The Hoya: October 17, 2014

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GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 96, No. 14, © 2014

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2014

LIVING ONLINE

Students note the impact of social media on their social lives at college.

EDITORIAL Outlandish proposals from the university serve only to frustrate students.

GUIDE, B1

OPINION, A2

SYNOD ON FAMILY The Vatican showed support for gay and lesbian Catholics.

WOMEN’S SOCCER The No. 25 Hoyas scored a 4-0 win over Marquette at home Sunday.

NEWS, A5

SPORTS, B10

Center Consolidation Proposed Natalie LaRue

Special to The Hoya

COURTESY LADARIUS TORREY

Students joined in protests in Ferguson, Mo., over Columbus Day weekend as part of Ferguson October.

Students Travel to Ferguson for Protests Margaret Heftler

Square. Participation was open to anyone who wanted to attend. The weekend of resistance was Two months after unarmed a part of Ferguson October, a seteenager Michael Brown was shot ries of protests, marches and panby a police officer, 17 Georgetown els hosted by Hands Up United, students travelled to Ferguson, Organization for Black Struggle Mo., for the Ferguson October and Missourians Organizing for march last weekend, participat- Reform and Empowerment. Fortying in teach-ins and other protests nine participants were arrested against police brutality and rac- during the weekend. ism. The Georgetown participants The students reflected on their belonged to the Georgetown chapexperiences during the “Week- ter of the NAACP, Black Student end of Resistance” at a discussion Alliance, Program on Justice and group hosted by the Black Lead- Peace, Patrick Healy Fellowship, ership Forum, Center for Social Georgetown Solidarity CommitJustice, and tee and United Program on Feminists. Justice and Michael Peace in the Martin (COL Intercultural ’17) said that Center on he went on the Monday. trip in order to GU NAACP gain a better President Miunderstandkaela Ferrill ing of the (COL ’15), who situation in went on the Ferguson and LADARIUS TORREY (COL ’17) trip, said that to express his she was moved frustrations. by the solidarity between different “The amount of energy and pasgroups of protesters. sion the people of Ferguson had “Being in the march on Sunday and put together as a community with people of different types of was amazing, it was sort of inspiraabilities, colors, genders, ages — tional,” Martin wrote in an email. that was really, really important,” “Now I want to make sure my peers Ferrill said. “I’ve always been inter- and I bring back that same energy ested in coalition building. … One and passion and help to educate of the best parts of my weekend the students of Georgetown about was seeing solidarity in action.” the seriousness of police brutality The trip was funded by the CSJ in America and how it is detrimenand the Office Affirmative Action tal to our society.” Programs. The marchers also reLaDarius Torrey (COL ’17) also ceived about $1,000 in donations through fundraising efforts in Red See FERGUSON, A6

Special to The Hoya

A tentative plan to combine Georgetown’s LGBTQ Center, Women’s Center and Center for Multicultural Equity and Access has drawn criticism from students opposed to any sort of merger. According to Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson, the administration has not made any concrete plans to consolidate these offices. Olson discussed the issue with students during his open office hours last Friday. “We are considering ways to create more coherence in the programming and work of these offices,” Olson wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We are committed to preserving the distinctive identities and ‘safe spaces’ of these three important offices. We are looking at opportunities to locate all three offices near each other. ... No decisions have been made about this, and we will continue engaging with students and listening to their perspectives.” The LGBTQ Center, the first of its type at an American, Catholic university, was created in 2007 after University President John J. DeGioia convened a working group in reaction to a rash of hate crimes against LGBTQ students. The CMEA aims to serve students who have traditionally faced discrimination due to race or ethnicity by providing multicultural programming, diversity education and academic support. The Student of Color Alliance, the Community Scholars

JOSH GORDON/THE HOYA

A proposal would combine the LGBTQ Resource Center and the Women’s Center (above) with the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access. Program and the Black House are among the programs and services provided by CMEA. The Women’s Center was founded in 1990 and offers a number of programs to support women on campus, including the Are You Ready sexual assault awareness campaign, the Women and Gender Equity fellowship program and programming for Women’s History Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The centers all have dedicated staff members who run programming and services for their respective audiences. Olson did not specify

Local rabbi had taught Jewish law seminar at Georgetown Law Suzanne Monyak Hoya Staff Writer

University Police Department’s removal of H*yas for Choice from a public sidewalk outside of the university’s front gates on 37th and O streets on Sept. 22 as they held a peaceful protest of the university’s bestowment of an honorary degree upon Donald Cardinal Wuerl. “In light of recent decisions made by university officials to systematically suppress substantive speech, we have decided to take concrete action to reform Georgetown’s existing Speech and Expression Policy,” the release read. The petition states that the current Speech and Expression Policy is often ambiguously interpreted by administrators, leading to an inconsistency in implementation. “The Speech and Expression policy’s vague language allows university officials to interpret policy in a manner that suits their immediate needs rather than applying a consistent standard; in addition, it often leaves members of the university community unsure about what rights they have,” the petition stated. The HUFS’s petition lists seven

Rabbi Barry Freundel, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi for the Georgetown neighborhood’s Kesher Israel congregation who taught at the Georgetown University Law Center and other local universities, was arrested on charges of voyeurism Tuesday. Freundel allegedly installed a recording device in the women’s mikvah, a private rituBARRY al bath, at the Kesher FREUNDEL Israel Orthodox synagogue, located at 2801 N St. He pled not guilty to six counts of voyeurism in D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday. Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump said the case is still under investigation. According to GULC spokesperson Elissa Free, Freundel has served as an adjunct law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center since the early 1990s, teaching a seminar on Jewish law, but is not teaching this semester. Free did not specify when Freundel last taught at the university. According to the MPD police report, a 35-year-old female observed Freundel installing the recording device Sept. 28, which was in the form of a black radio clock called a Dream Machine. Freundel stated that he was using the clock radio for ventilation in the shower. The Washington Post reported that police found recordings of six women on two separate dates in 2014. Freundel, 62, has been suspended without pay from the synagogue and from his position as the Rav Hamachshir, overseer of the mikvah. “This is a painful moment for Kesher Israel Congregation and the entire Jewish community. At this challenging time, we draw strength from our faith, our tradition, and our fellow congre-

See SPEECH, A6

See RABBI, A5

MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA

LGBTQ Center Director Shiva Subbaraman leads students through a door in honor of Coming Out Day, part of the month of OUTober.

New Group Calls for Extensive Speech Reforms Katherine Richardson Hoya Staff Writer

ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947

See CENTER, A6

Rabbi Arrested for Voyeurism

COMING OUT DAY

“After coming back from Ferguson, I feel personally obligated to continue to combat injustices.”

A letter from Hoyas United for Free Speech asks the university to eliminate the system designating free speech zones, like Red Square.

to students or to The Hoya whether a merger of the centers would eliminate staff positions or cut costs. CMEA Director Charlene BrownMcKenzie, Academic Resource Center Director Jane Holahan, Women’s Center Director Laura Kovach, LGBTQ Resource Center Director Sivagami Subbaraman, and Associate Dean of Students and CMEA Director Dennis Williams released a joint statement about the consolidation at the beginning of the month, and said that they are still in the early

An organization called Hoyas United for Free Speech created a petition addressed to Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson calling for extensive reform to the university’s Free Speech and Expression Policy on Wednesday night. As of Thursday night, the petition had received over 150 student and faculty signatures, according to H*yas for Choice President Abby Grace (SFS ’16), who is also a member of HUFS. The petition will remain active for two weeks before the group sends it to Olson. HUFS, which was formed to create this petition, involves around 30 students from a variety of campus groups, including but not limited to H*yas for Choice, Georgetown Solidarity Committee, GU Pride and GU Fossil Free. A number of unaffiliated students are also involved in HUFS. According to a release from HUFS that accompanied the petition Wednesday night, the petition was created in response to oppression of free speech on campus. The press release cited the Georgetown Published Tuesdays and Fridays

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