This editorial was originally written in response to GUAPA’s letter to President DeGioia from May 5, 2018. On May 5, 2018 Georgetown United Against Police Aggression (GUAPA) delivered a letter to President DeGioia urging him to keep GUPD unarmed. The letter was released in response to an earlier effort by GU Advocates for Responsible Defense…
GUPD Should Not Be Armed
By: Editorial Board04/29/2018
The GU Advocates for Responsible Defense (GUARD) presented the Office of the President with a letter arguing that GUPD officers should be trained and equipped with firearms on April 13. A group of about 20 Georgetown students signed the letter anonymously, and leaders of the group made it public. The letter condemned the university’s current…
D.C. General Demolition Ignores Safety Concerns of Homeless Residents
By: Editorial Board04/29/2018
During her first mayoral campaign in 2014, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser vowed to close the D.C. General Family Shelter, the former hospital that served as the city’s primary homeless shelter for families. In 2016, she proposed building smaller shelters in each of the eight wards with the goal of “ending homelessness in the District.” While…
Media Must Cover Police Shootings Responsibly
By: Editorial Board04/20/2018
Within the last three weeks, there have been two high-profile police shootings of unarmed black men. On March 18, Sacramento Police officers shot and killed Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard as a police helicopter hovered above the scene. Video from both the police helicopter and the responding officers’ body cameras show the scene in…
Teacher Walkouts Show Unfair Conditions
By: Editorial Board04/13/2018
Teachers across the country are walking out of classrooms for better pay and support from their state governments. Starting in West Virginia, where a nine-day strike resulted in a 5 percent pay raise for teachers, and spreading to Oklahoma and Kentucky, teachers are mobilizing to protest poor pay, bad benefits, and cuts to school budgets….
Howard Students Take Necessary Action
By: Editorial Board04/13/2018
Hundreds of Howard University students staged a nine-day sit-in late last month to protest misappropriated financial aid funds, long-standing deterioration of housing conditions, and lack of transparency in administrative communications. HU Resist, a student-led social justice group, organized the occupation, the longest in the university’s history, refusing to leave the Mordecai Wyatt Johnson Administration Building…
Student Artists Deserve Better
By: Editorial Board03/23/2018
This week is Arts Week on campus, an annual celebration of the arts and the students who create them. It is also an occasion to remember that the many artists in our community often have to overcome barriers that make it difficult to excel and pursue their passions here on campus. This editorial board believes…
Walk Out for Gun Violence Prevention on the 14th
By: Editorial Board03/02/2018
When 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida were murdered on Feb. 14 by a former MSD student, the United States once again began down a familiar path. There were calls for thoughts and prayers, calls for increased background checks, calls for better school security, mental health, armed teachers—…
D.C.’s Amazon Bid Neglects Residents’ Needs
By: Editorial Board03/02/2018
Earlier this month, consulting firm Hamilton Place Strategies released a report ranking Washington, D.C. the most qualified of the 19 U.S. cities that Amazon is considering for its “HQ2,” the company’s proposed second headquarters. The report ranked each city based on four factors: transportation; education; business, lifestyle, and culture; and connectivity. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser…
Vote Nair/Rahman for GUSA executive
By: Editorial Board02/21/2018
This year’s GUSA executive election features another slate of lackluster tickets that fail to inspire excitement or address the apathy towards GUSA from the general student population. This campaign should be an opportunity to bring important student issues to the forefront of conversation on campus, but instead it repeatedly falls into the trading of empty…