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The GW Hatchet

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

It ain’t Long Island: Sin City living

Forget the first 10 people you met at GW — not everyone is from Long Island. Or New Jersey, for that matter. Or even Pennsylvania. Though many times you may hear students asking one another “Nassau or Suffolk County?” GW really does attract students from interesting locales all over the country and the globe. Meet Alexis Burke.

In a town where anything goes, it’s hard to imagine anyone spending more than a debauchery-filled weekend in Las Vegas – let alone living there. Junior Alexis Burke, however, calls Sin City home.

Where gambling is king and prostitution is legal, Las Vegas has given Burke a more open-minded approach to social extremes.

“It’s how our town makes its living,” she said.

A common misconception, however, is that “the strip” – where most casinos, hotels and other tourist attractions are located – characterizes all of Las Vegas.

“The majority of the town does not live between the Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace,” Burke said, commenting that her residential neighborhood is not exactly like the flashy casino-hotels. The driving time is about 25 minutes from her neighborhood to “the strip,” she said.

“No one actually lives on ‘the strip’ unless you’re homeless or a hotel owner.”

Burke was one of only four students in her high school graduating class who left Las Vegas. Most of her peers chose to either attend school at home or enter the city’s lucrative tourism industry.

“For me to go to the East Coast is pretty… wow,” she said.

At GW, Burke is used to inquiries about her home – maybe not-so-sweet – home. One of the most common questions she gets is whether she has ever worked at a strip club.

“I like to joke around with people on this one. I say, ‘Oh yeah, only on the weekends though.'”

Other people assume she is a veteran casino gambler – also untrue.

“I’m not 21 yet. They don’t do the ’18 to enter, 21 to drink’ thing in Vegas. They are very hard on IDs.”

Even without a stint in the strip tease business or the know-how of a Black Jack hustler, Burke doesn’t find many things shocking.

“Las Vegas is far more accepting of everything and anything, and having been raised there, I’m that way as well,” Burke said. “That was the biggest difference I noticed coming here to D.C. I’m not surprised by anything I see. Coming from Vegas, we see it all.”

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