September
Dozens of flu cases reported
Less than two weeks into the fall semester, more than 35 students reported flu-like symptoms while the swine flu scare was well underway. Due to the highly contagious H1N1 virus, University administrators urged students to stay home from class or work, and professors made accommodations for ill students, including using Blackboard to communicate so students wouldn’t fall behind.
The Student Health Service saw about 700 influenza-like illnesses by the end of November, and thousands from the GW community turned up at multiple flu shot clinics all over campus to receive doses of both the H1N1 and seasonal flu shot.
First lady issues challenge on day of service
First lady Michelle Obama promised the class of 2010 in September that she would the speaker at the University-wide Commencement Ceremony if the GW community completed 100,000 hours of community service during the year. GW’s Office of Community Service kept track of the University’s progress, and officials announced in April that GW met the goal weeks ahead of schedule. At the Commencement Ceremony in May, it was announced that GW had completed 168,980 service hours.
October
Clinton, Gates convene in Lisner
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates discussed current international affairs in a packed Lisner Auditorium. CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour and School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno moderated the discussion, which largely focused on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
During the interview, Gates said President Barack Obama’s decisions on Afghanistan would be “among the most important he will make in his presidency,” and said that the Taliban appeared to have the momentum in the area because the U.S. and its allies had not put enough troops there. Clinton said the U.S. had “a very clear objective” of trying to persuade Iran that pursing nuclear capabilities was not in the country’s best interest because of international sanctions.
Man attacks grad student with hammer
An assailant struck a graduate student in the head with a hammer in a Duques Hall bathroom, leaving him with a major but non-life-threatening injury. The suspect was later identified as Mohammed Niazi but was never located. According to GW Crime Alerts, there was no evidence to indicate that the victim and suspect new each other, and the Metropolitan Police Department said police were “operating on the idea that it was random.”
University completes Treanor review
In the wake of sophomore Laura Treanor’s death from alcohol poisoning in Jan. 2009, the University altered its alcohol amnesty policy to include increasing education and parental involvement when a student abuses alcohol. The changes came as a result of a University review that was launched when Treanor’s cause of death became known.
The Hatchet also reported in October that the bar Treanor drank at on the night of her death had been closed one week prior for serving alcohol to overly intoxicated patrons.
November
Obama, Biden come to campus for Veterans Day
First lady Michelle Obama and second lady Dr. Jill Biden spoke at a Veterans Day celebration on campus, stressing the importance of expressing gratitude and appreciation for military service members. The two presented Alma Powell, wife of GW alumnus and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, with the first ServiceNation award, for her contributions to military and civil services.
“On Veterans Day and every other day, it is our sacred duty to honor the service of those who sacrifice for our country, and we can all play a role,” Biden said. The event also featured speeches by veterans, including by senior Brian Hawthorne, president of GW Veterans.
<December
First family attends men’s basketball game over break
Though most students had gone home for Thanksgiving break, President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, their daughters Malia and Sasha, and the first lady’s mother attended a basketball game at the Smith Center as the Colonials took on Oregon State. The president and his family shook hands with members of the crowd before sitting in the front of the section of Oregon State supporters. Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson is Michelle Obama’s brother.
Preparations for the presidential visit to the Smith Center – only the second since President Clinton’s in 1995 – had begun earlier in the week with preliminary Secret Service security sweeps. On the day of the game, spectators passed through metal detectors before taking their seats.
GW ultimately lost 64-57, but senior Kyle Boyer called the first family’s attendance an “only at GW’ moment.”
“I mean Secret Service brought the president in to basically sit next to the student section. That’s pretty cool,” Boyer said.
Residents fear loss of all-female dorm
The University announced in December that Strong Hall, GW’s only all-female residence hall, would be turned into sorority housing for the 2010-2011 school year. The decision was met with resentment by some of Strong’s residents, especially those who lived in the all-female residence hall for cultural or religious reasons.
“My first year, I was obligated by my family to live in Strong,” said Yasmin Baker, a United Arab Emirates native. “If this had happened a year ago, I probably would have not come to GW at all. It’s a big deal to send a girl halfway around the world by herself, when college might not even be an option.”
The following month, the University announced that two residence halls – 2109 F and Merriweather Hall – would be all-female beginning in the fall of 2010.
January
University offers buyouts to 39 SEAS professors
GW offered buyout packages to 39 full-time professors in the School of Engineering and Applied Science in October as part of a move to increase the school’s research status. SEAS Dean David Dolling said new “top-tier” professors would be hired to replace those who accepted the buyout.
The Hatchet later reported that six professors accepted the University’s offer. Both Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Don Lehman and Dolling said they were satisfied with the results. In May The Hatchet confirmed with Lehman that 101 natural and social science professors in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences were offered buyouts too.
February
GW shuts down after historic snowfall, students claim victory in collegiate snowball fight
Classes were canceled for a full four days after two back-to-back snowstorms dumped 26 inches of snow on the District in one weekend. With snow blanketing roadways and public transportation shut down, students used their days off to either play outside or hole up in their rooms. GW’s libraries were closed for much of the time, and students living on the Mount Vernon campus reported long wait times for the Vern Express shuttle to take them into Foggy Bottom.
On Wednesday evening, around 200 GW students faced off in Rose Park against around 75 Georgetown students for a massive snowball fight between the two schools. The outnumbered Georgetown students quickly retreated up a hill, and were followed by charging GW forces. Students were joined by University President Steven Knapp, who came out to lob snowballs. When GW declared victory, Knapp announced the classes would be canceled the next day.
Columbian College to double advisers
After sustaining years of heavy criticism for its academic advising program, the University announced that it would double the number of professional advisers for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences to 18. The changes, which will also include speeding up a plan to implement a degree auditing system, will cost around $700,000, and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Don Lehman said he hoped the changed would result in major improvements to advising. New advisers will be hired over the next eight months using funds saved from the Innovation Task Force.
“Our advising office is always listening to students,” Columbian College Dean Peg Barratt said. “We’ve always been constrained by staffing issues, but now those constraints will be lifted.”
March
Lifton clinches SA presidency
Student Association Executive Vice Presidency Jason Lifton was elected SA president, beating out self-described “SA outsider” Xochitl Sanchez.
“After a clearly successful year, after a bunch of things were accomplished, the students said what they wanted,” Lifton said. “I will continue fighting for students, advocating and doing what we’ve been doing all year.”
Rob Maxim beat Logan Dobson for the executive vice presidency in a runoff election, after none of the four original candidates reached the 40 percent threshold required to win the first time around.
McCain mixes conservatism, gay rights
Meghan McCain, the daughter of former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, voiced her support for marriage equality on campus while GW’s Young America’s Foundation held a protest in Kogan Plaza, passing out wedding cake during a “Defending Marriage” event.
“I am not Ann Coulter, I am not Glenn Beck, I am not trying to be a pundit, I am not trying to have a show on Fox,” McCain said. “My intention is to promote dialogue in this country.”
McCain’s appearance originally drew controversy when the GW College Republicans withdrew their financial support for the event after it was billed as the keynote speech for Allied in Pride’s “Marriage Equality Week.”
April
Professors approve GCR overhaul
One year after the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences voted to cut general curriculum requirements to 24 credits, the faculty approved a GCR plan that would require CCAS students to take one math course and two lab sciences, down from two and three math and science courses, respectively. Students will also complete six hours in social sciences, six credits in humanities, and three credits in the arts, as well as a University Writing course and two Writing in the Disciplines courses.
The vote in favor of the proposal was nearly unanimous, CCAS Dean Peg Barratt said, and added that the new curriculum would contribute to a quality liberal arts education.
Biden reveals Title IX policy changes
Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the Smith Center to announce the repeal of a Title IX option that allowed universities to use student surveys to prove that they were meeting the athletic interest of women on campus as required by the gender equality law.
“Making Title IX as strong as it possibly can be is the right thing to do,” Biden said. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senior Adviser to the President Valerie Jarrett each made remarks as well. Biden was joined on stage by the U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey team, GW and D.C.-area athletes, schoolgirls and Girl Scouts.
May
Sophomore dies after fall from window
Taylor Hubbard, 20, died May 16 after falling from a fifth-story window in Guthridge Hall. Hubbard, a biomedical engineering student from Lexington, Md, is remembered as being a positive, outgoing and fun to be around.
“He always took life with a smile,” one of his close friends said. “Everyone really loved him.”
The cause of his death is still unknown and as of June 11, neither the medical examiner, the Metropolitan Police Department nor the University Police Department have concluded their investigations.
