgetown also committed 2 crucial turnovers late in the game, adding to their 7 in the fourth quarter alone and contributing to the 10-8 loss.

Regardless of the defeat, Georgetown’s defense continued to assert itself as a formidable unit. For the ninth-straight game, the team held their opponent to 10 or fewer goals. In addition to Banks’ contributions, senior defenseman Wallace Halpert tallied 1 caused turnover. This moved Halpert into third all-time in program history for the statistic, passing former Hoya defenseman Will Bowen.

The offense once again showcased its depth, as all eight of Georgetown’s goals came from different scorers. Haley added a goal and 2 assists, moving him into the top ten all-time in program history for points.

Realistically, this particular game may not prove too impactful on the Hoyas’ season. They could have another chance to play Denver during the Big East Championships in early May. Georgetown will look to bounce back against a weaker opponent in St. John’s (4-9, 1-2 Big East) at home on April 20.

GU Defeats Butler in First Road Sweep in 20 Years

In the dominating sweep of Butler, Georgetown grabbed its first Big East road sweep in over two decades. Hoyas Head Coach Edwin Thompson said he was happy with the sweep in what has already been a successful season.

TRACK AND FIELD

“We did a great job all weekend long just finding ways to win,” Thompson told Georgetown Athletics. “I am really proud of our guys, eight consecutive series wins and sixth weekend sweep of the year is great, and I am proud of our organization.”

The Hoyas will look to extend their six-game win streak, as they take on the UMBC Retrievers (14-15, 6-3 AEC) in a non-conference match in Baltimore on Tuesday evening before a threegame weekend series against conference rival the UConn Huskies (16-17, 4-2 Big East).

@GTOWNBASEBALL/X

The Georgetown University baseball team poses for a photo at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following a weekend sweep over the Butler Bulldogs. The sweep marks the Hoyas’ eighth straight series victory this season as the team looks to break its win record.

GUHOYAS Sophomore midfielder Patrick Crogan and graduate midfielder Alexander Vardaro each scored a goal in the loss against Denver.

Sports

FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024

BASEBALL

WOMEN’S LACROSSE NUMBERS GAME

The Georgetown University women’s lacrosse team continued its conference hot streak in a 18-11 win over Marquette.

See thehoya.com

MEN’S LACROSSE

Hoya Winning Streak Finishes Against No. 4 Denver Pioneers

back-andforth matchup, responding with a goal of their own 33 seconds later.

After goals by junior midfielder Kade Goldberg and graduate midfielder Alex Vardaro, the Hoyas finally earned some breathing room. However, the lead did not last long, as Denver rallied back to tie the game at 3 with 13:44 remaining in the second quarter.

On defense, first-year defenseman Ty Banks’ big hit on a Denver attackman at the end of the first quarter prevented a Pioneers goal. Banks was credited with 3 caused turnovers and 3 ground balls for the game.

Georgetown’s next two goals came off similar plays, as sophomore midfielder Jordan Wray and senior midfielder Chase Llewellyn both received passes from behind the net before finishing from the left side of

See DENVER, A11

BASEBALL

John Ehrmann Sports Staff Writer

Riding a three-game winning streak, the Georgetown University baseball team (26-9, 8-1 Big East) traveled to Indianapolis this past weekend to take on the Butler Bulldogs (13-21, 1-5 Big East), sweeping their way to an eighth consecutive series win.

Opening the three-game series with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader, the Hoyas got off to a slow start in the first game. Georgetown went scoreless in the top half of the first inning and yielded 2 runs in the bottom half.

Undeterred, the Hoyas came up to the plate in the second inning ready to take control. Two singles and a walk later, the bases were loaded with no outs. A single from senior shortstop Michael Eze drove in the Hoyas’ first run of the day, and Georgetown continued to rally, scoring 3 additional runs before the first out was recorded. By the end of the inning, Georgetown had tallied 6 runs on 5 hits.

The Hoyas surrendered a triple and a run in the bottom of the second, but remained in control, up 6-3 after 2 innings. The third inning was scoreless for both sides. Hoyas graduate righthander Cody Jensen took the mound in relief of first-year southpaw Marcello Mastroianni, proceeding to record 2 strikeouts. Each team scored a run in the

TALKING POINTS

Those three really epitomize what we want to bring to the Hilltop: their versatility, their toughness, their overall basketball feel.”

Men’s Basketball Head Coach Ed Cooley

8

First-year Tinoda Matsatsa registered the eighth-best 800-meter time in the nation, finishing in 1:47.14.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Oliver Ni and Daniel Greilsheimer Senior Sports Editors Georgetown University men’s basketball commits center Thomas Sorber, guard Kayvaun Mulready and forward Caleb Williams starred April 13 in the 51st annual Capital Classic All-Star Game, which features the best high school basketball talent in Washington, D.C., and the United States at large. Between Sorber’s ferocious defense in the paint, Mulready’s strong passing in transition and Williams’ smooth shooting, the Hoya faithful have a lot to look forward to next season. And after the match, the three stayed on the hardwood laughing, conversing as new friends — and the faces of the future for Georgetown hoops. Sorber said this was the first

time he met Mulready. He said he found an instant connection with both Mulready and D.C. native Williams. “We were roommates the whole time and we just had a vibe,” Sorber said in a postgame press conference. “And Caleb, he made me feel like at home, honestly.”

Despite enduring a tough 2023-24 season that saw only two conference wins, Hoyas Head Coach Ed Cooley is bringing the country’s No. 16 recruiting class to the Hilltop next season. Cooley said that the team is looking forward to incorporating the three commits into the fold. “We’re looking forward to all three of them,” Cooley told The Hoya. “Those three really epitomize what we want to bring to the Hilltop: their versatility, their toughness, their overall basketball feel. They want to

come to Georgetown.”

After two days of practices under high-level coaches, including former National Basketball Association (NBA) all-rookie first teamer Dennis Scott, the players convened at D.C.’s Entertainment and Sports Arena for the exhibition game. The athletes were split between the Capital All-Stars, representing local D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV)-area talent, and the U.S. All-Stars, representing the rest of the country. Williams, out of D.C.’s Sidwell Friends School, was a starter for the Capital All-Stars. He was simply unstoppable to start the game, posting 7 points within the first 2:20. Comfortable as a ball handler, Williams primarily relied on his ability to stretch the floor and his strong 3-point shooting. Yet Williams’ direct defensive assignment, Sorber, a starter,

helped the U.S. All-Stars keep pace with their rivals. Playing high school ball at Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia, Pa., Sorber was at his best when combining his physicality and athleticism in the paint.

In addition to finishing multiple tough layups and dunks, Sorber also exploited the defensive attention around him by dishing out two excellent bounce passes for easy layup assists. On defense, Sorber displayed ample aggressiveness, blocking several shots and crashing the boards.

Mulready, on the U.S. team out of Worcester Academy in Worcester, Mass., stood out as a vocal defensive leader, directing traffic, hustling for loose balls and leading the squad in assists. Although too ambitious at times on passing, Mulready demonstrated strong

TRACK AND FIELD

court vision and a quick trigger, traits that will allow him to be impactful on the offensive end at the collegiate level. The game was tight throughout the first half, with the U.S. team taking a 64-59 lead into the midgame break. All three Georgetown commits excelled in the fast-paced half. However, in the third, the D.C. team struck quickly and often, getting out to a 95-82 lead by the end of the period. Sorber set the tone in the fourth quarter with several offensive rebounds and hustle plays. He would dominate the period, playing all 10 minutes and sparking a 12-0 run as the defensive anchor, as the U.S. team pulled within 4 points, down 98-94. Sorber said he raises his level when the game is on the line, something Georgetown has struggled with in the past.

Despite holding a 10-4 lead heading into the eighth inning, the Hoyas were far from complacent. A walk, a single and a wild pitch put runners on the corners with one out for Eze. The shortstop smashed a triple to right center field, scoring both men on base. Eze then scored on a groundout by senior outfielder Jake Hyde to put the Hoyas ahead 13-4.

Sophomore reliever Andrew Citron held the Bulldogs scoreless and hitless over the final two innings en route to a save and the win. Jensen was credited with the win, while junior catcher Owen Carapellotti and graduate second baseman Josh Rolling distinguished themselves at the plate with four RBIs and four hits, respectively. The Hoyas had little time to celebrate the victory, however, immediately shifting their focus to the second leg of the doubleheader.

Colin

Georgetown surrendered 2 additional runs in the fifth inning, as Butler led 3-0.

Beginning in the sixth inning, the Hoyas mounted a comeback. A Hyde walk with the bases loaded plated Georgetown’s first run of the game, and a wild pitch in the next at-bat brought another first-year infielder Ashtin Gilio home.

a pair of 2-RBI base hits by Rolling and Carapellotti. Butler attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring 2 runs. However, their comeback was cut short, and the Bulldogs ultimately fell to the Hoyas again, this time by a final score of 9-5.

men’s and women’s middle distance teams well, as both squads registered yet another set of impressive performances at a pivotal point in the season ahead of the Big East Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

On April 13, the Hoyas kicked off their weekend with the women’s and

second, which made for a spectacular finish. Senior distance runner Chloe Gonzalez also recorded a solid performance, finishing 68th overall out of nearly 200 athletes in a time of 4:20.11. This was just a few seconds short of Gonzalez’s personal best, which she recorded

Junior lefty Andrew Williams got the start for the Hoyas, and the two teams went scoreless in the first inning. Georgetown ceded a run to Butler in the bottom of the second inning, and the Bulldogs held a 1-0 lead over the Hoyas through the fourth inning. Still scoreless,

After holding Butler scoreless in the bottom half of the sixth, Georgetown scored 2 runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead, 4-3.

Georgetown sophomore reliever Cody Bowker was credited with the win for the Hoyas. On the offensive side, graduate outfielder Kavi Caster recorded two doubles in the victory.

was yet another personal best for the Hoyas, as Teffra smashed his previous record by two seconds. In addition, graduate distance runner Camden Gilmore put together a strong performance, with a run of 3:40.18 to finish 20th out of around 150 participating athletes. The Hoyas continued their fourth inning. However, as the game progressed, the Hoyas added to their lead, earning a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. During this stretch, Georgetown held Butler scoreless as the Bulldogs struggled to keep pace.

Georgetown held a one-run advantage going into the top of the ninth, but ended the half-inning with a six-run lead. With the bases loaded, Hyde singled to drive home a run. Hyde’s single was followed by

Looking to maintain the previous afternoon’s momentum, the Hoyas took on the Bulldogs one final time at noon on Sunday, April 14. Picking up right where they left off, the Hoya offense was explosive,

See BUTLER, A11

DANIEL GREILSHEIMER/THE HOYA

The 51st annual Capital Classic, a high school basketball all-star game that brings together top talents from the DMV and across the United States, saw Georgetown men’s basketball commits center Thomas Sorber (pictured left), forward Caleb Williams (center) and guard Kayvaun Mulready (right) shine.