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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

Staff Editorial: Valentine’s day review

GW vs. Butler

The men’s basketball team lost 59-56 last weekend to No. 14 Butler in the final seconds of the game. Down by 17 at one point, the Colonials narrowed the lead to only three. In the end, the men’s team just couldn’t sink the three-point shot to tie it up.

Still, the game was not a complete loss. The Colonials played for a sold-out crowd of students and alumni. Win or lose, the game was a clear victory for campus spirit and student involvement. Raise High.

J Street

Student discontent with J Street is nothing new. Prices are high and the food quality is poor. For a bottle of water, the campus dining hall charges $1.69, yet students could just as easily get a bottle of water at Whole Foods Market for 79 cents. To turn a profit with the existing contract, it seems that students are charged more than should be the case.

Part of the problem is the restrictive contract between the University and food provider Sodexo. The discrepancy between J Street and other campus eateries is striking, and is an ongoing problem that seems to have no easy solution.

Center for Student Engagement

The Center for Student Engagement director Tim Miller made great strides this week through two instructive and innovative programs that will start in the fall. The CSE’s move to offer instructional seminars on financial topics like filing taxes and saving for retirement is a step in the right direction when it comes to educating well rounded students.

To help students transition to college life and make the best decisions when it comes to positive eating habits, the CSE has announced that in the fall, it will pay for a dietician to visit freshman residence halls to promote a healthier dietary culture on campus.

Increasingly, students attend college not just to obtain a quality education, but also to become productive citizens. And these CSE initiatives are a commendable step to fulfill that responsibility.

Tuition

The cost of college tuition is a perennial problem across the nation. But it’s an issue that looms especially large at GW, which, at $47,343 next year, is one of the top 50 most expensive universities in the country, according to Forbes magazine.

Granted, administrators have increased tuition at a steady rate of about 3 percent for the last six years, less than most other private colleges and universities, which had an average increase of 4.2 percent. And the University has also pledged to maintain the fixed tuition system, meaning that students will pay a flat fee for their entire education.

But still, the question must be asked: How high can the price of higher education soar before the system becomes unsustainable?

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address:

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama made higher education a priority by announcing his plan for a college scorecard. The theory behind this proposal is that providing students with financial information about universities across the country will help them make better decisions before they choose where to enroll.

At a time when college costs are skyrocketing and more students than ever are saddling tens of thousands of dollars of debt, the president’s decision to hold institutions of higher education responsible for their financial decisions is laudable.

Prospective students who are considering applying to GW – which has a yearly price tag nearing $60,000 – could benefit from increased access to financial information.

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