University-wide budget cuts necessary to prevent layoffs, CFO says
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI ASSISTANT
Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes defended officials’ decision to suspend merit-based salary increases and cut the University’s expense budget during Friday’s Faculty Senate meeting, calling it the “least disruptive” way to avoid “institutionalized” layoffs in response to faculty inquiries.
Faculty senators questioned officials on their rationale for reducing the University’s fiscal year 2026 expense budget by 3 percent and freezing meritbased salary increases, pressing them on whether they considered alternative cuts. Fernandes said he and other officials will review all University expenses, including administrative costs, like consulting projects and executive salary increases, after each dean and division leader submits a 3 percent cut plan to preserve student resources.
Provost Chris Bracey, Fernandes and Chief of Staff Scott Mory said in an email to faculty and staff late last month that GW will cut its FY2026 total expense budget by 3 percent to address a “structural deficit” after the University’s expenses have surpassed their current revenues in recent years, creating a “significant and unsustainable gap” that compounds annually. They also said usual merit-based staff salary increases will “not take place” in July, but officials plan to “revisit” the decision later in the year after determining fall enrollment revenues.
“If we didn’t do this, then my concern would have been that we would have had to take stronger measures, which would have been more detrimental to the University,” Fernandes said at the meeting.
Faculty Senator Ilana Feldman, a professor of anthropology, history and international affairs, asked officials what factors they considered when making the decision to halt merit salary
May 12, 2025
increases and if there were alternative cuts that could have been made. She also asked officials what they are looking to see, like enrollment increases, in order to reinstate merit-based salary increases for faculty and staff.
Bracey said officials opted to halt staff and faculty merit salary increases instead of “more substantially” reducing the budget to combat higher education “headwinds” and a “structural deficit” from University expenses exceeding revenues in recent years. He said officials wanted to avoid faculty and staff layoffs while addressing the budget deficit by cutting expenses, like merit salary increases.
Bracey said officials will resume faculty and staff’s merit increases if the University sees “liquidity” from boosted enrollment rates, particularly from graduate students. University
President Ellen Granberg said the University would consider faculty’s performance reports
MFA rebrands to GW Medicine from ‘inside out’
The University’s medical arm is taking on the name of GW Medicine.
Medical Faculty Associates spokesperson Anne Banner said officials are rebranding the MFA, a network of physicians who teach at the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and service medical centers including GW Hospital, to GW Medicine to represent the organization’s relationship with GW’s medical school. She said the rebrand has no set deadline for completion, but officials are incrementally implementing the title throughout this year and onward.
“GW Medicine more accurately describes what we do, especially for our key target audiences, current and prospective patients,” Banner said in an email.
As of May, University and MFA leaders have not made an official announcement of the rebrand. But the revamped moniker has established a virtual and physical presence, appearing
across the practice’s social media accounts and in its Ambulatory Care Center on the corner of 22nd and I streets.
She said officials are using an “inside out” approach of first implementing the GW Medicine brand in spaces forward facing to the University community and later to broader public spaces. She said they are prioritizing the internal implementation to garner excitement for GW Medicine’s mission of “medicine, education and discovery.”
Banner said officials “soft launched” the rebrand with SMHS’ Bicentennial Celebration, which began in early 2024. The name appeared in the GW Medicine Bicentennial Series in the 2024 fall and spring semesters — which included panels on heart health and speaker events on maintaining healthy skin — and the GW Medicine Bicentennial Excellence Awards in March, a recognition ceremony for MFA and SMHS faculty and staff.
from this year for future years’s merit increase considerations since performance reviews are not being utilized this year.
Faculty Senator Harris Mylonas, an associate professor of political science and international affairs, said officials previously stopped merit salary increases, including promotion salary increases, in 2020 due to budget challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. He asked officials if the current halt to merit-based increases applied to both faculty and staff and included promotion-related salary increases.
Bracey said the pause on merit increases won’t affect promotion salary increases, though not stipulated in budget reduction announcement. He said officials wanted to “preserve” promotion increases, and officials should have stated “more expressly” in the announcement that promotion increases would not be affected.
Bracey also confirmed that
the merit-based salary increase halts apply to both faculty and staff.
Faculty Senator Jamie CohenCole, an associate professor of American studies, asked if the revenue the University receives from tuition increases will go to schools to reduce or avoid layoffs and maintain classes and student advising services. Cohen-Cole said officials spend “lots of money” on consulting projects, like for academic analytics, improving federal funding opportunities, severance pays to former executives and with current executive and executive staff salary increases. He asked Granberg, Bracey and Fernandes if they’ve considered reducing the budget in those areas to ensure additional cuts aren’t made to classes, advising and career staff, given students’ tuition keeps the University functioning.
GW Hospital names Edward Sim interim CEO
GW Hospital appointed Edward Sim as interim CEO following the departure of former head Kim Russo last month, the Washington Business Journal reported Wednesday.
Sim previously served as the executive vice president and president of the Acute Care Division of Universal Health Services, GW Hospital’s owner, a role he held since December 2022. Sims has worked in healthcare for about 30 years, most recently in management roles at both Baptist Health and Centura Health, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla. and Centennial, Colo., respectively, according to his LinkedIn profile.
As a chief operating officer at Centura Health, a role he held from July 2018 to November 2022, Sim led the system’s three operating groups, clinical delivery and shared services, which totaled about $5 billion in revenue, according to an October 2022 UHS release.
Sims worked at Baptist Health for 11 years, according to his LinkedIn. He began as hospital president in October 2005 before hospital leadership promoted him to the role of president of physician integration in 2011.
Former GW Hospital CEO Kimberly Russo began her stint as CEO in 2016, overseeing the construction of an additional 42-room trauma patient area in 2019 and spearheading UHS’s partnership with the D.C. government to open a new hospital, Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health, in Southeast D.C., which opened in April. Russo left her role at GW Hospital last month to take a position as chief executive of the central region of OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Illinois starting April 28, according to a company release.
GW Hospital did not immediately return a request for comment regarding their progress in filling the role permanently. There is no CEO currently listed on the hospital’s website.
Faculty, staff rally on anniversary of proPalestinian encampment sweep
ELIJAH
CONTRIBUTING
KHANH DANG
ASSISTANT
Faculty, staff and students from GW and other D.C. universities marched to the White House on Thursday to protest the one-year anniversary of the Metropolitan Police Department clearing the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard.
Protesters gathered at James Monroe Park on I Street at noon before marching past U-Yard and to the White House, holding “Hands off our students” signs and chanting “Professors united will never be defeated” as they condemned the anniversary of MPD clearing the pro-Palestinian encampment. Organizers from GW Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine called on GW to ban immigration agents from entering University buildings and for officials to divest from companies with financial ties to Israel.
Senior Manny Blanco, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine, said he participated in the protest to commemorate the anniversary of MPD’s “raid” on “Shohada Square” — the name protesters gave to U-Yard during the encampment — and denounce President Donald Trump’s “campaign of terror” against non-citizen students.
“It was important for the faculty of all the different District universi-
ties to recognize the one year anniversary of the raid in Shohada Square and U-Yard at GW, and that was something that affected students across the DMV,” Blanco said. “Professors, faculty and staff across the DMV felt that it was really important to come out here and say our demands haven’t changed.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including faculty, staff and students, staged a 13-day encampment in U-Yard last spring to protest the war in Gaza and the University’s investments with companies that have ties to Israel. MPD arrested more than 30 protesters last May, including at least six GW students, when they cleared the encampment.
In his speech, Blanco read a letter written in an Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement detention center by Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student who ICE agents arrested on March 8 and plan to deport, which Khalil said was due to his involvement as a negotiator in pro-Palestinian activities on Columbia’s campus. On April 11, an immigration judge in Louisiana — where Khalil is detained — ruled he can be deported as a “national security risk,” but legal hurdles remain as Khalil’s attorney informed a New Jersey federal judge he plans to appeal the decision. Blanco said he came to the protest to demand GW ban local police and immigration agents from entering campus buildings because the University has the power to deny the request of agents as a private institution.
“GW should not be complicit,” Blanco said. The U.S. Department of Justice antisemitism task force announced in February it will visit GW and nine other universities that reported “antisemitic incidents.” University officials have responded to the DOJ probe and agreed to participate in any inquiry by the Trump administration, according to a report by the Washington Post in late April. Around 12:20 p.m., demonstrators stopped on H Street in front of UYard, where officials had closed the gates, and began giving speeches as at least 10 MPD officers on bikes and six trailing police vehicles escorted them. At least seven GWPD officers stood in front of the fences during the demonstration to monitor the protesters.
KYRA WOOD | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Provost Chris Bracey sits at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday.
ELLA MITCHELL NEWS EDITOR
KYRA WOOD | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Faculty and sta from schools across the DMV march past University Yard during a protest Thursday.
Timeline: History of GW’s disciplinary actions against SJP
Officials last month suspended Students for Justice in Palestine for a year, citing unapproved events in March — the group’s fourth conduct-related suspension since 2022.
The group, which students formed over a decade ago and reactivated in fall 2022, was part of the coalition of student organizations that organized the pro-Palestinian encampment in April 2024 and has faced sanctions from officials over the last three years for violating University policies during protests and events. Senior Marwa Al-Naser, the president of GW’s SJP, said officials’ disciplinary actions against the group over the last three years reflect a broader trend of crackdowns on pro-Palestinian organizations at universities nationwide, which intensified under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Al-Naser said the repeated suspensions officials have levied against SJP are “no accident” and reflect the University’s failure to protect students’ free speech rights, a choice driven by officials’ fear of losing federal funding under the Trump administration.
Trump has vowed to crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses, which he described as pro-terrorist, antisemitic and anti-American. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump campaigned on making college campuses safe again by deporting “proHamas radicals.”
“It reflects a deliberate pattern from GW, which would rather appease external pressures than protect its students, student organizations and their right to free speech and dissent,” Al-Naser said in a statement to The Hatchet.
Here’s a timeline of the sanctions and disciplinary charges SJP has faced since 2022.
November 2023
Members of SJP projected anti-Israel and anti-GW messages onto Gelman Library on Oct. 24, 2023, following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that marked the
start of the war in Gaza.
The University suspended SJP in November for three months following the projections, finding the group in violation of Gelman Library’s building use guidelines — which prohibits community members from displaying “offensive” posters. The University also found the protesters in violation of the University’s noncompliance policy after they initially refused to comply with officials’ directives to stop the projections.
April 2024
Pro-Palestinian students launhed an encampment in UYard, calling on the University to drop all disciplinary charges against SJP and student protesters and divest from weapons manufacturing companies with ties to Israel.
The encampment lasted 13 days from late April into early May and ended after MPD officers cleared the space early in the morning on May 8.
August 2024
On Aug. 6, officials issued suspensions and probations to eight pro-Palestinian organizations — including SJP — for either the fall semester or both the fall and spring semesters, for their alleged involvement in the encampment. The University charged the group for access without authorization, community disturbance, disorderly
conduct, misconduct related to property, noncompliance and outcome and regulation violations.
March 2025
On March 4, SJP hosted an event where they denied Debra Bright, the associate vice provost of student affairs, entry because she had contributed to the “repression of students,” according to an Instagram post from SJP. This violated a policy in the Student Organization Handbook, which states DSA and other officials have “unrestricted access” to any space a student organization reserves.
April 2025
The University officially suspended SJP for a year on April 14 following a CESA student conduct panel, according to a CESA decision obtained by the Hatchet. Officials directed SJP to cease all activities until at least May 2026 after the group did not receive approval from their adviser to host events the week of March 16 to 21, violating one of their sanctions from their encampment-related charges.
Al-Naser said the group submitted an appeal to the CESA decision, which he said SJP has done for all of the disciplinary sanctions they’ve received, on April 21. She said the University denied the appeal with “no reasoning” on May 9, adding that officials have never granted an appeal.
safety concerns
First-term Student Government Association senators said they plan to use their new positions to address student’s concerns about the recent federal deportation of international students, also pledging to boost communication between multicultural student organizations and the SGA by hosting more town halls and community events.
Students elected 20 new senators, including six first-year students, in last month’s SGA elections — one of the most competitive in history, with 18 newcomers running for senate seats, up from 12 last year. The new SGA senators said their priorities include promoting trust and inclusion on campus by working with multicultural student organizations to elevate student voices in drafting new policies amid President Donald Trump’s administration’s recent arrests of some proPalestinian student activists.
Newly elected chair of the Committee on Community, Advocacy and Inclusion and first-year SGA Sen. Aicha Sy (CCAS-U) said the
biggest challenge facing the student body is the Trump administration’s targeting of international students, which has created widespread uncertainty and left many in higher education feeling “anxiety” and “fear.”
In April, the State Department terminated visas for about 10 GW students — which Trump officials reinstated late last month — and froze billions in federal funding for Harvard University over its defiance of the administration’s demands.
SGA Sen. Dhyana Holla (ESIA-U), a first-year student, said she began her career in SGA as deputy secretary of students organizations, which helped her learn how to “properly” communicate with student organizations by acknowledging their “frustrations” with the University not listening to students’ demands.
“Above all else, leadership to the student body looks like listening to, uplifting their voices and making sure that we hear every single perspective, every critique, every criticism, every compliment,” Holla said.
Holla said the Trump
Officials sweep two unhoused encampments in Foggy Bottom
BRYSON KLOESEL CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
District officials cleared two unhoused encampments in Foggy Bottom last week, evicting about six people under a new protocol outreach leaders say exacerbates the already disruptive impact of the sweeps on people experiencing homelessness. Employees from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and the D.C. Department of Public Works carried out evictions at 23rd and E streets and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway’s L Street exit, placing former residents’ tents in trash compactors.
The evictions follow a series of escalating sweeps in Foggy Bottom, driven by federal policy shifts that culminated in President Donald Trump’s March 28 “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” executive order calling for the National Park Service to promptly remove “homeless or vagrant encampments” on D.C.’s federal land.
Local mutual-aid organizations said Trump’s push for more frequent evictions overburdens organizations, causing them to lose track of unhoused residents while increasing demand for supplies, like tents and tarps.
A DMHHS web page lists both locations as requiring “enforcement” to “remain clear” because of “safety concerns.” Anna Parse Johnson — who
works for Remora House, a Foggy Bottom mutual-aid group — said aid distributors “lose contact” with people during each eviction and some unhoused people have been evicted upward of five times in the last month. Each eviction requires “new tents” and “crucial supplies,” Johnson said.
Johnson said people who distribute food to members of the Foggy Bottom unhoused community have seen the number of people on weekly aid distribution routes, which include encampments, drop from about 20 to seven as increased evictions strain case workers’ ability to know where their clients will be and displace aid recipients from expected locations.
Rather than providing relief, Johnson said encampment clearings “disrupt community” and make it more difficult for unhoused residents to “stay alive.”
DMHHS officials did not respond to a request for comment about the nature and reason for the May evictions or revisions to the engagement protocol.
DPW employees on May 8 at 10:20 a.m. began placing at least three tents at an encampment near the L Street exit from Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway in a trash truck before crushing it.
Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived four minutes past 10 a.m. and accompanied DPW and DMHHS leaders observing the employees.
Stock market club aims to expand investment fund after year of growth
RYAN SAENZ ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The GW Stock and Portfolio Management Club is expanding the club’s analyst fund with new forms of engagement following two years of membership growth for the group.
administration’s recent visa revocations for international students have raised “safety concerns” for the campus community. Immigration agents have arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian student activists, including Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was a negotiator between Columbia officials and protesters during their pro-Palestinian encampment last spring.
Co-chair of the Assembly on Mental Health, chair of the Women’s Caucus and SGA Sen. Sofio Kipiani (ESIA-U) said she ran for the senate because the position will give her “more autonomy” to spearhead her own initiatives. Prior to running for the senate, Kipiani served as deputy director of health for former SGA President Ethan Fitzgerald’s executive cabinet.
“I think as a senator, you get to follow through with the initiatives that you start all the way,” Kipiani said. “Being on the exec side, I think, a lot of the time after you hand off an initiative, you aren’t fully a part of the process of talking to the admin and having that legislature go through.”
The club, founded by then-senior Hudson Neleman in fall 2023, focuses on educating members on the stock market, trading and investments, and completed its first full year in operation in the fall. The organization’s leadership said they wanted to expand the club’s analyst fund, where they pitch and vote on investing in stocks and other investment options, by adding new ways for students involved in the fund to contribute to it, like programming algorithms for the fund and automating the fund’s trades.
Joshua Hanft, a junior studying finance and the club’s president, said the SPMC allows its members to build a community in the business school for students who want to get jobs on Wall Street and be “directly” involved in the stock markets.
He said the club had “terrible” turnover in leadership during the 2023-24 academic year, which impacted the group’s ability to introduce initiatives to increase membership and start their analyst fund.
“I don’t think that we’ve gotten our footing or really our foot in until this semester,” Hanft said. “We’ve had rotating presidents for the first few semesters of it, and that was really challenging.”
Hanft said this upcoming year, SPMC’s analyst fund wants to expand into quantitative trading, a set of mathematical and statistical methods that introduce programmed algorithms into trading which automatically make investments or trades if a certain market condition is met.
Hanft said new initiatives like the Midnights Market podcast with soph-
omore Sofia Cruz have helped to expand the club’s outreach to the business school’s community. He said he also releases a newsletter that he introduced in February 2024, also called Midnight Markets, every weekday discussing current market events, which he said has added 560 people to its subscriber list.
“We’ve gotten our reach out there tremendously, with the podcast and the newsletter,” Hanft said. “It was those two initiatives that have really gotten our name in the broader GW business school community.” Oscar Gladysz, the stock club’s portfolio manager and analyst fund manager, said the analyst fund got its money from the stock club’s 10 original founding members, who each donated $50 to the club for the eventual establishment of an analyst fund. He said the fund began trading in April 2024, and since then, the club has raised money for the fund through different fundraisers, like SPMC merchandise sales, which they started selling in March. Gladysz said since the fund’s establishment last year it has seen a “sizable” return on investment. He said the initial $500 has grown to about $780 in the fund, $70 of which is from fundraising efforts, with the other $210 being “pure” return from investments.
Gladysz said the club is looking to have students be “more ingrained” in the fund by allowing members to give their own money into the fund for trades they’ve pitched, something they waited to add until after the fund was established for some time and are working to implement it next semester. He said they hope to implement a system where if a specific trade returns a profit, the student who pitched the trade will get a 20 percent cut and 80 percent of the profit will go back to the fund.
“That way, again, they’re able to have their own skin in the game as well,” Gladysz said.
Nasir Merchant, a sophomore and SPMC’s director of operations, said those who want to join the analyst fund must apply to get in to gauge the experience students have with trading and what education they need on the topic, but the application process is “very easy,” with people having to fill out basic identification information and answer a few short questions about their experience in trading and what they are following in the markets.
“So it’s kind of just a good way to get people experience with stock picking, with investing, with asset management, because those are the kind of skills that are going to transfer to a real life job,” Merchant said.
First-time SGA senators to center policy on Trump-era
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Student Government Association senators Aicha Sy, Dhyana Holla and Sofio Kipiani pose for portraits.
ARWEN CLEMANS | SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR
Stock club eboard members pose for a portrait in front of Duques Hall.
BRYSON KLOESEL | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A Metropolitan Police Department officer watches Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services employees put tents in a garbage truck Thursday.
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pro-Palestinian protesters during a walk-out in October.
Local governing body resists Foggy Bottom smoke shop license
A local governing body unanimously voted Wednesday to formally protest a Foggy Bottom smoke shop’s medical cannabis license over alleged improper sales and proximity to a preschool.
The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission protested Velvet’s Dispensary & Smoke Shop’s — located on Pennsylvania Avenue near Georgetown — application for a medical cannabis license after residents and commissioners raised concerns of ongoing sales without a medical license in violation with local laws, proximity to a daycare center and security issues. The District overhauled cannabis regulations in March 2023, requiring shops to apply for medical cannabis licenses and authorizing increased enforcement against shops who did not do so by March 2024. Commissioners made the unanimous decision at the end of a specially called meeting solely to consider the application. They directed owner Eddie Musa and his attorney, John McGowan, to draft a settlement agreement addressing concerns, though residents vowed to challenge the shop’s license application in court.
The Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration started sending cease and desist orders to unlicensed dispensaries in July 2024 and shut the first shop down in September.
D.C. voters approved Initiative 71 in November 2014, legalizing possession, purchase and transportation of up to two ounces of marijuana for adults 21 and older. But Congress, which has oversight over the D.C. budget, has blocked the District from using funds to legalize cannabis since 2014.
The District turned to a “gifting” model in 2015 instead — a de facto legal
recreational market in which dispensaries charge customers for ostensible gifts — usually postcards or stickers — in exchange for marijuana products.
Medically licensed shops have to document their product sources and test for potency and harmful ingredients, like heavy metals, unlike recreational stores. They also have to purchase cannabis from producers in the District. Musa said in April he was turning to cultivators inside the District to comply with license standards.
Jason Gold, a member of the 2501 Pennsylvania Ave. Condominium Board next door to Velvet’s, said he and other neighbors are set on opposing the license because he said the shop continued to sell cannabis products into this year without a license, an indication of “bad faith.”
Gold asked McGowan whether the shop continued to sell cannabis products, which Gold said would have been illegal because the shop has not yet obtained a license. McGowan said the shop operated until the end of last year without a license, which he said was the case for “many” shops that have successfully transitioned to legal status.
McGowan said it was his understanding that the store stopped selling cannabis at the beginning of this year. He also said past lapses in licensing do not prevent a store from becoming a licensee.
Gabriel Isacoff, a community member, said they live directly above the shop, and the shop is a “perpetual safety issue” because of customers loitering and visible transactions near their building and said that cannabis sales have not stopped, despite McGowan saying they did.
“I will also add that the sale of marijuana products has not stopped, as I frequently pass by patrons standing to the side, in front and behind of our building,” Isacoff said.
Croatian prime minister talks country’s development, alliances
BRIAN LEE REPORTER
The prime minister of Croatia discussed the country’s growing influence in global alliances, its advocacy for Ukraine and the significance of the United States’ partnerships with the European Union and NATO at the Elliott School of International Affairs on Thursday.
Andrej Plenković, who has served as Croatia’s prime minister since 2016, discussed the country’s transformation from the Croatian war of independence against Yugoslavia in the 1990s to one of Europe’s rising economies, touching on global security, energy independence and democratic alliances. The Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies hosted Plenković, with Elliott School Dean Alyssa Ayres moderating a question and answer session following his remarks.
Plenković said the global landscape is “definitely shifting” during the current period of economic challenges and rising conflicts, like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war in Gaza and recent rising tensions between India and
Pakistan. He said there is a “big global issue” surrounding trade right now, like the ongoing tariff conflict between the United States and China and attempts by many eastern European countries to shift away from Russian energy because of its invasion of Ukraine.
“We have the attempts of the countries who are authoritarian in their nature to change the global governance, less international law, more powers of the strongest and less of international forum and institutions that have been built over the last 80 years,” Plenković said.
Plenković said Croatia is a “young country,” declaring its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and becoming formally recognized by the United States in 1992, but has an “unwavering commitment” to NATO and is a member of the European Union, alliances it joined in 2009 and 2013, respectively.
He said since becoming prime minister, he set the objective of aligning Croatia with western Europe by joining more international organizations and agreements, like the Schengen Area, a compact between 29 Europe-
an countries that allows people to travel between countries without border controls, and Eurozone, a group of 20 countries that use the Euro as their official currency, both of which Croatia joined in 2023. Plenković said issues like gender equity and climate change are “extremely important” in Croatia because implementing policies to reduce inequality and greenhouse gas emissions will bring it closer to the priorities of other EU countries. He said Croatia remains behind the EU average in gender representation, especially in politics but has passed laws mandating women serve on the boards of corporations and to close wage gaps. He said climate change is a “serious issue,” and when he went to high school in Croatia’s capital 40 years ago, temperatures would reach minus 20 degrees, but now the temperature is “never below” minus 5 degrees, and there is little snow.
“The only problem with this policy is, since it’s a global issue, no matter how much you do if you are small, if someone bigger continues something else, there is no effect,” Plenković said.
MFA rebranding reflects commitment to patient care, mission: officials
From Page 1
The GW Medicine logo consists of “GW” in white, sans serif font and “Medicine” in light blue, sans serif font. The letters in the “med” of “medicine” slightly overlap, with hints of white on the convergences.
Officials filed to trademark three versions of the GW Medicine logo on July 1, 2024, and the applications are pending approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to the office’s website.
The MFA transitioned to its current logo in fall 2021, formerly a circular logo with “MFA” in black lettering in the center, with “Medi-
cal Faculty Associates” and “The George Washington University” in concentric circles, all in a serif font. “The GW Medical Faculty Associates” in light blue sans serif lettering sits adjacent to the circular logo. Banner said the switch modernized and simplified the logo, which is now “GW” in large, dark blue and sans serif lettering with “Medical Faculty Associates” in smaller, light blue sans serif lettering.
Banner said in February that officials conducted surveys and interviews starting in 2017 regarding MFA branding with members of the GW, MFA and DMV communities, which ultimately informed the rebrand
to GW Medicine. The conversations revealed discontent with the MFA title and the moniker’s ability to accurately represent its health service and academic offerings, she said.
While officials are conducting the rebrand inhouse, the brand agency Monigle assisted the MFA in constructing GW Medicine’s “foundational elements” a few years ago, Banner said.
“We are building excitement and alignment within our internal community to drive momentum and inspire progress toward our key missions,” she said in an email.
The rebrand comes at a time of “structural imbal-
ance” in the MFA and consistent losses amounting at least $80 million for the past three fiscal years.
The GW Medicine moniker preexisted the official rebrand, dating back to at least 1965. It appeared intermittently on MFA communications and marketing in reference to the MFA and SMHS as one entity.
The title made an appearance at a men’s basketball game in February dubbed “GW Medicine & SMHS Night,” with a share of the proceeds benefiting the academic medical enterprise. The game included a section of the Smith Center reserved for GW Medicine community members, where some
attendees donned T-shirts with the GW Medicine logo. MFA officials including CEO Bill Elliott sat courtside for part of the game.
She added that the rebrand will clarify the MFA’s dedication to patient care.
“The mission and core values of SMHS and MFA remain the same — to enhance the health and health equity of individuals and communities through world-class education, research from discovery through implementation sciences, and patient care,” she said in an email.
Over the past few years, health care systems across the country have rebranded to reflect changes like mergers and partnerships. In
2022, 32 health care enterprises updated their titles, according to Becker’s Health Review.
Robert Hay Jr., the executive vice president of the Medical Society of D.C., said the pandemic proliferated issues in health care, like low staffing and burnout, and some hospital leaders consolidated their organization with other medical entities, calling for a brand that represents all of its players. “A lot of times when a medical enterprise will rebrand because it reflects either an expansion or a change in the business model, just like any other business or nonprofit organization,” Hay said.
Bracey to instate new policy review process without faculty endorsement
From Page 1
Former University President Thomas LeBlanc and former CFO Mark Diaz received severance payments amounting to $1,167,000 and $976,440, respectively, during FY2023, according to University tax forms.
Bracey said this year’s tuition increase is similar to previous years where tuition rates rise while the distribution of revenues stays the same, and a “fraction” of that tuition increase goes to schools and financial aid.
Officials announced in March that undergraduate tuition will increase by 3.5 percent, or $2,360, for the 2025-26 academic year, the first time since 2022 that the increase has been under 4 percent.
Granberg said she agreed with Cohen-Cole that officials should be “mindful” of the money used for consulting while officials work to reduce the budget. She said officials will want to watch themselves to ensure what they’re doing is going to benefit the University. During his provost report, Bracey said the University recently finalized a permanent policy review process for the develop-
Faculty Senator Guillermo Orti, a biology professor and co-chair of the Committee on Professional Ethics & Academic Freedom, said the committee is “not ready” to endorse the policy review process, as they remain unconvinced that officials’ consultation with the community aligns with the principles of shared governance outlined by the American Association of University Professors. He said the committee views the latest revisions as a “positive development” that improves transparency, but they will reconvene this fall to dedicate “sufficient time” to offering additional feedback.
He said the committee provided “critical feedback” to officials on the guidelines for the policy review process, and administration sent the Faculty Senate, SGA and Staff Council, a revised document based on their feedback.
Orti also said the majority of PEAF members agree that the University should not pursue a declaration of institutional neutrality at this time after its resolution at the April Faculty Senate meeting was sent back to committee. He said the committee was unable to provide a revised version of the resolution for Faculty Senate consideration due to time constraints.
KRIS PARK | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The front entrance to Velvet’s Dispensary & Smoke Shop on Pennsylvania Avenue.
KYRA WOOD | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Faculty Senator Jamie Cohen-Cole speaks at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday.
KAIDEN J. YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković speaks at the Elliott School of International Affairs Thursday.
BRYSON KLOESEL
CONTRIBUTING NEWS EDITOR
OPINIONS
Staff are burned out. Over the last year they have said so clearly and repeatedly. They have used the word “overwhelming” to describe their workloads. They have reported stagnant wages and limited opportunities for advancement. They have raised alarms about officials not grasping the severity of their concerns or incorporating their voices into University planning. Their work is essential. Their exhaustion is mounting. As GW braces for budget cuts and federal scrutiny, students, faculty and officials must use every avenue available to advocate for staff.
Staff took another hit late last month when officials announced a 3 percent reduction to the University’s expense budget for the upcoming fiscal year and, with it, news that they’re halting annual merit-based salary increases for staff. Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes told the Faculty Senate on Friday that this is the “least disruptive” strategy to prevent layoffs while responding to federal headwinds and years of GW’s expenses outpacing its revenue. We’re not disputing this logic. But the reality is staff are absorbing a burden they’re not equipped to carry. It’s time for the GW community to rally around its staff and ensure their voices aren’t drowned out in the rising tide of institutional concerns.
Officials’ decision to pause merit-based increases for staff came two months after they temporarily tacked on an additional review step to the University’s hiring process, intensifying staff fears of potential layoffs and leaving some departments struggling to function with too few hands. The Staff Council is-
How officials determined Students for Justice in Palestine’s sanctions in their most recent conduct hearing p.3
The time to stand with staff is now
STAFF EDITORIAL
sued a statement saying they were “deeply concerned” about the added review step. They criticized the “vague” language of the announcement, which officials sent “late on a Friday,” as emblematic of a lack of transparency that left staff anxious over the weekend.
The Staff Council’s frustration with the University’s messaging echoed a festering concern among staff that officials don’t hear or take their concerns seriously. When the Staff Council in March asked officials to hold a town hall for staff to speak directly to administrators, Chief of Staff Scott Mory likened the proposal to a “firing line” for officials. Emily Lewis, the Staff Council’s parliamentarian, said the
remark captured what many staff already believe: officials say they want to hear from staff, but they’re not actually listening. She said staff may have been “better served by unionizing” than forming the Staff Council in 2023 because, at this point, it may take legal backing for officials to hear them.
Many staff — who keep systems running, buildings open and campus functioning day to day — don’t feel properly seen or heard by the University. In a moment of real strain for higher education, it’s easy for staff concerns to get lost amid fears of student visa revocations, federal research funding cuts and free speech battles. President Donald Trump’s threats against
Remembering Antonella Galindo’s life of light, passion and
purpose
When Antonella Galindo Merlo died last year in a tragic accident while studying abroad in Melbourne, Australia, we lost a relentless light and everlasting presence that shaped the lives of everyone she touched.
Enara Binuki Thiruchelvam, Maria Teresa Furtado, Marina Houmani and Parviz Henderson Guest Contributors
Antonella was poised to graduate this spring with a degree in international affairs and a minor in psychological and brain sciences. She found her truest happiness at home, surrounded by family in Quito, Ecuador, or lost in the serenity of nature, with music filling the air and animals — particularly dogs — by her side. As the 2025 Commencement approaches, we wrote snapshots of the mark she left on us and the passions she embodied, from spirituality to cinema. These memories are our attempt to grasp a fraction of the fullness she radiated. We hope this tribute offers the GW community a glimpse into the kind of person she was, the depth of her presence and the quiet power she carried with her.
universities have added pressure on institutions like GW to tighten budgets and defend their values, all while facing broader challenges in higher education like rising costs and declining enrollment. But the GW community can’t afford to let its essential staff become collateral. Preventing this starts with students, faculty and officials using every platform they have to listen to, honor and elevate their concerns. For students, this means the Student Government Association continuing to acknowledge the role staff play in shaping the student experience and advocating for the changes needed to help them do their jobs better. It means students educating themselves on
staff concerns, noticing where staff are overburdened on campus and offering feedback to the University that reflects this. GW is a tuition-dependent University. When students come together and ask for change, it carries weight.
For faculty, this means the Faculty Senate leveraging its role in University policymaking to champion staff concerns. They consistently remind officials that shared governance principles dictate their responsibility in ensuring faculty voices are heard, and this advocacy can extend to staff. These bodies are stronger when they stand together and right now, staff need that support.
For University leaders, the power to improve staff experience lies in their hands. We understand officials are navigating a structural budget deficit, bracing for federal scrutiny and working diligently to balance the needs of all its constituents. They may not be able to increase staff pay or expand hiring immediately, but they can make sure the next strategic plan fully addresses the concerns staff have raised over the past year. They can also develop and share medium-term plans to alleviate staff burnout in the coming months and years. Above all, we’re asking them to genuinely listen to staff, carefully consider how they communicate and ensure that staff perspectives are prioritized within the shared governance framework.
Staff are the pulse of the University. In a period of fear and institutional fragility, it’s the responsibility of the entire community to stand behind our staff.
Journalism won’t survive the death of objectivity
She didn’t just value spirituality intellectually — she lived it. Antonella is still alive, not only in us and everyone she loved, but in the energy we admire and aspire to live by.
Enara Binuki Thiruchelvam ‘25: Movies
There’s a shared note in my phone between Antonella and I titled “Top Movies.” We started it in the fall of our sophomore year, right after we stopped living together and could no longer end our nights watching movies. It became a collection of our favorite films and ones we hoped to watch. Antonella’s rules for watching movies were something we bonded over: no other screens allowed and everyone had to pay attention. In her very Antonella way, she’d “gently” urge everyone to put away their phones and laptops, to be fully present with the film. She hated when people weren’t “there”— and that’s something she imparted on me from the moment we met.
Marina Houmani‘25: Music
Maria Teresa Furtado ‘25: Spirituality I didn’t know anything about spirituality when I first met Antonella. What I knew came from the media, crystals and astrology. During her gap year, she experienced fundamental changes in her life spiritually. She spent time studying Buddhism and made spiritual beliefs the center of her life. I remember her telling me in our West Hall common space that “sometimes, what bothers us about others is a reflection of what bothers us about ourselves.”
One of the first things Antonella and I bonded over was music and our favorite artists. Since freshman year, we woOne of the first things Antonella and I bonded over was music and our favorite artists. Whenever I would come over or when we lived together, music flowed through the dorm. Her taste was impeccable — whether it be house, reggae, afrobeats or Latin, she always knew exactly what music to play for the moment.
What made Antonella’s relationship with music significant wasn’t just her taste or her ability to connect with others through it, but her ability to feel it — almost as if she were living in each song. She would tell us to just listen and “feel” the music, and sometimes she would close her eyes and sway to the rhythm. She found the soul of a song and held
onto it, and her energy was contagious. When you were with her, it felt as though you were discovering it too.
Parviz Henderson ‘25: Nature When Antonella passed, much of the color in my life washed away. Her presence was magnetic, and her love for life radiated contagiously to those around her. Being in nature with Antonella was always one of the purest ways to feel this energy. In these cherished moments, seeing the world through her eyes, I remember the sense of serenity I felt. The only thing that existed was the dirt between our toes or the water swelling around us.
Her soul eternally lives on in the nature she cherished, and her energy will continue to nourish the world.
Why do referees wear black and white stripes? Because a neutral uniform is essential to their role. Wearing a team’s jersey would create doubt about whether their calls are driven by the rules or personal bias. Journalists are divided on a comparable question — should reporters wear their own team’s jersey or align with the neutrality of the newsroom?
Contributing Opinions Editor
The answer is simple — biased referees compromise the fairness of the game, just as biased journalists undermine the credibility of the news. But many journalists, including professors at GW’s School of Media & Public Affairs, have joined a movement challenging journalistic objectivity. To ensure fair play in the media, we must reinforce journalists’ role as impartial participants.
Both revenue and readership are plummeting on mainstream media sites as the public looks for alternative news sources on social and new media. According to a recent Gallup poll, 69 percent of Americans now have little or no trust in the media. One of the chief complaints is the perceived political bias and advocacy that characterizes much of the coverage.
When I was a cub-reporter in high school, my first lesson felt like the journalist’s version of the Hippocratic Oath — we must remain independent voices, free of bias, if we are to call ourselves journalists. As a journalist outside SMPA, I assumed my peers would be taught what I once believed to be a rule of journalism. Interest in the news is plummeting. The solution cannot be straying further away from high journalistic standards. Drift too far from those principles, and our newsrooms may just become a very crowded opinion page. If news outlets are to survive, future journalists cannot join the movement to abandon objectivity.
—Madie Turley, a sophomore majoring in English and creative writing, is the contributing opinions editor.
At SMPA, the rejection of objectivity starts in the classroom. I recently heard from an SMPA student that objectivity in journalism is impossible to achieve. Later, another SMPA student said this view is often echoed by SMPA professors in their lessons. Many of SMPA’s professors aren’t merely moving past objectivity — they have taken the lead baton. In a panel hosted by SMPA earlier this school year, Shapiro Fellow Michael Tomasky opposed the view from The New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn that “the paper’s chief responsibility is to inform readers, not to preserve the democratic system itself.” And in a discussion on objectivity, SMPA professor Nikki Mayo expressed support for incorporating personal perspectives into news coverage. The role of the news is not to jump to conclusions but to provide information for readers to form their own. We are human after all, and humans have opinions. It’s what makes journalism such a challenging field — we must set our own views aside to get the whole story.
Madie Turley
CAROLINE MORRELLI | STAFF CARTOONIST
COURTESY OF ENARA BINUKI THIRUCHELVAM
2025 Commencement Guide
GW celebrates 20 years since Commencement location change
Twenty years ago, GW announced that it would hold its Commencement ceremony on the National Mall, following a long history of hosting the event at various historic venues throughout the District.
Before then, every commencement ceremony between 1992 and 2005 — except the 1995 ceremony, which was canceled due to weather — was held on the Ellipse, the park just south of the White House. But in 2005, National Park Service renovations to the Ellipse’s side panels forced officials to change the venue, leaving the University with just months to procure a new location that could support over 20,000 attendees.
The 2006 ceremony’s site became the plot of land wedged between 4th and 7th streets, between the National Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery of Art, situated directly in front of the Capitol.
NPS officials notified the University in spring 2006 that the Ellipse was available for the ceremony after instructing GW to find alternative plans throughout the fall and winter months.
At the second Commencement held on the Mall in 2007, former GW President Joel Trachtenberg’s address as the official speaker before ending his time at the University was canceled and replaced by
four to five minute speeches made by the recipients of honorary degrees.
In the years ensuing the online drama, civil rights activist Julian Bond addressed graduates on the Mall in 2008, and former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke in 2010. Obama’s po-
sition at the time brought about increased security, necessitating attendees to arrive early to go through metal detectors and show photo identification.
An irrigation and turf restoration project in the regular spot between 7th and 14th streets forced the
Seniors pivot careers in uctuating job market
ST. CLAIR SENIOR STAFF WRITER
With three Capitol Hill internships under her belt, 2025 graduate Sylvia Cassidy said she was “Hill or bust” for her post-graduation plans, but 130 applications, no job offers and a presidential election later, she had to replan her future.
Cassidy is just one member of GW’s class of 2025 entering the job market at the onset of President Donald Trump’s administration and struggling to find job openings in D.C., a challenge felt by students across disciplines. Graduates said hiring freezes, federal agency layoffs and limited entry-level openings have contributed to difficulties in pinning down a steady position post grad, forcing them to search for positions on the local level and for less traditional paths.
Cassidy, a graduate majoring in political science and world religion with a minor in women, gender and sexuality studies, said she decided to graduate this past winter after her colleagues from her prior Hill internships said it would make her “completely available” to get a head start on job opportunities.
Cassidy said she had difficulty finding entry-level openings in the federal workforce, applying to over 130 jobs in D.C. with no success and few responses from employers.
Cassidy said a lack of “movement” with the job market in D.C. forced her to pivot her search to local government in her home state of Kentucky.
Jax Martinez Franks, a graduate
who studied criminal justice and political science, said she initially planned to stay in D.C. with her girlfriend but decided to move to Chicago after graduation out of fear of the Trump administration’s threats to home rule.
Martinez Franks said she pivoted her plans from the political sphere to the legal world because she wants to prepare for a potential law school career and was “happy” that she found employment.
Jai Ramamurthy, a graduate who majored in political science, said he received an offer from the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach at the White House in October for a position as an assistant to the secretary of transportation under the potential Harris administration. He said the office rescinded the offer after Election Day.
Ramamurthy said soon after he started applying for jobs in November, he realized he wanted to apply for more “hands-on” positions to protect people from his community and encourage voter mobility throughout the remainder of Trump’s term. He said he accepted a position at the AAPI Victory Fund — a PAC that aims to expand Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander candidates for elected office — as a digital strategist where he will work on the organization’s online outreach to the AAPI community.
“As there continues to be a mobilization of that mass outrage in terms of like the midterms and showing the American people that we can limit his power in some way and soon get him out of power, I think the market will continue to expand,” Ramamurthy said.
2015 Commencement to be held between the Wash-
Monument and the White House. Ricky Allen, an alum and adjunct professor of health policy and management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, said he skipped
his first GW Commencement in 2000, where he graduated with a master’s of health services administration, due to family plans he had that day. Allen said walking down the Mall as a marshal allows him to realize how far he has come in his career and comes with a
mix of emotions.
“I’m one of those ‘Straight Outta Compton’ people, and I’m walking down the center aisle thinking, ‘Wow, how did this happen to me? How did I get to be this guy walking down this aisle?’” Allen said.
Inside the chaos of graduation week for GW’s cross-country twins
CARLY CAVANAUGH CONTRIBUTING CULTURE EDITOR
Instead of partaking in the celebrations and libations of commencement week, senior Christina Farah will be taking two round trips between the District and New York within five days, all to watch her twin sister turn her tassel at The New School.
For 18 years, Farah and her twin sister were conjoined at the hip, sharing a bedroom their entire lives and attending the same elementary, middle and high schools. But in 2021, the duo split apart, with Farah choosing to go to GW to study international business and her sister moving to New York City to study strategic design and management.
That put Farah among the soon-to-be GW graduates who have non-Revolutionary twins, many of which have spent the past four years finding their individuality, making cross-country college visits and shocking new friends with their secret doppelgangers.
As colleges across the country hold their commencement ceremonies, families of GW’s seniors are flocking to the District to watch their graduates receive their hard-earned diplomas.
to ensure they and her sister had
ment on Friday, Farah said.
For the final leg of the trip, the Farahs will embark back to the District on Saturday, with one day in between, for GW’s Sunday Commencement ceremony on the National Mall.
Farah said she views the past four years as a temporary change, as the duo plans to live together in New York City postgrad.
Farah said she decided to move to New York due to both the prestige of the program and to be with her sister and added that while some twins purposely go to different universities, she and her sister did not make a conscious decision to do so. Instead, they chose to go where they each
other’s graduations, they realized once their universities released their commencement week schedules that if Fritsch’s sister attended her GW graduation, she’d be forced to sit out on her own senior year festivities. She said she still plans on attending her twin’s ceremony and will travel with a large group of family from D.C. after her ceremony to the West Coast. She said the family will go out to group dinners in San Diego to commemorate both sisters’ graduations.
Farah said her family made a plan to ensure they would all be in attendance at all four ceremonies — each twin’s school graduation and their university-wide celebration — upon learning she and her sister had the same commencement week.
ceremonies — one for their individual colleges and one general ceremony. As she gears up thought would be best for their individual which to
She said she and her sister both have two commencement ceremonies — one for their individual colleges and one general ceremony. As she gears up for her trip to New York City on Tuesday to attend her sister’s Wednesday school ceremony, After her sister’s first ceremony, she and her family will then traverse back to D.C. for her GW School of Business graduation on Thursday. Then, the four will trek back to New York City for The New School’s commence-
best for their individual careers and personality types, Farah said.
Clare Fritsch, a senior majoring in political science and public health, said her twin sister is graduating from the University of San Diego with a communications degree one week after GW’s ceremony.
She said although they’d always planned to attend each
Rebecca Marsalese, a journalism and mass communication student, said her twin brother’s graduation from Dean College is the weekend before her own, means she plans to travel Franklin, Massachusetts, to attend. She said her brother’s ceremony was originally slated to be the same weekend as her own, causing her family to be “super stressed” about the logistics of attending both graduations, originally planning attend his on Saturday and make their way to D.C. for hers on Sunday. She said they “luckily” changed the date around a year ago, allowing her and her immediate family to commemorate both twins’ accomplishments without worry.
ny was originally slated to be the same weekend as her family to be “super stressed” about the logistics of attending both graduations, to attend his on Satur-
“I think this also made us closer in a way,” Marsalese said. “And I think it made me more grateful for my relationship with him.”
HATCHET
ington
MOLLY
DIANA ANOS CULTURE EDITOR
HATCHET ARCHIVES
Archive photos of the University’s Commencement ceremony from 2007-2015.
NICHOLAS
2025 Commencement Guide
As graduation looms, students battle senioritis
ADELAIDE PETRAS STAFF WRITER
As graduating seniors near the end of their final semesters, pulling an all-nighter in Gelman Library over a pregraduation night out with friends may be the last decision they are willing to make.
With looming plans of joining the workforce or attending graduate school, many graduating seniors tried to leave their undergraduate days in the past — but it’s not over until final exams are taken and final papers are submitted. In a haze of declining motivation and futurefacing vision, GW graduates struggling with senioritis, dwindling drive as their undergraduate careers close, are attempting to finish the semester somewhat strong.
Self-proclaimed “leading expert” in the field of senioritis Owen Wolff does not know which semester he is officially graduating with a bachelor’s in computer science and computer engineering and said he wants to go into software engineering postgrad.
Wolff said he plans to make an abrupt “Irish graduation” and not attend the ceremony when commencement rolls around — but will make visits to the District to spend time with friends as they graduate.
Wolff said he would rather hang out with his friends than attend classes and that he is already feeling “done” with college. He said he tends to leave
assignments to the last minute, especially lab reports, a task he finds tedious.
“I can’t be bothered, I’m a grown *ss man. I have a Roth IRA,” Wolff said. “I’m not gonna write a lab report.”
Wolff said his course load for his next — and hopefully last — semester is relatively light, and that he plans to go into it with a “punk rock attitude,” having fun with his final classes, which include a cooking course he’s taking to fill credit hours.
Alex Gates, a graduating senior studying international affairs and German language and literature, said he plans to attend graduate school in the fall but is still deciding between Columbia and Sciences Po.
Gates said he has already met the required number of credits for graduation, so his final semester has not been “super intense.”
Ozzy Simpson, a graduating computer science student said he is participating in the 4+1 program, taking one more year at GW to complete his master’s degree. Simpson said he didn’t have any exams during finals week but had to commit much of his time to his senior capstone project on Bluetooth devices. He said the grueling yearlong project exhausts computer science students by the time finals week rolls around.
“One of the reasons I’ve really been trying to fight kind of just, I don’t know, giving up or doing a lot less work because I know I have to do more in the fall,” Simpson said.
Between headlining at the District’s indie music venues, organizing philanthropic concerts and establishing influential online music presences, graduating members of the GW music community are ending on a high note — and plan to keep their music alive long past graduation.
Over the past four years, GW’s music players, journalists and aficionados have established themselves within both the student body and the greater D.C. music arena, aiming to rebuild the scene postpandemic. Many graduating musicians have found community, creativity and authentic connections through student organizations, like the Student Music Coalition and WRGW District Radio, and in independent projects, which they plan to build on postgrad.
Graduating senior Max Cohen, a music and American studies double major, said he established the indie band Home Remedies
With every family visit, the ritual resumes: the classic Foggy Bottom and District spots — tourist traps like a stroll to the White House, Western Market for a quick bite or a trip to the Spy Museum — packed with eighth graders decked out in blaring red, white and blue D.C. merch and first time electric scooter riders hogging the sidewalks. For Commencement weekend, Hatchet
Farmers serves food that is comparable to what you can expect to find at any neighborhood diner. During Commencement weekend, it will also likely be impossible to secure a reservation. So don’t follow the crowd and clamor for lackluster chicken and waffles and runny eggs, and venture out of Foggy Bottom to find some cuisine worth calling home for.
air pumped into the Tropic room to keep the flora alive will immediately cause your clothes to cling to your body with sweat as if you entered a steaming sauna. The winding pathways to admire each and every plant from above are comparable to cars stuck in traffic — and it is incredibly difficult to navigate around those taking too long to admire each petal.
He said while the future of his music projects remains uncertain, he reminds himself that sabbaticals for bands are not uncom-
staffers share where not to go — the overcrowded, overhyped landmarks dominating every tourist’s checklist. Skip the obvious. Here’s what to avoid and where to go instead for a fresher and more memorable experience.
Founding Farmers: Jenna Lee | Senior News Editor
Offering standard farmto-table fare in the heart of campus, Founding Farmers draws visiting families like moths to a flame. GW students are all too proud to show their parents neighborhood staples like their shrimp and grits and chicken pot pie. But to present Founding Farmers as the pinnacle of Northwest D.C. dining does a disservice to the diverse culinary landscape GW students have access to — and often overlook. For all their egregious wait times for a table and above average prices, Founding
Alternative: Visit All Day by Kramers in Dupont Circle to get delicious french toast or Mumbo chicken wings and also find your next summer read.
U.S. Botanic Garden: Ryan J. Karlin | Senior Staff Writer
A garden oasis on Capitol Hill may sound like the perfect family outing on Commencement weekend, but the U.S. Botanic Garden is far from the nature-filled adventure you’re looking for. Located a stone’s throw away from the Capitol building, the Botanic Garden boasts a collection of about 44,000 plants, used for display and study. Yet despite the garden’s extensive collection, the humid air and narrow walkways make it nearly impossible to admire each leaf and flower inside. As you make your way through the Botanic Garden and gaze at the foliage, a wave of stale air will make the mid-May heat outside feel like paradise. The hot, thick, humid
Alternative: If a nature-filled outing is on your list, try a hike in Rock Creek Park. The sprawling forest provides scenic views, scurrying animals and many trails to explore, plus you’ll get your steps, and it should be much less humid than the gardens this time of year.
The National Mall: Ryan
Saenz | Assistant News Editor
After three or four years inAfter three or four years in the District, odds are you and your family have already spent your fair share of time on the National Mall. The Mall, just a short walk from campus, has it all — from historic monuments like the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument to large patches of grass and heavy foot traffic. Sure, it’s called “America’s front yard,” but after spending four years a quick walk away, it’s not the thing to do in your final few days as a GW student. As D.C. begins the busy tourist season, you and your family will end up dealing with hordes
with 2023 graduate Zach Basile during his first year. By acting as the blog editor for WRGW and joining Tiny Dorm Concerts, a student organization modeled after National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Concerts, in the same year, Cohen said he was able to explore and integrate into the local music scene from the get-go. He said due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an absence of University support, there was not a strong music culture at GW when he first arrived, which pushed student musicians to “look further out” for show opportunities outside of GW.
“Plenty Happening,” a 27-song project featuring musicians, like Home Remedies, is raising money to support gender-affirming care through the Whitman-Walker Health center, garnering money from online and CD sales and tickets from the project’s release concert at The Black Cat last Friday.
Fellow Home Remedies member, graduating senior Andrew “Gibby” Gibson, completed his studies in geological sciences and is preparing to rock the commencement stage this month.
of people who are visiting the nation’s capital for the first time. Expand your horizons, and whatever you do, do not take a walk down Virginia Avenue to the National Mall. Enjoy the rest of the city with your family — there’s a lot more to see than a tall obelisk and a big rectangular lake. Neighborhoods like Adams Morgan, Logan Circle or Capitol Hill have extensive histories and plenty of restaurants, shops and historic sites to enjoy on a weekend.
meeting campus musiparty. He said the number of
Keegan Harvey, a senior studying civil engineering, said he transferred from the College of Charleston in 2022 and quickly immersed himself within the local music scene, largely through meeting campus musicians at a Home Remedies after party. He said the number of venues in the area and opportunities for attending shows made D.C. a better environment to explore the community, as it’s “harder to get” live music in the South. He said he plans on translating the lessons he’s learned about fostering a community from GW musicians, like Cohen, to revamp his online music presence as an “actual stream of income” after leaving “I’m planning on — when I’m moving back to Rhode Island, and I won’t have as many friends around to distract me — to get back on that music TikTok content creation and build that up too,” he said.
He said he plans on translating the lessons
historic vibe, Alexandria boasts restaurants, cafes and stores, along with a wonderful riverfront park along the Potomac.
Ice Cream Trucks: Ben Spitalny | Senior Sports Editor
Good Humor popsicles or just a classic scoop. While I’m usually never someone who’d argue against a sweet soft-serve
Alternative: If you still want to have a day walking around appreciating the gorgeous spring weather, take the Metro down to Old Town Alexandria. With a quaint,
On a sweltering May day, thick with the signature D.C. humidity, few things hit the spot quite like ice cream or a slushie. That is, of course, until you’re down $15 for a soft serve cone. Be forewarned, there’s a reason many D.C. ice cream trucks avoid listing their prices — it’s to overcharge unsuspecting families.
or overzealous joggers on the Mall — getting lured in by a
The options can be tantalizing: dozens of flavors of soft serve or snow cones,
COURTESY OF TILLY SANDMEYER
pose with “plenty happening” written on their knuckles.
