GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 95, No. 1, © 2013
TUESDAY, august 27, 2013
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Without Daphne Corboz, the Hoyas still won their first two games.
EDITORIAL Troubling trend found in unpopular summer announcements.
SPORTS, A10
NEW HOME FOR JJ The former mascot-intraining has found a new home off campus.
OPINION, A2
NEWS, A4
NORTHEAST TRIANGLE Sasaki revised designs for the planned dorm ahead of Wednesday’s forum. NEWS, A6
Summer Decisions Shun Student Input
WELCOME, CLASS OF 2017
String of surprising announcements riles campus community
ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA
Freshmen and transfer students were greeted by a balloon arch and cheerring orientation advisors when they arrived on campus for New Student Orientation on Friday night and Saturday morning. See story on A6.
GU Law UniversityPartnerVies Feels Heat For Walter Reed Land For Policy Penny Hung
Hoya Staff Writer
Hiromi Oka
Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown University Law Center received criticism for its Loan Repayment Assistance Program earlier this month. Because the Law Center’s LRAP is funded with federal dollars, the university charges higher rates for tuition than is necessary, the Federal Education Budget Project at the New America Foundation Director Jason Delisle alleged in a post on the NAF website. Currently, graduates who work for 10 years for the government, a nonprofit or in public service and make no more than $75,000 a year can have their loan repayments reimbursed by the university. Because of the 2007 Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, any Grad PLUS loans remaining after that 10-year period are forgiven, so students who qualify for both programs and go into public service will receive a free education. In 2011, Law Center Assistant Dean for Financial Aid and professor Philip Schrag said that a program such as Georgetown’s LRAP that is also tied See LAW, A5
ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA
Georgetown University’s partner firm in master planning, Forest City Washington, is on the short list for redevelopment of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Mayor Vincent Gray will choose a developer for the 67-acre tract of land, located in the District’s Ward 4 near the Maryland border, that the District is expected to receive from the Army for redevelopment, though some of the land will be occupied by the State Department. The location has been vacant since Walter Reed closed in 2011. Georgetown announced its partnership with Forest City on this project in a campus-wide email July 12. Since then, Forest City has presented to D.C. officials, as did other finalists under consideration. Georgetown’s
campus at the site would include graduate programs and research facilities, as well as the possibility of collaboration with other institutions, though the exact nature of its programming is still unclear. The Forest City team’s plan contains four interconnected neighborhood districts and related open space, which will surround a central area. This core would include Georgetown’s innovation center, restaurants, retail shops and a park. Retailers including Wegmans, Whole Foods and Harris Teeter have been suggested by Forest City developers as possibilities for the space. The three finalists — Forest City, Roadside Development and HinesUrban Atlantic-Triden — launched project websites in early August, each detailing specific visions for See EXPANSION, A5
sign, directed all requests for comment to the Office of Communications. “We tried to communicate as much information as we could as soon as we could,” Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh said. Eitan Sayag Throughout the summer, stuHoya Staff Writer dents and faculty reacted to the A series of contentious decisions unclear decision-making processmade by the university adminis- es behind university announcetration this summer have received ments. criticism for excluding students “If this is what the campus plan from the deliberation process. is going to be like for the next few Plans for the Northeast Triangle years, that’s not good.” Tisa said to residence hall were initially pre- The Hoya about the vehicle ban in sented in what appeared to be a July. finished form to Advisory NeighAfter the decision to remove borhood Commission 2E and the J.J. from campus, Steck authored Old Georgetown Board with mini- an op-ed in The Hoya calling for mal student or alumni input. A a transparent process moving forban on cars for undergraduates ward. that was a component of the 2010 “The university is at its best Campus Plan agreement was im- when it is a place of candid and plemented without any discussion transparent dialogue,” Steck with students in July. And George- wrote. “If the mascot is to be an town’s decision to remove former adequate symbol of Georgetown, mascot-in-training Jack Jr. from decisions about him should reflect campus was made without input its rich, dialogical life.” from students, alumni or J.J.’s careCriticism of Northeast Triangle taker, Fr. Chrisprompted the topher Steck, university to “It would have been S.J. hold forums “This sumfor discussion mer there better to be more of designs were a few mis- transparent and active over the next steps,” Georgefew months, town Univer- in communicating.” and Morey sity Student responded to TODD OLSON Vice President for Student Affairs Association backlash by President Nate emphasizing Tisa (SFS ’14) this commitsaid. “I think that the announce- ment to dialogue. ments that were made this sum“The recent criticism has made mer demonstrated the importance it clear to us that we need to redouof communicating with students ble our efforts to communicate often early on in the process.” broadly and transparently regardAdministrators have since re- ing our planning work,” he wrote sponded to criticism of an opaque, in July. internal decision-making process Some university decisions inat the university. volved student representatives in “On the parking policy, it would GUSA and other bodies but were have been better to be more trans- not communicated to the general parent and more active in com- student body. For example, GUSA municating that earlier,” Vice leaders and student members of a President for Student Affairs Todd design committee saw designs of Olson said about the vehicle ban. “I Northeast Triangle before the ANC certainly take responsibility that it 2E meeting. would have been ideal to publicize “I think it’s very appropriate for it more broadly earlier on.” us to work with elected student Regarding the new dormitory leaders as sort of a key connecting proposal, Olson added, “What point and also with them to reach we’ve all acknowledged since then out and provide opportunities to is it certainly would have been ide- the overall student body,” Olson al to have broader student discus- said. sions and publicity before [the preGUSA is working with adminissentation at the ANC meeting].” trators to establish office hours, inVice President for Facilities and crease the number of Hoya RoundPlanning Robin Morey, who leads tables and establish more student the university’s master planning and is a key player in the dorm deSee TRANSPARENCY, A6
Globetrotting Graduate Dies in Plane Crash Danny Funt
Hoya Staff Writer
Bess Rosenzweig was worldly, in every sense of the word. She was an avid traveler, and she and her mother were vacationing in Kenya when the two were killed in a plane crash July 25, just 10 weeks after Bess graduated from Georgetown College. Rosenzweig, 22, seemed destined for a life abroad. Born in London and raised in Cambridge, Mass., Rosenzweig had visited virtually every corner of the globe, from Venezuela and Bali to Greece and Sydney, where she studied as a junior. She was particularly fond of Africa, and was contemplating a job at a nonprofit in South Africa at the time of her death. A psychology major with a minor in French and certificate in African studies, Rosenzweig was known for being passionate and thoughtful, enamored with exploring new places but disenchanted by some aspects of modern society. She was not particularly involved on campus, although her aca-
demic advisor, Sandra Calvert, said that Georgetown’s emphasis on social justice resonated with Rosenzweig. “I always thought of Bess as a Renaissance woman,” said Calvert, who also taught Rosenzweig in two psychology courses. “I think Bess was someone who always had her own inner voice. She had a clear vision of her own life and what she wanted out of it.” Rosenzweig enjoyed traveling with her mother, Claire Clube, who was 48. They were nearing the end of a two-week vacation in Kenya when their small plane crashed en route to the capital city of Nairobi, killing the two passengers and the pilot. Their bodies were recovered three days after the crash, the cause of which is unknown. Although a privileged socio-economic background allowed Rosenzweig to travel so extensively, her time spent abroad was usually unlike that of the average tourist.
COURTESY CALEY BEARD
Bess Rosenzweig and her mother, pictured above, enjoyed travelling the world together, including to a beach in Venezuela, left. The pair died in a plane crash in Kenya on July 25.
See ROSENZWEIG, A5
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