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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Campus Briefs

Local performers Rock for Choice

GW’s chapter of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance will sponsor the first-ever Rock for Choice concert on the Quad Saturday.

The event, which begins at 2 p.m., will raise funds for reproductive rights and abortion clinic safety, said GW’s chapter president, Jen Heitel.

The FMLA is a national campus-based organization with more than 100 chapters centering on issues like violence against women, full reproductive rights and helping young feminists attain leadership roles.

Heitel said FMLA is “the largest nationwide student progressive group.”

Local rock performers Adam Richman, Bicycle Thieves, Trystic and Wonderjack will perform. A disc jockey and improv comedy show by local group Cex will accompany the musical acts.

Heitel said the group selected the performers because they are pro-choice.

She said different progressive organizations such as the National Organization for Women, Amnesty International and Advocates for Youth will set up informational tables at the event. GW students will sell artwork and donate 40 percent of the proceeds to the National Clinic Access Project, which works to improve the safety of abortion clinics nationwide.

Student speakers and a representative from the FMLA will address an expected crowd of about 500 to 1,000, Heitel said. Although the shows are free, Heitel said $5 donations could yield about $2,000 to $3,000 for the cause.

“Besides raising money, we want to educate D.C. and the GW community,” Heitel said.

The Feminist Majority Foundation, FMLA’s parent organization, started the National Clinic Access to raise money for more security guards and surveillance videos at abortion clinics. The group also monitors anti-abortion extremists and works directly with law enforcement in educational projects.

GW’s FMLA chapter is a student-run, pro-choice campus group. The 30-member group has been organizing the Rock for Choice event since April.

Punk group L7 created Rock for Choice in the fall 1991 to mobilize the “pro-choice and music communities to fight for reproductive rights and keep clinics open and free of domestic terrorism,” Heitel said.

Groups such as Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Hole, Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, Iggy Pop and Rage Against the Machine have performed at Rock for Choice concerts around the country to raise money.

“You can go quietly or you can rock for choice,” Heitel said, echoing Rock for Choice slogan.

-Rati Bishnoi

Ben and Jerry’s opens next week

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, located in the space formerly occupied by Freshens’ Yogurt on the ground floor of the Marvin Center, is scheduled to open for business Oct. 9, Director of Dining Services Jim Gillespie said.

Ben and Jerry’s will be turned over to Dining Services from Auxiliary services Oct. 5 to start stocking, cleaning and conducting last-minute, on-site staff training, Gillespie said.

Assistant Director of Auxiliary Services Lyle Vaughan said the Ben and Jerry’s opening has been delayed several times due to permit concerns and issues with the ice cream franchise’s corporate offices. It was originally scheduled to open Sept. 10.

Gillespie said he and Vaughn had to go through “red tape” in an involved process to fulfill city health department regulations.

“They had us jumping though hoops,” Gillespie said.

The change from Freshens’ Yogurt to Ben and Jerry’s was a direct response to student opinion, Vaughan said. According to the results of a Dining Services survey taken last spring, Ben and Jerry’s is the ice cream venue of choice for most students.

Sophomore Eric Daleo, director of the Student Association Dining Services Commission, said 94 people responded to the survey and 43 percent of respondents rated Ben and Jerry’s the best ice cream venue out of companies including Dairy Queen and Freshens.

“Freshens’ was good,” Vaughan said. “But Ben and Jerry’s is great.”

-Sabi Chawla

Big Burger sponsors eating contest

One student will eat his way to a free vacation Oct. 17, when GW Dining Services holds its the first-annual Big Burger Eating Contest at 3 p.m. in the Hippodrome.

GW Dining Services will choose eight students to participate in the contest by Oct. 16. The student who eats the most Big Burgers in 10 minutes will win two free airline tickets to anywhere in the continental United States, courtesy of Coca-Cola. All students who participate will receive a case of Coke, T-shirts and other prizes yet to be determined, said Jared Levin, marketing director of Dining Services.

Interested students should fill out a registration form Oct. 3 to Oct. 15 at any campus dining location or the Dining Services office in Marvin Center 311. Participants will be chosen based on how much they report they can eat. Student’s claims will be confirmed by Dining Services through personal interviews, Levin said.

This is the first of a seven eating contests organized by Dining Services, Levin said. In November, a contest will be held at Subway, followed by a HOVA ice cream eating contest in December.

“This will be a good time and a good way for students to come, blow off steam and cut loose for an hour,” Levin said.

-Becky Guyon

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