HATCHET The GW
GW forms student loan task force as federal aid rollback looms
GW launched a task force to assess how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s $307 billion cut to federal student aid will impact graduate enrollment and pinpoint safe private loan alternatives — one of its first formal responses to higher education policy shifts under the Trump administration.
The task force will meet throughout the fall semester to identify how students, particularly at the graduate level, can safely engage in the private loan market as universities brace for stricter federal student borrowing limits and the termination of the Grad PLUS program next July, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Student Success Jay Goff told the Faculty Senate Tuesday. Goff’s announcement, delivered at a special senate meeting titled “addressing challenges facing the University,” comes as schools nationwide grapple with the termination of a graduate student loan program credited with fueling a decade-long rise in graduate degrees and programs.
One week into President Donald Trump’s historic move to federalize D.C.’s police and deploy the National Guard across the city, Foggy Bottom leaders lambaste the move as unlawful as advocates scramble to relocate homeless residents amid escalating citywide arrests and encampment sweeps. Trump invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act for the first time in history last Monday, federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department under a declared “crime emergency” — a move that has led local and federal law enforcement to make more than 300 arrests as of Sunday evening. Federal law enforcement presence in Foggy Bottom has remained sparse, with around
800 National Guard troops concentrated in D.C.’s tourist and nightlife hubs, but neighborhood leaders are decrying their city’s takeover as retaliatory and unprecedented.
While Foggy Bottom has largely escaped federal scrutiny as troops focus on areas like the nearby National Mall and the U Street corridor, federal and local officials have cleared at least four homeless encampment sites near campus in Washington Circle and L Street. The sweeps displaced at least four unhoused individuals and removed at least seven tents, bypassing the city’s usual protocol of providing a seven-day notice before clearing encampments.
D.C. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Behavioral Health officials urged unhoused individuals living in Foggy Bottom near the Kennedy Cen-
ter, the E Street Expressway and Virginia Avenue to move their tents on Wednesday and Thursday, Street Sense reported. District officials cleared another encampment with seven tents near the I-66 ramp earlier in the day Thursday.
Tameyah Ingraham, an outreach worker for homeless aid organization Miriam’s Kitchen, said she went to three encampments on Thursday, encouraging residents to relocate to shelters to avoid arrest by federal officials and helping residents gather their belongings. She said some of the organization’s donors have also helped finance residents staying in a hotel. “We are here to soften the blow and try to encourage them to relocate, so that they won’t go to jail,” Ingraham said. Ingraham said Miriam’s Kitchen did not know how
MPD sweeps unhoused encampments in Foggy Bottom
Local law enforcement, at President Donald Trump’s directive, cleared four unhoused encampment sites near Washington Circle and L Street late Friday morning after federal officers failed to sweep the sites Thursday night.
The sweeps, conducted by Metropolitan Police Department and Department of Public Works officers, cleared at least seven tents and evicted at least four unhoused individuals from encampments at 22nd and K streets, Washington Circle and K street and 26th and L streets. The clearings come after two separate groups of federal agents arrived to evict residents near Washington Circle Thursday night, three
days after Trump federalized the MPD and deployed 800 National Guard troops and other federal agents throughout the city, in part to clear unhoused encampments.
At 10:54 a.m. on Friday, University officials issued a GW Alert notifying the community of urgent police activity at Washington Circle. Some D.C. residents posted photos and videos of the officers and multiple garbage trucks around the Washington Circle area around the same time on X.
About six MPD agents monitored each of the three Washington Circle encampment sites as DPW officials cleaned up the areas using a garbage truck at each location. At about 11:12 a.m., the trucks and MPD officers left the areas of the three Washington Circle sites.
many encampments the federal government planned to clear or when.
“It’s just been popping up everywhere,” Ingraham said.
Rachel Pierre — the director of DMHHS, which oversees the city’s homeless services — said the agency has the capacity to assist people law enforcement evicts from encampments. She said the federal government led the evictions, and DMHHS was only there to support unhoused residents and ensure they knew their options for relocation.
“Our job is to make sure that people know if they want to come in, they can come in,” Pierre told The Hatchet. “We have the capacity to meet the needs of anybody, and that’s what we’re giving the word out to make sure people know.”
The creation of the student loan task force follows the passage of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” earlier this summer which includes a provision that will phase out the Grad PLUS program next July and appears to be one of officials’ first steps to alter University policy in response to the new federal administration.
The Grad PLUS loan program, introduced in July 2006 during the Bush administration, allows graduate students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, minus any other financial aid received. But Republican lawmakers earlier this summer moved to terminate the program on July 1, 2026, and set new federal borrowing limits. Graduate students will now be capped at $20,500 in federal funding a year, with a $100,000 lifetime borrowing limit, or $50,000 a year with a $200,000 lifetime limit if they’re in a professional school like medical or law.
Anti-Trump protesters flood DC streets to decry federal takeover
Hundreds of protesters marched from Dupont Circle to the White House on Saturday, opposing President Donald Trump’s decision to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy hundreds of National Guard troops across the city.
Protesters gathered at around 2 p.m. in over 90 degree heat with signs reading “Trump Must Go Now,” “Refuse Fascism” and “Free D.C.,” before marching over two miles to the White House, where speakers condemned the Trump administration’s historic move to assert federal control over D.C.’s police department. The demonstrators, equipped with whistles, megaphones and tall orange banners that read “We refuse to accept a fascist America” in both English and Spanish, called for Trump to remove National Guard troops immediately and to return control of the city’s police force back to local officials.
The protest — organized by Refuse Fascism, which antiTrump protesters founded in the wake of the 2016 election — comes amid the Trump administration’s intensified efforts to crack down on crime in D.C. through federal intervention. Trump on Monday invoked Section 740 of D.C.’s Home Rule Act for the first time in history, which allows the president to assume federal control of the police under “conditions of an emergency nature.” Trump
also deployed 800 D.C. National Guard troops to assist police as he promised to “rescue” the city from violent crime, despite violent crime dropping 35 percent in 2024, reaching a 30-year low for the city.
Emma Sherman, a rising sophomore majoring in political science, said she attended the Dupont Circle rally and participated in the march from Dupont to the White House because she wanted to be with the D.C. community as Trump exerts his control over the city. She said she stayed in D.C. over the summer and was shocked by Trump’s takeover of the MPD because she believes Trump is lying about the state of crime in the District.
“As we walked the streets, there were fellow D.C. residents just there cheering us on, recording us, hyping us up,” Sherman
said. Following a brief rally in Dupont Circle, the crowd — which had grown to several hundred protesters — began marching down Connecticut Avenue around 2:45 p.m., flanked by MPD officers on bikes and escorted by MPD cars closing intersections as protesters moved toward the White House. Demonstrators chanted demands for the Trump administration to remove National Guard troops from the city, protect immigrants and “release the Epstein files.”
The only National Guard troops present during the demonstration were stationed on Constitution Avenue outside the gated entrance to the White House’s South Lawn. Protesters surrounded the handful of troops and their armored vehicle and chanted “Trump Must Go.”
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
D.C. National Guard troops patrol Union Station on Thursday.
GIANNA
KAIDEN J. YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Demonstrators march from DuPont Circle to the White House Saturday, protesting President Donald Trump’s deployment of federalized troops in the city.
GW suspends Jewish Voice for Peace through May, prompting group to disaffiliate
RYAN SAENZ
Conflict Education and Student Accountability suspended Jewish Voice for Peace through May for violating University policies in late April, a sanction that a member of JVP said is pushing the organization to disaffiliate from the University.
JVP entered into disciplinary proceedings over the summer after officials received reports in April alleging multiple instances of misconduct, including discriminatory harassment, where CESA concluded the organization violated policies by hosting an on-campus event without advisor approval and publishing an April 22 social media post that created a “hostile environment” for Jewish students, a University spokesperson confirmed. The group’s latest suspension comes over a year after officials suspended the group through the fall 2024 semester and placed them on probation through spring 2025 for their involvement in spring 2024’s pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard.
A member of the organization said JVP has decided to disaffiliate from GW after multiple conduct proceedings in recent years.
A University spokesperson said JVP created a hostile environment that targeted Jewish identity, a characteristic that is protected under Title VI, in a social media post. The group’s outcome violation — which officials granted for not adhering to the terms from prior conduct proceedings — was the result of JVP planning and hosting an event on April 20 without prior advisor approval while under a “limitation of privileges,” according to the conduct violations sheet.
Given the sanctions, a member of JVP, who requested anonymity for fear
of University repression, said the organization made the decision to disaffiliate from GW as a whole but will continue pursuing “the student struggle.”
JVP last faced conduct proceedings following the pro-Palestinian encampment in U-Yard during spring 2024, which protested the ongoing war in Gaza and demanded officials drop disciplinary charges against pro-Palestinian protesters, disclose investments and divest from companies tied to Israel.
JVP faced a semester-long suspension for the fall 2024 semester, followed by a semester-long probationary period during the spring 2025 semester. The member said as part of JVP’s return from suspension plan, the group must receive advisor approval for all social media posts and has several other conditions that must be met, but the
Officials move to dismiss campus antisemitism lawsuit
Officials moved late last month to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of students and alumni that alleged officials failed to respond to “pervasive and severe” campus antisemitism since the onset of the war in Gaza, arguing the complaint fails to show the University’s deliberate disregard to discrimination.
The motion, filed by one of the University’s defense attorneys on July 28 in the D.C. District Court, requests the judge hear an oral argument about the University’s motion to dismiss the complaint in its entirety with prejudice, which prohibits the plaintiffs from refiling the suit. The motion sends the lawsuit back to the plaintiffs — whose lawyer said they are not considering dismissing the case — to respond by next Monday after they requested on July 31 a two-week extension from the original Aug. 11 deadline.
A memo, filed by Jason Schwartz from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher,
Cocurricular
RYAN SAENZ ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Enrollment in two of three cocurricular programs for first-year students halved after the University switched to hosting orientation during the summer, a University spokesperson said.
Enrollment in Adventure Bound dropped by over 60 percent, and LEAD GW saw a 36 percent decline compared to last year, which officials attribute to the University’s shift back to staggered summer orientation sessions. They said the earlier opportunities for students to explore GW reduced the need for additional presemester programs, though enrollment in a cocurricular program for first-generation students increased.
LLP alongside the motion, argues that the University did not ignore antisemitic actions on campus but rather repeatedly condemned them by disciplining students and organizations and working with the Metropolitan Police Department to clear the pro-Palestinian encampment that took place in University Yard last year.
“What Plaintiffs really complain about is speech — specifically, speech they found offensive or hostile to their views,” the University’s motion states. “But that speech, as their Complaint makes clear, came from students, faculty, or outside speakers — not from the University itself.”
Alums Sabrina Soffer and Ari Shapiro and an anonymous group of students, alumni and other stakeholders who named themselves “Compliance, Accountability, Policy, Ethics – Ed,” or CAPEEd, filed a lawsuit against the University on May 22, alleging GW failed to mitigate antisemitic acts and deprived Jewish and Israeli students of their educational experience on the basis of their na-
member did not specify what the exact conditions are.
The group is required to complete a return from suspension plan and a return from probation plan at the end of their year-long suspension in 2026 and probation until spring 2027.
“Following the period of suspension, sanctions will continue to various degrees until 2032 — a blatant and cowardly attempt to muzzle and incapacitate the only anti-Zionist Jewish organization on campus from functioning entirely,” they said.
The member said the organization decided not to appeal the CESA decision because all other appeals the organization had submitted in the past were rejected by University officials, one of the main reasons the organization decided to disaffiliate.
tional origin, ethnicity and ancestry.
Here’s a breakdown of the University’s arguments in its motion to dismiss the lawsuit:
Arguments against alleged Title VI violations
In response to the lawsuits’ claims that the University violated Title VI by making the plaintiffs feel “unable” to participate in University life due to continued harassment and threats, along with the University’s “complicit” nature in the face of discrimination, GW argued previous courts ruled universities are not liable under Title VI for failing to suppress constitutionally protected expression even if it’s offensive or controversial.
GW’s motion also responds to the lawsuit’s allegations that the University “allowed” the pro-Palestinian encampment last year to “take root” on campus rather than taking preventative action by arguing that officials worked with MPD to clear the encampment and install fences around U-Yard.
THEFT II/FROM BUILDING
University Student Center
8/7/2025 – 5 to 6 p.m.
Open Case A female GW contractor reported her backpack stolen after leaving it unattended.
Suspect identified.
SIMPLE ASSAULT
Panda Express on I Street NW
8/8/2025 – 6:02 p.m.
Open Case
Two GW contractors reported a male former employee attempted to hit them with a closed fist.
Case open.
UNLAWFUL ENTRY
Jacob Burns Law Library
8/10/2025 – 3:40 p.m.
Closed Case
GW Police Department officers made contact with a male former GW student, who then fled to the bathroom. The former student barricaded himself inside the bathroom. Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived and arrested him.
Suspect arrested.
UNLAWFUL ENTRY
2131 G Street NW
8/11/2025 – 8:07 a.m.
Closed Case
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested a previously barred male. Suspect arrested.
—Compiled by Bryson Kloesel
GW agrees to open bargaining with graduate student union
DYLAN EBS ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The union representing graduate student workers announced Friday that the University has agreed to open bargaining, allowing more members of the group to attend bargaining meetings as they work to negotiate a contract with GW.
The development comes after the GWU Graduate Students United signed a ground rules agreement for negotiations at their last bargaining meeting on Aug. 12, allowing all graduate student workers to observe the next bargaining session on Aug. 27, according to Matt Rohn, a lead negotiator for the union. Union Bargaining Committee Member Anya Parks said the union achieved the concession, which they had been pushing for months, by being “consistent and firm” with the University about the importance of transparency and “democracy” during contract negotiations.
“We are pleased to have GW come to the bargaining table in good faith,” Parks said in an email. “We see their agreement to open bargaining as an acknowl-
edgement of our strength as one of the largest bargaining units on campus.”
The University did not immediately return a request for comment.
Seven graduate students and one staff member represent the union in negotiations, according to Rohn.
Rohn said in an email he thought it would be good for the broader GW community if negotiations had been open from the beginning of the process, which he said would make it more transparent.
“Grad workers obviously have the most at stake here, but we also wanted this process to be transparent for students, faculty and staff, who also have an interest in the contract because we’re all part of the same university community,” Rohn said.
GW refused open bargaining for their first meeting on May 13, according to an Instagram post the union made May 1. The union posted again on July 17 that the University had refused its requests for open bargaining for three months.
The union’s post on Instagram announcing open bargaining said it creates
transparency and expands its ability to demonstrate its “collective power.” Union members will be allowed to sit in on negotiations via Zoom with their camera and microphone off, per the post.
“Members truly have a seat at the table and are able to watch our bargaining committee vote with management,” the post says. The graduate student employees who participated in November’s election voted 347-2 to unionize. The successful vote came a month after announcing their organizing efforts in October to advocate for better pay and benefits for graduate student workers. Graduate student workers began unionization efforts in 2017 but were not recognized by the University and did not file a petition for an election since President Donald Trump was in office and the National Labor Relations Board traditionally has not granted elections to student labor unions under a Republican administration. The group paused unionization efforts in September 2018 and began to focus on advocating and lobbying officials on issues salient to graduate students.
programs lag in enrollment after switch to summer orientation
The University spokesperson said Adventure Bound, a program offered through a partnership with GW TRAiLS and Campus Recreation, had 23 enrollees this year, compared to 63 in 2024. Adventure Bound offers a variety of nature trips, including rafting, camping and backpacking.
GW TRAiLS President Jenna Ainge said the organization consolidated the total number of trips from five down to two, in part because of the lower enrollment. However, she also said officials were already planning to shrink the number of trips offered to enrollees because the amount of trips offered in 2024 made it difficult for officials and TRAiLS to manage each outing. The spokesperson also said LEAD GW saw an over
20-person dip in enrollment, falling from 60 students in 2024 to 38 students this year. LEAD, which stands for Leadership Exploration and Development, offers two days of programming centered around turning students into leaders and introducing them to leadership opportunities at GW and in the broader D.C. area.
The spokesperson said officials have not completed a formal assessment of the enrollment dip for LEAD and Adventure Bound.
“We are encouraged by the positive impact of our summer orientation, as it demonstrates our ongoing commitment to building a sense of belonging for all students from the moment they join the GW community,” the spokesperson said.
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI
DIANA ANOS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Signs made by students
Voice for Peace in February.
YNGRID GUEVARA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A first-year student moves into Thurston Hall Sunday.
Officials revamp campus spaces, repair buildings over summer
New turf and landscaping in Square 80, redesigns to residence hall lobbies and tables outside Rome and Phillips Halls are among the upgrades officials made to campus spaces over the summer.
Renovation projects — which spanned at least six buildings and three major event spaces — included continued progress on Gelman Library’s multiyear HVAC upgrade, which shut down the building for a second consecutive summer and renovations to Bell Hall following years of faculty and student complaints about poor conditions, like mold, ceiling leaks and pests. Officials also replaced Square 80’s natural grass with a “water-permeable turf” to reduce maintenance and “down-times” associated with traditional grass, according to University spokesperson Skyler Sales.
Sales said the revamped Square 80, which will have “substantial completion” ahead of the fall semester, will also include new landscaping alongside the new water-permeable turf. Officials are also expanding Square 80 by removing fencing between the square and Lenthall Houses and 2101 F Street, adding tables and chairs in the newly accessible spaces.
“Removing existing fencing, enhancing landscaping and adding seating to this area creates a new community green space and further maximizes previous efforts at this site to lessen stormwater runoff impact,” Sales said in an email.
Student Government Association President Ethan Lynne said upgrades, like the revamped Square 80, new seating options throughout campus and updated classrooms are a result of increased advocacy from the SGA for officials to make campus improvements.
Among the SGA proposed “campus beautification” projects were a refresh to the University Student Center and upgrades to 14 classrooms in Rome and Phillips Halls with new flooring, lighting, seating and updated technology.
The SGA and University officials also developed a “standard design package” for residence hall lobbies to
create a “consistent” student experience, according to an Instagram post announcing the changes. The post said updated residence hall lobbies will look similar to the recent Thurston Hall renovations, complete with colorful painted walls, D.C. imagery and brand new lighting and furniture, but will aim for a “complementary aesthetic” rather than an exact match.
Officials updated the lob-
bies to Guthridge and FSK Halls over the summer and plan to apply the same design to Mitchell Hall when it reopens following a complete building renovation throughout the 2025-26 academic year, according to the SGA post.
Officials also announced in February that they would close Gelman Library from May 17 to Aug. 17 to continue a “significant” HVAC maintenance project.
Adjunct faculty union secures contract through 2026
The new collective bargaining agreement for part-time faculty, in effect from June 17 through the end of 2026, increased the minimum pay by 4.5 percent for all part-time faculty, ending months of negotiations with the University.
The minimum pay increase applies to all part-time faculty, which includes adjunct professors, professorial lecturers and lecturers. But part-time faculty members said adjunct compensation often fails to reflect their class sizes and the significant work they do outside the classroom, and may not benefit those already earning above the new base rate.
The union, which formed in 2004 and affiliates with Service Employees International Union Local 500, had been bargaining with officials since October after the previous agreement expired in December. University Spokesperson Shannon McClendon declined to comment on when GW reached an agreement with the union.
Adjunct professors will make a minimum of $30,906 per year — up from $29,575 — and adjunct instructors will make $27,327 a year, up from $26,150. For teaching standard three or four credit courses, professorial lecturers will make a minimum of $5,225, and lecturers will make a minimum of $4,509 — an increase from $5,000 and $4,315, respectively, per the new agreement.
Per the agreement, GW defines adjuncts as regular part-time faculty members, with adjunct professors being professors with a terminal degree, which is generally defined as the highest academic degree someone can earn in a field, in their relevant field, while adjunct instructors do not have one. Both lecturers and professorial lecturers are paid per course, though the University defines professorial lecturers as those with a terminal degree, while lecturers don’t have a terminal degree in their field.
McClendon said the negotiations were “professional, collegial and collaborative.” She said the union and GW had “several factors” influencing their positions on contract terms like length and compensation, and GW remains “dedicated” to providing opportunities for part-time faculty and renewing contracts based on academic needs and financial conditions.
“Throughout negotiations, the University remained committed to fostering a good working relationship with the unionized employees while being responsive to their concerns and consistent with the University’s values,” McClendon said.
Union leadership members did not
return requests for comment. The salaries listed in the contracts are minimum rates, as the agreement states that the University is allowed to pay part-time faculty more money based on factors like experience and credentials.
The base pay numbers for GW lag compared to other D.C. universities, like Georgetown University, where adjuncts who teach 3 credit standard courses make at least $7,000, and are just short of American University, where professorial lecturers made a minimum of $5,400 last year for teaching a 3 or 4 credit course.
Colin Cleary, a professorial lecturer who teaches foreign policy in the political science department, said in an email that the pay for lecturers is “modest” compared to the time commitment and the number of students in a class.
“Lecturers do it because they want to engage with and help shape the next generation,” he said. “They — like fulltime professors — are the tip of the spear. University administrators – some of whom make into seven figures –should reflect on the fairness of the pay scale for professional lecturers.”
Cleary said most lecturers teach out of a desire to offer students exposure to “real-world applications” of otherwise academic material.
He added that he feels like the amount lecturers make is inadequate, considering he usually has 37 students in a class and estimated the tuition students pay for just his class is much higher than the amount he makes.
Ellen Zavian, a professorial lecturer in law who previously worked on parttime faculty bargaining agreements at GW, said because some professors already make above the base level for adjuncts, the minimum base pay increases do not help them.
Zavian said she felt like part-time faculty’s concerns, including growing class sizes and pay raises that didn’t account for inflation, weren’t properly addressed during past negotiations, which she said is why she no longer works on negotiations
“They’re running in a circle,” Zavian said. “Unless the faculty is willing to stand up to GW, then they’re letting us on the run.”
Zavian said GW “adds additional people” into part-time faculty’s classes and only gives extra help if a faculty member reaches a certain number of students.
“GW does not adequately comprehend the amount of work done outside the classroom,” she said
The agreement will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2026, but will expire only 18 months after its enactment. The previous two agreements lasted from November 2022 to December 2024 and from November 2018 to June 2021.
Nursing school to rethink enrollment targets, goals after federal loan changes
GIANNA JAKUBOWSKI
NEWS EDITOR
ASSISTANT
School of Nursing Dean Susan Kelly-Weeder told the Staff Council Friday she is rethinking the school’s enrollment targets amid President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal graduate student loans in an effort to make graduate school more affordable for students.
Kelly-Weeder said she is revising the goals she set at the start of her tenure two years ago, shifting away from increasing full-time graduate enrollment due to the elimination of Grad PLUS loans under the Trump administration. Instead, she said she’s focusing on building academic-practice part-
nerships to streamline clinical placements, shorten program timelines and offer limited financial aid to make graduate nursing education more accessible.
Trump on July 4 signed into law his “One Big Beautiful Bill” that changes federal student loan borrowing rules by capping the amount of money students can borrow from the federal government in loans. Starting in July 2026, graduate students will be limited to borrowing up to $20,500 per year, with a lifetime cap of $100,000 — replacing the current Grad PLUS program that allows students to borrow up to the full cost of their degree minus any financial aid.
“The challenge to higher edu-
cation overall by these changes in funding, there’s a great deal of uncertainty about it and how we’re going to manage this,” Kelly-Weeder said. “It’s concerning because what I thought initially, when I got here, is now changed because of this funding resource going away.”
Kelly-Weeder said she is reworking the curriculum to address structural racism, diversify clinical experiences, increase its emphasis on global health, account for changes in the scope of practice for nurse practitioners and understand how climate change will impact health.
Kelly-Weeder’s plan to update the curriculum is one of four goals in the school’s strategic plan she created in 2024 and plans to con-
tinue to roll out this academic year. She said the plan also includes a “cultural transformation” for faculty and staff success, sustainability for long-term growth and student success. The school’s goals for sustainability for long-term growth plans to optimize financial resources and manage the resources effectively, while refining enrollment strategies to ensure long-term sustainability and drive growth. KellyWeeder said the nursing school’s prior leadership never implemented their strategic plan, and the school needed a working strategic plan as GW developed its University-wide strategic framework and anticipated reaccreditation to
further the University’s goals. She said the nursing school created a two-year strategic plan for 2024-26 until the University’s strategic plan was finalized, and the school is doing “additional strategic planning” starting this academic year, though she didn’t specify what the work will entail.
“There was a lot of transition and difficulty, really, when I came into the School of Nursing,” KellyWeeder said. “I was trying to find a way to get everyone kind of on the same page and to establish the sense of trust, honesty and transparency that we really needed, the faculty and staff, to work together for the betterment of the school and our students.”
District, federal government agree MPD chief maintains control of police force
purported to install Drug Enforcement Administrator Terry Cole as “emergency police commissioner.”
The Department of Justice issued an order Friday evening directing the Metropolitan Police Department to assist with federal immigration law enforcement regardless of D.C.’s sanctuary laws following a lawsuit over how much power the federal government can exert over the District’s police force.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued President Donald Trump Friday following his “brazen usurpation” of the District’s ability to self-govern, moving to bar U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi from continuing to control the Metropolitan Police Department. At a Friday afternoon hearing, District of Columbia District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes told lawyers from the Trump administration and D.C. to negotiate a deal to avoid judicial intervention, leading to an agreement between the two sides that keeps the current MPD police chief, Pamela Smith, in charge of the department.
Hours after the hearing, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued another order which, while mostly similar to the one at issue in the hearing, omits a line that
In a court hearing Friday, Reyes persuaded the Justice Department to edit Bondi’s order and make Cole report to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, effectively stripping him of his role as “emergency police commissioner.”
The lawsuit said Trump’s executive order invoking Section 740 of D.C.’s Home Rule Act — which allows the president to assume control of the police under “conditions of an emergency nature” — and Bondi’s follow up order “far exceeds” the president’s authority under the Home Rule Act. The suit comes after Trump moved to take control of the MPD on Monday, while deploying the National Guard to patrol the streets of the District to curb crime in the city. Schwalb said in a release announcing the lawsuit that the Trump administration’s “hostile” takeover of the MPD infringes on D.C.’s right to self-governance.
“The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home,” Schwalb said. “This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.” Bondi named Cole the “emer-
police commissioner”
KAIDEN J. YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The newly renovated Square 80 plaza and Jack Morton Auditorium. The Elliott School of International Affairs City View Room is currently under construction.
EDWARDS
Ten years later, test-optional policy grew student diversity
Ten years after GW shifted to testoptional admissions, experts and officials say the policy has led to more diverse applicants and higher graduation rates for low-income students.
Officials announced in 2015 the University would shift to a test-optional policy for standardized admissions tests to better attract underrepresented groups of students, like first-generation college goers and racial minorities, a move that garnered skepticism from experts who thought other barriers, like high tuition costs, would still stop students from marginalized groups from applying.
Ten years later, officials and experts said the policy has led to increased first-generation student enrollment and higher graduation rates for lowincome students at GW but could reduce the amount of data available for predicting college success in a student’s application.
University Spokesperson Claire Sabin said the decision to go test-optional in 2015 was part of a Universitywide effort to increase the success of lower-income students at GW. Sabin said the policy was implemented to ensure students with “excellent” high school records had a fair chance at GW, even if their test scores were lower than other applicants. Sabin said research indicates test scores show a “high correlation” with family income, thus making it harder for lower-income applicants to compete.
When GW announced the shift to test-optional in 2015, it was a part of a group of three universities, alongside Brandeis and Wake Forest, that did not require scores and were ranked amongst the nation’s top 100 research universities, according to the Washington Post. In 2015, there were over 850 colleges
Former University president Steven Knapp created a task force on access and success in January 2014 in response to then-President Barack Obama’s call to increase higher education opportunities for low-income students. The University decided to switch to a test-optional policy following the task force’s recommendation after they found college success could be accurately determined through other metrics, like high school GPAs.
Sabin said one year after instituting a test-optional policy, applications from first-generation students increased by almost 1,100, while enrollment of first-generation students increased by 14 percent from 2015 to 2016. In 2023, first-generation students made up 14 percent of the University’s student population, compared to 11.9 percent in 2015, according to a
University release. Sabin also said the number of students receiving Pell grants rose from 13.8 percent in 2015 to almost 15 percent in 2016. She added that the trend continued in 2025, with 21 percent of GW students now being Pell-eligible. As of 2023, 16 percent of all degree or certificate-seeking undergraduate students at GW received Pell grants, according to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Sabin also said the test-optional policy has helped the University identify students who are “better prepared” for GW, while also creating greater “equity” but did not specify how. She said prior to the policy’s implementation in 2015, the University had an overall graduation rate of 83.7 percent but a rate of only 77.7 percent for Pell-eligible students. She said following the implementation of the test-optional policy, the overall graduation rate increased to 84.05 percent, with the Pell-eligible rate rising to 84.6 percent as of 2025.
In 2015, the median high school GPA of incoming students was 3.64. In 2016, it rose to 3.66, while 21 percent of students chose to apply test-optional, according to a University release.
In 2024, the mean high school GPA of incoming students was 3.66, and 64 percent applied without scores, according to the University’s annual enrollment update.
Brianna Felegi, an assistant professor of economics at Virginia Tech, said she found in her research that adopting test-optional policies leads to a higher number of applicants eligible for Pell grants and a greater number of applicants from racial minorities.
"This aligns with the idea that many of these schools adopting this policy during this time did it in this effort to increase diversity in their student body,” Felegi said. “And importantly, we don’t see really any changes in these quality measures people are worried about, so retention or graduation rates.”
John Friedman, a professor of economics and international and public affairs at Brown University, said in his research, schools lose out on accurate predictors of college success when they stop requiring standardized test scores.
“Test scores are a much better predictor than high school GPA or other such information,” Friedman said in an email.
Bruce Sacerdote, an economics professor at Dartmouth University, said his research suggests test-optional policies hurt low-income applicants, as many choose not to submit scores that would boost their chances of admission out of fear that the scores would lower their chances instead.
Declining international student enrollment contributing to budget shortfalls: officials
From Page 1
“The financial aid process for the graduate students will be very similar to what it was before, but instead of receiving the loans from the federal government and the Department of Education, they’ll be receiving those loans from private lenders,” Vice Provost for Enrollment and Student Success Jay Goff said at the meeting.
Goff said officials expect the task force to propose a plan by December — after officials receive federal regulations, which they expect between September and October — outlining how students can move forward with private lenders while avoiding involvement with “predatory groups.” Goff said the task force already met once for a preliminary meeting after interim Provost John Lach tasked him with creating the group earlier this summer.
At the meeting, officials also presented enrollment data to explain the University’s ongoing structural deficit, highlighting the continued impact of federal policies on international student enrollment.
Goff said undergraduate international student enrollment dropped by 5 percent over the past five academic years and will continue to decline this year due to delays in issuing student visas as a result of Trump’s travel ban. He also said about 12 percent of undergraduate students were international in 2019-20, but the number dropped to about seven percent in 2024-25 and is estimated to decrease by another half percent this academic year due to visa complications.
Trump’s travel ban, which began on June 9, bars or limits entry to the United States for citizens of 19 countries.
Goff said international master’s and doctoral students are the only group of graduate students whose enrollment has declined. He added that the University plans to continue its Rev Up marketing campaign — which officials launched in late 2023 — to boost graduate student enrollment in the D.C. area in an effort to offset the drop in international student numbers.
Officials said the continued decline in international student enrollment this academic year, which is estimated to be an-
International affairs organization secures Chapter of the Year award
GW’s chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society won the Chapter of the Year award for the first time at the society’s Student Leadership Conference earlier this month.
The chapter — a part of a national organization that focuses on foreign policy and American international leadership — beat out last year’s winner, the University of California, Berkeley, for the award by securing the most points in a competition with the society’s over 80 chapters. The chapter’s leadership said the honor comes after a year of growth in the chapter’s programming, site visits — including a trip to the Ukrainian Embassy — and outreach initiatives to GW students and other DMV AHS chapters, like helping establish Howard University’s AHS chapter.
The national Alexander Hamilton Society hosts a Student Leadership Conference in D.C. every year, featuring educational, professional and chapter development sessions for the society’s chapter leaders. The society also awards one chapter with the “Chapter of the Year” award based on a points system that quantifies an individual chapter’s work over the previous academic year.
GW’s chapter earned the most points at 34,400, coming out on top over the runner up, Yale University, at 32,700 points. Last year, GW’s chapter won 12,250 points. As a part of the award, the organization will receive an extra $500 in funding for speaker events.
other half percent, coupled with GW’s status as a tuition-dependent University is exacerbating the years-long structural budget deficit the University faces.
Goff said since international students typically receive little financial aid and pay full tuition, the drop in international student enrollment has significantly impacted revenue.
International Chinese student enrollment has seen the biggest hit, dropping by almost 70 percent from fiscal year 2019 to 2025, according to officials’ presentation.
Goff told the Staff Council in July that between two and three dozen international students from countries affected by Trump’s travel ban are bracing for delayed returns to campus or requesting to defer their enrollment due to August visa appointment dates.
University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said the University has created asynchronous start options for students facing delays securing visa appointments. She said visa delays in some cases will require students to delay their studies to a later term.
Jeffrey Ackman, a faculty senator and the chair of the Department of Psychiatry, asked officials how much the University is losing due to the decline in international student enrollment. Goff said GW could face a $10 million decrease in revenue from international student tuition because officials are expecting to see a 15 percent student summer attrition rate, where students commit to GW but ultimately do not enroll.
About 23,300 students have registered for the fall semester, Goff said, adding that the Uni-
versity typically enrolls an additional 1,800 to 2,000 students by the start of the semester. Goff said the number of students who receive Pell Grants rose by over 6 percent since 2019 as part of GW’s focus on enrolling more first-generation and low-income students. He said these students typically require “significant” aid, which has also contributed to the University’s rising expenses.
Roughly 20 percent of undergraduate students received Pell Grants as of 2024-25, according to Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes’ presentation, an increase from 14.7 percent in 2019-20. The number of Pell Grant recipients is expected to rise to 21 percent for the 2025-26 academic year, according to the presentation.
Fernandes said the University faces a $24 million budget deficit as of July, where the University’s total expenses sat at around $1.35 billion, while its revenue sat at about $1.33 billion, per the presentation. The University’s deficit increased $10 million from May to July, according to the presentation.
“This reflects the structural deficit is increasing and expenses continue to outpace revenue, which I stated is heavily reliant on net tuition revenue,” Fernandes said.
McClendon said officials’ path forward for ensuring the University’s long- and shortterm financial stability includes a combination of expense reduction measures, which could involve extending the hiring freeze officials put in place until at least Oct. 1.
“We want to think beyond this year and to the next three to five years,” Fernandes said.
Former vice provost to return in interim role
Officials announced Friday that Emily Hammond, a GW Law professor and GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future official, will serve as the University’s interim vice provost for faculty affairs starting Sept. 1, returning to a position they previously held.
Hammond, a former Department of Energy official, served as vice provost for faculty affairs from 2022 to 2023, where they oversaw initiatives like the GW Academic Leadership Academy and the Technology Commercialization Office, according to the announcement.
Over the past year, GW’s chapter hosted events with different speakers, like a discussion on Indo-Pacific security featuring GW Professor of Practice of International Affairs Robert Sutter, and an event on U.S. foreign policy with an official from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Naomi Long, the chapter’s incoming vice president and last year’s communications chair, said the society wanted to ensure students from across the University could become involved with the society, given the organization’s main appeal to students studying international affairs.
“That was a big thing that I faced when coming into it was, ‘Okay, how do we let people know this isn’t, like, an Elliott School exclusive club?’” Long said.
Chapters win points in various ways, with the bulk of points coming from hosting speaker events. Putting up posters and having other events earn chapters points as well, but those are less significant.
Long said in the upcoming year, the chapter has not lost momentum, adding there is “always room” to improve. She said the chapter aims to improve connections among the different AHS chapters in the DMV, something she said GW’s chapter has “pioneered,” through hosting more events in tandem with other local chapters.
Alex Sturza, the society’s president through the 202324 academic year, said about 25,000 points for the chapter came from 25 speaker events they hosted throughout the year, with flyers and social media posts accounting for the other points.
“And so there are things like that that incentivize us to do the things that will help our chapters grow,” Sturza said.
Samuel Chen, a senior and the chapter’s president for this year, said GW’s chapter made use of GW’s “location privilege,” something
he said he believed was not “exploited” well enough in previous years.
Over the past year, the chapter has organized at least five site visits, including one to the Ukrainian Embassy, something he said they worked on building up via connections students may have with staff at embassies or think tanks, and hopes to continue building this year.
Chen said one of the highlights of his work this past year was helping establish Howard University’s Alexander Hamilton Society chapter. He said he was put in contact with the initial executive board for Howard’s chapter and worked to introduce them to the society.
“I sat down with them, talked about how to organize the e-board, how to navigate some of the AHS bureaucracy at the very top and see them through the first general body meeting, and now they’re hitting the ground sprinting,” Chen said.
Hammond is replacing Rumana Riffat, who is now listed as the interim associate dean of academic affairs for the School of Engineering & Applied Science — temporarily filling the position after Jason Zara became the interim dean of the school in June. It is unclear when Riffat left her position as vice provost. Hammond said in the announcement that it’s an “honor” to return to their old position, and they are looking forward to supporting faculty and University leadership.
“I have deep faith in the dedication of our faculty to their teaching, research and service efforts, and in the special importance of universities in generating knowledge and advancing civil society,” Hammond said. Hammond most re -
cently served as the inaugural director of academic sustainability programs for the GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future, according to the announcement. They are no longer listed on the alliance’s website but was on there June 18, per website archives. Their research focuses on community protests and clean energy and includes a book project on how resistance movements in Central Appalachia have shaped federal energy laws. Hammond was also awarded the Distinguished Dean Award by the 2020 and 2021 graduating classes, and they earned the Distinguished Faculty Service award by the 2018 graduating class. Interim Provost for Academic Affairs John Lach said in the announcement that Hammond brings “deep experience” and holds a “strong commitment” to supporting faculty.
“Professor Hammond has an impressive track record of inspiring academic affairs leadership and has been a tremendous asset in their decade at GW,” he said. Riffat’s tenure as vice provost for faculty affairs included an annual salary equity review progress report, which identified schools with possible salary outliers for officials to adjust. Hammond first joined the University in 2014 as part of the law school and was previously the school’s senior associate dean for academic affairs.
RYAN SAENZ ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
COURTESY OF NAOMI LONG
The National Alexander Hamilton Society's Student Leadership Conference.
DYLAN EBS
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
CHUCKIE COPELAND | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Vice Provost for Enrollment and Student Success Jay Goff seated at a Faculty Senate meeting in November 2023.
District leaders defend home rule amid encampment sweeps, heightened arrests
From Page 1
Backlash against Trump’s takeover from residents across the District has mounted on social media, in news reports and through protests — which culminated Saturday when hundreds marched from Dupont Circle to the White House — arguing the move breaches democratic principles and citing D.C. crime’s historic low in 2024.
Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who represents GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus, on Monday posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a statement released by the D.C. Council calling Trump’s actions a “manufactured intrusion” on local authority and asserting that MPD is capable of handling crime in the District without federal intervention.
“The work continues to ensure safety is a reality for all, but that work is not accomplished by federal intervention in our local police department or dispatching hundreds of federal troops into our streets,” Pinto said in the post.
Pinto said in another post that all residents in the District have the right to live indoors, and the work of combating homelessness should be left to local officials and case
workers, rather than federal agents.
“We must continue to do more to get people in housing, but we are not going to accomplish this through federal sweeps in the dark of night,” Pinto said in the post.
By Thursday evening, District agencies had “surged” shelter capacity, said National Homelessness Law Center Campaign and Communications Director Jesse Rabinowitz. He said the reason many people were living outside is because shelters didn’t work for them, so forcing residents to go to shelter or face arrest “isn’t really a good option.”
A shelter census from Tuesday night showed there were just 13 beds available in shelters for men and nine for women. As of Thursday, the city made at least 70 additional shelter beds available since Monday, according to Street Sense Media.
“D.C. did surge shelter capacity — about maybe 200 beds, which is good, but the shelters are far away,” he said. “People don’t like them, people are living outside because the shelters don’t work for them.”
Rabinowitz said advocates believed the administration’s goal was to sweep as many as 25 encampments Thursday night, an unprecedented pace. He said while the District has ramped up en-
campment clearings since Trump took office, the threat of arrest since Trump asserted control over D.C. has residents “angry” and “scared.”
“This is unprecedented,” Rabinowitz said. “The outreach workers are exhausted. I think they’ve been working around the clock, I mean, for years, but especially over the past few days.”
Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chair Trupti Patel said Trump’s actions are a distraction from other issues, like his alleged appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein files, and an attempt to exert undue influence over the District because it is not a state.
“The President is always going to be picking on Washington. He has visceral, visceral hatred for this city,” Patel said. “And I think it’s safe to say that the city has a visceral, visceral hatred of the President.”
Patel said the recent federal crackdown on crime is in line with previous measures against the District, like Congress cutting the District’s budget. Congress passed a continuing resolution in March limiting D.C. to fiscal year 2024 spending levels, with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser warning of “devastating impacts” from the bill. The Senate passed a fix five days later, but it has stalled in the House of
Representatives.
“The American public still does not understand that President Trump, with Congress’s blessing, hijacked $1 billion of D.C. taxpayer dollars and has refused to allow the D.C. government to spend its own money on resources to keep our city safe and thriving,” Patel said.
Patel said it was her understanding that D.C. agencies prefer to relocate individuals as opposed to the federal government because they are more capable of carrying out the “humanitarian” aspects of evictions and have built relationships with the residents over years.
“There is no silver lining to occupying a city that is predominantly Black residents and brown residents at all,” she said. “This is complete retaliation against a vulnerable population that is the District of Columbia because we are not recognized as a state.”
Foggy Bottom ANC Commissioner Jim Malec said “history will judge” the District by whether its leaders have the “courage” to resist Trump’s crackdown, which he said is a “fascist power grab.” He said community members should focus on protecting “vulnerable” groups, like youth, immigrants and the poor and unhoused.
“When Nazis come knocking at
your door, you don’t invite them in because they offered to help tidy up the place,” Malec said.
Malec has repeatedly posted on X over the last week to express his disapproval of federal actions. In a Thursday post, Malec said the encampment sweeps were “cruelty for cruelty’s sake.”
“This accomplishes nothing,” Malec said of the sweeps. “The encampments will return. But it does cause pain and suffering to the poorest and most vulnerable members of our community.”
In response to MPD Chief Pamela Smith agreeing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, Malec posted that the move was an “absolute failure” of leadership.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser stepped up her criticism of the administration in a conversation with community leaders Tuesday. She called Trump’s actions an “authoritarian push” and stressed the importance of electing Democratic leaders to prevent similar actions in the future.
“This is a time where community needs to jump in, and we all need to, to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city and to protect our autonomy, to protect our Home Rule,” Bowser said.
KAIDEN J. YU | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER FBI agents and U.S. Park Police officers patrol DuPont Circle Friday.
OPINIONS
As
federal scrutiny mounts, we need GW to define its priorities
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice found that GW violated federal civil rights law by responding “deliberately indifferent” to reports of campus antisemitism. Seeking “immediate remediation” from GW, the DOJ offered the University an ultimatum — express interest in entering a voluntary resolution agreement by Friday, or the DOJ will “proceed with enforcement.”
How officials respond to the pressure in the immediate is critical but so is how the University communicates its priorities. When full transparency isn’t possible, GW must build trust with students, faculty and staff by outlining clear intentions and openly communicating how it is examining the political pressures facing both the University and higher education broadly.
GW has historically responded to community questions, allegations and big-picture concerns by creating plans, task forces or reports outlining their values and intentions. On a large scale, officials are in the process of finalizing the next strategic framework, aimed at identifying institutional priorities and guiding decision-making for the next five to seven years. But they engage in similar practices on a smaller scale for a variety of community concerns and questions. For example, the Office of the Provost created a Diversity Program Review Team in 2022 with the goal of improving campus diversity. Another example is the Environmental, Social, & Governance Responsibility Task Force, which officials created in 2020.
GW should apply a similar consultative approach to the remaining three and a half years of the Trump administration. We understand developing comprehensive plans take years, but forming a task force or designating a group of people to research and produce a report on GW’s values during a time of uncertainty in higher education can offer the community some reassurance in a time of uncertainty. Outlining a set of guiding priorities for this period would be a meaningful step toward transparency, especially given the limits on what the University can publicly share.
We are not asking for a fully fledged plan that details the University’s response to every single one of President Donald Trump’s future demands — we understand many of those details are not yet clear, and many of the conversations have to take place behind closed doors.
We ask that the University commits to laying out its priorities and how officials will uphold them in decision-making. Will the
Trump’s
University prioritize preserving federal funding, protecting international students, retaining staff amid budget cuts or pushing back against federal pressure? GW has created reports, task forces and plans to steer the institution’s future plans — a similar approach
federal takeover is about controlling a city that rejected him
Trump lacks respect for most of his constituents, evidenced by the federal Metropolitan Police Department takeover taking place in our own backyard. Trump is trying to make an example of D.C. and flex his presidential authority to quiet the voices of citizens who speak out against the government, threatening our First Amendment rights.
Mara Riegel Opinions Writer
is needed for the next three and a half years. GW should appoint a team to evaluate the broader higher education landscape while University officials make decisions behind the scenes. GW has used this approach before to address issues impacting the community,
forming teams to examine institutional priorities and prepare recommendations for the University. Offering GW’s procedures and releasing public reports on their findings can offer the community some reassurance in a time of uncertainty.
The specific terms of GW’s possible resolution remain unclear, but peer schools offer a stark example of what GW could face for insufficiently combatting antisemitism. Just last month, the DOJ found University of California, Los Angeles violated civil rights law and like GW, offered them one week to express interest in an agreement. The Trump administration froze $584 million of their federal funding two days later.
GW may choose not to lead negotiations with the government over a possible resolution agreement, but it must lead decisively within its own community. The community hears from GW mostly through “Weekly Federal Updates,” which officials launched in March to explain key policy changes affecting the University. While they keep GW informed on higher education trends, reporting federal actions and other universities’ responses, the updates often fall short of providing an individualized strategy for their own campus.
The most recent federal update said GW is “currently determining next steps,” and given the recency of the DOJ’s findings, it is understandable that GW is in the process of shaping its response. Still, GW learned in February it was one of 10 universities named a “first priority” in a federal task force’s efforts to combat antisemitism. The community may be better kept informed of GW’s stance by providing guidance and clarity when questions arise, rather than waiting until an answer is demanded.
The University’s caution amid intense federal pressure is expected. Unlike wealthier institutions like Harvard, GW faces the difficult choice of yielding to federal demands or risking detrimental cuts to funding. Still, the community deserves to see how the administration plans to navigate these precarious times. Officials must balance the need to protect the University with clear communication of its priorities. Only then can the community fully understand the University’s direction.
The DOJ’s findings made one thing clear — GW has been “indifferent” to a campus crisis demanding urgent action. That indifference must end now. In the words of University President Ellen Granberg, it’s time to “show the world what it means to be a GW Revolutionary.”
Restoring Confederate statues betrays American values
If the additional troops start stopping people more, it will indeed contribute to his narrative that D.C. that more crime happens here than it truly does. More police in a given area is frequently tied to increased racial profiling, which in turn creates more stops and arrests. This will further feed Trump’s narrative that D.C. is dangerous and actually in need of this government intervention.
Trump is known to discriminate against people of color in housing, policing and more and has rounded people up en masse and largely by skin color — including in D.C. — only asking questions after the damage is done. Trump is no stranger to racial profiling and discrimination, and in one of the country’s few majority-minority cities, mostly
Last week, Trump assumed control of MPD citing a high crime rate. Trump has also called in 800 National Guard members to add more police presence than is currently available, a number only growing with the additions of various states’ National Guard members. But there is no emergency. Violent crime was down 26 percent as of last year. Since 1957, the National The Guard has been deployed 11 times by six different presidents — and those times are substantially different than this time. Former presidents used their authority over the National Guard to protect Americans and their civil rights in various forms. But D.C. is not currently dealing with riots or rampant violence. This move by Trump is meant to signal that the government is watching the public — and that it can control the narrative around crime and the city through a visible, patrolling presence. By bringing in this extra law enforcement, Trump is trying to make Washingtonians feel watched, targeted and subject to the rule of the president. He wants to show the country that even if they didn’t vote for him or aren’t in a state of crisis, he can still dominate in their lives.
Black and Brown men are now in an even more precarious position. This racial profiling and discrimination can lead to increased rates of crime or arrests.
This new imposition of the National Guard serves as a deterrent for future expressions of activism, social and otherwise. Because of this order, advocates will now have to fear whether or not their First Amendment expressions will land them in legal trouble in a way that they never have before.
We have seen Trump brazenly try to rid people of their speech and autonomy, particularly college students and immigrants — some of whom are both. If Trump gets his way with this increased presence, D.C. could lose all of the civic demonstration which is why I am so proud of the District’s leadership for suing for our rights so quickly. Now is the time to stand behind D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and unite as a district. At this point in time, it truly feels like the takeover of the MPD is the clearest example yet of Trump trying to turn the country into something neither for the people nor by the people but instead a country for some people by one person.
—Mara Riegel, a sophomore majoring in political science and criminal justice, is an opinions writer.
This past week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the government will reinstate one of these statues in Arlington National Cemetery — a project that will cost $10 million. We must use our voices to condemn the restorations. Why? Because it has worked before.
In 2021, the National Defense Authorization Act created the Congressional Naming Commission to remove all things honoring the Confederacy from the Department of Defense assets, including by renaming Army bases. The renamings were an attempt to align the military’s public symbols with the values it claims to defend, rather than the legacy of a rebellion fought to defend slavery. As a military child, I’ve seen firsthand how hard our troops work to protect our country. Around 20 percent of the U.S. Army identifies as Black or African American. Yet the Trump administration’s move to rename the bases disregards their history by elevating symbols that glorify the Confederacy
and slavery. Our troops are American soldiers before they are anything else.
The Confederacy wanted to withdraw from the Union and disregarded the Constitution to preserve slavery. They went against core military values like loyalty and duty in order to serve their own purposes, and now our government wants to honor members of the Confederacy while also promoting American patriotism — these are two incongruous concepts.
It doesn’t just affect members of the military.
Citizens of the states home to the statues will have to walk past them daily, forced to reckon with monuments that glorify those who fought to uphold slavery. GW students who get off at the Arlington National Cemetery metro stop may stumble upon the “Reconciliation Monument.” Even if they never do, their taxpayer dollars are inadvertently contributing to the $10 million effort to restore the statue.Civic engagement is essential — individuals can write to their representatives and speak out against this misuse of taxpayer money. Hegseth has dubbed the statue the “Reconciliation Monument,” in part because there is legislation preventing anyone from
naming things after the Confederacy. But the monument displays an overly sanitized version of slavery, with enslaved men following their masters into war and enslaved women holding their master’s children. As students at a higher education institution, our education challenges us to understand the larger context and implications of everything we do. This idea of “reconciliation,” or the notion that a monument honoring the Confederacy will help preserve history, goes against what we are taught in our U.S. history classes, and we can’t let this slide. GW is a school where activism is prioritized, and this should be no different. Although the statues aren’t on our campus, nor are our buildings named after Confederate officials, the decisions to reinstate them elsewhere still impact our community. The government shapes the national narrative, and they are using our tax dollars to construct symbols that go against ideals of equality and justice — the values GW hopes to impart onto its students.
—Ava Hurwitz, a sophomore majoring in international affairs, is an opinion columnist.
Ava Hurwitz Columnist
CAROLINE MORRELLI | STAFF CARTOONIST STAFF EDITORIAL
THE SCENE CULTURE
GW Textile Museum exhibit explores cultural heritage through handwoven art
MEGAN CHURCHILL
In a spacious, second-floor room of the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, visitors mingled, talking quietly as they took in the array of culturally significant textiles from Iran, Bolivia, Peru and other countries around the world.
The exhibit, “Enduring Traditions: Celebrating the World of Textiles,” debuted this weekend at the textile museum, exploring the history and meaning behind global, multicentury textiles.
From scarves to carpets, the displayed textiles document the ways in which tradition is exhibited through physical garments, and the exhibition is the second of two put on by the textile museum in celebration of the museum’s centennial.
“Enduring Traditions,” which runs through Dec. 20, is free to GW students and the public. The textile museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Museum Curator of Education Lori Kartchner said the exhibition “Enduring Traditions” comprises a diverse array of textiles, and they hope to draw
a varied crowd of visitors, citing GW’s large international student and employee population. She said the exhibit displays an “amazing cultural heritage” through many forms of textiles that can be appreciated by individuals throughout D.C.
The exhibit is spread across the second and third floors of the museum, with the second floor focusing on identity and individuals’ place in society
Upperclassmen reflect on finding belonging in DC
MARLENE ORANTES
Starting college anywhere, let alone in a new city with over 700,000 people moving in every direction, can make finding a community and feeling at home seem like a frightening undertaking.
For new students, exploring D.C.’s 68 square miles of museums, expansive cuisine offerings and manifold neighborhoods can feel like a daunting task to conquer in just a degree’s worth of time. At a school where LinkedIn connections can be stressed more than real bonds and a lack of school spirit can make campus’ fabric feel thin, students said they found community and a fulfilling college experience by creating connections over shared hobbies, finding favorite dining spots around D.C. and attending new events.
Narissa AlDayaa, a junior majoring in international affairs, said although it was nice to have the support of GW to organize activities for students to get to know each other and their new home, it can feel strange defining the boundaries of what life as a GW student looks like on a campus surrounded by office buildings.
“For me, it was being in an environment that was not my hometown, not my high school, not a closed off college campus, that was probably the most stressful thing, but once you get there, it’s definitely not as stressful as you think,” AlDayaa said.
AlDayaa said she spent her freshman year studying at the American University of Paris and was able to have an “easy” transition back to campus through student organizations that matched her hobbies, like club swimming and a theater group, allowing her to find her own community through shared passions with fellow students. AlDayaa said because she was focused on getting involved on campus, she found places, like ice cream shops and cafes through friends.
AlDayaa said at GW and the American University of Paris alike, there is support for students navigating a new city through school-organized programming, like orientation activities. She said while spending this past summer in the District, she took time to be with friends from her student theater group, doing activities, like attending the Smithsonian’s Solstice Saturday event, exploring the museums late at night.
Junior Joanna Lin said she lived on the Mount Vernon Campus for her first year and found that it was both a great place to make friends because it was a smaller portion of classmates concentrated in one spot, allowing her to find lasting friendships on her dorm’s floor and get away from the bustle of the city. She said commuting to and from Foggy Bottom and sharing meals with fellow Vernies allowed her to spend more
time with them, creating a close bond.
Lin said like many students, she used District Connections and online resources to explore the city. She said she heard about Clockout D.C. at a new student panel, a website that aims to share “hidden-gem,” affordable and cultural events around the District. Lin said asking for recommendations for activities from upperclassmen and her peer adviser in the honors program allowed her to create bonds over common interests.
“At a base level, my GW community consists of my friends at school and in my clubs. I love doing errands or going on walks around D.C. with my friends,” Lin said in a message. “Beyond that though, I also consider the D.C. community part of my own community.”
Lin said she looked to upperclassmen in orgs for recommendations for weekend activities. She said in making an effort to go out into the city, friends come along the way. She said even commuting to events with friends allowed them time to chat and get to know each other.
Junior Julia Roses said she was eager to move to a school and place that she could explore since she is an “adventurous person.” Roses said finding new restaurants and cafes that her friends would also enjoy has allowed her to spend more time with them in off-campus spots.
She said she has explored D.C.’s culinary scene, even starting her own Instagram account to rate and keep track of restaurants she tries. Roses said she uses Beli, an app to rank restaurants, to see both her friends’ favorite spots as well as users’ all over D.C.
Roses said she frequents cafes in the area, like many other GW students, for the studying environment. She said she’s found “the best” caramel latte at Baker’s Daughter in Georgetown and appreciates that there is indoor and outdoor seating, and it isn’t often crowded, making it an optimal study spot.
Students do not need to go far to find both food and community. Roses said she goes to “nicer” spot for students to congregate at Maman, a French cafe in Western Market. She said it is convenient for students to spend time there because they can use GWorld dining dollars.
“I started to see everyone there for breakfast or studying or things like that, so it’s definitely a homey environment,” Roses said.
Roses said new students should take on one neighborhood at a time and try to find a new place every weekend, even as simple as going to a museum.
“You don’t need to push yourself to go everywhere all at once,” Roses said. “But like I said, if you take it slow, then by your senior year, you’ll still have places that you haven’t been to so it keeps the experience interesting.”
through textiles and the third floor centered on festivals and celebrations across different cultural landscapes and the role the fabrics played in these events.
Kartchner said one of her favorite aspects of “Enduring Traditions” is a project she worked on called “Community Voices,” where certain pieces include a quote from a community member with a direct connection to the textile and its origins after
speaking with members of the community. Museum Curator Lee Talbot said the time and effort that go into making textiles makes them significant aspects of culture and makes them meaningful, often revealing how different cultures viewed prestige and how their textiles represented that. He said when textiles are made by hand they are highly cherished and appreciated, especially those that were made
for high-ranking individuals and special occasions, and when handcrafted, textiles hold symbolic value as well as monetary value.
“In many, many cultures these textiles that you see, these were some of their most precious possessions, and so we’ve kind of lost that in today’s world,” Talbot said, “But keep in mind that all of these, you know, in their cultures of origin, would have been really, really special.”
Orientation leaders spark first-year connections at revamped summer sessions
DIANA ANOS CULTURE EDITOR
Every year, the same questions from first-years about everything ranging from mattress toppers to academics swirl across the internet, and each year they’re fielded by the same neon-festooned dynamos.
This year, officials shifted New Student Orientation to span over four June sessions with a final session in August bringing all incoming students together, but what remained through the alterations were the upbeat attitudes and brightlycolored matching shirts of orientation leaders. Orientation leaders said they were eager to introduce incoming first-years to GW and create lasting connections between students, all with pep in their steps.
Orientation Leader Logan Dempsey said after being a Weeks of Welcome leader last year, which she dubbed “hype people” of first-year orientation, she decided to become an orientation leader this summer in order to grow individual connections with students to help soften the blow of the transition to college, to ease concerns and to be a reliable resource for STEM students.
Dempsey, a senior majoring in biophysics, said she wanted to be a go-to person for students interested in the field because she felt she missed out on learning about her major and its affiliated organizations during her
own New Student Orientation. She said because a majority of GW students are political science and international affairs majors, she felt she was not able to speak with current students to understand their academic goals and college careers.
Dempsey added that the most frequently asked question by incoming students is if all of the orientation programming, like panels where students could ask questions to multiple orientation leaders, is mandatory, the answer to which she said is “always yes.” She said she also addresses a lot of concerns students garnered about GW from online posts, like a lack of school spirit at the University.
Dempsey said orientation leaders witness students start coming into their college selves and understanding adulthood. Dempsey said she witnessed students realizing their newfound freedom living away from home when an orientation leader told participants during a game night activity that their favorite off-campus spot was Crepeaway because of its late hours.
“Sophomore Katherine Moreno-Doss said she has found her role as an orientation leader “fulfilling,” as she was able to make students feel both comfortable and ready for GW. She said because she felt distracted by the presence of upperclassmen buzzing about campus during her own orientation, she appreciated the
fact that students were able to interact with each other, allowing them to solely focus on their orientation activities.
“My job became secondary to the fact that they found those connections by themselves,” Moreno-Doss said. “It was really cool to see the people talking to each other and be like, ‘I did a good job just by being there to support them and help them create those connections.’”
Moreno-Doss said the role of orientation leaders expands past the classroom and that part of her responsibilities included quelling first-year students’ fears that they will be hunkered down in Gelman Library 24/7. She said to break their assumptions, she reminded students that they can find community outside of the classes, especially in student organizations.
Moreno-Doss said her bosses gave orientation leaders pre-prepared answers to questions about nightlife that students asked, like whether they needed fake IDs for nightlife, and that she was directed to provide them with contacts to Safe Ride and EMERG.
Junior Marc Battista said they aimed to make orientation a “memorable” experience by acting more as a mentor and peer than a strict leader. They said through leading small group discussions, they asked students about their decision to choose GW and their interests, allowing them to connect with fellow
students outside of organized activities.
Battista said incoming first-years in their orientation groups came in with perspectives from current or past GW students, asking if they should take classes with certain professors and inquiring about daunting tasks like the ALEKS exam. They said having to interact with a variety of students has come to feel like “crowd work,” similar to how comedians interact with their audiences, cold calling on them when leading sessions, a throwback to their time as a theater kid.
Sophomore Esther Espinosa Dilone said being an orientation leader was more “fun” than she expected, because of activities like watching the relationship drama unfold in season seven of Love Island. She said as an enthusiast and former resident of the Mount Vernon Campus, she was able to redirect any concerns students had about classes and living on the Vern. Espinosa Dilone said first-years asked typical questions about what to pack and how to register for college. She said students were worried about registering for classes and the infamous GW internship culture and asked if they needed to find one as soon as they arrived at college.
“A lot of them were like, ‘In my first semester, should I have 60 internships?’” Espinosa Dilone said. “And I was like, ‘Bro, chill out, what are you doing?’”
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Visitors explore the “Enduring Traditions” exhibit at the GW Textile Museum Friday.
LEXI CRITTCHET | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Logan Dempsey, a 2025 orientation leader, smiles for a portrait in Kogan Plaza.
JERRY LAI | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The “Enduring Traditions” exhibit, located at the GW Textile Museum, explores the cultural significance of textiles from around the world.
SPORTS
USA’s Tyler Cavanaugh among alums playing in AmeriCup tournament
Nearly a decade after earning All-Conference honors and averaging 17.6 points per game on the Smith Center hardwood, 2017 GW graduate Tyler Cavanaugh is set to trade the buff and blue for the red, white and blue at the men’s 2025 FIBA AmeriCup.
Cavanaugh is one of 12 players to be named to the USA Basketball AmeriCup team, which will take place in Managua, Nicaragua from Aug. 22-31. Cavanaugh will be joined by three other GW alums — 2020 graduate Arnoldo Toro, 2023 graduate Ricky Lindo Jr. and 2016 graduate Patricio Garino — as well as current junior guard Jean Aranguren.
The AmeriCup, a quadrennial event, brings together the 12 best teams from North America, Central America, the Caribbean and South America, placing them in a three-pod bracket with rosters of 12 players.
Cavanaugh said it’s an “honor” to represent the U.S. on the international level. and when he got the call to represent his home country, he said he knew he had to take it.
In his two years at GW, Cavanaugh earned Second-Team All-Conference honors both seasons and won tournament MVP when the Revolutionaries took the National Invitation Tournament crown in 2016.
Since graduating, Cavanaugh has played for the Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz, as well as teams throughout Europe, most recently signing with Turkey’s Bahçeşehir Koleji in 2023.
Cavanaugh said his decision to come to GW — which came after two years playing at Wake Forest University — gave him the opportunity to not only meet lifelong friends and his future wife, but develop into an NBA-caliber player.
“I was asked to do more on the court, and I was able to take advantage of my opportunities and play with great players and make great memories,” Cavanaugh said. “So for my career, GW meant everything. It was a huge turning point.”
Cavanaugh has previously appeared in international games for the United States, representing his home country in 2022 for the men’s World Cup-qualifying team.
“That experience was great, and it just really made me even more eager when I
got the call for this,” Cavanaugh said. “I’m really looking forward to it, and I don’t take the opportunity to represent my country lightly.”
Toro, who will be representing his native Puerto Rico in the tournament, has played in several international events, including the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lindo will represent his parents’ birthplace of Panama.
Garino has played for Argentina’s national team for over a decade, including at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
“That first day, hearing our national anthem in that big arena and knowing that so many people were behind us with so many expectations — it’s hard to describe,” Garino said. “So many things go through your head in the moment. You’re nervous because you feel the pressure. You’re excited, a little afraid. You get chills. You’re smiling. It’s just a lot of emotion.”
Arrunguren, who was born in Venezuela, joined GW this offseason after averaging 14.2 points per game for Hofstra University last year. The tournament kicks off Friday, with Lindo and Toro set to face off as Puerto Rico and Panama are matched up in the first game at 3:10 p.m.
Women’s soccer revamp kicks off season with a win, draw
GRANT PACERNICK CONTRIBUTING SPORTS EDITOR
Women’s soccer (1-0-1) opened the season with a victory and a tie over their first two matches this week as they attempt to turn around the program’s last two losing seasons.
After back-to-back 4-113 seasons, this year’s more experienced squad have been practicing with new rotations over the summer to build chemistry and consistency, according to Head Coach Jeremy Williams. As the team heads into Williams’ sophomore season, he said the team’s main goal is to qualify for the Atlantic 10 tournament in October, where the top 8 teams out of the 14 in the conference compete — a feat the program hasn’t achieved since 2019 where they fell to St. Louis in the finals.
Williams said in order to achieve this goal, they’ll need to get to a point where playing at a championship level becomes automatic by preparing for matches in a consistent way.
“It’s about can we be consistent enough in the execution and all of the things around that — the preparation, the recovery and the mentality — so that ultimately we can reach our goal of qualifying for the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament and starting to move the program in the direction that we want,” Williams said.
The squad opened their season with a 1-0 nonconference victory at American University on Thursday, after they successfully broke through the Eagles’ defense before the half. In each of the last three seasons, the rivalry has ended in a draw, but this year, sophomore defender Julia Bilal’s goal broke the stalemate, granting the Revolutionaries the victory.
Prior to the official regular season opener, the squad began practice this
summer and had two exhibition matches against the College of William & Mary and Lehigh University on Aug. 3 and Aug. 9, respectively. Results of exhibition matches aren’t usually publicly made available.
Graduate student defender Amelia Booth said in the team’s first two exhibition matches, forwards worked on their “new style” and patterns to break through the other team’s defense in a different way than they’ve done before. This seems to have paid off with the Revs scoring 3 goals in their first two contests, whereas they didn’t score a single goal in their last four games of the past season.
Booth said she’s felt more connected to the players on the pitch as a result of being closer with this year’s team.
“Something that was different this summer than summers before was the chemistry with the team,” Booth said. “There was a lot more staying together as a group, doing things as a group, whether that’s calling each other to catch up or getting to know people you didn’t really know before.”
Senior forward Isabel Kelly said after rehabbing an injury this offseason she’s back to form and looking to build off last year — she was the Revs’ top scorer with 4 goals on the season — by getting familiar with her teammates again.
“I want to just contribute to the team as much as I can, whether that’s scoring goals or assists, anything I can do to help the team succeed,” Kelly said.
Softball announced Saint Joseph’s Assistant Coach Matt Klampert as their new head coach Aug. 8, marking his first stint at the helm of a collegiate program and his third stop within the Atlantic 10.
Klampert comes to Foggy Bottom with a fairly long resume in the A-10 — a two-year stint at Saint Joseph’s and four years as an assistant at Fordham, where the Rams won a pair of A-10 titles. He will fill the role former Head Coach Chrissy Schoonmaker relinquished in June to become softball’s head coach at the University of Houston after four years leading the Revolutionaries.
Klampert takes over a
Revs squad that went 16-10 in the conference last season and finished fourth in the regular season standings. They’ve improved the last two years in a row mainly as a result of their pitching, achieving the lowest team ERA in the conference last year at 2.72, but they faltered at the end of the season due to leaving too many batters on base in key moments of the A-10 Championship tournament.
Klampert will have to replace the pitching production of last year’s A-10 Pitcher of the Year, Anna Reed, who graduated in May, while keeping the team locked in during high-pressure moments to compete deep into the postseason.
“The potential of GW softball to consistently compete for A-10 titles and
be a player on the national stage is evident,” Klampert said in a press release earlier this month.
The Revs last won the regular season A-10 Championship in 2022 and last won the A-10 tournament in 2021. Klampert helped his team to victory, winning the A-10 twice when he was at Fordham in 2019 and 2022. He also won the MAAC regular season championship in 2017 as an assistant coach at Iona University.
As Klampert begins his tenure in Foggy Bottom, he will first need to assemble an assistant coaching staff to help him in his mission of elevating the team — a move many new coaches undertake. Former Assistant Coach Jordan Gantram followed Schoonmaker to the University of Houston in June, while
Teresa Fister and graduate assistant Maggie Greco are not currently listed on the coaches section of the GW roster. Fister and Greco joined the staff under Schoonmaker.
In May, Klampert’s former squad bounced the Revs from the A-10 tournament before falling to Saint Louis in the next game and finishing fourth in the conference tournament.
“I saw firsthand last spring at A-10 Championship the amazing environment at The Vern, and I look forward to getting to work with our team and to rally the community behind what we’re going to accomplish together,” Klampert said in the release.
During Klampert’s time at Saint Joseph’s the team was a combined 2923 in the conference and
Kim scored a goal in the Drexel match, and redshirt freshman Kathleen Ngulefac scored the other. In 2023, the Revs notched only a single conference victory in thenHead Coach Michelle Demko’s final season in Foggy Bottom. After her departure, officials hired Williams from the University of Miami in April 2024, where he was an assistant coach. In his first season in Foggy Bottom, his squad was 4-11-3 overall and 2-71 in the conference.
“As I look back at year one, it was a little bit of just keeping your head above water and trying to get the lay of the land,” Williams said.
This year, Williams said he’s more familiar with the players on the roster, many of whom he recruited himself, and has started the process of building positive habits amongst the team.
“If we’re going to change habits for all of us, it takes a willingness, it takes a conscious effort to push yourself in those aspects, but then it also takes one another to push one another,” Williams said.
The Revs’ schedule announced last month has their nonconference slate taking them up to Sept. 20, when the conference competition begins with a match at George Mason. Last year, the Patriots finished 12th in the conference, just ahead of GW who ended up 13th.
The Revs now continue their three-game road trip where they’ll face Colgate next on Aug. 28 in Hamilton, New York, followed by a match against Binghamton University on Aug. 31.
While most of the players on the roster are returning, the team has added six new freshmen and one redshirt freshman this summer, including four forwards who bring additional scoring potential. Williams singled out freshman forwards Anna Cornejo, Lucy Stenning and Naomi Kim as being particularly “good” this summer due to their ability to learn the program’s style while showcasing their game.
50-54 overall, around the middle of the pack. The Hawks were steadily improving from 9-15 in the conference in the year prior to Klampert’s arrival to a 14-12 record in 2024 and 15-11 last season. The Hawks’ improvement last year got them to their first 30-win season since 2013. During the regular season, they swept the Revs in a three-game series winning 6-0, 4-2 and 1-0 respectively.
At Saint Joseph’s, Klampert worked under Head Coach Gina McCool, who remains head coach of the Hawks. She hired Klampert in 2023 after officials promoted her to head coach.
While he was at Fordham, Klampert prepared scouting reports and specialized in defensive techniques with the outfield-
ers. He also assumed some administrative roles, like ordering apparel and creating social media content. At Saint Joseph’s he was the main assistant coach, as the only other assistant primarily focused on pitching. In Foggy Bottom, however, he will be tasked with leading the team and coaching staff as well as managing lineups. Klampert arrived on campus and officially started his role last Monday. A GW Athletics representative said his orientation won’t start until this week. The Revs will return 2025 A-10 All-Conference First Teamer Ashley Corpuz for her senior season and add five freshmen to the mix. The team has yet to release a schedule for the spring season, but last year’s first game was Feb. 7.
Sophomore defender Julia Bilal’s perfect shooting percentage so
RAPHAEL KELLNER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Junior forward Kate McGrath kicks the ball down the field during a match against Drexel University last year.
COURTESY OF JONAE MCCLOUD, FIBA
Forward Tyler Cavanaugh participates in a practice for the FIBA Americup.