The Hoya: January 25, 2019 by The Hoya

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

Under Her Influence

Join The Guide as we give an inside look at the enigma that is blogger Caroline Calloway’s tour.

EDITORIAL Georgetown must increase funding for CAPS to better support students.

FELLOWS COME TO CAMPUS Five new GU Politics fellows talked to The Hoya about politics, service and journalism.

OPINION, A2

NEWS, A5

Students Demand GU Divestment From Fossil Fuels SATYA ADABALA

climate change. We want our degrees to be fossil free.” GUFF has previously successfulGU Fossil Free, a campus stu- ly petitioned the university to alter dent group advocating for George- its investment practices. In Novemtown University to adopt socially ber 2017, the group submitted responsible investment policies, a proposal for the university to submitted a proposal Jan. 16 call- divest from tar sands, which the ing for Georgetown to completely university accepted after a meetdivest its $1.5 billion endowment ing of the board of directors in fund from June 2018. GUFF all fossil fuel also petitioned energy comthe university to panies. divest from fossil The profuels in 2012. The posal calls on 2012 petition has the univergarnered over sity to cease 3,000 signatures, all new inincluding those vestments in of 176 faculty fossil fuels, members. with the goal While the of completely university has divesting removed all infrom fossil vestments in coal fuel compaand tar sands, SAMANTHA PANCHÈVRE (SFS ’19) nies in 2024. which consist Member, GU Fossil Free Investing of a mixture of in fossil fuel sand, clay, water violates Georgetown’s Socially Re- and bitumen, from its endowsponsible Investment policy passed ment, the proposal says full divestin 2017, according to Samantha ment of fossil fuel energy compaPanchèvre (SFS ’19), a member of nies would build upon initiatives GUFF. the university has already started. “With climate change, our ar“Divestment from all fossil gument is that it’s not a political fuels would give Georgetown concept,” Panchèvre said. “It’s hap- more credibility as the University pening to everyone, it’s not con- pursues other sustainability troversial and right now we have See GUFF, A6 money that is directly supporting Special to The Hoya

“It’s not controversial and right now, we have money that is directly supporting climate change. We want our degrees to be fossil free.”

KIKI SCHMALFUSS/THE HOYA

Norman Francis Jr. (COL ’20) and Aleida Olvera (COL ’20), Nicki Gray (NHS ’20) and Sam Appel (COL ’20), and Sina Nemazi (COL ’21) and Roya Wolfe (SFS ’21) launched GUSA campaigns in Red Square on Friday morning. Ryan Zuccala (MSB ’20) and John Dolan (MSB ’20) are also running.

Candidates Set Sights on GUSA Executive CADY STANTON AND RILEY ROGERSON Hoya Staff Writers

Three tickets launched their campaigns and a fourth confirmed its candidacy for the Georgetown University Student Association 2019 executive election early Friday morning, with candidates calling for greater campus inclusivity and stressing realistic goals. The four announced tickets are: Norman Francis Jr. (COL ’20) and Aleida Olvera (COL ’20); Nicki Gray (NHS ’20) and Sam Appel (COL ’20); Sina Nemazi (COL ’21) and Roya Wolfe (SFS ’21); Ryan Zuccala (MSB ’20) and John Dolan (MSB ’20). All four tickets are

officially registered to run, co-chair of the GUSA Election Commission Grant Castle (SFS ’21) said. Typical to the start of every GUSA executive election season, Francis-Olvera, Gray-Appel and Nemazi-Wolfe arrived in Red Square with their campaign staff and posters just after midnight to mark the official start of their campaign season. While not present alongside the three tickets in Red Square, Zuccala and Dolan are confirmed to have entered the race. The pair are both members of the Georgetown men’s lightweight rowing team. The election is set for Friday, Feb. 8. Additional tickets are permitted to enter the

Admin Releases Draft Title IX Comment

race if they collect and submit 100 student signatures to the GUSA Election Commission by Monday, Jan. 28.

FRANCIS AND OLVERA

With rap music playing from a speaker and a lit candle, Francis and Olvera emerged from the Intercultural Center to Red Square, holding their campaign poster and leading a group of supporters behind them. If elected, the candidates will prioritize achievable targets, according to Francis. “We’re really big on trying to do things that we really can accomplish,” Francis said in an interview with The Hoya. “We don’t want to just give empty promises; we

want to actually make sure we can actually have attainable goals and make tangible change at the university during our tenure.” The pair intends to run a platform based on four main policy themes — transparency, reform, accessibility and progress — which will guide their approach to tackling student issues, according to Olvera. “We want to push the university to bring about these four key points, and our platform is basically a scaffold from there,” Olvera said. Francis is a student office assistant at the Georgetown University department of African American studies and See GUSA, A6

BOWSER HOSTS MAYORS AT GU

University criticizes proposed DOE rules, reflecting student feedback

SAMUEL NELSON/THE HOYA

Participants commented on changes to Title IX definitions and standards of proof in feedback sessions hosted by the university.

JOSHUA LEVY AND MEENA MORAR Hoya Staff Writers

The Georgetown community can now review the draft of the university’s comment to the U.S. Department of Education regarding proposed Title IX reforms. Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson and Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity Rosemary Kilkenny shared the document in a Wednesday email and welcomed student feedback by

FEATURED

Sunday, Jan. 27, through an anonymous form. The university’s 10-page draft comment includes criticism of the Department of Education’s proposed definitions of the terms “sexual harassment” and “formal complaint.” The administration also argued against the proposal for requiring cross-examination of all parties and witnesses in Title IX cases, among other critiques. University spokesperson Matt Hill expressed the administration’s gratitude for

the Georgetown community’s input into the draft comment. “We are very pleased with the University’s comment, which is a product of the collaboration and insight of our entire community,” Hill wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Through the listening sessions, online feedback forms, and the STAIV town hall, our community provided valuable perspectives, insights, and information.” After the Department of Education released proposed changes to Title IX regulations last November, the university held 10 feedback sessions in December open to Georgetown students, faculty and staff. Last week, campus student group Students Taking Action Against Interpersonal Violence held a town hall as a forum for students to voice concerns about the changes directly to school administrators. Community members can also submit their own comments directly to the Department of Education until Jan. 30, a deadline that was extended from Jan. 28 last week following issues with the department’s website. Georgetown’s sexual assault and misconduct climate survey, administered in January and February 2016, found that 31 percent of female undergraduates and 10.8 percent of

male undergraduates had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact since entering Georgetown; nearly half of all students and more than three-quarters of all female students had experienced sexual harassment. The university feedback sessions aimed to provide students, faculty and staff with an opportunity to share their views on the new policies before the university drafted its official comment. Kilkenny sent out a document to the Georgetown community on Jan 14 summarizing the feedback from the feedback sessions. More than 370 participants made comments or asked questions at those feedback sessions. Attendees focused their concerns on several issues that the university highlighted in its draft comment, including the legal definition of sexual misconduct, the role of advisers at hearing sessions and the standard of proof in cases of sexual harassment and assault.

NARROW DEFINITION OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

Participants in the feedback sessions were particularly concerned with the proposed redefinition of sexual misconduct. More than 70 See TITLE IX, A6

AMBER GILLETTE/THE HOYA

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and mayors from across the United States discussed housing in Lohrfink Auditorium on Jan. 22. Story on A7.

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

Laughs for Cash Three alum comedians raised $1 million to benefit first-generation, low-income students Jan. 14. A7

Navigating Identities A student claims ownership over her Filipino and Irish heritage at Georgetown University. A3

Coach Howard’s 100th Victory The women’s basketball team defeated Villanova on Sunday, marking Head Coach James Howard’s 100th win. A12

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

Basketball Star Faces Charges Former Georgetown basketball player Victor Page has been accused of attempted rape. A5

Support for GU272 Students should support the GU272 referendum to demonstrate responsibility. A3

A Hoya Goes Pro Graduate student forward Kyla Carusa was drafted into the National Women’s Soccer League on Jan. 18. A12

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OPINION

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

THE VERDICT

Increase Textbook Transparency At the beginning of each semester, Georgetown students scramble to find affordable textbooks in the short period between enrollment and when course materials are required for use. As few professors post textbook lists before registration, students are often left with no option but to drop classes or purchase expensive textbooks in order to use them in time for assignments. To make textbooks more accessible to Georgetown students, the university should require professors to post reading lists before registration. In recent years, textbook prices have increased to exorbitant rates, crippling student access to necessary course materials. Textbook prices rose by 82 percent between 2002 and 2012, while consumer prices increased by only 28 percent in the same time period, according to a report conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. As textbook prices increase on a national level, Georgetown is also complicit in selling expensive textbooks at the university bookstore. While the store matches Amazon prices, its stock of used books available for rent or purchase often sells out quickly, failing to meet student demand. When professors post textbook lists late and require them for immediate use, students are pressured to purchase the newer, more costly books. Expensive textbook costs have a detrimental effect on student welfare: 85 percent of current and former college students across the nation said textbook and course materials were financially stressful. That number was higher than the percentage of students who said food, health care and housing were financially burdensome in a 2018 study by education provider Cengage. More concerning is that students admitted to skipping meals to afford course materials, according to the study. The same study found that minority students — particularly black students — are disproportionately affected by expensive textbook costs and are more likely to sacrifice their well-being and education to save for them, such as by taking fewer classes or skipping trips home. Students should not have to deprive themselves of meals and visits home to afford course materials; improving textbook transparency is a simple and necessary way to make textbooks more accessible for

students. Posting reading lists before registration would allow more time for students to find cheaper alternatives. Instead of being coerced into purchasing newer, more expensive books from the bookstore, students could borrow books from peers or purchase cheaper materials from alternative textbook sellers. Releasing book lists would not require professors to post their entire syllabi; only required texts would need to be made available to students before registration opens. While some professors have already taken important steps to increase textbook accessibility by allowing older, cheaper textbook editions and limiting required course materials, increasing transparency would ensure that students in all classes have an opportunity to find inexpensive course materials. With greater access to affordable books, active student engagement and diverse participation could increase as students from financially strained backgrounds would not be as pressured to drop courses. Ideally, students’ primary motivation for staying in a class should be academic interest, not cost. But cost is an integral component of students’ academic performance — not every student can afford to ignore cost in the pursuit of education. Although the Georgetown’s Center for Multicultural Equity and Access has made attempts to alleviate textbook costs by offering free textbook rentals for students at the beginning of the semester, these efforts fall short; as books are donated by other students, the quantity and variety of books in the rental library fail to meet the entirety of student needs. By ignoring the hardships students face when abruptly confronted with excessive textbook prices, the university fails to ensure the well-being of its students. Georgetown must understand that exorbitant textbook costs are a prohibitive factor for many students’ education and quality of life. To remedy textbook inaccessibility, the university must require that professors increase course material transparency.

Brexit Survival Kit — In anticipation of a “no-deal Brexit,”a company is selling a “Brexit Box” for over $380. The box includes food portions that will last 30 days, intending to offset the food shortages that may follow Brexit.

Fork Over the Dough — Ben & Jerry’s announced three new flavors of ice cream on Wednesday — Chocolate Chip, Wake & “No Bake” and Sweet Like Sugar — all of which include a cookie dough core. The collection, called “Dough-Licious,” will be available for purchase in stores and at major retailers later this year.

EDITORIALS

C C

Founded January 14, 1920

Gerbil Run — On Friday, British police forcibly entered a home in Derby, U.K., to rescue a gerbil whose owner had been jailed. According to the department’s Facebook page, the gerbil was “still alive but very hungry.”

Wild Moose Chase — Tourists at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado had their ski run interrupted on Sunday when they were joined by a moose who chased them down the slopes for half a mile. The resort had the same problem with a moose in 2017.

Searching for a Signal — During Pope Francis’ most recent Sunday address, he introduced an app named ClickToPray, which will periodically update users on the subject of the pope’s prayers. The app will allow up to 1 million people to pray with the pope at once.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Alexandra Bowman

The Hoya’s editorial board is composed of six students and chaired by the opinion editor. 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.

Dedicate Funds to CAPS Nearly every syllabus emphasizes that Georgetown Counseling and Psychiatric Services is at your disposal if you are in need of mental health care. And yet, with student demand for services surpassing CAPS’ ability to provide them, mental health support for Georgetown students is far too often just an illusion. As the university’s primary mental health care provider for undergraduates, CAPS offers low-cost individual therapy for up to two semesters, after which patients are referred to off-campus resources. The organization also offers short-term group therapy and workshops. While these resources undoubtedly help many Georgetown students, they are insufficient to meet demand. In fall 2016, CAPS attempted to increase undergraduate access to its services, slashing costs for follow-up visits by at least 80 percent and providing free visits for Georgetown Scholarship Program students. While these efforts lowered financial barriers to mental health care, the organization nevertheless lacks the resources and staff to address the community’s needs. To increase accessibility for on-campus mental health care, Georgetown must dedicate more funding to CAPS services. Through CAPS’ individual counselling, students can receive personalized support for a cost of just $10 per appointment after the first free visit. However, demand for this individual therapy is high and the program is at capacity; if the number of new users continues to increase, Georgetown may need to implement a waitlist system for the service, according to Phil Meilman, Director of CAPS. Such a waitlist could mean a wait as long as three or four months, and students may not be seen at all. Students that require immediate support would instead be compelled to look off campus. Costs for off-campus mental health services, however, are considerably higher than the CAPS fee; with health insurance, the average therapy cost is $25 per visit with a one-time $250 deductible. This cost may be prohibitive, especially for low-income students who might need these services. While Georgetown’s administration finally allocated $10,000 in February 2018 to a GUSA initiative to subsidize off-campus mental health resources for students with demonstrated financial need, the pro-

gram is limited in scope. Only 10 to 20 students are able to receive assistance. Off-campus resources are also burdensome for students. With few off-campus therapists that accept Georgetown insurance within walking distance, students must travel long commutes for the care they need. Additionally, many off-campus services only meet during weekday business hours, restricting their ability to consistently fit appointments into tight schedules. By increasing funding for CAPS, Georgetown would ensure that students who could benefit from the services CAPS offers would not be compelled to look off campus for the resources they need. Though CAPS offers free group therapy, this service is largely inaccessible for students. With limited staff and resources, group therapy sessions have fixed schedules, meaning that not every student who seeks the service can receive it. Moreover, the topics of these group sessions are narrow in scope: The seven predetermined topics for the therapy include skills for eating disorder recovery and LGBTQ affirmative therapy — topics that are undoubtedly important to many in the Georgetown community but that may not fit the needs of all students who require the service. Similarly, group workshops offered by CAPS are not offered regularly enough to provide support for students. These workshops are unable to accommodate inflexible schedules or offer the immediate, personalized support Georgetown students often need. CAPS is trying its best to ensure students can access the mental health care they need, but it cannot do so without increased funding or staff for on-campus services. By turning a blind eye to the overburdened resources of CAPS, Georgetown has failed to meet the needs of students who require mental health support. To remedy lack of student access to on-campus mental health care, the university must increase funding for the services it frequently emphasizes.

Maya Gandhi, Editor-in-Chief Yasmine Salam, Executive Editor Will Simon, Executive Editor Catriona Kendall, Managing Editor Will Cassou, News Editor Deepika Jonnalagadda, News Editor Danny McCooey, Sports Editor Faris Bseiso, Guide Editor Kiera Geraghty, Guide Editor Yumna Naqvi, Opinion Editor Harrison Hurt, Features Editor Amber Gillette, Photography Editor Samuel Nelson, Design Editor Emily Shambaugh, Design Editor Susanna Blount, Copy Chief Kate Rose, Social Media Editor Caroline Porterfield, Blog Editor Tarina Touret, Multimedia Editor

Karena Landler Amy Li Mason Mandell Yolanda Spura Cady Stanton Allie Babyak Brendan Dolan Sarah Cammarota Suna Cha Maddie Finn Dennese Mae Javier Timothy McNulty Sela Dragich Jonathan Wiersema Doris Zhang Will Cromarty Meena Morar Natalie Isé Sheel Patel Kiki Schmalfuss Amanda Van Orden Mina Lee Janis Park Eloise Owen Katherine DeMatteo Sarah Donofrio Chau Le Victoria Lei Madison Carter Barbara McDuffee Isabel Roemer Anne-Isabelle de Bokay Irene Chun

Graduate Desk Editor Campus Life Desk Editor Academics Desk Editor City Desk Editor Campus Life Desk Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Features Editor Deputy Features Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Social Media Editor Deputy Blog Editor Deputy Blog Editor Deputy Multimedia Editor Deputy Multimedia Editor

Editorial Board

Yumna Naqvi, Chair

Victor Gamas, Alexandre Kleitman, Juliette Leader, Maya Moretta, Rowan Saydlowski, Jenny Xu

Contributing Editors

Yasmeen El-Hasan, Caroline Pappas

HOYA HISTORY: Jan. 26, 1973

Antiwar Students Criticize Nixon Ceasefire Student antiwar spokesmen, while welcoming an end to the bombing and the release of U.S. prisoners of war, blasted President Richard Nixon’s peace agreement as “absurd” and “a documentation of a crime.” The National Peace Action Coalition has scheduled a march on the Capitol Feb. 23 to demand “Out Now!” The Student Mobilization Committee is planning meetings with student leaders to decide future strategy. Both organizations pledge to continue the fight for a lasting peace until U.S. forces are withdrawn from all of Southeast Asia. “The scheduled signing of the cease-fire accords on Saturday marks not the consecration of peace but rather the documentation of a crime,” said SMC

coordinator Charles Petrin, in a press statement released within hours of the Nixon’s televised address. Nixon’s announcement Tuesday evening included an internationally supervised cease-fire, a release of prisoners and an accounting of those missing in action and a withdrawal of American forces within 60 days. Nixon was not clear whether the ceasefire extends only to South Vietnam, however. The agreement also guarantees the South Vietnamese people “the right to determine their own future without outside interference” and promises continuing U.S. support to South Vietnam in its struggle to rebuild its warravaged land. In a press statement similar to that released by the SMC,

Jerry Gordon, NPAC coordinator, said “The U.S. war against the people of Vietnam has not ended, as Mr. Nixon falsely claimed last night.” “Nor will the war ever end so long as the U.S. government denies the Vietnamese the right to run their own affairs,” he added. “The U.S. will still control much of South Vietnam, despite Mr. Nixon’s rhetoric about self-determination.” According to the NPAC statement, military advisors are pouring into South Vietnam and a massive American military force still will be positioned in Thailand, Guam and the South China Sea. “Warplanes and thousands of tons of munitions have already been rushed to the Saigon generals to help them consolidate their hold,” Gordon charged.

For letters to the editor and more online content, visit thehoya.com/category/opinion.

Tara Halter, General Manager Luke Sanders, Director of Alumni Relations Brian Yoffe, Director of Financial Operations Aditi Joshi, Director of Human Resources Olivia Callis, Director of Sales Kate Wittpenn, Director of Sales

Board of Directors

Anna Kovacevich, Chair Dan Crosson, Maya Gandhi, Tara Halter, Subul Malik, Margo Snipe, Hannah Urtz LETTER TO THE EDITOR AND VIEWPOINT POLICIES The Hoya welcomes letters and viewpoints from our readers and will print as many as possible. To be eligible for publication, letters should specifically address a recent campus issue or Hoya story. Letters should not exceed 300 words. Viewpoints are always welcome from all members of the Georgetown community on any topic, but priority will be given to relevant campus issues. Viewpoint submissions should be between 600-700 words. The Hoya retains all rights to all published submissions. Send all submissions to: opinion@thehoya. com. The Hoya reserves the right to reject letters or viewpoints and edit for length, style, clarity and accuracy. The Hoya further reserves the right to write headlines and select illustrations to accompany letters and viewpoints. CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS If you have a comment or question about the fairness or accuracy of a story, contact Executive Editor Yasmine Salam and Executive Editor Will Simon by email at executive@thehoya.com. TIPS News Editors Will Cassou and Deepika Jonnalagadda: Email news@thehoya.com. Guide Editors Faris Bseiso and Kiera Geraghty: Email guide@thehoya.com. Sports Editor Danny McCooey: Email sports@thehoya.com. GENERAL INFORMATION The Hoya is published once a week during the academic year with the exception of holiday and exam periods. Address all correspondence to: The Hoya Georgetown University

Box 571065 Washington, D.C. 20057-1065 The writing, articles, pictures, layout and format are the responsibility of The Hoya and do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University. Signed columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of The Hoya. Unsigned essays that appear on the left side of the editorial page are the opinion of the majority of the editorial board. Georgetown University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression for student editors. The Hoya does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, color, national or ethnic origin. © 1920-2018. The Hoya, Georgetown University weekly. No part of this publication may be used without the permission of The Hoya Board of Editors. All rights reserved. The Hoya is available free of charge, one copy per reader, at distribution sites on and around the Georgetown University campus. Email: editor@thehoya.com Online at www.thehoya.com Circulation: 4,000

OPINION

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

LONG-DISTANCE EDUCATION

THE HOYA

WOC WISDOM

Finding Jordan at GU

Alia Kawar

uring my first week at Georgetown, I was reminded of home in an unlikely place: a large tray of hummus at O’Donovan Hall. However, this bland, lighter shade of hummus was nothing like the rich, paprika-infused hummus that my grandma makes in my hometown of Amman, Jordan. After tasting the poor imitation of hummus at Leo’s, the distance between Georgetown and Amman struck me hard. As a college freshman, I struggled to adapt to my new lifestyle in the United States while living miles away from family and friends. With my hometown located nearly 6,000 miles and almost 48 hours of travel, including long layovers, away from Washington, D.C., returning home is far from simple. The reality of living abroad is that most of the contact I have with my family is through FaceTime on a weekly basis. While students from nearby states or countries get the chance to visit family or be visited on more occasions, international students like myself face more difficulties with the distance. The costly flights and limited time during shorter vacations mean that I can only go home during winter and summer breaks. Despite the long commute in returning to my Jordanian community, however, I’ve found a remedy for the distance by developing a newfound sense of community through Georgetown’s cultural groups. At my first Council of Advisory Boards fair, an Egyptian friend and I felt a rush of eagerness as we saw the Arab Society banner and two people wearing Keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian head scarves, wrapped around their necks. As we took a few steps closer, I saw the exact same pale hummus offered at Leo’s. But instead of feeling nostalgic or judgmental about the dip, I realized that despite the lack of authentic garnishing, spices or chickpeas from our region, it was still something I could share with others who appreci-

ate it as much as I do. In joining Arab Society, the Arab food and music that are an integral part of the organization’s events have slowly helped remedy my homesickness. These two aspects not only reminded me of positive memories from Amman, but also brought me satisfaction in introducing them to students of different cultures. In addition to bridging the distance through food and music, the Arab Society’s event topics have made me feel empowered in my time away from home. For one of our events last year, we teamed up with the Collateral Repair Project, an organization that assists refugees in Jordan, to showcase handwoven quilts by Syrian and Iraqi refugees. The quilts struck me because of how powerful and diverse they were. While one quilt displayed a small brown tent in stark contrast to a warm home, another quilt depicted a young woman with a bubble cloud on top of her head filled with mechanical tools representing her lost dream of whether she will ever go back to engineering school. It is through events like these that raise awareness of urgent issues such as the refugee crisis in the Middle East that I realize the influence I have living abroad in providing a platform for marginalized groups. Although I am far from Jordan, I can have a greater impact on encouraging students to take action and help create change on issues that are important to my home. Now, I am the creative director of the GU Arab Society, the group that has formed a staple part of my experience here at Georgetown. My time here has also inspired me to become an ambassador for Arab artists by creating an online platform that shares provoking work of Arab artists along with a short description about their stories. With over 1,000 followers, I have been able to expand the community on campus dedicated to Arab art to an online one with people from around the world. Even though being an international student in the United States requires acceptance of some detachment from home, I have found community in Georgetown’s cultural groups and embraced being a delegate for my country. Alia Kawar is a junior in the College. LONG-DISTANCE EDUCATION appears online every other Wednesday.

In the wider Georgetown community, my identity is still up for debate, as is my right to even talk about my experiences as a woman of color.

Living Between Labels

Caroline Sarda

am half-Irish and half-Filipino. But if you asked anyone else, you might hear I am Spanish, Italian, Mexican, white or a vague, “exotic” mix of all four. Some may count me as a woman of color, while others may believe I am appropriating the term. I have lived my whole life in between labels; however, I have only recently learned what it truly means to have ownership over my identity and to freely take pride in it. For me, this freedom has come largely through rejecting rigid ideas of race and belonging and refusing to justify the way I identify to others. Growing up, I have always been aware of my multicultural background. I was raised almost exclusively on chicken adobo, a traditional Filipino dish, prepared by my white mother, and often saw my father as the only dark-skinned person at Christmas parties,

surrounded by a crowd of fairskinned Irish relatives. Though I always knew that my father was Filipino, I grew up largely unaware of my own Asian identity — mostly because I didn’t look the part. Of my siblings, my skin is the lightest, my eyes are the roundest, and my hair is the most like my mother’s. My parents never taught me to see myself as anything more than “American,” which for them was often synonymous with “white.” I accepted this watered-down identity throughout my childhood, both because it allowed me to fit in better with my predominantly white classmates, and because I never knew any other way of being. In high school, however, I faced more direct challenges to my identity. The other white girls made jokes about me being smart because I was Asian, while other Asian girls reminded me that I didn’t “really count” when I began to own the punchlines. Coming to Georgetown University has pushed me to reconcile my identity with the ways others see and categorize me. Most people I encountered assumed that I was white and laughed if I suggested anything else. Many people, both white and Asian, thought it

was strange that I joined Club Filipino my freshman year, and even stranger when the club became the biggest part of my social life on campus. I was still occasionally the butt of Asian jokes and still silenced when I had anything to say in response. Only a few people recognized me as mixed, and I accepted their validation gratefully. I joined a multiracial affinity space my freshman spring, and the multiracial club, Mosaic, my sophomore fall. Hearing people echo my experiences and affirm me when I shared my own stories was one of the biggest contributors to my growing confidence in my identity. With time, my place in Club Filipino also became more accepted, and the close friends I made there became a muchneeded support system and appreciated source of validation. Even now, however, I hear the odd joke or uninformed comment. I am still designated as the “obligatory white member” by students who come up to Club Filipino’s table at club fairs. In the wider Georgetown community, my identity is still up for debate, as is my right to even talk about my experiences as a woman of color. But while the world has stayed largely

the same, the biggest change for me has come in my mindset. I am now slowly learning that people are entitled to their opinions about my identity, but I am not required to change myself to match them. I have spent my past two years at Georgetown desperately seeking acceptance from a system that was not built for multiracial people and from people who, through little fault of their own, cannot always give it to me. The process has tired me but has also taught me to stop trying to be something that I am not. I am not completely Filipino or completely Irish. I do not know what it’s like to live as an obviously Asian woman or as a fully white one. And I cannot expect other people to make room for my mixed, messy and complicated identity if I do not make room for myself first. The process has been challenging, but it has ultimately led me to a new kind of freedom, a freedom that allows me to accept the way the world receives me and to form my own identity anyway. Caroline Sarda is a junior in the College. WOC WISDOM appears online every other Thursday.

GENERATIONAL GAP

VIEWPOINT • SHORT-COLOMB

Support Referendum for GU272 Dialogue Without Disclaimers

ere I am. A Georgetown University student and a descendant of the 272, in the middle of a debate about reparations to families sold by Georgetown and the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus in 1838 — and enslaved by them for more than two centuries before that. I have a voice because God gave me one, and a strong, clear mind to back it up. I use them both intentionally in support of the proposed referendum to establish an annual “GU272 Contribution Fund,” with the proceeds to be used for charitable purposes directly benefiting the descendants of people enslaved and trafficked by the Maryland Jesuits. Let’s not confuse this referendum with the concept of “reparations.” Reparations is not a word black people use very often. It’s mostly a word white people use to scare other white people about black people and our collective history. It’s a form of ridicule used by misinformed white people to intimidate black people; a way of saying, “We’ll never know who you are or who you came from — you have no name.” This debate is not really about reparations as we usually imagine them, but has more to do with other words that we value: responsibility, respect and reconciliation. I’m sure there are students whose first reaction to financially contributing to a fund to benefit others may be difficult when they themselves and their families have faced disenfranchisement and hardship. However, Georgetown students all benefit from the university’s existence and this referendum is an opportunity for all of us, including myself and other descendant students, to contribute to the fund. Let’s begin with responsibility. Georgetown University was founded, operated and rescued from bankruptcy with proceeds from slave labor. The 1838 sale of my ancestors and other slaves

by the Maryland Jesuits generated $115,000, which translates to $3.3 million in current dollars — that number then increases to $3.6 billion with compound interest as Rev. Thomas Mulledy, S.J., demanded in the 1838 sale agreement. That $3.6 billion continues to make a difference in sustaining and expanding Georgetown in the present. No other family — or group of families — has contributed $3.6 billion to Georgetown’s endowment. When our ancestors were sold in 1838, the proceeds were used for the construction costs of the dormitory now known as Isaac Hawkins Hall. Today, rent is still collected from students who live there, providing income to the university. Students continue to reap benefits from slavery in the present, living in these dorms, learning in these classrooms, walking this campus. We can surmise that if the university still owned people, and there was a market, a sale could be brokered to fund mold remediation. It’s that serious. Georgetown students and alumni have a responsibility to the families of enslaved people who provided the wealth that sustains the institution to the present day. This wealth was not a gift; it was not a grant. The Georgetown community owes these families a debt greater than gratitude. It is the debt of existence — there would be no Georgetown University if it were not for this sale. Then there is the second value: respect. A respect that requires Georgetown students to put their money where their mouth is. Supporting and voting yes on this referendum would begin a fund for a more equitable future and create a mission not divided by us and them — where we are not only men and women for others, but strive to ensure there are no “others” anymore. That brings us to the third value: reconciliation. For over two centuries, Georgetown students and administrators have

been complicit in using and profiting from black bodies and the wealth those bodies created for their own purposes. Distinct traces of that mindset exist today, even among folk of goodwill who are deeply committed to achieving some form of reconciliation with the descendant community. However, “reconciliation” implies that wrongs were committed on both sides, and that is clearly not the case. In attempting to “reconcile” with its past, Georgetown has thus far only sought solutions that benefit the university. While renaming buildings after Isaac Hawkins and Anne Marie Becraft are considerate gestures, these actions have no impact on the descendant community; Georgetown students receive all the benefit. This student referendum can provide a source of long-term commitment to righting wrongs and tangibly improve the lives of people who have been left out from Georgetown’s opportunities. I am a member of the GU272 descendant family, a great-grandchild of slaves sold south, from the ancestral Maryland plantations that also gave Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. I am also a member of the Georgetown University family. I know that there are no people better than us to make the necessary change — and to make it now. Our self respect demands that we as a unified student body make a decisive break with the past, by committing to a just, fair and economically beneficent future for the families who were the involuntary founders of Georgetown University. Georgetown students, by voting “yes” on this referendum, will ensure that the university genuinely embraces a more equitable and just future for us all.

MÉLISANDE SHORT-COLOMB

is a sophomore in the College. She is a descendant of the GU272.

Rachel Biggio

xtremely sensitive, pathetically coddled, and excessively concerned with social justice vernacular — you need only spare a passing glance at the internet to know that these descriptions represent some of the most persistent characterizations of young people, specifically college students, in 2019. While the media and various problematic uncles often assume that American universities function as millennial headquarters, generational logic places the youngest millennials at 23, largely occupying the workforce and out of academia entirely. Thus, those of us aged 18 to 22 who fall awkwardly after millennials actually form the age group currently spearheading 21st-century political correctness. We possess a few advantages that render us well-equipped for this position. As students, we have access to consistent forums to consider and discuss ethics and justice. Moreover, we exist in an era of universal information proliferation, giving us easy access to spread new social scripts for discussing fraught topics, specifically those related to identity. While I usually delight in the exploration of moral discourse related to identity with my peers, I have recently worriedly noted the recycling of a particular script, employed by my peers only during a discussion centering an identity they do not possess. Specifically, I take issue with the supposed righteousness of disclaiming a comment in class

or another forum with an announcement of the privileged aspects of one’s identity. In other words, I ask us to consider the actual benefit of prefacing a comment in class with something along the lines of “as a man,” or “as a white person” or “as a heterosexual person.” I recognize that we provide these disclaimers with the intent of evading appropriation — we want to make clear to everyone, but particularly our peers who have identities and perspectives particularly valuable to the topic at hand, that we see our fundamental inability to understand some experiences. Yet in practice, these reminders serve less as a conduit for opening discourse and more as a tool for hardening the barriers between us. Though these types of identity markers superficially resemble similar prefaces provided by marginalized peers whose experiences inform their contributions, announcements that one’s identity does not lend them to understanding the discussion are irrelevant and assume that experience is the only valuable tool in discourse. Therefore, rather than communicating “I could never speak for you,” these proactive and yet often halfhearted apologies for usually unchangeable privileges say, “I could never understand you.” These proclamations often feel like a declaration of the outer limits of one’s ability to empathize, rather than a self-aware admission, particularly since these words always precede an opinion given regardless of the speaker’s disclaimer. Further, these forewarnings principally disrupt constructive dialogue, rather than contribute to discussion. When we highlight our privileges, we bring those aspects of us to the forefront of conversations specifically designed to focus on marginalized people. By engaging in this practice, we nonconsensually emphasize the contrasting identities of the peers to

whom we speak. This particular method of identification does nothing to empower those aspects of our peers while certainly working to other them. During my time at Georgetown — a place that can often feel entirely white, rich, able-bodied, straight and cis-identifying – I have found that there exist less lazy and more helpful ways to embed empathy and demonstrate humility in our discourse. One example, perhaps most obvious and yet least beneficial to our participation grades, is silence. If you truly believe that your identity and experiences preclude you from meaningfully contributing to a discussion, consider leaving room for those who don’t feel that way. Yet I’m not suggesting we all forgo speaking in classes where our identity does not lend us a valuable perspective. By all means, engage thoughtfully, considerately, empathetically and smartly with everything you can. I do, however, want to you to keep in mind one of the most important truths about privilege that I have noticed after sitting on both sides of this dynamic in class and other academic environments: You must accept and embrace the discomfort its existence gives you. Deeply internalize the reality that you cannot toss away the relevance and weight of your privilege with a performative admission of its existence at the beginning of your otherwise unexamined comment in class. Know that active engagement with your privilege will rarely involve the use of a borrowed and recycled mechanism. Live, speak and think with the intention of never co-opting someone else’s experience, and you will not have to remind everyone that you are not. Rachel Biggio is a junior in the College. GENERATIONAL GAP appears online every other Friday.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Federal government employees protested in front of the Hart Senate Office Building on Jan. 24 to call for an end to the government shutdown. Story on A9.

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I firmly believe that listening is the most important way to resolve conflict and foster understanding.” Georgetown University College Democrats Chair Rebecca Hollister (COL ’21) on the Women’s March. Story on A8.

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Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) held an emergency town hall meeting seeking input on the government shutdown from federal workers, small business owners, nonprofit organizations and Washington, D.C. residents.

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Cardinal O’Connor Conference Examines Pro-Life Priorities GREY ROSENZWEIG Hoya Staff Writer

The acceptance of the legalization of abortion stems from materialist culture, which prioritizes personal convenience over the lives of others, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, said in a keynote at the 20th annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life on Jan. 19. The O’Connor Conference, the largest collegiate pro-life conference in the United States, was founded by Georgetown students in 2000 to promote intellectual discourse on the sacredness of human life both within and beyond the Georgetown student body, according to the conference website. The conference is named after the late Cardinal John O’Connor (GRD ’70), who dedicated his life to advocacy for the preservation of human life, and held annually on Georgetown’s campus. This year’s conference examined “Pro-Life Priorities: Advancing a Culture of Life.” Five anti-abortion advocates spoke on a panel: author and professor Steven Aden, chief legal office and general counsel at Americans United for Life; Daniel Williams, U.S. religion and politics historian; Jeanne Mancini, president of annual anti-abortion rally March for Life; Catherine Hadro, Catholic television host and producer; and Catholic theologian George Weigel. Members of H*yas for Choice, an unrecognized pro-reproductive rights student group on campus, carried signs and protested outside the morning of the conference in Healy Circle. Anti-abortion advocates have already won the argument on abortion, according to Weigel; the next step is convincing those who are pro-reproductive rights to change their beliefs. “We’ve won the argument for the last 40 years,” Weigel said. “We’ve won the scientific argument. We’ve won the political theory argument, and I think we’ve won the moral argument. What we haven’t won sufficiently is hearts.” The anti-abortion stance is an inherently Christian value, according to Aden. “Only a Christian, in my view, can do that,” Aden said. “Only a Christian can show compassion and care, not just to the moth-

ers and babies, but to those who are trapped in the abortion industry.” Dolan commended those in attendance, both students of Georgetown and those who had come from outside of the university. “It’s humbling to be with you, especially you young people, who I claim to be genuine confessors of the faith, courageous apostles who year after year in the capital of the nation built to serve a republic, to serve a nation founded on certain inalienable rights, with that, the right to life put first,” Dolan said. Throughout the week leading up to the conference, HFC shared posts on its Facebook and Instagram pages protesting the conference because of the speakers’ views on marginalized communities and the Catholic Church’s abuse crisis. O’Connor has faced criticism for his repeated condemnation of the LGBTQ community. He supported the prohibition of LGBTQ Catholics from the property of the Brooklyn Diocese and opposed the 1986 passage of a New York City bill that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, according to The New York Times. O’Connor also attempted to block AIDS education and prevention programs in New York at the height of the AIDS epidemic, which disproportionately affected the LGBTQ community. Dolan moved $57 million off the archdiocesan books into a cemetery trust fund in an attempt to shield church finances from damage suits by victims of childhood sexual abuse, according to The New York Times. In 2003, Dolan authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive to ensure they left the ministry quietly. Members of HFC and the larger Georgetown community gathered to protest in Healy Circle early Saturday morning. More than 30 people joined in flyering, carrying signs and chanting protests against the speakers and namesake of the conference. “Dolan protects child rapists; he is not welcome on our campus,” the protestors chanted. “His name is not a source of pride; O’Connor watched as queer folks died.” HFC protests the conference annually to provide an oppos-

ing viewpoint to the opinions perpetuated by the speakers, according to Elianna Schiffrik (SFS ’21), HFC co-director of communications. “Our goal for the protest was to make our disapproval of the conference and its various speakers known, and make it clear to Georgetown administrators and attendees that the conference does not represent our Georgetown community,” Schiffrik said in an interview with The Hoya. Schiffrik also published a viewpoint in The Hoya on Jan. 16 encouraging Georgetown students to protest the conference. The conference was sponsored by the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, the Catholic Chaplaincy at Georgetown, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the Office of Public Affairs, the Georgetown University Law Center and the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service.

GREY ROZENZWEIG/THE HOYA

A panel of anti-abortion activists spoke at the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life, including George Weigel, left, Daniel Williams, Catherine Hadro, Steven Aden and Jeanne Mancini.

THE CARDINAL O’CONNOR CONFERENCE ON LIFE/FACEBOOK

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, addressed attendees in Gaston Hall of the 20th annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life in a keynote address about faith, pro-life priorities and the sacredness of human life Jan. 19.

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Former Basketball Star Committed Critics Question New Adjunct’s To Jail on Sexual Assault Charge Credibility, Foreign Affiliations KARENA LANDLER Hoya Staff Writer

Security footage of Victor Page, a former Georgetown University basketball player, assaulting and attempting to rape his girlfriend’s 17-year-old daughter before neighbors intervened surfaced on TMZ on Jan. 19. Page was committed to the Prince George’s County Correctional Center on Jan. 5 on a charge of attempted first-degree rape. He is waiting a hearing Feb. 1, according to TMZ Sports. The incident occurred Dec. 30, while Page was still on parole for a 10-year sentence he had received for a 2013 seconddegree assault. The victim’s mother reported the incident to Page’s parole officer, according to Fox 5. Court documents allege that the victim attempted to escape but was recaptured by Page outside of the victim’s home in Camp Springs, Md., before neighbors intervened. Georgetown Survivors, a student group that advocates and provides supports for survivors of sexual assault on campus, condemned Page’s actions in a statement to The Hoya. “We are glad that justice is being pursued and hope that the victim is able to access the resources she needs to heal,” Georgetown Survivors wrote. “It is fortunate that the incident was filmed—video is often one of the only forms of evidence

considered conclusive enough to get justice for the survivor.” Page was recruited and played for the Georgetown men’s basketball team from 1995 to 1997 and left the university without graduating, according to university spokesperson Matt Hill. Page averaged 22.7 points as the Big East’s leading scorer and an all-conference performer in his 1997-98 sophomore season, coached by John Thompson Jr. and playing alongside future NBA player Allen Iverson. Page grew up in the District and moved between high schools, eventually playing for McKinley Technology High School. In his senior year he was convicted of gun and drug infractions after he pleaded guilty to charges of cocaine possession. Page was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Although Page pursued basketball after leaving Georgetown, he never played in the NBA. Page entered the NBA draft but remained undrafted before playing in the Continental Basketball Association for several seasons with the Sioux Falls Skyforce before he was dismissed over issues with his work ethic. Page caught public attention again in 2003 when he was shot three times while sitting in his car in Southeast D.C. He was transported to the hospital by helicopter and arrived there in critical condition but survived with an injury to his right eye,

on which he now wears a patch. The official Georgetown men’s basketball Twitter account, @ GeorgetownHoops, tweeted a throwback in remembrance of Page’s time as a Hoya in early 2018, despite his still being on parole for his 2013 assault. “All-American. 1st Team All BIG EAST. BIG EAST Tournament MVP. Respect, Victor Page!” the tweet reads. Though Page has previous convictions, none of these occurred during the time that he spent at the university before he decided to leave, according to Hill. “Georgetown University takes our responsibility to prevent and address sexual assault and misconduct very seriously,” Hill wrote. “Student-athletes participate in extensive training on preventing sexual misconduct, hazing, and other issues.” While Page’s actions prove deeply disappointing, Georgetown students should not forget the prevalence of sexual assault at the university, Georgetown Survivors said. “While it is deeply upsetting that Page acted as he did, he is not, by far, the only perpetrator of sexual assault or misconduct affiliated with Georgetown,” Georgetown Survivors wrote. “We hope that all Hoyas, regardless of identify or background, act with humanity or otherwise are held accountable to their actions — even if incidents are not caught on film.”

GEORGETOWN BASKETBALL HISTORY PROJECT

Victor Page, fifth from left, who played on the Georgetown men’s basketball team from 1995 to 1997, is accused of attempted rape in the first degree. He awaits his first hearing set for Feb. 1.

JULIE GUAN

Hoya Staff Writer

Molly McKew, a recently hired adjunct professor teaching a course on Russian disinformation campaigns for the School of Foreign Service, has faced criticism from colleagues and news outlets for her former status as a foreign lobbyist. McKew, who holds a master’s degree in Russian and Post-Soviet studies and has served as an adviser to political parties in Georgia and Moldova, is teaching her first course at Georgetown this semester. The course, titled “Russian Hybrid Warfare,” focuses on the history of Russian ideology and information warfare. McKew also currently serves as the CEO of Fianna Strategies, a consulting firm. Greg Afinogenov, an assistant professor of Imperial Russian History at Georgetown, criticized the university’s hiring of McKew. In a series of tweets, Afinogenov wrote that McKew’s history as a foreign lobbyist posed several conflicts of interest to her role as a professor. “A student who takes her class will not know which of her ideas are truth, which are credible suppositions, and which are complete fabrications,” Afinogenov wrote in a Jan. 10 tweet. McKew has written articles for several publications, including Politico and The Washington Post, and has also served as a commentator for TV and radio shows such as Frontline. McKew’s writings are not academic in nature and do not qualify her as a scholar or an expert, Afinogenov wrote in an email to The Hoya. “McKew is an example of exactly the kind of journalist whose articles should be corrected by scholars: the claims she makes are outlandish, escalationist, and rooted in a history of working for foreign governments with an interest in influencing public debate in the United States,” Afinogenov wrote. McKew stated that her critics are furthering an effort to discredit her and the threat of Russian hybrid warfare. Her history as an advisory to political leaders in Moldova and Georgia only made her more qualified for the position at the university, she wrote in an email to The Hoya. “The idea that being a ‘foreign agent’ disqualifies my experience ignores that what I know about how the Kremlin attacks its opponents comes from working as an advisor to countries under attack,” McKew wrote. McKew is respected by many within her field, which is what led to the university’s initial con-

@MOLLYMCKEW/TWITTER

A Georgetown professor has claimed Molly McKew’s past work with political leaders in Georgia and Moldova creates a conflict of interest. tact with her, Vice Dean of the School of Foreign Service Daniel Byman said in an interview with The Hoya. “She came to us well-recommended from a number of individuals in the national security committee, and that was the kind of basis for reaching out to her,” Byman said. The university hired McKew in response to Russia’s growing prominence in international relations following its interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to Byman. U.S. intelligence agencies following have since determined that the Kremlin likely engaged in information warfare to sow distrust and support President Donald Trump’s campaign. McKew plans to use her work in countries previously attacked by Russian hybrid warfare to explore how the United States can best respond to interference in its elections, according to her course’s description. Criticism for McKew has not stopped with Afinogenov’s tweets, as other media outlets reported and similarly cast doubt over McKew’s qualifications for her position at Georgetown. Leonid Bershidsky, a columnist for Bloomberg, also questioned McKew’s credibility on Russian disinformation campaigns, arguing that McKew, among many other American experts, replaces nuanced arguments with those based on simplified Cold War

models. Some of Afinogenov’s negative tweets about McKew were referenced in an article on RT, a Russian state-backed news outlet charged by the Columbia Journalism Review as acting as a propaganda. Afinogenov wrote that he was disappointed to see his tweets on RT. “This was not my intent; I do not endorse propaganda channels like RT and was not invited to comment on the article that quoted my tweets,” Afinogenov wrote. McKew has come under criticism from RT before for “anti-Russian rhetoric.” RT targeting McKew is evidence of the her qualifications, Joel Harding, a consultant for information operations and cyber warfare, wrote in a Jan. 12 blog post. “If RT notices you and writes a smear piece on you, that means you’ve made it,” Harding wrote. Those currently attacking the credentials of McKew, who has twice testified in front of Congress on Russian interference in the 2016 election, are actually aiding Russian disinformation campaigns, Harding wrote. “None of these so-called experts have the bona fides she does against Russian propaganda and disinformation programs, yet they seemingly gleefully contribute to Russia’s efforts to undermine US counter-Russian disinformation efforts by attacking her.”

GU Politics Fellows Look to Students for Learning Experiences ANYA HOWKO-JOHNSON Special to The Hoya

The Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service welcomed five new fellows to campus for the spring of 2019, including two political advisers, a journalist, a former congresswoman and a political strategist. The fellows include Dan Sena, former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign; Antonia Ferrier, a partner at a Republican consulting firm; Paulette Aniskoff, the former director of former President Barack Obama’s office of public engagement; Jonathan Capehart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post opinion writer; and former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–Fla.), the first Latina to serve in Congress. Spring 2019 is the eighth semester for which GU Politics has selected fellows to engage with students on campus through weekly, not-for-credit discussion groups on current issues in politics ranging from the Democrats winning the majority in the U.S. House of Representative in 2018 to the nuances of political advocacy through media. The fellows discussed their desire to hear student perspectives in their politics, public service and journalism seminars this semester in a Jan. 18 interview with The Hoya.

Why did you decide to be GU Politics Fellows, and what specifically about Georgetown students, the values or the mission specifically prompted that decision? ANISKOFF: One of the reasons is that I have seen so many people in the last two years going into public service to make money, and so many scandals, and so much crazi-

ness that I want to give a firm reminder to people that going into public service is one of the best careers you can have to do something great for your country, to have a really sort of rigorous and interesting career that is part of government. And then very selfishly, I just wanted to do something that would be fun and give me hope that we’re going to recover soon. So that’s my very overly honest answer. ROS-LEHTINEN: I was a member of Congress forever. But I love to exchange views with young people, and they’re probably more liberal than I am, maybe they’re not, I can’t wait to find out. We’re going to be discussing different topics on foreign affairs, big cases like the Cuba sanctions and the Iran nuclear deal, so what drew me to Georgetown was it’s such an intellectual powerhouse and I’ve had many colleagues who have been fellows here and they had a wonderful experience, it was very productive and entertaining also. CAPEHART: I wanted to be a fellow because I wanted to learn from you. You meaning the students here at Georgetown, and particularly this generation because as I’ve seen from the Parkland kids on, you guys are going to be the ones who are going to lead this country to a better place. By sitting in the discussion groups and listening to you and learning from you, you are going to help me do my job better. SENA: My job was to win back the House of Representatives for the Democrats. Along the way, I had the opportunity to come and do, with my Republican colleague, an evening debate here and the students just blew me away. The smarts and the energy and the feedback was so amazing. As I left

that night, I turned to somebody who was in GU Politics and I said, whatever I have to do, I would love to come back. FERRIER: Truth be told, one of the primary reasons that I am here is because I was rejected from Georgetown undergrad. So this is my comeback, I’m proud to be a Hoya now even though I obviously did not graduate from here. Secondly, I participated in some of the group discussions for two previous fellows and had such a good time. The back and forth, I learned as much from the students as I hope they learned from me. I think it’s fair to say that campus is fairly more left-leaning than right-leaning, and I love busting people’s preconceptions about Republicans, so that’ll be fun too.

What do you hope us students will take away from the program? SENA: Democracy is messy. And historically it’s been messy; it’s messy right now, it doesn’t mean that the wheels are going to come off, it doesn’t mean you throw in the towel, it doesn’t mean that all light is lost. It’s just that democracy is messy. And part of being an American is working through all these pieces. So I hope it’s kind of that hope that folks walk away with. The friction is just fine. It’s supposed to be that way. ROS-LEHTINEN: I think we all will learn a lot from the students. And I think that we’ll find out, I hope, in my class, that there’s so many diverse views of foreign policy and who calls the shots; sometimes it’s just the perception it’s not really the powers that the Constitution gives to the branches, but the way that the president or someone in

FILE PHOTO: KIKI SCHMALFUSS/THE HOYA

Each semester, the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service brings fellows to discuss their careers with students.This year’s fellows say they hope to learn from the future of political leadership. Congress projects that they’re the ones in charge.

How did you decide what to focus on in your discussion topics? And do you think that today’s political situation influenced that choice? ANISKOFF: For me, it was a huge part of my decision. Today’s political influence on me makes me want to make sure every citizen is engaged, whether it be on a very small spare-time level, or their fulltime job in the future. I think everyone should be civically engaged and take ownership of our country, and make sure that they are a part of the process and that they get to exercise the rights that we luckily have here. FERRIER: I’ve worked for I

don’t even know how long, and rough-and-tumble political communications from the Republican side. There is just more and more and more tools and more and more and more noise. How do you prioritize, how are you going to figure out what you’re going to listen to? So sort of looking at how you break that down, who listens to what and how is it effective or not, in terms of actually having an agenda and things you want to get done.

Aniskoff will be leading a discussion group on political advocacy through the media. Ferrier will be holding a discussion group on the changing nature of communication in politics.

There’s a lot of animosity towards the news and journalists today. How has this affected or changed your job at all? CAPEHART: That is actually what is driving a lot of my discussion group, is to demystify what it is to be a journalist in general and an opinion writer in particular. The number one discussion group is going to be: What is news? And the second one is going to be the difference between news and opinion. The lines have been blurred, obviously, but there is a difference. What makes our jobs harder now is because people don’t read, they don’t listen, they’re popping off with half or no information, and that makes our jobs very hard.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

Campaigns Launch With Emphasis on Inclusivity GUSA, from A1 serves as a tour guide for Blue and Gray Tour Guide Society. Olvera serves as co-director for Georgetown University’s inaugural hackathon Hoya Hacks, is the technology director of Georgetown Radio and is a Georgetown Community Scholar. Though neither has any previous GUSA experience, the pair are confident they can use student government as a platform to elevate the voices of students who may otherwise feel excluded. “I know people are really competitive about this but me and Norman, we’re really, like, relaxed, chill and laid-back people; it’s kind of us just trying to see if maybe we can have our voice heard because we haven’t been a part of these big, established organizations like this,” Olvera said. “We’ve never had this certain type of position, so we’re trying to see what kind of impact we can make as students who don’t have that much experience through this opportunity.”

GRAY AND APPEL

Followed by a cheering crowd of campaign staff, Gray and Appel carried their banner out of the ICC surrounded by supporters calling their names. The candidates spoke about their distinct experiences in different on-campus groups and their campaign’s intended emphasis on underrepresented student voices. Gray, who has not previously been involved in GUSA, said her other experiences on campus give her an educated perspective on student issues. “I’ve seen campus from a

lot of different angles: as an RA, as a member of GERMS and as a member of a lot of different cultural and other student organizations,” Gray said. “But I recognize that my experience isn’t exhaustive. My vision for Georgetown is a home that promotes the safety, comfort, curiosity, creativity, spirit and overall well-being of all of its members, all of the members of its community.” Gray underscored the value of her running mate’s previous positions and work in GUSA. “Sam has a lot of experience inside of student government and has been an amazing, outspoken advocate for students and community members who often go unheard in policy discussions,” Gray said. Gray currently serves as the director of personnel for Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service and as the standards chair for Delta Phi Epsilon professional foreign service sorority. Appel serves as a GUSA senator representing the class of 2020 and was corresponding secretary for the Georgetown Philodemic Society in fall 2018. The pair also voiced their excitement for the opportunity to hear and learn both from their fellow candidates and the larger Georgetown community. “I’m honestly so excited to get to know all the other tickets, all the other candidates and what they stand for,” Gray said. “But also getting to know the rest of the students on this campus, because there are just so many students who have so many different backgrounds and experi-

ences and important issues that they want to address.”

NEMAZI AND WOLFE

Nemazi and Wolfe, along with campaign staffers, were the first ones to arrive in Red Square. The candidates announced a platform focused on increasing student awareness on issues of mental health, women’s empowerment and environmental sustainability. The pair seeks to represent the entire Georgetown community, pursuing initiatives they hope will highlight issues not traditionally addressed by university administrators. “Our slogan is ‘run for all’ and we really do stand by that,” Wolfe said. “Our fear is inaction and ignorance and that’s what we want to change.” Nemazi currently serves as GUSA’s dining policy chair and also as the director of communications for the Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service’s student-run online publication, On the Record. Wolfe works for Uncommon Grounds, a coffee shop owned by Students of Georgetown, Inc., commonly known as The Corp, and was a former member of the Georgetown women’s club ultimate frisbee team. Nemazi plans to draw on his GUSA experience advocating for improved on-campus dining quality, efficiency and affordability. “I basically had a couple things I wanted to do and that’s increasing efficiency, bringing halal and increasing time for, like, dining,” Nemazi said. “I did that and I achieved that, so that’s what I’m bringing to this campaign.” Unlike her running mate, Wolfe does not have experience working with GUSA, but she looks forward to serving the stu-

KIKI SCHMALFUSS/THE HOYA

Nicki Gray (NHS ’20) and Sam Appel (COL ’20) strive to elevate underrepresented student voices and advocate for greater inclusivity on campus. Gray is the director of personnel for GERMS.

KIKI SCHMALFUSS/THE HOYA

Sina Nemazi (COL ’21) and Roya Wolfe (COL ’21) promise policy themes surrounding mental health and environmental sustainability. Nemazi is the current GUSA dining policy chair. dent body. “I’m excited to meet the other people running in the race,” Wolfe said. “I’ve met a couple of the candidates and I’ve never done anything like this before. I did student council in high school but not here at Georgetown so I am excited to see what GUSA holds and see where we can help.”

GUSA IN REVIEW

This year’s election comes in the wake of a series of GUSA executive resignations last fall. On Sept. 11, former vice president Naba Rahman (SFS ’19) and 10 other executive cabinet members resigned effective Sept. 14, to put pressure on then-GUSA president Sahil Nair (SFS ’19) to resign amid sexual assault allegations against him. Nair resigned later that morning. After an emergency GUSA senate meeting that night, senators demanded

all of the resignations be upheld. Rahman and the remaining cabinet members officially resigned Sept. 13. Per GUSA bylaws, former GUSA senate transition chair Juan Martinez (SFS ’20) became president Sept. 16 as a result of vacancies in the roles of vice president, chief of staff, and speaker and vice speaker of the senate, the latter two of which had not yet been filled. Martinez nominated Kenna Chick (SFS ’20) as his vice president Oct. 1 and the GUSA senate confirmed her nomination Oct. 2. Candidates are barred from spending more than $300 on their campaigns. All tickets are required by the GUSA Election commission, an independent body of undergraduate students who fairly administer all student government races, to submit receipts of all campaign expenses by midnight on election day.

Last year’s executive election results were delayed after the use of Snapchat filters was not included in a submission of Nair and Rahman’s campaign finance receipts. However, the election commission concluded that the pair did not exceed the $300 spending limit. On election day, students can vote on the student organization portal HoyaLink or at a polling station operated by the GUSA Election Commission, expected to be in Red Square or the Leavey Center. The debates for vice presidential and presidential candidates will be held Thursday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. in room 115 of the ICC and Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. in the Healey Family Student Center Great Room.

Hoya Staff writers Deepika Jonnalagadda and Yasmine Salam contributed to reporting.

KIKI SCHMALFUSS/THE HOYA

Norman Francis Jr. (COL ’20) and Aleida Olvera (COL ’20) emphasize their lack of GUSA experience will not prevent them from representing diverse corners of the student body.

GU Comment Reflects Student Concerns GUFF Proposal Aims to Reduce GU Footprint

TITLE IX, from A1

participants expressed concerns about the consequences of the proposed stringent definitions that could limit what qualifies as sexual harassment. The Department of Education Title IX proposal would change the definition of sexual misconduct from behavior that is “severe or pervasive” to “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive.” Individuals at feedback session worried that some behaviors, such as stalking and relationship violence, would not meet the new standard for sexual misconduct and that new rules would deprive victims of recourse through Title IX processes. The university has echoed those concerns in the draft of comments to the Department of Education and suggested the department maintain the “severe or pervasive” guidelines. Additionally, 32 participants at feedback sessions commented on the proposed change in jurisdictional scope for universities with regard to Title IX. Under the proposed guidelines, sexual misconduct that takes place off campus, but may still contribute to a hostile environment on campus, will not be subject to Title IX rules. Individuals expressed concern that graduate students, students living off campus or students in study abroad programs would not have access to Title IX resources. Students in the Sexual Assault Peer Educators program believe that the new definition of sexual misconduct would create an additional barrier for survivors seeking justice. “This new definition would challenge the work that we have been doing by allowing perpetrators to go free of consequence through obvious loopholes,” SAPE wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We acknowledge all sexual misconduct as significant and worthy of recognition. We want to stop sexual miscon-

duct altogether, rather than waiting until it becomes “severe enough” for an outsider’s judgment.” STAIV activists expressed similar worries about the narrower definition of sexual misconduct and implications for off-campus cases in a statement to The Hoya. “The new definition of sexual misconduct that requires behavior to be ‘severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive’ makes investigating perpetrators more difficult and erases violence that occurs,” STAIV wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Because many Georgetown students study abroad or live in townhouses off-campus, the fact that the new Title IX policy does not include off-campus assaults is also worrying.” The university’s draft urged Department of Education officials to interpret Title IX language so that off-campus programs or activities not directly sponsored by the university remain within the university’s jurisdiction.

ROLES OF ADVISERS AND CROSS-EXAMINATION

The Trump administration’s proposal is also set to change the nature of Title IX hearings and proceedings. Under the current hearing process, questions are submitted in advance to a neutral panel, which then deliberates on which questions to ask and how to frame them. New rules would require live hearings and cross-examination of complainants and respondents. These changes would also expand the roles of advisers to both complainants and respondents. Advisers do not serve as an attorney but can provide legal counsel. Thirty participants at the university’s feedback sessions did not support live hearings, with some expressing the concern that cross-examination could retraumatize victims of sexual misconduct. Several attendees instead advocated for the cur-

rent questioning system. STAIV argued cross-examination and the obligation to file a formal complaint would “further complicates the process and will discourage reporting.” SAPE agreed that cross-examination would discourage reporting and highlighted the potential trauma that live questioning may impose on survivors. “Live cross-examination from the accused would be extremely traumatic for survivors, and unnecessary,” SAPE wrote. “We need to provide a safe space where survivors feel comfortable reporting their experiences, and this would do the opposite.” The university echoed these concerns in its draft comment to the Department of Education, underscoring the challenge of filing a formal misconduct complaint. “We already know that the majority of students who experience sexual misconduct never proceed with a formal complaint,” the comment reads. “There is little doubt that the specter of being cross-examined by a trained criminal defense attorney during a school’s grievance procedure would drive down the number of students seeking redress through formal processes even further. ”

STRINGENT STANDARD OF PROOF

Under former President Barack Obama, the Department of Education reinterpreted Title IX as granting authority to the federal government to dictate adjudication procedures for sexual assault allegations in federally funded educational institutions in a guidance document known as the “Dear Colleague” letter. The letter established the standard of proof for cases of sexual harassment at universities as a “preponderance of evidence,” the lowest possible standard. Under the Trump administration proposals, how-

ever, educational institutions would apply the more stringent “clear and convincing” standard to cases of sexual harassment. Forty participants at Georgetown feedback sessions voiced opposition to the proposed change, with the majority of the group in favor of the Obamaera standard. Raising the standard of proof would place a larger burden on the survivor in a proceeding, according to Georgetown’s notes about the feedback session. The university’s draft comment shared the concerns of feedback session participants, supporting the preponderance of evidence standard and opposing proposals that may encourage a more stringent standard. “Sexual misconduct cases often involve two people with little extrinsic evidence, which is why many institutions opt to use preponderance of the evidence,” the draft comment reads. “Georgetown uses the preponderance of the evidence standard for sexual misconduct cases and the data show that this standard does not unfairly skew findings in favor of the complainant or respondent.” Though the university draft comment will be submitted by Jan. 30, the university seeks to extend student participation throughout the rest of the semester through a second sexual assault and misconduct climate survey that will begin Feb. 1. “It was powerful to see the widespread engagement and dedication to preventing and addressing sexual assault from hundreds of Georgetown community members, and we hope the community remains engaged by encouraging students to participate in the University’s second campus climate survey between February 1 and March 1,” Hill wrote. “This survey is another opportunity for students to provide valuable insights that will shape our continued work on this issue.”

GUFF, from A1 projects including the compost pilot program in Leo’s Dining Hall, the planning effort for more sustainable campus waste systems, and the ambition to source more of the campus’s energy from renewable resources,” the petition reads. The proposal is the latest oncampus push for the university to embrace sustainable investment practices. It comes as students nationwide are petitioning their universities to remove any investments in companies producing carbon-based energy from their endowments. Several campuses have committed to fully divest from fossil fuels, including Pitzer College in California and Seattle University in Washington, the first Jesuit institution to commit to full divestment. The university has officially recognized the proposal, according to university spokesperson Matt Hill. “Georgetown University takes seriously matters related to social responsibility and its investments,” Hill wrote in a statement to The Hoya. The university’s Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility, which is made up of students, administrators and faculty, reviews proposals relating to the SRI and is set to consider GUFF’s proposal at its next meeting Feb. 24, according to Hill. Georgetown’s 2017 SRI Policy ensures that the university’s investments fall in line with its commitment to stewardship for the planet and social justice, among other Jesuit values. The policy instructs Georgetown to avoid investments in companies whose practices have significantly harmful effects on the environment. The university’s current

practices do not match both its previous policies and Jesuit values, the Jan. 17 divestment proposal reads. “The fossil fuel industry’s negative environmental, social, and financial impacts violate Georgetown’s Socially Responsible Investing policy, which warrant its full divestment,” the proposal reads. “In doing so, the University would demonstrate its commitment once again to our Jesuit values and to our moral and environmental leadership.” Georgetown would become the second Jesuit university to divest fully from fossil fuels and would become the first institution in the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, a group of 35 colleges committed to meeting the full demonstrated financial need of students, to fully divest from fossil fuels. COFHE universities include Harvard, MIT, Stanford and Yale, among others. The proposal specifically cites the Catholic Divestment Network, an association of student campaigns at Catholic institutions that pushes for the exclusion of fossil fuel investments from endowments. The CDN aims to connect campaigns from Catholic universities working on similar initiatives promoting sustainability Panchèvre has high hopes for GUFF’s environmentally friendly initiatives. “I hope that Georgetown fully divests from fossil fuels, and that our campaign transforms more into an endowment transparency campaign, which attempts to bridge the gap between students and higher level administration, and advocates for clean energy investments,” Panchevre said.

NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

THE HOYA

Investment Eases Housing SFS Approves Cross-School Inaffordability, Bowser Says Minors for Undergraduates SANA RAHMAN Hoya Staff Writer

Investments in housing can address Washington, D.C.’s affordability issues as the city’s population booms, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said at a Jan. 22 panel of mayors in Lohrfink Auditorium. The third annual “Georgetown Mayors Forum” featured Bowser; Mayor Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio; and Mayor Elizabeth Kautz of Burnsville, Minn., in a panel about innovation, infrastructure and inclusion. The Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service hosted the event in collaboration with the Georgetown University Global Cities Initiative with Sheila Foster, a featured professor of law and public policy, as the moderator. Despite representing cities ranging from 60,000 to over 600,000 in population, the mayors agreed that joint efforts between community members and local governments are important in resolving concerns, according to Kautz. “All of us have the same issues, they’re just in different degrees,” Kautz said. “The thing that you have to do is that you do have to talk to people, whether it’s a city my size, Mayor Bowser’s, or Mayor Whaley’s, it’s all about how you approach those tasks intentionally.” Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, locally elected nonpartisan bodies that advise the District government on issues affecting neighborhoods, provide a way for members of D.C. communities to engage with the local government. The effectiveness of the ANCs relies on high engagement

and the support of the D.C. government, according to Bowser. “I value the input of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and I certainly think they are called on to do more and we are called on to give them the tools they need to be effective,” Bowser said. Two Georgetown students, Matias Burdman (COL ’21) and Anna Landre (SFS ’21), were recently elected to ANC 2E, which oversees Georgetown University, Burleith, Hillandale and Georgetown. The ANC system can take away from what is best for D.C. as a whole, however, because at times each individual commissioner’s focus is on their own district, Bowser said. “The one hole you can encounter with ANC commissioners is that people are micro-parochial, not just on a ward level, but on a Single Member District, 2000-person level,” Bowser said. “Sometimes the benefits that they may negotiate for a particular development don’t contribute to bigger city issues.” Partnerships between local governments and private sectors can lead to improvements in affordable housing, according to Kautz. When Burnsville, Minn., turned over the land of a neighborhood with high crime rates to a housing development company on the condition that 20 percent of the housing was made affordable, crime in the area shrank, according to Kautz. “This was about bringing people together, the property owners as well as all of the developers, and asking the question ‘What do we want our city to look like?’” Kautz said. “For me, it was about creating an urban center, creating a

pedestrian-friendly environment, as well as making sure that everyone is welcomed.” As costs of living and housing increase in D.C., low-income black families are being pushed out of their homes, according to The Washington Post. This summer, residents of D.C. filed a class action suit against the District for discriminatory housing policies. The plaintiffs accused the city for supporting gentrification that disproportionately hurts communities of color. The issue of limited affordable housing should not only be addressed by the D.C. government, but also at the neighborhood level, according to Bowser. “We want to encourage growth and attract people and good jobs, but it does make everything so much more expensive, and housing is the key,” Bowser said. “I’ve challenged our whole city to think even bigger and we’re asking everyone to be a part of the solution by adopting goals for each neighborhood.” Engaging community organizations with local government also helped address the opioid crisis in Dayton, according to Whaley. The alignment with local community organizations led to a 50 percent drop in fatal overdoses over a year, according to The New York Times. “We aligned the entire community, over 60 different organizations came to the table and said we’ve got to do whatever we can to really deal with the issue of addiction like the disease that it is,” Whaley said. “The collectiveimpact model is something that I think is the best model for all sorts of issues, from education to addiction issues.”

MAX LEVINE

Hoya Staff Writer

The School of Foreign Service’s School Council voted unanimously to permit undergraduates to pursue any two minors or certificates offered by the university, beginning this fall. The School Council, which oversees SFS educational policy, passed the proposal Jan. 17. The School Council vote was the final approval needed after the proposal to allow crossschool minors passed the SFS Faculty Council on Nov. 29. The new policy marks a historic change for SFS undergraduate students. SFS students were unable to pursue a minor until a 2016 decision allowed SFS students to pursue language minors. However, certain restrictions still apply to the new proposal. SFS students will not be allowed to pursue minors in areas of study that overlap with their declared major or the core curriculum, according to Ines Oulamine (SFS ’20), vice president of the SFS Academic Council. “For example, an IECO [International Economics] major asking to minor in economics will not get approval to do so,” Oulamine wrote in an email to The Hoya. As the new policy will take effect in the fall, members of the class of 2019 will not be able to complete cross-school minors. Members of other classes can apply classes taken before next fall toward potential minors, according to SFS Senior Associate Dean Daniel Byman.

Along with adding a science requirement for undergraduate SFS students, the council’s vote is part part of a greater, school-wide initiative in the SFS to restructure its curriculum. Both intellectual and more practical motivations informed the council’s vote to approve the proposal possessed, Byman wrote in email to The Hoya. “The minor is a more recognized credential than a certificate, and students believe it has more cachet, especially among employers,” Byman wrote. “As far as intellectual development, faculty and students believed that minors can complement the SFS degree well, strengthening students in new areas.” Though the SFS Academic Council has long lobbied for

cross-school minors, SFS faculty played an integral role in the new policy’s approval, according to Margaret Chappell (SFS ’19), president of the SFS Academic Council. “The approval for minors would not have happened without the strong support of the SFS deans and faculty,” Chappell wrote in an email to The Hoya. “The SFS Academic Council greatly appreciated their recognition of the importance of minors and their commitment to seeing this approval through.” This decision comes as a long-awaited victory for SFS students, Oulamine wrote. “SFS students have been requesting minors for many years, so the final approval vote was a historic moment that Margaret and I were proud to be a part of,” Oulamine wrote.

FILE PHOTO: KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

A proposal allowing students in the School of Foreign Service to pursue cross-school minors was passed by the School Council on Jan. 17.

Tuition Hikes Slow in 8th Consecutive Year of Increases MASON MANDELL Hoya Staff Writer

GEORGETOWN COMMUNITY SCHOLARS PROGRAM-GSP/FACEBOOK

Jim Gaffigan (MSB ’88) , John Mulaney (COL ’04) and Mike Birbiglia (COL ’04) performed at a New York City comedy fundraiser to benefit the Georgetown Scholarship Program on Jan. 14.

Notable Comedian Alumni Raise $1 Million for GSP MYROSLAV DOBROSHYNSKYI Hoya Staff Writer

Comedians Jim Gaffigan (MSB ’88), Mike Birbiglia (COL ’00) and John Mulaney (COL ’04) raised $1 million at a New York City comedy fundraiser for the Georgetown Scholars Program to benefit low-income and firstgeneration students at Georgetown. Gaffigan, Birbiglia and Mulaney performed for the audience at the sold-out event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Jan. 14. The three prominent stand-up comedians have all received critical acclaim for many of their projects, including Mulaney’s Netflix show “Big Mouth,” Birbiglia’s film “Sleepwalk With Me” and Gaffigan’s comedy album “Jim Gaffigan: Mr. Universe.” Gaffigan wanted to organize an event that was memorable and enjoyable for the audience while at the same time raising funds for a good cause, according to Emily Chen Carrera (MSB ’88), a longtime friend of Gaffigan’s who helped organize the event. Gaffigan’s wife and fellow comedian Jeannie Gaffigan, Chair of the GSP advisory board Michelle Mauboussin (MSB ’86) and fellow planning committee members helped Chen organize the event.

To make the event more meaningful and significant, Gaffigan reached out to fellow alumni Mulaney and Birbiglia, Chen Carrera said in an interview with The Hoya. “We were able to combine backgrounds in fundraising and event planning, and Jim’s expertise in putting on an amazing show and to orchestrate something as special as we had last Monday night,” Chen Carrera said. The money raised went to GSP, which provides support for college students from low-income socio-economic backgrounds. GSP provides students a support system designed to ease their transitions to elite universities, through its mentorship, career advising and community building programs. The event not only raised money for GSP, but also raised the program’s profile, Mauboussin said in an interview with The Hoya. “It was a very uplifting event, and it really brought this program for first-generation students to a more national level, mainly because the comedians have such a wide network of followers,” Mauboussin said. Some of the money raised will go toward funding microgrants that students in the program can apply for. These small grants can

be used to cover any unexpected or emergency expenses that students might accrue, Mauboussin said. This was not Gaffigan’s first time raising money for GSP. Last September, he performed at a sold-out show in Chicago to raise money for the program. Over 300 Georgetown alumni and friends attended that performance, helping raise almost $25,000. While at Georgetown, Mulaney and Birbiglia both pursued comedy through the Georgetown Improv Association. Birbiglia won the “Funniest Person on Campus” competition his sophomore year, the first time he had been on stage performing comedy. Gaffigan, on the other hand, played varsity football during his time on at Georgetown, moving to New York City after graduating to pursue a career of comedy. In addition to fundraising for GSP, the event also brought together members of the Georgetown community and GSP alumni who do not always have the chances to reunite in such organized settings, Maubossin said. “It was such a communitybuilding event,” Mauboussin said. “There was a lot of positive energy in the room, and it made everyone feel great and excited about being a Hoya.”

Undergraduate tuition to attend Georgetown University for the 2019-20 academic year is set to increase by 2.8 percent to $55,440 from $53,929 marking the eighth consecutive year the university’s undergraduate tuition has risen. Georgetown University Provost Robert Groves announced the tuition raise for the upcoming academic term in a Jan 16. campuswide email. The tuition hike is down from the 3.5 percent increase observed last year. This decrease can be attributed to the planned removal of a mandatory Yates Field House membership fee, according to Groves. Yates’ operations will not be affected by the fee’s elimination, according to Georgetown University Director of Strategic Communications Rachel Pugh. Instead, students will now have have access to Yates through their tuition, Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya. The mandatory Yates membership fee costs students approximately $222 per semester, according to GUSA press secretary Jonathon Marek (SFS ’21). However, even with the marginal decrease, Marek said the tuiton’s growth rate should be lower compared to that of peer universities, citing a national average of 2.3 percent for private four-year

institutions. “We urge the administration to take action to further reduce the rate of tuition increases in years to come,” Marek wrote in an email to The Hoya. Housing fees will also rise 1.9 percent for all on-campus housing, except for townhouses, which will increase in cost by four percent. The university is working hard to reduce spending while maintaining the university’s commitment to education and funding scholarships, according to university spokesperson Matt Hill. Groves used the announcement to highlight the university’s $218 million allocation to financial aid, its largest investment to date. The university’s admissions process does not consider financial need when reviewing applications and commits to meeting all demonstrated need, Groves wrote. A minority of universities nationwide operate on needblind admission policies, which prohibit the university from knowing an applicant’s financial status during the admission process while also promising to meet full need as Georgetown does. However, many of Georgetown’s peer schools such as the University of Chicago and Ivy League colleges share Georgetown’s policy. The university expects to spend 21 percent of tuition revenue on financial aid, according to a projection of

expenses in the campuswide email. Educational instruction is anticipated to encompass 43 percent of tuition revenue. Tuition is still prohibitively costly for many prospective Georgetown students, Marek wrote. “Significant progress has been made; however, more work is still necessary to ensure that a Georgetown education is accessible to all students, regardless of their financial background,” Marek wrote. Georgetown provides some form of need-based financial aid to nearly 40 percent of its undergraduates, Hill wrote. Many of Georgetown’s peer universities, however, have higher rates of students receiving financial aid: 50 percent of undergraduates at Columbia University receive financial aid, 46 percent at University of California, Berkeley, and 43 percent at Duke University, according to U.S. News and World Report. Increases in the tuition rate have previously sparked vocal pushback from students, including protests from undergraduates in 2016 spearheaded by a group called “Hoyas Against the Hike.” In his campuswide email, Groves acknowledged the burden put on students in increasing tuition. “We are very much aware of the significant investments students and families make to pursue a Georgetown education,” Groves wrote.

FILE PHOTO: AMBER GILLETTE/THE HOYA

Tuition for undergraduate students is set to increase for the eighth consecutive year. The pace of tuition growth slowed, as the university removed the mandatory Yates Field House membership fee.

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THE HOYA

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

GU Students, Activists Attend 3rd Annual Women’s March Rallies Anti-Abortion March for Life Amid Claims ofAntisemitism ALEXANDRA BOWMAN

CHELSEA HAFER

Thousands of anti-abortion activists, including Georgetown University students, attended the annual Washington, D.C. March for Life on the National Mall on Jan. 18. The March for Life began in protest of the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which held that the right to an abortion was protected by the 14th Amendment. The first march took place on Jan. 22, 1974. President Donald Trump addressed attendees through a video feed, listing legislative action the administration has taken to advance the anti-abortion cause, according to a Jan. 19 White House news release. Vice President Mike Pence addressed the audience in person and commended Trump for nominating conservative judges to the federal bench and Supreme Court, according to CNN. Members of Georgetown Right to Life, an anti-abortion student group, attended the event. Enthusiasm for the march among members of the club has remained constant over the years, according to GU Right to Life President Caroline Willcox (COL ’19). “We had the biggest showing of all our events so far,” Willcox said in an interview with The Hoya. “We had lots of students come out and join thousands of other pro-lifers from across the country to stand up for the voiceless in America.” In tandem with the march, Georgetown hosted its annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life, the largest collegiate antiabortion conference in the United States, on Saturday. Founded by Georgetown students in 2000, the mission of the conference is to promote discourse on the sacredness of human life. Members of H*yas for Choice, an unrecognized pro-reproductive rights student group, attended a counterprotest to the March for Life in front of the Supreme Court, according to HFC Co-Director of Communications Elianna Schiffrik (SFS ’21). “We believe that having a physical presence in opposition to

An estimated 65,000 protestors participated in this year’s Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, even as the organizers face widespread criticism because of close association with antisemitic rhetoric. Tens of thousands assembled in D.C. on Saturday to protest in favor of the rights of minority groups, an end to violence and environmental justice. March Forward Virginia, the organization responsible for arranging D.C.’s march, estimated around 65,000 attended the march, a number that approximately matches the 50,000 to 70,000 estimated to have marched in 2018. Both years have failed to equal the record-breaking numbers of people who marched in 2017, with 500,000 marchers in just Washington. Multiple prominent media outlets including The Washington Post have speculated low turnout could be due to the accusations of antisemitism surrounding the organization’s leaders this year. The Women’s March was accused of promoting antisemitism after co-president Tamika Mallory posted a photo of her alongside Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the black nationalist group Nation of Islam, on May 11, 2017, calling him the “GOAT.” In February 2017, Farrakhan delivered a speech in which he called Jews “satanic.” The Nation of Islam has been listed as hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Mallory has refused to take down the post or condemn Farrakhan’s statements because of his contributions to black communities, according to ABC News. Teresa Shook, a retired lawyer and the original founder of the Women’s March, wrote a Nov. 19 Facebook post calling for the march’s current leaders, Mallory, Bob Bland, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez, to step down. The leaders’ refusal to separate themselves from organizations promoting antisemitic, racist and homophobic rhetoric has caused them to deviate from the movement’s original values, Shook said. “I call for the current Co-Chairs

Hoy Staff Writer

Hoya Staff Writer

KATRYN BAKER/FACEBOOK

Jan. 18 marked the 46th annual March for Life, which began after the 1974 ruling in Roe v. Wade. Attendees gathered on the National Mall. events such as the March and Cardinal O’Connor Conference, that advocate for the violation fundamental rights like a person’s right to a safe abortion and against the values of our community, is powerful and central to the fight for reproductive justice,” Schiffrik wrote in an email to The Hoya. If Georgetown promotes values held by the Catholic Church, the university should also provide a voice to students who disagree with those values, according to Georgetown University College Democrats chair Rebecca Hollister (COL ’21). “Though I can understand that Georgetown has some obligation to what the Church believes, I think they need to allow the abortion debate to continue on campus by recognizing groups such as H*yas for Choice,” Hollister wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Dialogue is so important and diversity is often expressed as a value of Georgetown, but in that sense, I’m not sure the school practices what it preaches.” Georgetown University College Republicans supports the march and seeks to create more dialogue around conservative values on campus, according to GUCR President Hayley Grande (COL ’21). “GUCR is dedicated to uphold-

ing and promoting conservative values on campus, including protection for the rights of the unborn,” Grande wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We support the mission of the March for Life and always look forward to working with Right to Life to create more opportunities for pro-life events and dialogue on and off campus.” Speakers at the march included Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), one of the only anti-abortion Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives; Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus; and popular conservative speaker and Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Wire Ben Shapiro, who was scheduled to speak at Georgetown in March 2018 before inclement weather cancelled the event. The unified message of the march was inspiring, Dalton Nunamaker (COL ’22), wrote in a statement to The Hoya after attending the march as a member of GUCR. “Black or white, rich or poor, religious or atheist, even Democrat and Republican, people were united in love, positivity, and hope,” Nunamaker wrote. “I would encourage every Georgetown student to attend the March at least once to see for themselves the compassion behind the prolife movement.”

Equal Rights Amendment Dies In Virginia House of Delegates

Hoya Staff Writer

@VASENATE/TWITTER

NESTOR LABASTIDA Special to The Hoya

The Virginia House of Delegates’ Privileges and Elections Subcommittee voted against a resolution to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Jan. 22. The Virginia Senate passed a bill to ratify the ERA on Jan. 15. If the House had voted to ratify the amendment, Virginia would have been the 38th state to do so, which could allow Congress to add the ERA, an amendment to guarantee the legal equality of the sexes, to the Constitution. After Illinois became the 37th state to ratify the ERA earlier this year, Senator Steve Andersson (RIll.), issued a request to Virginia’s legislative leadership to push forward a bill ratifying the amendment. Virginia is considered the most likely state to provide the 38th ratification, which would surpass the three-fourths of states necessary, according to CNN. While the decision of the Privileges and Elections Subcommittee, which deals with matters concerning voting, apportionment and conflicts of interest, is only a recommendation to the full committee, the committee does not usually bring up a bill if it has previously been rejected, The Washington Post reported. The ERA was first proposed in 1923 by the National Woman’s Party, a political party formed to fight for women’s suffrage, but it did not pass Congress. The amendment was then revived in the 1960s, following the emergence of second-wave feminism, which

focused on issues such as domestic violence prevention, reproductive rights and workplace rights. The U.S. Senate approved the ERA in March 1972 after the amendment won two-thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives votes. In October 1971, Hawaii ratified the amendment the same day it was passed in Congress, becoming the first state to ratify the ERA. The ERA failed to acquire the necessary number of ratifications before 1982, the deadline set by Congress in order for it to become codified into law. Threefourths of states must ratify an amendment through state conventions or legislatures for the change to become a part of the Constitution. “I made the most historical vote I will ever make, but it is useless without you,” Andersson said. “We’re the 37th state, you’re the 38th. So you make the history, you pass this over the line, and you’ll be doing it for all of us.” Virginia Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Va.), who co-sponsored the bill along with state Senator Glen Sturtevant (R-Va.), began a statewide bus tour to campaign for the ERA. The bill has received support from organizations including the National Organization for Women, the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Bar Association. The amendment received bipartisan support in the Virginia Senate, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in a 26-to-14 vote to pass the bill, according to The Washington Post.

The ERA is necessary to establish gender equality under the law, American Bar Association President Bob Carlson wrote in a letter to Virginia House Speaker Kirkland Cox (R-Va.). “It would require all judges to apply the highest standard of scrutiny when deciding cases involving sex discrimination,” Carlson wrote. “This means judges would use the same standard of review in sex discrimination cases that they now use in deciding cases involving discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.” Critics of the ERA argue that it could threaten workforce protections specifically for women and cause a mandatory draft of women into the military, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. Even if 38 states ratify the ERA, the amendment still may not be added to the Constitution because the ratification period, which was set by Congress, elapsed in 1982. However, Congress has the power to extend the ratification date further, according to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. “As recognized by the constitutional scholars who testified before Congress and in the report of the House Judiciary Committee recommending the extension, the limited Supreme Court precedent in this area suggests that Congress has the authority to extend the ratification deadline,” Herring wrote in an opinion issued to Virginia State Senator Richard Black (R-Va.).

day people of this country will not have our voices suppressed,” Turner said. “The State of the Union matters, but the state of the streets matter more.” Though counterprotesters, some of whom held anti-abortion signs, attended the march, the protesters persisted, Spillan wrote. “One particular moment I remember is when we marched past a group of all-male pro-life protesters, holding graphic and scientifically incorrect signs about abortion,” Spillan wrote. “The entire crowd of women’s marchers started a chant of ‘My body, my choice.’” The controversy has been difficult to keep up with, according to Georgetown University College Democrats Chair Rebecca Hollister (COL ’21). “As a Jewish woman, I take these concerns extremely seriously,” Hollister wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Due to the controversy and differing opinions surrounding the benefits of the march, we are not sponsoring the event in particular.” Students can help increase the diversity of voices represented by trying to listen to, and understand, different perspectives, according to Hollister. “I firmly believe that listening is the most important way to resolve conflict and foster understanding,” Hollister wrote. “It’s incredibly important in this day and age to take a step back and actively listen to try and understand someone or a different group.” Georgetown University College Republicans does not support the Women’s March both for its political agenda and the antisemitism associated with the founders, GUCR President Hayley Grande (COL ’21) wrote in an email to The Hoya. “However, the official agenda of the Women’s March proposes leftist policy interventions that detract from its central tenet of women’s equality and are not endorsed by GUCR,” Grande wrote. “Furthermore, GUCR strongly condemns the public anti-semitism espoused by top leaders of the Women’s March and refuses to support an organization associated with such bigotry.”

DC Council Overrides Mayor’s Veto, Eases Fare-Evasion Penalty MAX LEVINE

The Equal Rights Amendment was approved by the Senate in 1972, but not enough states ratified the amendment for it to be added to the Constitution. Virginia would have been the 38th state to ratify the ERA.

to step down and to let others lead who can restore faith in the Movement and its original intent,” Shook wrote. “As Women’s March founder, I am stepping up to bring focus back to the Unity Principles on which our movement began.” The march highlighted a variety of diverse issues such as climate change, access to health care and criminal justice reform, according to Hunter Spillan (SFS ’22), who attended the protest. “I am so glad I attended, because I found the Women’s March to be an outpouring of inclusive and intersectional support,” Spillan wrote in a message to The Hoya. “Signs there reflect a variety of social and political issues, not just women’s rights — including racial and economic issues. ” Aware of the allegations, Spillan said she attended in spite of the disappointment with the organizers. “Though I was initially thrown by the recent scandal about the founders’ lack of response to their antisemitic views, I decided that this movement is larger than the actions of any individual person,” Spillan said. In response to the criticism the organization has received, Women’s March National Organizer Linda Sarsour released a statement clarifying the march’s goals. “The Women’s March exists to fight bigotry and discrimination in all their forms — including homophobia and anti-semitism — and to lift up the voices of women who are too often left out,” Sarsour wrote. “We’re committed to deepening relationships with any community who has felt left out of this movement.” The march, which started at 10 a.m. at Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue, featured speakers such as actor Ashley Judd, feminist writer Gloria Steinem, Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton, former president of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards and former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner (D-Ohio). Protests like the Women’s March help keep politicians accountable for their actions, Turner said. “It’s one thing to protest, and we need protests to remind the people with special titles that the every-

The Washington, D.C. Council overrode a Jan. 16 veto by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on a bill that would downgrade the penalty for fare evasion, or failing to pay for travel on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, on Tuesday. Enacted in 1978, current D.C. Metro fare evasion law punishes Metro fare evaders with either a fine of up to $300, up to 10 days of jail time or a combination of both. The new bill will no longer allot jail time for Metro fare evasion offenders and decreases the punishment to a $50 civil fine with no possibility of indication on an arrest record. Bowser vetoed the D.C. Metro Fare Evasion Decriminalization bill, which passed the D.C. Council on Dec. 4, citing its potential to perpetuate lawlessness, financial losses and crime in the District. After Bowser used her veto power on the bill, 11 of 13 councilmembers voted to override Bowser’s veto. The bill initially passed the D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety on Oct. 4. The Metro loses $25 million a year because of fare evasion, according to The Washington Post. WMATA has expressed disapprov-

al of the bill because of the potential for lost revenue. This concern comes at a time when WMATA is already financially threatened since ridership has plummeted because of the government shutdown, according to DCist. The amount of money lost through Metro fare evasion is not worth the cost of persecuting individuals who fail to pay for travel, according to Emmanuel Brantley, communications director for Councilmember Anita Bonds (DAt Large), who endorsed the bill. “The Councilmember was concerned with removing the criminality associated with fare evasion, and she was particularly concerned that prosecuting an individual who has committed fare evasion (an act that may cost between $2 and $5) would end up costing us tens of thousands of dollars and leave the individual with a criminal record, something that can be quite burdensome in the long run,” Brantley wrote in an email to The Hoya. There are other methods of enforcing fares that do not criminalize Metro users, according to Councilmember Robert White Jr. (D-At Large). “We must override the Mayor’s veto of the Fare Evasion bill. There are alternatives to enforcing fares that aren’t drivers of discrimi-

nation & incarceration,” White wrote in a Jan. 17 tweet. Bowser highlighted past projects she has implemented to make the Metro more equitable but continued to express concern for the bill after her veto was overridden in a press conference Tuesday. Although D.C. can work towards making the Metro more affordable for everyone, current rules must be enforced, Bowser said. “It is possible that as a city we can decide to support free Metro for whomever we want, to customize a program that works, but I am concerned that making sure that everyone follows the rules of the road, or the rules of the Metro as it were,” Bowser said. D.C. councilmembers such as David Grosso (I-At Large) have discounted Bowser’s opposition to the bill, instead focusing on the benefits that the bill would provide to low-income communities in the District. The bill plans to break down systematic mass incarceration, Grosso wrote in a Jan. 17 tweet. 91 percent of criminal citations issued for Metro fare evasion are directed toward black residents, with citations disproportionately affecting black youth, according to a Sept. 13 report by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee.

FILE PHOTO: CAROLINE PAPPAS/THE HOYA

Eleven of 13 D.C. Council Members voted to override the veto of Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and decriminalize Metro fare evasion, significantly lowering fines that the city can levy against violators.

NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

THE HOYA

Protesters Take to Hart, Call for Shutdown to End

Visualizing Climate Change Key to Action, Speakers Say

CONNOR THOMAS

MEREDITH MILLER

Hoya Staff Writer

Over 300 protesters gathered Wednesday in the Hart Senate Office Building to call for the end of the partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22. The protestors observed a moment of silence that lasted 33 minutes, marking the 33 days of the government shutdown, according to The Hill. Following the moment of silence, protesters began chanting: “No more food banks; they need paychecks.” Occupy Hart was organized by the National Federation of Federal Employees, a national union of government workers, along with other local organizations representing federal workers. NFFE represents 110,00 federal employees across the United States, as well as members of the foreign service. The purpose of the protest was to urge the federal government, specifically Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to pass legislation to the end the shutdown, according to NFFE communications director Brittany Holder. “We wanted to really keep the pressure up on the Senate, especially Mitch McConnell, just because we wanted him to call a vote,” Holder said in an interview with The Hoya. “We are telling people — federal employees who are at home using more heat than they usually would, more electricity than they usually would — come get warm at Hart.” Occupy Hart follows a Jan. 10 protest , which was also organized by the NFFE, at the AFL-CIO building, according to The Washington Post. The government has been shut down since Dec. 22 as President Donald Trump and

congressional Democrats face off on immigration. Democrats rejected Trump’s offer to temporarily postpone his executive action to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from some countries in Latin America and Africa in exchange for $5.7 billion in border wall funding. Both parties had hoped to agree on legislation to end the shutdown this week, but failed to reach a compromise. The Senate voted down two competing bills to fund the government Thursday. Senate Republicans’ bill offered TPS and provided funding for the border wall, while Senate Democrats submitted a bill that would fund the government until Feb. 8 without border wall funding. The Georgetown Solidarity Committee, a club that advocates for workers’ rights, stands with the protestors and hopes to see a more forceful organizing among federal workers to end the shutdown, according to club member Obed Ventura (SFS ’19), who attended the protest in solidarity with the federal workers. “This shutdown, on its 33rd day, has been denying people their wages for their labor; the ability to work; and the funding for housing, food, and other basic needs,” Ventura wrote in a message to The Hoya. “We admire the bravery of the workers to protest for an end to the shutdown and to get their paychecks.” The federal government needs to reopen regardless of the state of compromise regarding the border wall, according to Holder. “Right now our main focus is to get the government open. It’s been closed for way too long,” Holder said. “They can

decide what they want to do in regards to the wall while federal employees are still working.” Furloughed federal workers will have missed their second paycheck since the shutdown began Wednesday night at midnight. Workers have lost about $5,000 each in delayed wages since the government shutdown began, and the shutdown’s direct and indirect costs to the economy have exceeded $1 billion, according to CBS News. Federal employees are especially vulnerable to lapses in paychecks as some earn as little as $27,000. If the government reopens, federal workers will receive back pay, but workers in the private sector whose jobs depend on the federal government will not be compensated, according to The Washington Post. The shutdown has caused many individuals and families to struggle with financial instability, Holder said. “One of our [federal] employees, his wife is recovering from cancer, and he has seven daughters, and he’s a furloughed firefighter who fought in the fires in California back in November,” Holder said. “We have a federal employee, she has $200,000 in school loans, she has a threeyear-old who’s in day care.” Though workers will receive back pay for their days missed, the government shutdown has left many federal employees unable to meet their immediate needs, Holder said. “Congress and the president signed a bill that said they’re going to be repaid, but it’s kind of like, ‘What do I do right now? Do I pay for my mortgage or do I pay for my health insurance? Do I buy groceries or put gas in my car?’” Holder said.

Hoya Staff Writer

Displaying the effects of increasingly frequent environmental disasters and engaging religious communities is necessary to motivate action against climate change, George Steinmetz, a freelance photographer, and Evan Berry, an American University associate professor of philosophy and religion, said at a Jan. 23 event. Using aerial photography that can show the environment on large scales is one of the best ways to motivate the average citizen to combat climate change because it displays climate change’s effects on humans, Steinmetz said, speaking of his work. “What I was trying to do was show the scope of the problem,” Steinmetz said. “I try to take pictures where there’s something human that you can relate to.” The event, titled “Religion and Climate Change: A Visual and Scholarly Representation” was hosted by the Pulitzer Center in collaboration with the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, which studies the intersection of religion, ethics, and public life. Religious elements are woefully absent from popular discourse on climate change, according to Director of the Berkeley Center Shaun Casey. “Many of today’s international crises have a strong religious component, yet media coverage often omits or oversimplifies these complexities and nuances,” Casey said. “A deep examination of faith and values is central and critical to addressing today’s global challenges.” Journalism and religion both use human-centered narratives that can catalyze social organization, according to Berry, who studies issues of community action. “One thing that journalism and religion have in common is that they’re both ways of telling stories about how different groups of

people experience what’s going on places,” Berry said. Berry has previously examined religion’s influence on both climate change and environmentalism in his 2015 book, “Devoted to Nature: The Religious Roots of Environmentalism.” Religion is an integral to climate change’s impacts, Berry wrote, alongside co-authors Willis Jenkins and Luke Beck Kreider in a July 2018 article “Religion and Climate Change.” “Understanding the cultural dimensions of climate change requires understanding its religious aspects,” Berry wrote with his coauthors. Steinmetz, who often captures aerial images and landscapes, was assigned by The New York Times Magazine to find the best visual representations of climate change on each continent — a search that led him to photograph Iceland, China and Western Africa. Steinmetz also followed several American natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey and three recent California wildfires. His photographs were originally used for an article in The Times Magazine in Aug. 2018 titled “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change.” Steinmetz said using moving and still pictures to supplement the article was both effective and powerful. The Pulitzer Center has designed a model curriculum around the “Losing Earth” article that can be used in classroom ranging from elementary school to college. The project teaches students journalism skills through stories on climate change. Georgetown University and the Berkley Center are members of the Pulitzer Center’s campus consortium network, which aims to engage students and faculty in conversations about important issues and how they are covered in the media. Visual mediums of journalism

such as photography and documentary film have great potential to communicate the impacts of climate change, Berry and panel members said. “I’m a big believer in documentary film. I think it’s a really important and powerful tool, both long and short documentaries,” Berry said. “They can tell stories in a way that isn’t merely just images, but also helps people sympathize with characters who come to life.” Both Berry and Steinmetz agreed citizens of developed countries like the United States have the responsibility to help others combat climate change. “There’s a set of conversations about what we ought to do in response to climate change that have to do with lowering our emissions and there’s also a set of conversations about what we ought to do that are related to helping communities adapt to rapidly changing environments,” Berry said. The United Nations has identified the growing problem of climate refugees — migrants who have been forced to leave their homelands due to issues related to changing climate patterns, such as flooding, and are disproportionately poor — as few systems to relocate individuals displaced by environmental disasters yet function at high capacities. At the commencement ceremony for the School of Foreign Service’s class of 2018, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said climate change would be one of the most pressing issues younger generations will need to tackle. Steinmetz said that while he thinks the photographs are compelling, he is unsure if they can motivate individuals to act. “I think people will look at these pictures and think, ‘Wow, that’s a really big problem,’ but, to be honest, I don’t know if that makes them think, ‘What can I personally do?’” Steinmetz said. “But I think it comes down to what we can do individually.”

Astronaut Praises Efforts For Equality in STEM SANA RAHMAN Hoya Staff Writer

@MADINAMANIA/TWITTER

At the 17th annual “Let Freedom Ring!” concert, Georgetown celebrated the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and recognized Hawah Kasat, director of the D.C. nonprofit One Common Unity.

GU Celebrates MLK’s Life at Kennedy Center ASHLEY ZHAO

Special to The Hoya

Georgetown University partnered with the Kennedy Center for the 17th annual “Let Freedom Ring!” ceremony on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, celebrating King’s life and legacy by acknowledging those who continue to embody his life’s work. Every year since 2003, Georgetown has presented the John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award, named for the former Georgetown basketball coach and first award recipient, to an individual who has upheld the Jesuit values of people for others through community service. The university presented this year’s award to Hawah Kasat at Monday’s event. Kasat is the cofounder and executive director of One Common Unity, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization founded in 2000 that seeks to break the cycle of community violence by promoting music, art and nonviolent practices. Kasat was announced as the recipient of the award in November. OCU’s principles of social justice are inspired by Kasat’s personal values and reflect King’s messages of nonviolence and advocacy, Kasat said in an interview with The Hoya. “The organization is shaped by my individual values, of course, and I think as an individual, nonviolence and social justice are absolutely essential pillars and foundational cores to the work we do here at One Common Unity,” Kasat said. “In the spirit of Dr. King and in the spirit of advocating to create a beloved community, we are providing all of our participants,

whether they’re youth, teachers or parents, with unconditional love and support.” As part of the award, Kasat will join a yearlong sustained partnership with the university, seeking to increase visibility for OCU and its mission. Before introducing a video tribute explaining OCU’s purpose and Kasat’s role in managing the organization, University President John J. DeGioia gave a brief speech about how Kasat’s work reflects King’s ideals of love and community building. “When we reflect on the contributions of One Common Unity and the leadership of Hawah Kasat, we see love in action,” DeGioia said. “We see a spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless and creative love. We see an expression of mutuality, of interconnectedness, of community.” In the video tribute, several of Kasat’s colleagues spoke about the positive effects OCU has had in the community, as well as the role Kasat has played in ensuring the growth and continuation of the organization. Andy Shallal, CEO and founder of Busboys and Poets, D.C.-based restaurants founded with the mission of inspiring social change, praised the constructive work OCU has accomplished for the District. “One Common Unity is what’s been needed, really, in this city for so long,” Shallal said in the video. “It’s a community of people that really takes folks that have been exposed to violence and other terrible things that happen sometimes in people’s lives and brings them outside the city,” Kasat founded OCU to teach

and empower youth from underresourced neighborhoods in D.C. In the 18 years since its founding, OCU, along with its flagship program, Fly By Light, has helped more than 25,000 youth and families through music, art, emotional wellness and peace education. The award gives OCU the opportunity to partner with Georgetown students to broaden the organization’s reach in D.C., according to Kasat. “This award allows us to continue expanding to more schools and creating, potentially, an undergraduate cohort of Georgetown students that we can train in our model,” Kasat said. “We could then have those undergraduates be in schools with our facilitators and help implement our curriculum to impact more kids.” The event also included several musical performances by Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winning artist Audra McDonald, Tony-winning artist Brian Stokes Mitchell, the Let Freedom Ring Choir led by music director Rev. Nolan Williams Jr., and the Georgetown jazz ensemble. Following their final performance, McDonald and Mitchell closed the show with a reflection of the legacy that King has left behind and the importance of ensuring that it lives on in the future. “If there’s anything that Dr. King left us, it’s that we are a part of a continuum,” Mitchell said. “We are all in this world together and we are all working together to try to make it better for each other and especially for our children, for the generation that comes after us.”

Title IX regulations enabled women to successfully pursue careers traditionally reserved for men at institutions like NASA, astronaut Mary Cleave said at an event Friday. The Georgetown University Astronomical Society and the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program hosted the event as part of the Heyden Distinguished Lecture Series, named after Fr. Francis Heyden, S.J., who headed Georgetown’s astronomy department from 1945 to 1972. Cleave was the only female astronaut on the NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis Mission in 1985, which deployed communications satellites, and in 1989, which deployed a probe to map the surface of Venus. Before her time at NASA, Cleave studied and worked as an environmental engineer, giving her the background to aid with research while on her missions. Cleave was interested in aviation from a young age, but because she was unable to fly for the military, became an airline stewardess. When she failed to meet the height requirement for the job, she applied to graduate school and eventually made it to NASA. Her success was largely because of the enactment of the Title IX regulations, according to Cleave. “Title IX passed, and within 10 years I was getting hired to work in a space shuttle, and I couldn’t

even get hired as an airline stewardess 10 years earlier,” Cleave said in an interview with The Hoya. “Title IX blew the lid off of so many occupations for women. It made a huge difference.” Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 addressed sex discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. The implementation of Title IX prohibited employment discrimination and addressed the gender disparity in access to career and technical education, which was especially prominent in the fields of math, science and technology, according to the American Association of University Women. The enforcement of Title IX regulations not only opened up more career paths for women in STEM, but also improved the workplace environment within these fields, according to Cleave. “I found NASA to be way ahead of the university system,” Cleave said at the event. “In general, I think the federal government — because of Title IX and the fact that it’s a federal law — had to be really careful and I think they are.” Women made up only 7 percent of the workforce in STEM occupations in 1970 and 14 percent in 1980, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Cleave said she experienced some uncomfortable encounters during graduate school because she studied in a male-dominated field.

“I did run into issues at graduate school,” Cleave said. “I don’t know of any females who went to graduate school who didn’t have little incidents that were less than pleasant.” The change in regulations at the federal level demanded that Cleave’s male colleagues be respectful, according to Cleave. “They had the ultimate motivator: If you screw up, you don’t go to space. Self-discipline is really motivating,” Cleave said. “You’ve spent so much time and energy to get your butt in a spacecraft, you’re not going to do anything to put that at risk.” In 2015, women held 24 percent of STEM occupations and constituted 30 percent of undergraduate degree holders in all STEM fields, according to a 2017 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Cleave encouraged women to pursue leadership roles and involvement in fields that interest them — even if men dominate those professions. “Find the part of the science that you really enjoy and go for it,” Cleave said in an interview with The Hoya. “Pursue what interests you, not what people tell you to do.” Following her interests in STEM despite the odds allowed her to live without regrets, according to Cleave. “I’ve run into too many people who say, ‘I wish I’d done this; I wish I’d done that,’ and I think, ‘Man, am I lucky. I did everything that I wanted to,’” Cleave said.

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A10

SPORTS

THE HOYA

WOMEN'S TENNIS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

SWIMMING AND DIVING

GU Swimming Teams Fall to Drexel Hoyas Drop Season Opener To Army West SIDNEY LEE

Hoya Staff Writer

JAKE WEXELBLATT Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown women’s tennis team began its spring campaign close to home Saturday as it took on Army West Point in Arlington, Va. While the Hoyas lost by a sizeable margin of 6-1, the team showed some promise as it heads into its spring season. The Hoyas went 0-1 in doubles and 1-5 in singles matches with a strong performance from senior Sydney Goodson. In the first of three doubles matches, senior Risa Nakagawa and freshman Elena De Santis overcame the powerful duo of Kirby Einck and Sam DiMaio of Army, pulling away late in the set for a 7-5 victory. The senior and freshman worked well as a team. Their similar heights and playing styles negated possible disadvantages of the two switching positions on the court. Unfortunately, both of the remaining Georgetown doubles teams came up short. Losing two of the three matches resulted in an Army point. On the singles side, multiple Hoyas showed their mental toughness, and several match-

es were down to the wire. Goodson overcame a disappointing second set by winning the third through dominant service games. She ultimately picked up the Hoyas’ only point of the day with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory. While Goodson earned Georgetown’s only singles victory of the match, the afternoon brought other bright spots for the Hoyas. Sophomore Sofie Moenster brought the match to a third set and hung with her opponent long enough that the final set, normally played to six games, ended with her falling by a score of 10-8. Freshman Renee Repella also fought to a third set but eventually fell to her opponent. Repella’s and Moenster’s ability to bring the match to a third set shows their grit at a young age. The Hoyas will travel to Griffith, Ind., for their next match after nearly a week off to face the Butler Bulldogs at 1 p.m. on Jan. 25. The last matchup between these two resulted in a dominant Georgetown victory over Butler. The Hoyas throttled the Bulldogs 4-0 in the Big East tournament last April.

Georgetown’s swimming and diving teams fell to Drexel University in Philadelphia on Saturday. The women’s team lost to the Dragons 169125, and the men’s team fell 176-112. The women’s team took the top two spots in the 1000 freestyle, with junior Cristina Barrett finishing in first place and freshman Noelle Fimbres finishing 13 seconds after. Barrett also placed first in the 500 freestyle, and sophomore Phoebe Slaughter took another individual win in the 200 individual medley.

Capping off the women’s victories, sophomores Grace Sun and Belinda Donohoe, freshman Grace Chen and senior Laine Morgan combined to place first in the 200 freestyle relay. In the men’s 1000 freestyle, senior Michael Wheeler took first place, just 0.07 seconds ahead of the Drexel swimmer in second. Freshman Carlson Temple won the 200 breaststroke, and sophomore Drew Carbone finished first in the 100 individual medley. The men’s 200 freestyle relay team with junior Jack Calderwood, freshman Sean Devlin, and seniors Jacob Kohlhoff and Seth Maslowski

also placed first. On the diving boards, junior Griffin Edmonds won the 3-meter diving event, while sophomore Riley Fujioka won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Earlier in the week, Carbone was named swimming and diving Big East male athlete of the week. Donohoe also earned female athlete of the week. This award marked Carbone’s second weekly award of the season and the fourth of his career, while the accolade was Donohoe’s first. The awards recognized Carbone’s performance in the meet against The George Washington University and

American University on Jan. 12, where he remained undefeated in the backstroke events. Donohoe also produced impressive performances by winning both freestyle events, as well as by being a part of the winning 200-yard medley relay team. After a break from meets this weekend, the Hoyas will travel to South Orange, N.J., for a two-day tri-meet with Big East rivals Providence University and Seton Hall University on Feb. 1 and 2. This meet will be Georgetown’s last before the Big East championships, which begin Feb. 20.

GUHOYAS

Junior Anna Short readies herself for a forehand on the baseline during a match against West Point in Arlington, Va on Jan. 19.

GUHOYAS

In tough loss to Drexel University, the Hoyas claimed several individual victories. Sophomore Drew Carbone continued his dominance this season as he finished first in the 100 individual medley. He was named swimming and diving Big East male athlete of the week.

MEN'S TENNIS

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONING

The Most Overlooked Soccer Position Georgetown Unable Shane Gilligan During the 2015 to 2016 season of the English Premier League, the unthinkable occurred: Leicester City won the championship — quite literally — against all odds. At the beginning of the season, the team's chances of winning were listed at 5000 to one. Leicester owes its success to one player who remodelled a crucial position: central defensive midfielder N’Golo Kanté. Kanté’s success shed light on the CDM position, a spot that had been played off as unimportant for years. Today, it is the significance of this single position that is changing teams’ strategies on the field and in the front office. In the CDM position, Kanté plays in the middle of the field but essentially serves as another defender who helps distribute the ball by creating attacking opportunities. Through his outstanding play, Kanté showed that if a team had a great defensive midfielder, the

quality of the team could immensely improve. The necessity of a team having a strong central defensive midfielder is a relatively new phenomenon. Before Kanté, most analysts believed that the key to winning in soccer was having a strong defense and a good offense. Nobody cared for the central defensive midfield position. The position was essentially lost in the stat sheet; players would not score goals or get assists, so coaches overlooked its importance. However, Leicester’s coach, Claudio Ranieri, noticed Kanté’s talent and inserted him into the starting lineup. This decision worked wonders, as Kanté successfully stopped the best offenses in the world and quickly got the ball to attackers, which allowed Leicester to score goals on counterattacks. Leicester went from a team that finished 14th in the league in 2015 to the outright champions in a single year. Even with this victory, Kanté still did not get the credit he deserved. Attackers Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez received all the praise for Leicester’s unimaginable season. Kanté was viewed as a respected midfielder within the league but was not thought to be a high-

caliber player. Another team in the Premier League, Chelsea FC, noticed that Kanté was overlooked for his efforts and decided to sign him the following season. Chelsea was coming off one of its worst seasons in recent history and realized that it needed a central defensive midfielder in order to bolster its defense and assist its offense. Chelsea signed Kanté after Leicester’s heroic season and immediately started to see results. All the areas in which they team had struggled during the prior season seemed to dramatically improve. Chelsea went on to win the league the very following season, while Leicester finished 12th out of 20 teams. Chelsea immediately winning the league and Leicester falling back down to be a midlevel team in the matter of one year demonstrated that Kanté was a revolutionary player. Teams began to realize that the central defensive midfield position needed to be incorporated into their lineups to see the same success that Chelsea and Leicester experienced. Since Kanté’s talent was acknowledged, all the big teams in the world have begun to scout players in this role and pay them big money. Manches-

ter City, one of the best English teams in recent history, signed Fernando Luiz Roza, known as Fernandinho, for the central defensive midfield position and have been absolutely unstoppable since. However, Fernandinho, just like Kanté, did not initially get the credit where it was due. The bigname attackers were always considered to be the best players on the team. This past month, Fernandinho was injured, and Manchester City lost three games in the month of December during his absence. To put that in perspective, the team lost only two games in the entirety of last season. As soon as Fernandinho returned in the first week of January, Manchester City has been comfortably winning games again. The game of soccer has immensely changed with the incorporation of the central defensive midfielder into every top team’s lineup. Fans need to appreciate this overlooked position and notice all the little things that a player like N’Golo Kanté does that no one will see on the stat sheet. Shane Gilligan is a sophomore in the College. PROFESSIONAL POSITIONING appears in print every other Friday.

@NGLKANTE/TWITTER

The improbable run of N'Golo Kanté, center, with Leicester City shone a light on the central defensive midfield position in a sport where star goal scorers get all the credit. Kanté was signed the next season by Chelsea FC, where he won the Premier League yet again.

To Make Comeback In Season Opener CHRISTOPHER GAY Hoya Staff Writer

Opening the season in Richmond, Va., the Georgetown men’s tennis team struggled to keep up the pace against a strong Virginia Commonwealth University Rams team, with the Hoyas losing to VCU by a score of 7-0. The match began with Georgetown (0-1) and VCU (30) competing in three doubles matches. Junior Ian Witmer and freshman Andrew Rozanov only managed to secure one set against the Rams and dropped the first match by a score of 1-6. Sophomores Connor Lee and Luke Ross secured the second match for the Hoyas, winning in a tiebreaker before senior Michael Chen and sophomore Charlie Sharton lost the third doubles match in a tiebreaker. Winning two of three doubles matches, the VCU Rams earned the doubles point. The singles matches provided the Hoyas an opportunity to make a comeback, but the team dropped all six matches, four of which the Rams won in straight sets. Freshman Carlos Grande, Rozanov and Ross all failed to win more than three games in any set. Sharton lost a close first set with a score of 5-7 before dropping the second set 0-6. The top of Georgetown’s order fared slightly better against their VCU opponents. At the number one spot on the team, Lee lost a three-set match to VCU’s number one, Stefan Petrovic. Lee dropped the first set in a close 5-7 but fought back to win the second set 6-3. However, following his second-set win, Lee struggled to maintain his momentum, losing the third set 6-2. Occupying the number two spot for the Hoyas, Chen lost a three-set match against VCU’s number two Rayane

Stable. Chen secured the early lead in his match, taking his first set 6-4. After dropping his second set 4-6, Chen lost an excruciatingly long third set 10-12. The set was marked by Chen’s dominant service games. Despite Chen’s tough loss, Chen’s and Lee’s playing remained bright spots for the Hoyas. In addition to their singles matches, both players played close doubles matches that were forced into tiebreakers.

Despite Chen's tough loss, Chen's and Lee's playing remained bright spots for the Hoyas. In addition to their singles matches, both players played close doubles matches that were forced into tiebreakers. The Hoyas’ weak performance in the season opener could be because of a lack of game competition compared to their VCU counterparts. VCU came into the match with more in-game experience this spring season, as the Rams’ match against the Hoyas marks their third victory already. The Hoyas will look to rely on Chen and Lee at the top of the order and receive more support from the remaining players when they travel to Marquette to take on the Golden Eagles (0-1) on Friday. Both teams will look to rebound from season-opening losses in what will be both of the teams’ first conference matchup of the season.

SPORTS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

THE HOYA

A11

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

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GU Comes From Behind to Beat Wildcats VILLANOVA, from A12

own. Adomako’s 28 points tied the Big East’s single game scoring high this week. She is second on the team and fifth in the conference with 15.4 ppg. Her performance awarded her a spot on the Weekly Big East Honor Roll. As Adomako dominated in the paint, White scored mostly from the free-throw line, tally-

ing 11 of her 25 points from the charity stripe. As Howard gained his 100th career win, he expressed his gratitude to the players and coaches that influenced him throughout his career. He also remarked on his team’s perseverance in an interview with GUHoyas. “I bless all the coaches I worked with who gave me this opportunity to be in this position and I thank the players because

they went out there and gave me a tough win,” Howard said. “I’m glad I got my 100th win this way because it’s something I’ll always remember — how we came back after being down.” Howard first came to the Hilltop as an assistant in 1997 but left after one season. He returned in 2015 again as the head assistant coach. In 2017, Howard was promoted to the 10th women’s bas-

ketball coach in school history. He has developed star guards Adomako and White throughout their careers and brought Georgetown to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament where they upset Villanova to advance to the semifinals in 2017. The team will be back in action Jan. 25 as it travels to New York to face St. John’s University in another Big East matchup.

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Senior guard Greg Malinowski charges to the hoop against the Creigton Bluejays. He had nine points in the Big East contest.

Despite Govan’s 22 Points, Hoyas Fall To Creighton Creighton’s Ty-Shon Alexander sunk a wide-open three-pointer and put Creighton ahead 87-85 with one minute remaining. In a last-minute effort to tie the game, Govan failed to convert an inside pass from Akinjo into a bucket. “I thought that Jessie got fouled on the shot he took, but no call was made. We then went in scramble mode and lost the game,” Ewing said. Georgetown once again struggled in the final minutes of the game, but Ewing said he remains hopeful for the future and the week of practice in preparation for St. John’s. “I have to digest it and go back and watch the film. We have to make plays and do a better job of covering guys individually,” Ewing said. Ewing will return to Madison Square Garden, where he enjoyed great success in his Hall of Fame career for the New York Knicks from 1985 to 2000. The game against St. John’s is pivotal for the Hoyas as they seek their third victory in the Big East and hope to end their recent struggles, which include four losses in their last five games. As the Big East remains a close battle between all teams, it is crucial for Georgetown to win the next game on the road. Tipoff is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m.

CREIGHTON, from A12

leading 42-41. The Bluejays never had a lead in the first frame. After the Hoyas’ senior guard Greg Malinowski opened second-half play with a deep threepointer, the team struggled: Three consecutive turnovers allowed Creighton to respond with a series of baskets. The Bluejays went on a 9-2 run only to be halted by a bucket from Govan. Following the first media timeout of the half, Georgetown stormed back with an alley-oop from freshman guard Josh LeBlanc to put the Hoyas only two points behind the Bluejays at 53-51. Creighton responded with a quick threepointer in transition, but Akinjo brought the Hoya faithfuls to their feet with a three-pointer to follow. In an interview with GU Hoyas, Head Coach Patrick Ewing (CAS ’85) appreciated the freshman’s poise coming off the bench. “I thought [Akinjo] did a very good job. He distributed the ball and made great plays,” Ewing said. Akinjo sought to replicate his late-game heroics against Providence in this game as he drilled a three-pointer to put the Hoyas up 85-83 with just over two minutes remaining. With the crowd members on their feet,

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Freshman guard Cassandra Gordon brings the ball down the court in a home game against Villanova. Gordon had three points and three rebounds in the win. The Hoyas outrebounded Villamova 33-26. The game was close, with the lead changing five times.

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US Soccer Market Shows Sizable Expansion HAMPERS, from A12

MLS teams. Seattle has drawn over 40,000 fans per game for the past seven years, while Atlanta set a league record last season with 53,002 fans per game, including 71,812 for its home finale. These cities have succeeded by hosting their teams’ games in large venues where American football teams typically play as well as promoting merchandise sales. The growth of the MLS, which plans to expand to 28 teams by 2021, is important for soccer’s overall expansion in the Ameri-

can market as it provides the best opportunity for fans to experience the sport firsthand. While both European and American soccer games still struggle to get the level of coverage in mainstream media outlets that the four major American leagues receive, it should be noted that soccer’s audience in the United States is young. Eleven percent of Americans aged 18 to 34 listed soccer as their favorite sport, compared to one percent of those over 55. This demographic reality means streaming platforms and social media apps, rather than

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“Despite the lack of viewership last summer, there are hopeful signs of soccer’s future in the American market.” DEAN HAMPERS

Even as many older media

gatekeepers ignore soccer, the future of sports viewership is in online experiences, where soccer will more easily compete with other sports. With a rising American star taking Europe by storm, the growth of domestic teams in the United States and the excitement of the 2026 World Cup coming to North America, there are reasons for optimism about soccer’s growth, even in the only country that does not call it football. Dean Hampers is a junior in the College. FREE KICK appears every other Friday.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Carusa Becomes 7th Hoya in NWSL CARUSA, from A12

drafted to the league. The graduate student joins several other prominent Hoya women’s soccer players, including Elizabeth Wenger of Washington Spirit, Rachel Corboz of Seattle Reign FC, Emily Menges of the Portland Thorns and Daphne Corboz of Sky Blue FC. Overall, Carusa

becomes the seventh Hoya to appear in the NWSL and the fifth to be chosen in the NWSL draft. Before her time as a Hoya, Carusa began her collegiate soccer career at Stanford University. She played in 69 games over three seasons during her undergraduate career before continuing her studies

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traditional television coverage, are popular ways to consume soccer content.

SOPHIA NUNN/THE HOYA

Kyla Carusa sheds a defender in a Big East game during the 2018 season. She was selected 19th overall in the NWSL draft.

at Georgetown for graduate school. During Carusa’s time at Stanford, she won the NCAA Division I College Cup in 2017, scoring the first goal in the team’s 3-2 championship game victory over UCLA. Carusa was also named three times to the all-Pac-12 second team and received three Pac12 all-academic honorable mentions. Earlier in her career, Carusa was selected to the 2015 Pac-12 all-freshman team, the 2016 United Soccer Coaches all-Pacific Region third team, and the 2017 United Soccer Coaches all-Pacific Region second team. In 2017, she recorded a career-high of 15 goals on the season, four of which were game-winners. She finished second in goals scored on the team in the 2017 season and second in overall points with 35. These recent recruitments of Georgetown graduates by professional leagues demonstrate the success of the Hoya women’s soccer program. Many current Hoyas are looking to follow Carusa and also pursue a career in the professional league, including Farrell, who also entered the draft this year but failed to be selected. Carusa’s experience with

the NWSL draft also reveals some of the difficulties facing collegiate athletes that hope to continue their careers on a professional level, according to Head Coach Dave Nolan. “I was very surprised with events at the NWSL Draft today,” Nolan said in an interview with GU Hoyas. “Because both Caitlin and Kyra are finishing school and are therefore not available until May, it definitely pushed coaches away and as a result, both girls suffered in their selection.” Sky Blue FC placed last in the league last year with a record of 1-17-6 and failed to qualify for the playoffs. Carusa hopes to add offense to the team and turn things around. Carusa’s selection reveals a rising interest for professional recruitment in women’s professional soccer. The expansion of women’s professional organizations may continue to encourage collegiate players, especially those in highly competitive divisions such as the Big East, to consider professional careers. For Georgetown’s women’s soccer program, the selection could signify an increase in players actively pursuing sports careers beyond the collegiate level.

Sports

Men’s and Women’s Track Penn State Nittany Lion Challenge Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25 and 26 Ashen Felter III Indoor Track

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

Both the men’s and women’s teams suffered tough opening losses, but individual performances provide promise.

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Hoya Staff Writer

KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Senior center Jessie Govan boxes out Creighton’s Davion Mintz. Govan had 22 points and 12 rebounds in the home loss Jan. 21.

Hoyas Lose Close Conference Game In Monday’s game featuring the two most dominant offenses in the Big East, the Georgetown men’s basketball team fell 91-87 to the visiting Creighton Bluejays in a game where no team could hold on to a lead until the end. Senior center Jessie Govan of Georgetown (12-7, 2-4 Big East) and sophomore guard Ty-Shon Alexander of Creighton (11-8, 2-4 Big East) led their teams as each player continued to dominate in Big East play. Govan finished with 26 points and Alexander with 22. For Georgetown, freshman guard James Akinjo provided 11 assists and six points, while senior guard Kaleb Johnson tallied eight points.

Head Coach Patrick Ewing (CAS ’85)

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The number of career wins for women’s basketball head coach James Howard.

Howard Notches 100th Career Win BEN GAVER

Hoya Staff Writer

I thought [Akinjo] did a very good job. He distributed the ball and made great plays.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

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SEAN HAGGERTY

NUMBERS GAME

TALKING POINTS

GU TENNIS

Georgetown shot 49.2 percent from the field and outrebounded Creighton 38-35. The Hoyas’ bench made major contributions, outscoring the Creighton bench by 13. Despite the Hoyas’ solid team play, Alexander’s threepointers were too much for Georgetown to overcome. Late in the the first half, the Hoyas increased their lead to 21-13 with a corner jumper from graduate student forward Trey Mourning. The Bluejays responded, however, by going on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 21-21. But Johnson put an end to the Creighton run by hitting a threepointer that made the game 24-23. The first half eventually concluded with Georgetown See CREIGHTON, A11

The Georgetown women’s basketball team took to McDonough Arena this weekend and won a pivotal Big East matchup against Villanova to secure Head Coach James Howard’s 100th career victory. Georgetown looked to improve its overall record to .500 after three consecutive losses in conference play. After Villanova (11-7, 2-5 Big East) jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, Georgetown (9-9, 3-4 Big East) quickly answered with 8-0 scoring run of their own to tie it. The back-and-forth first quarter was capped by a three-pointer from graduate student guard Dorothy Adomako to cut the Villanova lead to three. Adomako continued her momentum in the second quarter, scoring six straight points and combining with senior guard Dionna White for 15 of the Hoyas’ 21 second-quarter points. The game continued to swing back and forth, as Georgetown took a 36-35 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. The second half got off to a slow start on offense for both teams, and the Hoyas lost their lead. They found themselves down just one point heading into the fourth quarter. However, the Wildcats then extended their lead to seven with 6:07 remaining in the game. Georgetown slowly chipped away at the lead late in the game. Adomako led the charge, which included a three-point play to cut the deficit to one point and another layup that

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gave the Hoyas the lead. After four consecutive free throws from White to end the game, the Hoyas finished with a 68-63 win.

Georgetown’s comeback against its conference opponent was marked by experienced leadership. Adomako finished with a career-high 28 points in

addition to 11 rebounds, while White ended the game with 25 points and six boards of her See VILLANOVA, A11

KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Graduate sudent guard Dionna White drives the lane in a Big East battle against Villanova on Jan. 19. White tallied 25 points and pulled in six boards in the win. The Hoyas had 26 points in the paint in the game.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Soccer in US Market Kyla Carusa Drafted to Sky Blue FC Shows Encouraging Signs of Growth RACHEL GADREAU Hoya Staff Writer

Dean Hampers Despite being the most popular sport across the globe, soccer has seldom enjoyed popularity in the United States. The fall of 2017 brought a potent reminder of the United States’ lag in soccer relative to the rest of the world when the men’s national team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The team’s absence caused last summer’s American World Cup TV ratings to plummet in comparison to the 2014 tournament, when the United States shocked the world by advancing to the knockout stage. The NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB have consistently dominated the large and lucrative U.S. sports market. The least popular of these, the NHL, still brings in nearly 10 times the revenue of Major League Soccer, the top U.S. soccer division. Despite the lack of viewership last summer and the dominance of other American sports, there are hopeful signs of soccer’s future in the U.S. market. American viewership of

the English Premier League has increased in recent years due to NBC’s coverage of each game since the network bought the rights in 2013. Ratings for the 2017-18 season were up 14 percent from the previous year, reaching a record 39.3 million viewers. The Premier League is certain to get a boost in U.S. ratings next season when 20-year-old U.S. superstar Christian Pulisic joins the league. Pulisic shattered the record for the valuation of a U.S. soccer player Jan. 2 when he signed with English club Chelsea for a fee of $73 million.

Kyra Carusa is heading to the National Women’s Soccer League after draft selection by Sky Blue FC. Following an undefeated regular season marked by a Big East championship win and a bid to the NCAA Division I College Cup, graduate student forward Kyra Carusa closed out her career with

the Georgetown women’s soccer program by entering into the National Women’s Soccer League draft Jan. 18. Carusa was selected as the first pick of the third round by Sky Blue FC, a professional soccer team based in Piscataway Township, N.J., that has competed in the National Women’s Soccer League since 2013. Carusa was the 19th selection overall. Despite only playing with the Hoyas for

one season, Carusa leaves Georgetown with several notable achievements, including scoring 10 goals this season and making 12 assists as a forward for the Blue and Gray. Carusa’s name frequented the list of multiple singleseason Hoya records. She was eighth in goals, fifth in overall points and third in assists, tallying a total of 32 points this season. This total was

second on the team to senior Caitlyn Farrell with 39 points. At the end of the 2018 season, Carusa was selected to the all-Big East second team, Big East all-tournament team, College Cup all-tournament team, and the United Soccer Coaches all-east regional first team. Carusa is not the first Georgetown alumna to be See CARUSA, A11

“[MLS] level of interest among the general U.S. population has grown by 27 percent in the last six years, according to Nielsen.” DEAN HAMPERS

The MLS has yet to attract the level of talent of the major European leagues, but its level of interest among the general U.S. population has grown by 27 percent in the last six years, according to Nielsen. A few local markets have done an excellent job of generating interest in their city’s See HAMPERS, A11

KIRK ZIESER/THE HOYA

Graduate student forward Kyla Carusa, left, fights off a defender in a Big East matchup on Shaw Field. She finished the season with 10 goals, 12 assists and 32 points. Carusa also had 39 shots on goal. She will take her talents to the next level to play for Sky Blue FC in the NWSL. Visit us online at thehoya.com/category/sports