Kelly Anderson

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...