Two residence hall eateries close shop

The Hall on Virginia Avenue Diner and Thurston Dining Hall quietly shut their doors for the last time in May. Once popular venues in freshman residence halls, the shops shut down last semester because of decreased revenues.

The HOVA Diner originally offered three meals a day, but Aramark cut back the shop’s hours after traffic numbers indicated a 30 percent drop in revenue, said Christine Fischer, assistant director of Dining and Retail Services. Until the end of spring semester, the diner offered dinner and convenience store items.

HOVA residents said they were upset about the diner’s closing.

“I’ve heard the diner had really restricted hours last year anyway, but I still wish the diner was open,” freshman Emily Castleman said. “It’s just an inconvenience because we have to eat in or order delivery if we don’t feel like walking all the way to J Street.” The day she arrived at HOVA in August, Castleman said she did not eat dinner because there were no dining venues nearby.

-Emily O’Neill

Department of Education awards $5 million to GSEHD

The U.S. Department of Education gave a Graduate School of Education and Human Development project a $5 million grant to continue recruiting qualified professionals to staff D.C. Public Schools.

The government-GW partnership, “Literacy Collaborative: Communities of Practice,” has received nearly $10.5 million in pledges, mostly from the Department of Education.

GSEHD’s Department of Teacher Preparation and Special Education will work with D.C. Public Schools, non-profit organizations and corporations to develop new methods of recruiting and supporting highly qualified employees for the schools.

GW to host visiting college juniors

GW will host students from other colleges this spring while they take classes in the “Semester in Washington” program.

The series is part of the “GW Spring Term,” a program that gives students from other colleges the opportunity to study in the nation’s capitol.

College juniors will choose between three areas of study: National Security and Foreign Policy, How the Media Covers Washington and Military Planning and National Politics. All courses will allow students to earn credit at their schools.

-Caitlin Carroll