Immigration and Customs Enforcement reversed “most” of GW students’ revoked visas after President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday restored thousands of international students’ legal statuses, the University confirmed Saturday.
ICE has restored the Student Exchange and Information System status for “most” of the international student visas that the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies revoked since the onset of President Donald Trump’s second term, a University spokesperson said on Saturday. The restorations follow the Trump administration’s decision Friday to reinstate the legal status of thousands of international student visas, marking a policy shift
Officials announced in a weekly “federal update” email on Thursday that the University is aware of four current students and six recently graduated students who have had their visas terminated by federal agencies. The University spokesperson did not specify which or how many of the current or graduated students’ visa statuses have been restored.
“We will continue to monitor the SEVIS status of our international students as well as further administration developments,” University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said in an email.
The SEVIS database is a system universities use to determine international students’ immigration statuses. Since Jan. 20, federal agencies have deleted the SEVIS records for
over 4,700 international students nationwide, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
More than 1,800 international students and recent graduates from over 280 universities nationwide have faced visa revocations since Trump took office in January, according to an Inside Higher Ed tracker.
The Trump administration’s reversal comes amid a flurry of lawsuits from international students. The administration signaled that the reversal is temporary and records are being reinstated as the administration continues to work on a framework for reviewing and terminating international student visas.
“We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation,” Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia
McLaughlin said. “What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked.”
University spokesperson Julia Garbitt earlier this month said officials continue to assist students affected by visa terminations and provide immigration and safety information to students and community members. She said the University is aware that the revoked visas have caused “concern and anxiety” within GW’s international community.
“The University continues to encourage community members to take advantage of available mental health and wellness support services, including GW Counseling and Psychological Services for students and the Employee Assistance Program for faculty and staff,” Garbitt said in an email earlier this month.
GW not currently facing imminent federal actions, Washington Post reports
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI STAFF WRITER
A senior White House official said President Donald Trump’s administration has no “forthcoming” actions against GW despite their federal crackdown on universities nationwide, The Washington Post reported Sunday morning.
The Post reported a senior White House official — who spoke to the paper on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans — said the Trump administration has no current plans to take action against the University. The comment comes after the Department of Justice announced in February that a federal task force to combat antisemitism will visit GW and nine other universities to investigate alleged incidents of antisemitism since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Trump, during his first three months in office, has cracked down on universities nationwide that he alleges failed to protect students against antisemitism on their campuses. He’s also targeted schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion policies in an effort to curtail practices that he said have unfairly discriminated against white Americans.
Trump officials earlier this month froze $1 billion from Cornell University’s federal funding and an additional $790 million from Northwestern University, pointing to allegations of antisemitism and racial discrimination from their promotion of diversity. His administration also froze $2.2 billion in grants and contracts to Harvard University earlier this month after the Justice Department task force visited the school.
The Justice Department announced in late February that the same federal task force would visit GW to investigate whether the University failed to protect Jewish community members from unlawful discrimination and antisemitism but didn’t specify the timeline of their visit. The University could face “remedial action” if they are found responsible for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from incidents of antisemitism that have occurred on campus since Oct. 7, 2023, according to a DOJ press release.
Four people familiar with University planning told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions that University officials have been “meeting regularly” to discuss action plans in response to Trump’s actions.
University President Ellen Granberg said at a Faculty Senate meeting in April that she planned to attend a conference call in the coming days with other university leaders around the country to discuss a response to the Trump administration’s actions.
The GW Hospital nurses’ union formed a picket line on Friday morning to condemn the hospital’s alleged “union busting” efforts and highlight unfair labor practice charges the union filed in recent weeks, months after reaching a settlement to begin negotiating a fair contract.
The picketers began chanting and touting signs outside of GW Hospital at 6:30 a.m. on Friday morning, marching around chalk block letters reading “Safe staffing saves lives” as they condemned the hospital’s firing of two nurses. After the union and hospital reached a settlement in December, the District of Columbia Nurses Association filed five unfair labor charges earlier this month, alleging that hospital management violated the settlement by disciplining and firing nurses for posting union materials, with nurses fearing retaliation from the hospital.
“We want to have UHS start treating these nurses with dignity and respect,” DCNA Executive Director Ed Smith said. “And that ultimately helps your patient care, and that’s why we’re here.”
In the last month, GW Hospital fired two nurses — Elizabeth Grosh and Trevor Goss-Packard — and issued a final written warning to
another, Mary Kelley, which Smith said stemmed from their union involvement.
“We’re out here to picket to hold the employer accountable for its retaliatory action taken against the nurse leaders,” Smith said.
The group of demonstrators — donning DCNA shirts, scrubs and street clothes — peaked at about 30 people. The group circled the entrance of the hospital with signs reading “Your family deserves safe care” and “Patient needs over UHS greed.”
In bargaining meetings that occurred earlier this week between union leaders and Universal Health Services — the health care provider that manages GW Hospital — UHS and hospital management tenatively agreed to discipline employees only for “just cause,” and nurses are now subject to progressive discipline,
meaning they cannot be fired by the hospital immediately for “minor misconduct,” a DCNA bulletin distributed at the picket states.
The picket line briefly paused at about 8 a.m., halting the chanting led by a demonstrator with a megaphone. Union leaders spoke in support of the nurses’ union, calling for the reinstatement of Goss-Packard and Grosh.
“They fired Liz and Trevor,” Smith told the crowd. “You know why they fired them? They fired them because they were passing out literature in break rooms, union literature. Is that against the law?”
“No,” replied the crowd.
Smith referred picketers and pedestrians to sign a petition demanding UHS reinstate Grosh and GossPackard.
NEWS EDITOR
SACHINI ADIKARI CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
On the morning of April 25, 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters pitched tents in University Yard, commencing a 13-day encampment thats memory still permeates campus culture, discourse and physical landscape a year
after local police dismantled the demonstration.
The 13-day encampment exposed underlying issues that began festering at the onset of the war in Gaza, like free speech, shared governance and GW’s alleged financial connections to companies with ties to Israel. Community, Congressional and now federal scrutiny has forced the University to begin reckoning with the lasting campus divisions.
Throughout the encampment, protesters called on University leaders to drop prior disciplinary charges against
pro-Palestinian student demonstrators, protect free speech on campus and disclose and divest from companies with ties to Israel, saying they would not leave U-Yard until their demands were met by officials.
Faculty, staff, alumni and Foggy Bottom residents expressed an array of reactions to the encampment, with some supporting students’ rights to free speech and the pro-Palestinian movement and others raising concerns about antisemitism and campus disruption.
KYRA WOOD | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students protest United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for revoking international student visas in front of the White House Friday.
Protesters march through Foggy Bottom on anniversary of pro-Palestinian encampment
BRYSON KLOESEL STAFF WRITER
About 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched from the State Department to the White House Friday, condemning U.S. support for Israel in the war in Gaza and commemorating the one-year anniversary of the proPalestinian student encampment in University Yard.
Protesters gathered outside the State Department’s 21st Street pavilion at 4 p.m., chanting for a U.S. arms embargo on Israel and hosting several speakers — while other demonstrators squeezed small rubber pigs and chided State Department employees exiting the building with chants of “How many kids did you kill today?” Speakers from several local advocacy organizations, including the GW Coalition of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace at GW, spoke about the war in Gaza before the group marched to U-Yard, where they decried Metropolitan Police Department’s use of force on student protesters to clear the pro-Palestinian encampment and reflected on the demonstration last spring.
A speaker who identified themselves as an organizer with DMV Palestinian Youth Movement began speaking at about 4:30 p.m. and said demonstrators were answering a “call” from doctors, journalists, educators and families in Gaza
“Today, we are here to respond to that call and show our people in Gaza that we are and we will remain firmly by their side,” the representative said.
DMV PYM announced the protest on Instagram April 16 as part of a global “Day of Action” for Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended a 42 day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on March 18 with a series of strikes in Gaza killing more than a thousand people before April 2, according to the United Nations.
A representative from the Metro
D.C. Democratic Socialists of America condemned former President Joe Biden’s and President Donald Trump’s administrations’ continued financial support for Israel and called for an arms embargo against the country.
The representative said over months of continued protests against the war, the movement has received “growing recognition by the masses,” which has caused more people to become involved in advocacy against Israel and the Trump administration. They said advocates must continue to resist to see “structural changes.”
“We are all seeing an influx of newly politicized community members who are compelled to take action against the genocide of Palestine and Trump’s fascism,” the speaker said.
Five counter-protesters waving Betar — a branch of a Zionist youth movement that claims to have provided names of international students to deport to the Trump administration — Israeli and American flags arrived at 5:15 p.m., flanked by pro-Palestinian protesters and police officers.
GW tightens security, considers stricter protest policies following proPalestinian encampment
RORY QUEALY NEWS EDITOR
In the year following GW’s pro-Palestinian encampment, officials bolstered campus security and continue to weigh stricter protest policies, which experts say signal that GW is prioritizing order over free expression.
Officials in August said they heightened campus police patrols and security guard presence and fenced off University Yard in an apparent effort to avoid a repeat of last spring, when the Metropolitan Police Department arrested 33 participants at the proPalestinian encampment that occupied U-Yard for 13 days. Some students say the securitization makes them feel safer, while others and experts in policing and social protest say GW followed a national trend of universities criminalizing free expression following waves of student protests.
Across the country, universities have tightened protest rules, instated stricter punishments for demonstrators and locked down campus spaces, seemingly attempting to quell future demonstrations after pro-Palestinian students mobilized to form pro-Palestinian encampments nationwide last spring. GW was no exception. When students returned to campus in August, officials unveiled an updated plan to boost safety and security, which included retaining fencing that blocks off U-Yard and limiting the space’s access to between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., but since removed the posted hours from the plan’s website. The plan also increased GWPD patrols and added 24/7 security in Kogan Plaza and
U-Yard.
“They are making it increasingly difficult for us to do the work that we do,” a representative from Students for Justice in Palestine at GW, who requested anonymity due to fear of retribution from the University, said.
Pro-Palestinian student protests simultaneously chilled nationwide over the last few months, with about 950 protest events in the fall 2024 semester, compared to more than 3,000 in spring 2024, according to Harvard University’s Nonviolent Action Lab.
University spokesperson Julia Garbitt said GW also utilizes security cameras and video monitoring in common areas and where “increased security is needed.”
Garbitt declined to comment on which changes officials made in response to the encampment.
GW began weighing draft protest policies last month that would prohibit demonstrations that make “excessive noise” and disrupt University operations, which officials collected community feedback on through April 18.
Some Jewish students who felt targeted by the protests praise the changes for helping to restore safety and order.
Junior Geena Seflin, a member of the Jewish Student Association, said she’s noticed the heightened police and security guard presence on campus this academic year, particularly during student protests, which would make her feel “much safer” in the event that a “physical issue” arises.
“I appreciate the effort that they did put in to protect the well-being of Jewish students on campus,” Seflin said.
A group of about five members of Neturei Karta, whose website states the organization’s opposition to the “Zionist occupation of Palestine,” waved signs reading “Judaism demands FREEDOM for GAZA and ALL PALESTINE & forbids any Jewish State.”
Protesters at about 6:15 p.m. marched north up 21st Street and turned right on H Street as police assembled in front of the main gates of U-Yard. Speakers and protesters holding banners rallied in front of the officers.
A speaker with SJP began speaking at about 6:30 p.m. and said the U-Yard fences, which University officials installed shortly after police and administration worked to “violently raid” pro-Palestinian demonstrators who set up an encampment that occupied U-Yard for 13 days, proved the power of the “student intifada.”
“We took back this land from George Washington University, renaming it ‘Shohada Square,’” a speaker from the GW Coalition of Students for Justice in Palestine said.
CRIME LOG
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY/VANDALISM
Lloyd Gym
Reported 4/17/25 – Unknown Date and Time
Closed Case
A female staff member reported spray painted graffiti on the wall of the Fitness Center in West Hall. The paint was removed shortly after the report. No suspects or witnesses.
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY/VANDALISM
Academic Center
Reported 4/21/25 – Unknown Date and Time
Closed Case
A male staff member reported graffiti detailing anti-President Donald Trump writing in a bathroom stall. No suspects or witnesses.
ROBBERY-ARMED
Off Campus
4/19/25 – 12 a.m.
Closed Case
A woman reported being robbed at knifepoint by an unknown subject who stole her wallet with cash, credit cards and a phone inside. Off-campus incident.
UNLAWFUL ENTRY
Elliott School of International Affairs
4/24/25 – 6:01 a.m.
Closed Case
GW Police Department officers escorted an unauthorized woman off GW property and issued her a bar notice. Subject barred.
SGA leaders laud student event programming efforts at end of term
KHANH DANG STAFF WRITER
Outgoing Student Government Association President Ethan Fitzgerald and Vice President Ethan Lynne said they take pride in their efforts to bring students together through SGA initiatives in a year marked by heightened campus division and protests.
Over the past year in the SGA’s top roles, Fitzgerald and Lynne hosted inaugural events for student organizations, obtained a mobile ID option for all students and secured increased funding from the University for student organizations. Leading the SGA during a period of intensified campus protests surrounding the war in Gaza, both Lynne and Fitzgerald said they gained perspective on the divided views of the student body and still wished they did more to further amplify student voices outside of the SGA through expanded town hall events and collaboration with students.
Fitzgerald said as president he aimed to make the SGA into a “student union” through expanded financial support and events for student organizations, like the inaugural Day for the Nations and monthly student organization presidents’ meetings to grow the presence of student organizations on campus.
Fitzgerald said at next month’s Board of Trustees meeting, the Board will approve an additional $1 million in funding for student organizations’ budgets and the University-Wide Programs Fund after a year of advocacy from Fitzgerald to the Board.
Fitzgerald said entering the SGA presidency amid campus protests was a “challenge,” but it emphasized to him the significance of building trust between students and administration in order to incorporate
more student voices in University decisions. Fitzgerald and Lynne assumed office on day five of the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard, which lasted 13 days last spring.
In October, Fitzgerald launched three “working groups” to facilitate conversations among University officials, alumni and students about free speech, financial transparency and inclusion of groups, like multicultural student organizations on campus.
“What a good leader does is make sure to voice and check their own biases and to voice the perspectives of all so that President Granberg or other leaders when they’re making decisions are able to do so in a way that’s accountable to the needs of all students,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said the primary issue he faced throughout his term was the “slow timeline” once the SGA submits proposals in receiving responses from University officials on initiatives he included in his platform for SGA president, like obtaining student voting power on the Board and securing mental health days for students.
Since taking office,
Fitzgerald said he has appeared in front of the Board’s Governance and Nominations Committee and discussed adding student voting power to the board with Granberg, which he said has helped “broaden” the conversation about shared governance, but he said officials’ slow responses times have delayed any tangible change on the initiative.
“I am proud of the work we did this year on changing that conversation and making sure that it was considered, but of course I hope this is a project that is continued,” Fitzgerald said.
Lynne, who ran on a platform of expanding dining hall food options and increasing funding for student organizations last spring, said he is most proud of his work to eliminate venue costs for student organization events and secure Election Day as a University holiday. Lynne also campaigned on a goal of adding a mobile GWorld option for students, which the University debuted in March.
Lynne said he hopes to continue much of his work as SGA vice president into his tenure as SGA president next year, following his re-
cent election to the body’s top post.
Lynne said his largest challenge this year was communicating with administration because of the complications with “GW bureaucracy.” He said he worked wit.h Fitzgerald to submit a tuition lock proposal to the Faculty Senate, but the body ultimately struck down the idea.
As he enters his presidency, Lynne said his administration will figure out how to “recuperate” and achieve some “wins” in expanding tuition transparency for students.
“I’m in April, and I still feel like I’m learning some parts,” Lynne said. “It’s a very complicated kind of beast to navigate, and that took a lot of the year figuring out the right way to kind of move initiatives across the finish line.”
Lynne’s presidential platform included pledges to incorporate students into the selection process for a new GW Police Department chief, forming a student panel to identify concerns with the Student Health Center and creating a student committee to advocate for removal of the fences in U-Yard.
—Compiled by Ella Mitchell and Bryson Kloesel
KYRA WOOD | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pro-Palestinian protesters march from the State Department to the White House on Friday.
TOM RATH | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Ethan Fitzgerald and Ethan Lynne pose for a portrait in Kogan Plaza.
Accountancy graduate program eyes upgrades to counter enrollment dip
ALLISON NEVINS
REPORTER
VICTORIA SMAJLAJ
REPORTER
The School of Business’ Master of Accountancy program saw a nearly 73 percent decrease in enrollment over the past decade, which department faculty said may be connected to the drop in new international student enrollment in 2024 and growing demand in data analytics.
Department leaders said the program is working to mitigate the decline in students from 214 in 2014 to 58 in 2024 by increasing its marketing to undergraduate students and adding data analytics and artificial intelligence to modernize the curriculum as the accounting industry incorporates those skills into the field. Scott Lancaster, the director of the Master of Accountancy program, said the department started a STEM Master of Accountancy program in fall 2022 and that the department has to enroll more domestic students because international student enrollment faces challenges after a decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic and the current political environment where he said many students have had their visas revoked or denied by the State Department.
Enrollment in the program dropped from 141 students in 2019 to 109 in 2020 and sank to a low of 52 in 2023, according to the enrollment dashboard.
The State Department has revoked more than 1,800 student visas since President Donald Trump took office in January. Provost Chris Bracey said Tuesday that the State Department revoked the visas of around five students and five recent graduates, though officials said Saturday that federal immigration
status had been restored for “most of the small number of impacted GW international students” following an announcement Friday that the United States would restore legal status for thousands of international students.
In the last decade, the number of international students in the Master of Accountancy program dropped from a peak of 164 in 2014 to just 33 in 2024, according to the enrollment dashboard.
“We’ve relied on the international students,” Lancaster said. “We might want to look at domestic students a little more.”
Lancaster said the program earned the federal STEM designation through the Department of Homeland Security, which allows students to obtain a 24-month extension of postcompletion optional practical training F-1 status. The F-1 student visa is a nonimmigrant visa used by international students in the United States, and the OPT extension allows students to work in the United States for 12 or 24 months depending on their program after graduating.
Lancaster said he and his colleagues have been brainstorming alternative marketing strategies, like intentional marketing to nonaccounting undergraduate students potentially interested in a career change, which he said may help bring an additional market into the program.
“What I think is changing, though, is the market, who the students are, and that’s who I think we have to better address,” Lancaster said.
He added that the master’s program is “isolated” in facing a lack of enrollment struggle, as the undergraduate accounting program’s enrollment numbers are “very strong.” The number of undergraduate students major-
ing in accounting increased from 86 in 2022 to 120 in 2024, according to the enrollment dashboard.
Lancaster said more students who would traditionally study accounting are beginning to go into similar fields, like data analytics, because the profession is “pushing” students in that direction. He said data analytics has become a more appealing career path than accountancy because of better salaries and is projected to grow by 36 percent from 2023 to 2033, compared to 6 percent for accountants.
The median pay for a data scientist is about $113,000 a year, compared to $82,000 for accountants, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Big Four accounting
firms — Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG — have started to increase accounting salaries in an effort to combat a national decline in student enrollment in accountancy programs nationwide.
He said the program added an analytics in accounting course in the spring of 2020 in an effort to bring an “analytical side” and expand the skillsets of students. The course started as an experimental course but was later kept as a permanent offering. He added that the program is using decision science for the analytics curriculum and is in the process of implementing it in all the courses to ensure each course has a STEM curriculum.
Three years after shared governance agreement, faculty call for more consultation
ARJUN SRINIVAS STAFF WRITER
As GW nears the three-year anniversary of its commitment to their shared governance principles, faculty say involvement in key decisions, like the arming of the GW Police Department and the handling of the pro-Palestinian encampment has been insufficient.
Faculty leaders said officials need to give faculty the opportunity play a more prominent role in the creation of University policy, especially in the wake of controversies in recent years regarding the University’s decision to arm GWPD, the Medical Faculty Associates’ financial struggles and their handling of the encampment. Faculty acknowledged the University has taken strides in increasing transparency surrounding their decision-making since the approval of shared governance principles in 2022 but pushed officials to further enhance faculty involvement in policy development.
The Board of Trustees ratified the principles in May 2022 after a task force consisting of faculty, trustees and administrators found that faculty should play a role in “key decision making” and have primary jurisdiction over “specific areas” of academic policy at the University. The principles were created in the aftermath of widespread distrust in former University President Thomas LeBlanc’s leadership.
Arthur Wilson, a professor of finance and the chair of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee during the development of the principles, said the idea of shared governance at the University gained traction with faculty following the unveiling of LeBlanc’s 20/30 strategic plan in 2019.
Wilson also said the senate’s meeting with trustees as part of the principles meant data alerted faculty about the MFA’s rising financial headwinds. Faculty senators have consistently pressured the administration to provide a timeline for improving the MFA’s financial status at meetings.
“They know that the faculty care,” Wilson said. “They know that the faculty are aware and that it is their job, that it is the trustees’ job and the administration’s job to solve the problem that they concealed from the faculty for so long.”
Shaista Khilji, a professor of human and organizational learning and a member of the task force charged by the Faculty Senate in drafting the University’s shared governance principles in 2022, said officials’ handling of many
recent University decisions show GW leadership has not “genuinely sought” shared governance, despite pledging to do so when ratifying the principles.
“The trustees decide, the admin implements with a façade of faculty involvement, and faculty are mostly surprised; they make a little noise but are largely ignored or unheard,” Khilji said in an email.
Khilji said she hopes the University will take an “honest look” at the past three years to improve shared governance.
“Shared governance is never a one-off effort,” Khilji said. “It should be constantly assessed to strive towards a more collaborative and meaningful practice.”
Faculty senator Guillermo Orti, the chair of the biological sciences department, said shared governance “evolved” following the University’s encampment last spring, adding that officials managed their response to communication with students “without” faculty input.
Orti said the Faculty Senate passed a resolution in September, calling on University leadership to “meaningfully” consult faculty on all policies that affect faculty and students, not just academic ones.
“It’s a good thing,” Orti said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”
Dwayne Wright, an assistant professor of higher education administration, said he thinks the administration should treat faculty less like “employees” and more like “partners” when decisions are made at the University. He said if faculty had more control over “academic” issues, the handling of other affairs could be left to the trustees and administration.
“I do believe if the administration were to let go a bit and give faculty true authority, true partnership, like I said, a marriage, or true veto rights in the sphere of academic control, faculty would understand and care less about the nonacademic issues,” Wright said.
“The other part is other professions, such as data analytics, have started to take away students that would become normally accountants, and they’ve started to go into that direction, into the analytics,” Lancaster said. Lancaster said that while AI can speed up the more technical parts of accounting, it’s still worthwhile for students to study accounting because there will always be a need for accountants.
“You’re not here to process transactions,” Lancaster said. “Machines do that really well. You’re here to manage processes and own them, and that’s what we’re trying to teach.”
Oded Rozenbaum, a professor of accountancy, said the decrease in enrollment
within the past decade reflects the national decline in undergraduate accountancy enrollment but believes that the program will start to see an increase as some of the “Big Four” accounting firms begin to increase salaries.
Accounting firm EY said last year they planned to raise starting salaries for accounts by 10 percent starting in late 2024 in an effort to combat the shortage of entrylevel accountants. In 2022, KPMG said it would spend $160 million on salary increases for its U.S. employees.
“There was no incentive to study accounting, even if you wanted to work in the Big Four because data analytics was the hype and probably still is,” Rozenbaum said.
GW may boost aid,
cial need of residential undergraduate students to “expand access” and “ensure” all admits are able to attend GW.
A draft of GW’s next strategic plan lists meeting undergraduate students’ full demonstrated financial need as a goal for officials, which experts say the University could achieve by admitting fewer students who rely on financial aid and setting aside additional funds to supplement tuition payments.
University President Ellen Granberg and Provost Chris Bracey earlier this month released a draft framework for the University’s first strategic plan since 2020 that includes a goal to create a “multiyear strategy” that meets the “full” demonstrated financial need of residential undergraduate students. Higher education experts said the goal to meet students’ full demonstrated financial need could mean the University sets aside a certain amount of financial aid available for students, like loans or grants, and enrolls less students that require financial assistance.
Officials outlined three “institutional priorities” in the strategic plan set to launch this fall, including generating scholarship with impact, preparing students to be strong and resilient leaders and strengthening the University’s foundation for excellence. Under each priority, officials detailed between three and five goals that would help achieve each priority.
University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said the University understands paying for college is “one of the biggest” financial decisions families and students “ever make.” She said the University is considering steps to meet the full demonstrated finan-
“While we currently meet the full need of most of our Pell Granteligible students, the strategic framework being developed aims to extend this commitment to the remaining residential undergraduate students with demonstrated unmet financial need,” McClendon said.
McClendon said the draft strategic framework is a “living document,” and the University encourages students, faculty and staff to share feedback and ask questions to the steering committee at one of their five upcoming briefings.
Madhavi Venkatesan, an associate teaching professor of economics at Northeastern University, said the University’s goal is “very ambiguous” because it could mean that the University sets aside a certain amount of money per year for financial assistance or admits more students that don’t show demonstrated financial need.
She said universities meeting financial aid does not necessarily mean the University will have a more economically diverse population because the University could admit more students that don’t demonstrate financial need, maintaining a lack of economic diversity.
“What you might start to see is if it’s a situation where some institutions do provide a desirable financial package to create a more heterogeneous financial mix in a student body, you’ll see that occur there,” Venkatesan said. “If some institutions don’t, and they’ll have a more homogeneous mix.”
JORDAN YEE | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Department of Accountancy office in Funger Hall.
GIANNA
RAPHAEL KELLNER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Student Payment Mailbox in the University Student Center.
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Shaista Khilji poses for a portrait in Kogan Plaza.
Leadership academy alums reflect on forging connections, growing skills
Following settlement, terminated nurses decry unfair labor practices
A professional development program for University faculty and staff that recently graduated its fifth cohort has improved leadership skills and the relationship between GW officials and faculty, program alumni said.
The GW Academic Leadership Academy, started by former Provost Forrest Maltzman and Provost Chris Bracey in 2019 to develop leadership talent at GW, is a yearlong cohortbased program with monthly sessions where attendees hear from University leaders on topics, like conflict management and emotional intelligence. New graduates and program alumni said the networking opportunities and assignments helped them make connections across the University and improve their confidence in taking leadership positions.
Participants in the free program are selected through a nomination process, either from self-nominations or from a fellow GW colleague. In addition to the monthly sessions, participants complete a project of their choosing, usually with the goal of improving their department. The projects are presented to all of the cohort members at the end of the program via verbal presentation, written blog or poster.
University spokesperson Katelyn Deckelbaum said the University remains “committed” to the academy’s growth and refines the curriculum each year.
“Our primary goal is to offer a transformative learning experience that enhances leadership skills through self-reflection, continuous development, and a collaborative culture—ultimately empowering faculty and staff to become leaders who uplift and support others across the institution,” Deckelbaum said in an email.
Each of the monthly sessions — which attendees said last between an hour and a half to two hours — generally consisted of talks delivered by GW officials, like Bracey, deans and discussions led by the
program’s facilitator, Sara Melita.
Melita said assignments before a session are “minimal” and that the project component of the program ensured participants could “immediately” apply what they learned to real-world challenges.
Melita said she worked closely with Maltzman and Bracey when developing the curriculum and consulted with Ellen Goldman, a School of Medicine & Health Sciences professor who spearheaded a similar nine-month cohort-based program started in January 2018 to boost leadership skills for SMHS faculty and staff.
Sherrie Wallington, a professor in the School of Nursing, said she benefited from conversations with GW officials to discuss their projects and get feedback on improving their departments.
“Some of the best meetings and conversations were when Provost Bracey and Sara Melita would invite other senior leaders across the campus,” Wallington said.
Ahdeah PajooheshGanji, an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology and a graduate from the last year’s cohort, said she grew from getting “360 feedback,” a part of the program where participants receive constructive criticism about their leadership style from everyone they work with, including deans, colleagues and staff. She added that programs like these are valuable because many people who are promoted to leadership positions, including herself, don’t inherently have the skills necessary to automatically be effective leaders when they step into
Campus grapples with
“These activities and their underlying causes have created deep fissures in our community that will take time to heal,” Granberg and Bracey said in the statement. “We both recognize that there is still a long road ahead.”
One year later, officials have sanctioned nine student organizations involved in the demonstration, rejected protesters’ demands to divest from companies with ties to Israel and placed permanent fencing around U-Yard. The fences remain open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m, but officials often lock the entrances ahead of anticipated protests on and nearby campus. In the fall, the Faculty Senate’s Educational Policy and Technology committee launched a working group to review disciplinary charges for students arrested at the encampment. The findings the committee released in December revealed inconsistencies in GW’s accounts of its role in issuing stayaway orders between GW’s council and the student’s legal counsel.
In October, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce accused the University of failing to sufficiently discipline pro-Palestinian protesters, and an impending visit from U.S. Department of Justice antisemitism task force officials probing into whether “remedial action” from the University is warranted still looms over campus.
Last Friday, on the one-year anniversary of the start of the encampment, officials locked the gates all day. In the afternoon, a protest formed at the State Department, and demonstrators marched to U-Yard to rally outside of the gates before marching to the White House.
The Hatchet spoke to people who participated in the pro-Palestinian encampment, dissenters of the movement, people living by campus and other community advocates about the demonstration and its lasting impact on campus
a leadership role.
“You’re getting the leadership role because it’s now time for you to get those roles, but you’re not really being properly trained for it,” Pajoohesh-Ganji said. “And I think that is pretty true in a lot of institutes. So this program gives you that leadership training.”
Gergana Jostova, a professor and chair of the finance department who graduated from this year’s cohort, said she learned different leadership techniques, like how to properly motivate a team. She said the leadership academy allowed her to interact with and talk with people across different schools and with different roles on how to tackle an issue.
“We tend to be in silos sometimes, in our business school, law school, international affairs, but now we were all together and thinking about the issue from so many different perspectives,” Jostova said. “And so I think the fact it was so interactive made it very impactful.”
Ayman El Tarabishy, a professor of management and the department’s deputy chair, said he keeps in touch with his peers from the first cohort and has leaned on that network since graduating from the program. He said he has given advice to fellow cohort members and faculty from the School of Engineering & Applied Science, who were considering adding courses on innovation and entrepreneurship and said their past conversations during the academy helped establish the connection.
“It helped facilitate, create a nurturing slash friendly climate between schools,” he said.
‘open wound’
From Page 1
The union’s qualms with the hospital are nothing new. GW Hospital did not initially recognize DCNA for nearly a year after the union vote in summer 2023, and DCNA has filed at least nine unfair labor practice charges since nurses announced their intent to unionize in July 2023, alleging hospital management tried to block the union’s certification.
A year later, the National Labor Relations Board summoned GW Hospital to an October 2024 court hearing over unfair labor practices. The legal complaint alleged that GW Hospital and UHS engaged in unfair labor practices like surveilling employees, unlawfully firing a nurse for union activity and privately persuading nurses not to join the union.
The parties reached the settlement agreement in December, which requires the hospital to begin bargaining and comply with several union terms, including allowing union literature in nonwork areas, making hospital bulletin boards available for union use and ceasing surveillance and intimidation of union supporters.
A GW Hospital spokesperson said the
hospital recognizes the union’s right to picket, and it will not impede efforts to reach a bargaining agreement. They said the hospital “strongly disagrees” with the union’s characterization of the terminations but does not publicly comment on individual employee issues.
“The personnel actions are wholly unrelated to the posting of union literature, the parties’ December settlement or the commencement of negotiations,” the spokesperson said. “Instead, the referenced individuals escorted nonemployees into restricted, locked units of the Hospital where some of our most vulnerable patients are being treated and cared for.”
Grosh, who attended the picket Friday morning, said she felt the “momentum” of the union rising after the December settlement. But after her and Goss-Packard’s terminations, Grosh said nurses are worried about facing retaliation for participating in union activities.
“It really has made everyone else, all the other nurses, very fearful,” Grosh said.
On March 31, Grosh said her manager told her she’d be terminated because she brought an unauthorized person into the hospital.
Grosh said she entered the hospital with a DCNA representative to post union material in a breakroom in January, explaining the reason for their visit to the security guard. Grosh said the guard issued a visitor’s wristband to the DCNA representative, and she and the representative entered.
Grosh said because she was escorting a DCNA representative into the space to distribute union material, she believes her termination is because of her involvement with the union, despite the settlement allowing for the distribution of union literature in nonwork spaces.
“The nonhospital material in the break room was union literature, which technically, we were allowed by the settlement to put in the break rooms,” Grosh said. “So that seems fabricated.” Grosh said she hopes the petition and picket will encourage GW Hospital management to rehire her.
“It seems like the hospital is more interested in squeezing the staff and almost retaliation for our union activity rather than taking care of their patients,” Grosh said. DCNA and UHS set their next bargaining dates for May 13 and 14, according to the bulletin.
Güloğlu said she learned from an undergraduate student weeks prior that organizers planned to erect a pro-Palestinian encampment, and was “very excited” to help organizers pitch tents in protest of GW’s financial ties to the war in Gaza.
Güloğlu said as a visibly Muslim woman in academic spaces, she has felt like an “obvious outsider” as people have made unnecessarily mean comments that make her feel as if there is “something wrong” with her. But she described the encampment as a peaceful and respectful space where community members, including her friends from Jewish Voice for Peace, were
attuned to cultural differences and set up prayer rugs for her and other Muslim demonstrators.
“You can pray in this public space without shame or without being scared,” Güloğlu said. “It was such a good feeling that stayed with me, like it’s in my mind, it’s the image of the encampment. I’m still thinking a lot about it.”
Güloğlu said she attended the protest every day, despite living far from campus and having two small children, but never slept in the tents because she was breastfeeding, which she said she still feels “guilty” about given kids her children’s age in Gaza are dying. She said she brought her children to the demonstration a few times and was “so proud” to show them an encampment filled with Palestinian flags where she studied.
Güloğlu said she misses being surrounded by people who
“would sacrifice everything” to support Palestinians because now when she’s on campus, she worries everything she says could be “weaponized,” particularly under the Trump administration. She said she doesn’t talk about Palestine in her anthropological discussions out of fear that someone will record and “demonize” her due to heightened tensions on campus after the encampment. “I’m considering, checking, double-checking everything,” Güloğlu said. “Just keeping my silence to feel safer.”
Sean Shekhman, former Vice President of GW for Israel
Shekhman, who was vice president of GW for Israel last spring, said he received a text from a friend “about an hour” after the encampment started that read “It
happened.” He said “everybody” expected pro-Palestinian protesters to start an encampment after one cropped up at Columbia University and other universities.
“The initial reaction was fear because nobody really knew what it would turn into and also confusion because no one really knew what the effects would be,” Shekhman said.
Shekhman said he did not attend any counterprotests but did go to the encampment the first night to talk with people he knew who were involved with the demonstration about what they were protesting for and their views on the war in Gaza. He said the conversations he had with students were “very interesting” because he heard different perspectives on why students were involved in the demonstration.
The only event Shekhman did attend was a “A Rally Against Campus Antisemitism” that was organized by GW for Israel and the GW Jewish Students Association in G Street Park a week after the encampment first started.
Shekhman said organizing certain events, like “IsraelFest” and events with outside speakers, have become “a bit more difficult” in the year since the encampment, citing security concerns that need to be addressed, like counterprotests. He also said he’s seen students on campus feel “uncomfortable” in being “openly Jewish” because Jewish students don’t know whether other students support the rhetoric that was used at the encampment.
Shekhman said the Jewish community at GW has grown stronger following the encampment and said attendance at GW for Israel events has increased. He also said first-year students, who saw the encampment after they committed to GW, came to the University in the fall wanting to advocate for the proJewish and pro-Israeli community.
“It’s stronger than ever, we’re prouder than ever,” Shekhman said. “We do more stuff, more success and more passion than we ever did.”
SAGE RUSSELL | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Provost Chris Bracey during a Faculty Senate meeting last March.
TOM RATH | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag under the Lisner Hall flag pole.
RAPHAEL KELLNER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Picketers write chalk messages on the sidewalk in front of the GW Hospital.
From Page 1
OPINIONS
Officials can begin to mend pro-Palestinian encampment rifts with humility
A year after pro-Palestinian protesters pitched tents in University Yard, campus discourse feels as fractured as it did the days, weeks and months after Metropolitan Police Department officers cleared the demonstration. Since then, officials have moved swiftly and quietly to initiate student conduct proceedings, install permanent fencing around U-Yard and increase security presence during pro-Palestinian protests. GW leadership rightfully understood it was their responsibility to return campus to a state of normalcy, with University President Ellen Granberg vocalizing last May that officials had “rebuilding” to do. She also promised the Board of Trustees that she was “personally committed” to what she called “important work.”
But a year later, the divide between the encampment’s participants, opponents and GW leadership remains raw and unresolved. Officials attempted to heal campus by shoving the immediate and residual effects of the encampment — including the fear, pain, anger and distrust it sewed — under the rug, which impeded the community’s ability to rebuild. As an institution of higher education, GW has a responsibility to teach its students to reflect on their experiences, empathize with opposing sides, communicate their reasoning and admit when they make mistakes. University leaders must take the lead in discussing the fear and pain on all sides and their decision-making processes both during and following the
ISTAFF EDITORIAL
encampment. They must show vulnerability and humility in their reflections on the demonstration and be candid about their mistakes. This includes answering questions and concerns about their response to the encampment and explaining their reasoning behind the behavior some community members criticized. University leaders took steps in the right direction after MPD cleared the encampment by addressing the demonstration directly during Faculty Senate and Board meetings and through messages to the community. Granberg and Provost Chris Bracey wrote in a statement di-
TURNER | STAFF CARTOONIST
ABBY
rectly following the clearing that it “pains” them that the arrests of more than 30 protesters were necessary, and they “recognize that many members of our community on all sides are hurting.” Those steps also included efforts to bolster free speech, safety policies and productive discourse on campus. Officials updated the Strengthening our Community website in August to tackle free speech concerns and created working groups over the summer for faculty to give recommendations about “identified community challenges.” They also hosted community discussions on having “difficult and nuanced con-
Growing US political polarization echos pre-Nazi Germany divides
n the intervening years between Trump’s first and second terms, the extreme polarization within American society has only intensified, echoing the political divisions within Germany in the years leading up to the Nazi rise to power. My father, who passed away last November, survived the Holocaust in Budapest, Hungary. The Holocaust arrived in Hungary in March of 1944 and lasted less than a year before the Nazis were defeated, however, the persecution of Jews and the anti-Jewish legislative policies leading up to it began as early as the 1920’s. The assault on our democratic institutions through a series of policies, Supreme Court rulings, ultranationalist or racist propaganda amplified by media conglomerates and social media has tenderized parts of American society over a period of several decades to accept as normal extremist views, conspiracy theories and a growing cynicism toward the political system.
Long before he was appointed chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler had claimed that he would destroy democracy by working within the boundaries of the legal system through legislative action and decrees. It took the Nazis less than three months to consolidate power, sideline parliament and suspend civil liberties. Since Trump took office in January, the administration has
comparably acted without legal precedent, purged the ranks of the government of opposition in favor of party loyalists, ignored orders from federal judges and deported people without due process.
The recent case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legal resident of Maryland who Immigration and Customs Enforcement mistakenly deported to El Salvador, underscores the degree to which Trump has demonstrated a willingness to defy the courts. The Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that Garcia was unlawfully deported. By defying the court, Trump is signaling that he can rule by decree, while setting a precedent that could lead to the arrest and deportation of American citizens who disagree with him to foreign prisons. Auschwitz, in case anyone needs reminding, was in Poland. Made public in 2023, Project 2025 was developed by the Heritage Foundation and various conservative organizations. The policy initiative outlined a broad conservative agenda that would radically transform the government, expand the powers of the president and cripple regulatory agencies through legislative actions. As shocking and appalling as the events of the past several months may be, they should not come as a surprise: Project 2025 openly publicized the Republican policy agenda as clearly as Hitler had announced his intent to destroy democracy through legal, democratic means in his 1930 address to Germany’s Constitutional Court. Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda and
one of Hitler’s closest allies stated, “the big joke on democracy is that it gives its mortal enemies the tools to its own destruction.”
As members of the GW community, we need look no further than our own campus for evidence of how the Trump administration is intimidating private universities into adopting policies that are in clear violation of free speech guaranteed by the Constitution. Under the pretext of fighting antisemitism, 60 universities across the country are currently under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights for Title VI violations. None of the accusations made against these private institutions by the Trump administration have been submitted for review, nor have they been substantiated. Still, Trump is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in funding unless universities agree to alter curricula and under the pretext of combating antisemitism.
I would urge our Jewish faculty, students, staff and members of the board to reject this blatantly specious and grotesque pretense of concern for our safety. When the unelected shadow president Elon Musk repeatedly throws what appears to be a Nazi salute, when one of Trump’s most staunch supporters, the unfailingly pixilated Marjorie Taylor Greene recycles antisemitic tropes, we should refuse to be pawns. We should be marching in unison, chanting, “Not in our name!”
—Michelle Frankfurter is an adjunct professor of photography at the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design.
versations” during November’s Interfaith Week. But the encampment stirred heightened emotions for everyone on campus, including administrators, which will continue to linger until officials address them head on. It’s understandable why officials were fearful of the two week long demonstration, as it attracted people who aren’t affiliated with the University, including students from other colleges, counterprotesters and members of Congress. The unease was evident as Bracey asked a protester, “You think I’m afraid of this?” as he walked through U-Yard, flanked by demonstrators. Gran-
berg later defined the encampment as “potentially dangerous” on the protest’s second week. We ask that officials publicly reflect on their vulnerable moments during the encampment as they evaluate the lasting impact the demonstration has had on community discourse. Having honest, emotional conversations about the encampment and current campus dynamics is necessary for community members to begin trusting each other and the University again.
Students and faculty, through reports, resolutions and social media posts, have asked officials to address their concerns about their handling of the encampment but have yet to receive a public University response. A Faculty Senate subcommittee last semester drafted a report, which was later endorsed by the full senate in February, identifying discrepancies between students arrested during the encampment and officials’ accounts of the University’s role in disciplining the students arrests. In order to build back trust, officials must publicly explain the discrepancies the committee identified and chart a path forward. While we wouldn’t expect GW to have perfectly handled the demonstration due to its unprecedented nature, officials must use these conversations to address concerns and questions raised by community members about their response to the encampment, and acknowledge where they went wrong. This starts with University leaders showing humility and accountability.
It’s okay not to have post-grad plans
With only one month left until I wear my cap and gown, I’m focused on one thing: postgraduation plans. When I see friends and classmates tearing out their hair and applying for jobs during class, I have to remember it’s okay to not know what you want to do after graduation. It’s essential that we reflect and take our time before truly starting to become an independent adult. Whatever you choose to do, taking time away from a school environment can help you discover your passions. Seeing everyone ready to jump into the next thing felt like I was expected to have a concrete plan and be ready to send out dozens of applications for grad school or jobs.
Jamie Greenberg Opinions Writer
I am studying criminal justice because I thought I wanted to become a lawyer, but other avenues kept piquing my interest — everything from graphic design to public health, to computer science. It’s hard to admit this, but I still feel this way. It took a lot of self-reflection for me to realize that I did not want to jump from one school to another. I’m still not sure if I want to become a lawyer or not, which is why I need time to research certain educational programs and discover new hobbies that could inspire a future career. I could suddenly find a love for cities and buildings and decide to go to school for architecture. I don’t want to realize these passions too late when I’m too deep into
a career to drop everything and pivot to something else. When I told my parents in February I wanted to take a year off to decide what to do next, they were a bit confused. They both went straight to graduate school after completing their bachelor’s degrees, and in their eyes, it seemed to be the next step for me. They were supportive and agreed that I do not have to rush into a degree that I’m not completely sure that I want to pursue.
I always hear about people finalizing their post-undergraduate plans as soon as they sign their college acceptance letter and seldom questioning them after. But does everyone have to fit that mold? No. Not everyone walks the same path, and this needs to be acknowledged by college students and society at-large.
As of right now, I only know what college is — but what is the real world going to look like? Needing some time off is okay, and it doesn’t only have to last the length of a summer. Using the summer to relax is fine and something that should be encouraged. But it doesn’t just have to be for three months off until school starts again. It’s fine to need extra time. Relaxing could mean lounging by the pool, picking up a low-stress job or getting on a plane to a dream vacation. It’s pretty common to take a gap year between undergrad and graduate school, with 73 percent of 2023 college graduates taking a year off before going to medical school. Also, about 65 percent of those enrolled in law school as of 2024 took a gap year before applying. Taking a gap year or
simply taking it slow and not diving into grad school or jobs would allow me to truly figure out what I want to do. I would actually have time to think about it without the pressure of constant papers and readings. I wouldn’t know if I actually wanted to go into a different educational direction than the one I’m currently in, like law school. People say that school is for discovering your passions, but it doesn’t just have to be limited to college. That time between getting your bachelor’s and pursuing your master’s can help you discover your passions. Taking a time off gives you more time to reflect without feeling like you don’t have enough time to step back. Everything is go-gogo. Thirteen straight years of K-12 education with another straight four is seventeen. That is a very significant amount of time just being in school. Not everything has to be back-to-back, and you deserve a decent break from the almost two decades of grinding. As the expression goes, “the world is my oyster.” For my friends who have their graduate applications locked in, anxiously awaiting their letters, counting down the minutes until the phone rings or something else entirely, I wish them the best of luck. For my fellow graduates also unsure of their journey, I hope you can discover something that inspires you. To the underclassmen reading this, just know that you don’t have to rush into something as soon as you walk across the stage.
—Jamie Greenberg, a senior majoring in criminal justice with a minor in political science, is an opinions writer.
Michelle Frankfurter Guest Contributor
THE SCENE CULTURE
Arkibuna coffee truck brews up campus conversation
Arkibuna is serving espresso and community to students’ sleepy eyes and wide smiles, brightening their days with a caffeine kick and friendly conversations.
Starting off as a small-scale tent at the Alexandria farmers market in 2015, the business expanded to open their first coffee truck in 2018, which quickly became a staple in the Foggy Bottom community. Caffeine seeking customers come from all directions — the Metro stop, offices, dorms and apartment buildings — in search of warmth from their drinks as well as from meaningful interactions with owner and barista Eskinder Debebe.
The Arkibuna truck can be found parked outside the Whole Foods on campus, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The light brown truck features outlined coffee beans and a sliding order window with a large silver espresso machine peeking through, where steam blows from the top with each shot pulled.
Debebe said he values the warmth of daily interactions with customers and said the exchanges are what keep his passion for coffee and community alive. He said he doesn’t need to ask regulars for their orders, he starts making the drink right as they walk up.
Debebe said Arkibuna was exploring business at farmers markets in the DMV and found an optimal location in Foggy Bottom because of its closeness to the corporate world and the Foggy BottomGWU Metro station. After the 2018 transition from a tent to a truck to maximize mobility and not have to hire employees for all hours of the day, he said he and his wife wanted a spot that would bring them loyal customers. Since then, he’s built a devoted clientele that keeps coming back for the coffee and friendly connections. Though his most popular drink to sell is an iced caramel latte, Debebe said he makes an effort to remember regular customers’ specific
drink requests and specifications. Debebe said he asks students about their lives because he wants to know about customers’ days, their jobs or their final exams.
Debebe said his journey with coffee started at a young age because growing up in Ethiopia, people are constantly surrounded by coffee. He said he always knew he wanted to be a coffee innovator due to the focus on coffee in Ethiopian homes, where the process to craft the drink was about an hour long each day. He said because coffee has early roots in Ethiopia, it is their “livelihood” back home.
Despite the fierce coffee climate around him, Debebe isn’t rushing to scale up Arkibuna anytime soon. After months of operating outside Whole Foods, he said the store’s manager offered him a chance to bring Arkibuna indoors and sell his coffee directly from inside the store, but he decided to keep his business in the truck.
Rather than chasing expansion for its own sake, Debebe chose to stay rooted in the community that helped build Arkibuna’s identity, creating a relationship with each customer. Now, the truck remains parked just outside Whole Foods for students and busy office bees to stop by daily and develop a one-on-one rapport between customer and barista.
Sophomore Sofia Mocsi, who has previously written for the Hatchet, said the welcoming atmosphere fostered by Debebe around the truck is a refreshing change, especially in a fast-paced city, like D.C., which can throw friendliness to the wayside.
Mocsi said she embraced the opportunity to back a local business and after depleting her GWorld dining dollars, the money she made from her campus job as a student communications assistant was put into a caffeine boost from Arkibuna. Lattes start at $3.50 and a cup of hot black coffee at $2.05.
“I really do hope he keeps the small truck charm because in a city like this we have enough chains,” Mocsi said
Subverting
ANOS STAFF WRITER
In an open room in the Flagg Building with blue pictures on the walls and red paper shreds on the ground, two secondyear Master of Fine Arts students showcased their capstone pieces in Corcoran’s NEXT Festival, running from April 17 to May 16. At the end of each academic year, the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design’s NEXT Festival exhibits arts students’ thesis work and shows the public “what’s next” in the world of art, music, theater and dance, according to their website. “Subverting their Standards,” an art exhibit featuring the thesis works of Dylan Reynolds and Daysia Barr, showcases two large-scale mixed-media pieces that aim to challenge societal standards that control behavior and expression and help viewers understand the comfort they should have in expressing both feelings and identity.
Second-year M.F.A student Dylan Reynolds created “Let’s Rage,” a mixed-media installation that includes a dormstyle bunk bed, with the bottom bunk featuring transparent red blankets and a tray for attendees to write what makes them “rage” on a red piece of paper. Attendees can then put the red piece of paper through a shredder, adding to a growing pile on the ground in front of the machine.
“I kind of wanted to lean into rage, not as something that should be feared or suppressed, but instead as something that, when given a healthy outlet, and when people can express it, can actually be used as a positive force for social change,” Reynolds said.
The piece also includes a blue carpet with small mountains of red paper shreds spread across the rug and the room. Reynolds said the piece is a response to the “sh*tstorm” of a political climate that has developed since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022 and President Trump was reelected in November 2024. She said the piece was also inspired by her experience as a survivor of sexual assault, which presents itself in the dorm beds as an “anchor” for her own rage. Reynolds said she was nervous to present the piece as interactive work due to the “look but don’t touch” stigma of art museums, fearing that viewers would not understand the point of the interaction aspect, but has seen success in the project with the growing piles of paper shreds throughout the room. Reynolds said attendees were able to be a part of the environment of self-expression she wanted to create by releasing anger in a productive way.
Reynolds said she began her work on the installation by asking people within her own community at GW about anything that makes
them feel rage, she then collected their stories, printed the transcripts out and shredded them. She said she added these parts to the pillows on the ground that lean against the wall to emulate a dorm room.
Reynolds said having her piece featured next to fellow fine arts student Daysia Barr shares a message to viewers to overcome the stigma that people in minority groups should suppress their feelings. She said the two of them have been working together since the start of graduate school, and although she believes their art is “very different” in terms of appearance, as one is interactive and the other is not, the themes come together to empower self-expression.
Daysia Barr’s piece, “Gay Things and Where To Find Them,” is comprised of blue- and blacktoned photographs overlapping each other across the wall of the room with different-colored maps and notebook pages featuring reflections from each person involved. Barr said they gathered 11 friends who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and instructed them to take pictures of places and items in their lives that felt “queer” to them and write a note accompanying the photos on the wall. Barr said the photographs were printed using a risograph, a printing machine that creates dots to make up the images
“So, being gay in public feels like we are doing something radical when
really the city could just loosen up a bit more,” one of the notes on the wall reads.
Barr said the piece began as an “experiment” and that she was trying to figure out how to create queer representation without the visibility of specific people. The photographs and notes are not attributed to their creators. Barr said although there is no way to trace the art to a particular person, viewers can get an idea of how they view the subject’s queer identity and personality.
Barr said after the group took photographs, they had them write about their identities and sexualities, which is presented in the form of notebook pages pinned to the walls. Barr added that they studied to be a psychologist as an undergraduate, which is their reason for using identity as a common theme throughout their work.
Barr said they were inspired to exclude the identity of their friends who participated in the piece by Edouard Glissant’s theory of opacity, which discusses the unequal power dynamic created when people demand knowledge from minorities to create a sense of empathy.
“I want to drive home the idea that representation doesn’t always have to be representative,” Barr said. “And encourage people to think about the fear that is associated with visibility for queer people.”
It can be difficult to imagine any sense of solace during finals season, especially as one spends yet another glassy-eyed late night in Gelman Library, perturbed by the sound of fellow students cracking open energy drinks and the rapid typing of essay rewrites.
But as the number of days left in the semester rapidly dwindles, the District is getting warmer, sunnier and livelier, despite final assignments rapidly racking up. While laying on the Kogan Plaza grass may be a revitalizing, temporary reset, the looming pressures of deadlines and exams makes it difficult to seem like a true break as campus buildings remain within eyesight.
Here are some ways to take a much-needed breather this finals season by embracing D.C.’s loveliest season outside the boundaries of campus.
Traverse the Capital Crescent Trail
It’s difficult to find much green space in the District outside of the tourist-infiltrated National Mall. The Capital Crescent Trail, stretch-
ing seven miles from Georgetown to Bethesda, Maryland, offers a scenic respite within the metropolis, with views of the Potomac River, lines of lush trees and 160 varieties of wildflowers.
On your excursion, you’ll encounter a collection of passersby, including some furry friends sniffing the foliage. Bikes can be rented at the Georgetown Harbor Capital Bikeshare for just a $1 unlock fee and an additional $3 per hour.
You can start your journey at the southern trailhead, located off of Whitehurst Freeway NW in Georgetown, right across from M Street near the infamous Exorcist steps, about a mile from campus. Through the shady trees, the Arlington, Virginia, skyline peeks through, and the path contains a number of notable areas, including infamously spooky Foundry Branch Tunnel, a dark, graffitied passageway. The waterfront portion of the trail ends on the border of D.C. and Maryland, four miles from the Georgetown trailhead. End your journey at Fletcher’s Boathouse by the Palisades and take an 18-minute stroll to the Mount Vernon Campus, where you can hop on the Mount Vernon Express for a lift
back to Foggy Bottom.
Borrow a book and read outdoors on Roosevelt Island
Support a local library and save some cash by opening a library card with the DC Public Library. Visit one of its local branches, like the nearby West End Neighborhood Library, which is a less-than10-minute walk from campus.
Unwind from a semester of heavy textbook reading and political science theory with a book you can breeze through in one sitting, whether that be a dependable classic or a new novella found hidden within the shelves. After grabbing your borrowed prose, take a Metro ride over to Rosslyn and walk over to Theodore Roosevelt Island, a natural escape located within the Potomac River. Pack a blanket and some snacks and lay among the greenery, basking in the quiet and solitude while escaping to your literary world of choice.
Listen to some tunes at the Capitol Riverfront May Music Series Every Friday evening in May, Southeast D.C.’s Capitol Riverfront neighborhood offers free, outdoor
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JORDAN TOVIN A student reads a book in Rock Creek Park.
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Subverting Their Standards exhibit by Daysia Barr and Dylan Reynolds shown in the Corcoran Flagg Building.
KRIS PARK | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Arkibuna Coffee van serving customers on I Street.
