GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 96, No. 38, © 2015
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015
BULLDOG BOUT
The men’s basketball team will face Butler with seeding for the Big East tournament on the line.
EDITORIAL Rhino’s closing reflects a worrisome retail takeover of M Street.
DIVERSITY CONFERENCE Shaquille O’Neal gave the keynote at the Diversity Dialogue Conference.
OPINION, A2
NEWS, A5
SPORTS, A10
SPIRIT OF GEORGETOWN
A Look to the Past
Then & Now COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Army Specialist Training Cadets do schoolwork in their dorm room in January 1945.
COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, PLANNING AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT FILE PHOTO: EUGENE ANG/THE HOYA
COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
The Mulledy Hall Chapel, photographed in 1893, provided a space for Jesuit prayer.
Reviving History With New Academy
Upon renovation, the Former Jesuit Residence will fill with student life — once again Owen Eagan
Special to The Hoya
COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
The Mulledy community dining room allowed Jesuits and students to gather for meals.
Ryan Hall in 1904, top, and this year.
As more than 35,000 Civil War soldiers fought at the Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861, the blasts from the cannons could be heard 30 miles away at the Former Jesuit Residence on Georgetown’s campus. When the 69th and 79th regiments of the New York National Guard travelled south to D.C., many of the soldiers stayed in the collection of buildings. And when President Abraham Lincoln himself came to campus to inspect soldiers, he no doubt passed by the buildings. The buildings making up the FJR survived the Civil War, multiple fires and a smallpox pandemic. And now the FJR, built in 1830, is poised to
A Storied Past The FJR is composed of three separate buildings — Gervase Hall, Mulledy Hall and Ryan Hall, built between 1830 and 1904. Mulledy Hall formerly housed a campus dining hall, the College Chapel, an auditorium capable of accommodating more than 1,000 people and a study hall. During the Civil War, Gervase and Mulledy Halls witnessed some of the country’s most transformative moments. Following the battles of Second Bull Run and Antietam, Gervase and Mulledy Hall were transformed into a military hospital for injured soldiers. From 1957 to 2003, Jesuits lived in Ryan Hall before moving to the newly built Jesuit
enter its next phase of existence as construction is completed on the space that will house the newly developed Spirit of Georgetown Residential Academy, which will function as a Living Learning Community. More than 380 students applied last month to live in the residence, and tonight the 148 students selected to live in the LLC will choose their rooms in a housing lottery. The FJR complex, set to open this August for the 2015 fall semester, has been a widely anticipated new addition to the campus, with numerous university offices, committees and organizations working together with outside contractors since 2013 to shepherd the project to its current stage. The project aims to embrace the history and mission of Georgetown, while also looking toward the university’s future.
See RESIDENCE, A7
Netanyahu Talk Divides Groups Kristen Fedor Hoya Staff Writer
FLICKR
High school students participate in a mock trial competition at D.C. Superior Court to practice legal skills as part of GULC’s Street Law Program.
Street Law Program Connects GULC, DC Sarah Smith Hoya Staff Writer
Over the past year, national discussion has highlighted the criminal justice system’s discrimination and disconnect from local communities. Georgetown University Law Center’s D.C. Street Law Program has tried to bridge that gap for over 40 years, inserting law students into D.C. public and charter schools to introduce high school students to legal concepts. Each week, Georgetown law students
teach high school students about the law, including the criminal justice system structure, the basic rights granted to people and the operation of trials and other processes within the system. Having shaped the experience of Georgetown law students for decades, the program has evolved into a central aspect of the school. “When you speak to alumni of GULC, no matter whether they are in private practice as associates or part-
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., to speak to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday sparked a national debate about the politicization of Israel’s relationship with the United States and drew criticism from student organizations at Georgetown. In his speech, which comes in advance of Israeli legislative elections March 17, Netanyahu will address the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, urging the United States to take a stronger position in the talks. Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (ROhio) invited Netanyahu to speak in an unprecedented move, as it is customary for the president to invite foreign leaders to make speeches before Congress. Accordingly, Netanyahu’s visit
has been criticized for dragging Israel into U.S. partisan divides, particularly as the relationship between the United States and Israel has largely remained a bipartisan priority despite increased polarization in Congress. “From a bipartisan perspec-
“I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these threats.” Benjamin Netanyahu Israeli Prime Minister
tive, Israel is one of the few issues that has bipartisan support in Congress and by accepting a predominantly right-wing based offer — as an individual not representing Georgetown Israel Alliance, my greatest fear is turning
Israel into a partisan issue,” GIA President Harper Weissburg (SFS ’17) said. President Barack Obama will not be attending the speech and has declined to meet with the prime minister during his visit. Forty-one congressional Democrats and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are reportedly planning to boycott the speech because of the politicization of the meeting. J Street, a national organization describing itself as “pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-peace,” published a full-page advertisement in The New York Times that called for Netanyahu’s speech to be postponed until after the Iranian negotiations and the Israeli elections, which will both occur in the middle of March. Molly Wartenberg (SFS ’16), co-president of Georgetown’s J Street U chapter, the student arm of J See CONGRESS, A7
FEATURED NEWS Disability Day of Mourning
NEWS Cambridge Scholars
Two alumni won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship to study at Cambridge. A4
Opinion Commentary
A Teach for America corps member reflects on the state of education. A3
A vigil on Capitol Hill honored people with disabilities murdered by their parents. A5
Sports Defeated at Davidson
The baseball team dropped the doubleheader against Davidson last Sunday. thehoya.com
MULTIMEDIA Tour the New JesRes
Explore the work currently underway to convert the old Jesuit Residence into dorms. thehoya.com
See GULC, A6 Published Tuesdays and Fridays Published Tuesdays and Fridays
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