Kelly Anderson

Georgetown University students launched a petition demanding the university divest its endowment from companies associated with the prison industrial complex Aug. 3. The petition, which has gathered 638 signatures as of Aug. 6, was drafted by leaders of the Georgetown University Prison Divestment Campaign, a student-led group advocating for greater transparency from university endowment managers to promote ethical investments. The campaign builds off of a student-led initiative in 2017 that resulted in the university’s board of directors agreeing not to invest in private prison companies.  The petition asks the university to compile a report on the progress of the 2017 divestment pledge. It also calls on the university to divest from companies that use exploitative prison labor in their supply chains, as well as from corporations with business contracts that control prison necessities.  The petition presents concrete demands that will help further the university’s commitment t...

The Georgetown University Student Association Senate passed a resolution urging Georgetown University to increase the number of employment opportunities available to students with Federal Work-Study awards during the upcoming fall semester. The senate resolution aims to help low-income and first-generation students receiving financial aid through the Federal Work-Study Program find jobs despite the reduction in employment opportunities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Common Georgetown work-study employers, such as the Student Guard Office and Residence Hall Offices, have substantially reduced hiring for the summer sessions, according to the resolution.  Work-study positions are critical for students on financial aid, according to GUSA Senator Rowlie John Flores (COL ’22). “These Federal Work-Study positions are not only a source of income but also a source of relevant work experience for a lot of low-income people, especially those who can’t really afford to have an unpaid interns...

Georgetown University student activists have renewed their effort to implement a reconciliation fee for descendants of the GU272 as the university commemorated its first official Juneteenth observance. University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95) officially designated June 19 a university holiday amid ongoing protests against racial injustice and a national reckoning about racism. Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers informed more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas of their emancipation. The date marks the official end of enslavement in the United States more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. The holiday was originally created by freed people in Texas in 1866 and is now officially recognized by 47 states, though it has yet to be established as a national holiday.  Georgetown played an active role in the enslavement and exploitation of Black people. On June 19, 1838 — exactly 1...

Hundreds of Georgetown University students signed a petition calling on the university to use its campus spaces as a sanctuary for protesters amid ongoing nationwide demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice. Washington, D.C., has become a focal point of national unrest provoked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. Protests in the District entered their third week on Saturday as protesters sustain their push for drastic policing reforms and a broader reckoning about racial inequity in the United States. Black Lives Matter protesters have gathered in the Georgetown neighborhood over the past two weeks, but there have been no reports of protests on campus. The Metropolitan Police Department and other law enforcement agencies operating in the District have used tear gas, batons and rubber bullets to disperse peacefully gathered crowds. In some cases, local residents have housed protesters being pursued by police officers....

The Georgetown University Student Association Senate passed a resolution calling for Georgetown University to reduce its contracts with the Metropolitan Police Department. The June 7 vote follows more than a week of demonstrations across the country in response to the murder of George Floyd on May 25. Floyd’s death, a recent incident in a long history of police abuse against the Black community, has reinvigorated calls for policing reforms.  The resolution, approved by a 14-5 vote count with one abstention, was introduced by GUSA Senator Leo Teixeira (COL ’21). Teixeira told the senate he hopes the proposal will encourage university administrators to prioritize the safety and well-being of Black students and other at-risk groups in the wake of murders committed by police officers against Black people. “There are likely individuals in every single one of our constituencies to whom having MPD on campus patrolling our university and space is a danger, and it makes them feel unsa...

Georgetown University students in professor Marc Howard’s “Prison Reform Project” class have released documentaries detailing the cases of incarcerated men who the students argue were wrongfully convicted. Howard co-teaches “Prison Reform Project” with adjunct professor Martin Tankleff, a childhood friend who was exonerated after serving almost 18 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction. For the past three years, the class has taken on several cases of wrongful convictions and created documentaries to prove innocence and aid in exoneration as a part of the “Making an Exoneree” project. Two of the five documentaries that have been released as of June 1 analyze the cases of Jermane Scott, who is serving a life sentence without parole in the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Ohio, and Edward Martinez, who is serving a 55-year sentence at the United States Penitentiary, Beaumont in Texas. The students claim both men were wrongfully convicted. Students Darcy Palder (COL ’...

The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the challenges posed by globalization, waning U.S. leadership and the ineptitude of the Trump administration, Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said in a virtual event April 28. The conversation, titled “American Leadership During Times of Crisis: A Conversation with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah),” was hosted over Zoom by the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service and co-sponsored by Georgetown University College Republicans and the Georgetown Bipartisan Coalition. GU Politics Executive Director Mo Elleithee (SFS ’94) moderated the event, which centered on the challenges facing policymakers in a global health crisis. While the Trump administration should be criticized for the United States’ lack of personal protective equipment and testing for COVID-19, the country’s unpreparedness also stems from the long-term diminishing influence of U.S. foreign policy, according to Romney. “That first phase was not one that will stand out as be...

Georgetown University announced additional reforms to its grading policy for the spring semester April 2 following weeks of student lobbying for more lenient academic standards amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new system, graduate and undergraduate students may choose to take their classes for a letter grade or a mark of Satisfactory (S), Credit (C) or No-Credit (NC), according to an email from university Provost Robert Groves. Under the three-tier scale, students receive a Satisfactory designation for grades A through C, Credit for a C-, D+ or D, and No-Credit for an F. Students have until April 28 to choose their grading standard. The university previously amended the grading policy March 14, allowing students to take their spring semester classes pass/fail. To pass, a student would have had to earn a grade of C or higher. Many students criticized this short-lived grading policy for unfairly disadvantaging students who have been adversely impacted by the transition to instru...

Former Washington, D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans withdrew from a special election to fill his own vacated Ward 2 seat, citing regret for his past ethical violations. After serving 29 years on the Council of the District of Columbia, Evans announced his resignation in a letter to the council Jan. 7 following investigations into allegations that he used his council position to facilitate corrupt private legal and consulting work. A council report outlining 11 ethical violations since 2014 was released Nov. 4, prompting Evans’ colleagues to call for his resignation. A week after Evans officially resigned, he filed Jan. 27 to join the ballot in the special election for the seat he vacated. Evans also filed to join the Ward 2 primary race held every four years. Evans subsequently dropped out of the special election March 18. Evans hopes to convey remorse for ethical infringements by dropping out of the special election, he said in an interview with The Washington Post. “I have decid...

All criminal charges against Georgetown University Graduate Student Government President Lewis May were dropped Feb. 26. GradGov Vice President Heerak Kim filed a Feb. 4 police report accusing May of physically assaulting him. On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia reviewed Kim’s police report and decided no charges would be filed. The same day the charges were dismissed, the District of Columbia Superior Court also denied Kim’s preliminary injunction request for a long-term restraining order against his GradGov colleague, according to court documents. Kim claims that May physically confronted him outside of a Jan. 30 GradGov Senate meeting shortly after the tweets surfaced. Kim attempted to get a temporary restraining order against May following the alleged physical altercation. A District of Columbia Superior Court judge, however, denied Kim’s request Feb. 12. Kim’s attempt to seek a restraining order against May, a second-year graduate student in...

Members of Georgetown University Riqueza Dominicana, a student-run Dominican cultural club, attended a protest near the White House on Sunday opposing the Dominican Republic’s recent suspension of nationwide municipal elections. Protests first began in the Dominican Republic on Feb. 16 when the suspension began and were followed by similar protests in several major cities around the world, including Washington, D.C. The D.C. protest, which was organized via a Facebook page, took place near the White House at 2:30 p.m. Six members of Riqueza Dominicana attended the protest, which totaled over 150 attendees, according to Communications Director of Riqueza Dominicana Nicole Sanchez (SFS ’22). Protests in the Dominican Republic began shortly after the government suspended nationwide municipal elections four hours after the start of the elections, when officials realized that many voters were unable to see complete ballots on the electronic voting machines, according to The New York Tim...

The United States Department of State has made strides toward cultivating a representative workforce for public servants in recent years, Deputy Director of the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State Julieta Valls Noyes said at a Thursday event. Noyes discussed the need for diversity and inclusion in foreign policy and challenges faced by her and other minorities in pursuing work in diplomacy at the event titled “Talk With Ambassador Julieta Valls Noyes – Deputy Director, Foreign Service Institute.” Noyes has spent more than three decades in the Foreign Service, a career that has spanned assignments in five different countries. Despite progress in workforce representation in recent years, the State Department still has room to improve regarding diversity, Noyes said. “Where we’re not as well represented is in the more senior ranks because, of course, it takes up time for people to move up,” Noyes said. “Slowly, slowly, steadily, steadily, we hope to get to a mo...

This article describes racist and sexist content. Please refer to the end of the article for on- and off-campus resources. Shelves of books in the Reynolds and McCarthy libraries featuring racist and sexist content were removed by university officials last week after students reported the books to Georgetown University Residential Living staff. News of the books’ removal was first reported in an article written by Jacob Adams (SFS ’23) and Justin Drewer (COL ’23), editors-in-chief of The Georgetown Review, a student news organization that bills itself as an independent journal of politics and world affairs, according to its website. Student members of “The Hilltop Show,” an online political comedy group, first noticed the content of the books after a group meeting in the McCarthy library Jan. 22. While walking out of a meeting Jan. 22, one student noticed a book entitled “Cherokee” on a bookshelf, Alexandra Bowman (COL ’22), a cartoonist for The Georgetown Review and member of “T...

Former Georgetown University parent Karen Littlefair pleaded guilty in federal court Jan. 22 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after prosecutors said she paid a private company to take online classes for her son. The U.S. Attorney’s Office recommended a four month sentence, $9,500 fine and 12 months of supervised release, according to court documents. Littlefair entered into a plea agreement Dec. 9, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Littlefair paid William “Rick” Singer’s for-profit college counseling and preparation business, The Key, $9,000 to take online classes for her son James Littlefair (COL ’18) to satisfy his Georgetown graduation requirements, according to charging documents. One class was taken at Arizona State University, but then transferred to Georgetown for credit, according to the Los Angeles Times. Littlefair was the 53rd person and fifth Georgetown parent charged in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, a national investigation int...

Bisi Okubadejo (LAW ’03) started the role as the Georgetown University’s first associate vice president of equal opportunity, affirmative action and compliance Jan. 27. Okubadejo will help oversee efforts to prevent instances of discrimination on campus, according to Rosemary Kilkenny (LAW ’87), the university’s vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer. Okubadejo will also manage the daily operations of the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action, which works to promote equality in educational, employment and contracting opportunities, according to Kilkenny. Okubadejo will help address cases of discrimination filed with the IDEAA office, as well as with external federal and city agencies, and will help lead efforts at the university to promote nondiscrimination. “The role presents an incredibly unique opportunity to give back to my alma mater while addressing cases of discrimination, and working as part of a team tha...

Former Washington, D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans filed Jan. 27 to join special election for the seat he vacated when he resigned a week prior amid investigations into ethics violations. After spending 29 years representing Ward 2 on the council, the council commissioned a report that found Evans had committed 11 ethical violations stemming from his legal and consulting work outside of the council. The council then voted unanimously to oust Evans; however, he resigned before the expulsion process could be finalized. Evans also filed to join the Ward 2 primary race held every four years. Evans is additionally the subject of an ongoing federal investigation, which led to a June raid of his Georgetown home. Investigations into Evans and his eventual resignation have weakened the public’s relationship with the council, according to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. The chairman declined to support Evans’ bid because he considered it damaging to the council’s ongoing effort to improve i...

The Office of Planning and Facilities Management is investigating the cause of a fire that broke out in a private office in Healy Hall on the evening of Jan. 5, according to a Georgetown University spokesperson. The Georgetown University Police Department and the Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS Department responded to a fire alarm that sounded at 7:25 p.m. when no one was in the building. The fire tripped the building’s sprinkler system, which extinguished the fire, according to a university spokesperson. The office is housed in the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, located on the fourth floor of Healy. An electrical issue most likely ignited the fire, according to acting Kennedy Institute Director Daniel Sulmasy. “There were no flammable liquids, candles, or holiday decorations in the office, and it was unoccupied at the time, so none of these can have been causative,” Sulmasy wrote in a Jan. 9 email to The Hoya. “An electrical cause is most likely, but formal investigations are ongoin...

Professors expressed concern about the Georgetown University administration’s response to allegations of sexual misconduct filed against former members of the Georgetown men’s basketball team at a Dec. 16 faculty senate meeting. The faculty senate consists of 75 full-time faculty members from all three university campuses who advise the university president on academic and administrative issues. The senate cleared the scheduled agenda for its December meeting to discuss a letter signed by 68 faculty members in which they advocated for greater university support for survivors of sexual harassment and assault. “Deeply disturbed by recent allegations of sexual misconduct and other forms of intimidation by and toward students on campus, as well as media coverage, we members of the faculty write to express unreservedly our support for survivors of all forms of harassment, misconduct, assault, and any other discriminatory or violent behavior,” the letter reads. The letter was sent to U...

Georgetown University parent Karen Littlefair was the 53rd individual charged in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a Dec. 9 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts in Boston. Court documents allege that Littlefair paid William “Rick” Singer’s for-profit college counseling business $9,000 to take online classes for Littlefair’s son James Littlefair (COL ’18) to satisfy his Georgetown graduation requirements. After his mother pleaded guilty, Littlefair resigned from his position as an advance staffer for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to Politico. Karen Littlefair was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which could result in a maximum of 20 years in prison, according to the news release. As part of Littlefair’s plea agreement, prosecutors recommended she receive four months in prison, one year of supervised release, a form of probation after Littl...