Voices

Voices is the Op-Ed and personal essay section of The Georgetown Voice. It features the real narratives of diverse students from nearly every corner on campus, seeking to tell some of the incredibly important and yet oft-unheard stories that affect life in and out of Georgetown.


Opinion

Party Culture Shock: Getting Comfortable Around Alcohol

On Friday night, my roommate wakes me up as she walks into our room at 1 a.m. “Sam’s super drunk and we think he’s going to throw up,” she mumbles,... Read more

Carrying On

Carrying On: The Courtesy of Courage

We are afraid of many things. We fear the prospect of children dying in Nigeria when the impending famine hits, or becoming paralyzed because Boko Haram is blocking efforts to... Read more

Opinion

Illusions of Inclusivity: Looking Beyond Snapshots of Diversity

Over the summer, a picture on Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s Instagram went viral for its lack of racial diversity. The photo was of a group of interns, all... Read more

Opinion

Pretty Pepper Spray Won’t End Sexual Violence

Mine is blue. My neighbor’s is lavender, one sparkle shy of a Bedazzler. They match our outfits; they fit in perfectly. I’m talking about our cans of pepper spray. Designed... Read more

Opinion

Making a Name for Yourself: The Quest for Individuality at College

Most people don’t choose their names, and I didn’t choose mine. My parents picked it for the melody of syllables in “Madelyn,” and I’ve lived with the misspellings and the... Read more

Opinion

Freedom and Remembrance: The Problem with Memorializing

If you walk through Rosslyn, Virginia, out of the tiny downtown and over the freeway, you can see the U.S. Marine Corp memorial at the trailhead of Arlington National Cemetery.... Read more

Opinion

The Case for Trigger Warnings

This article contains a trigger warning for trigger warnings. Okay, that’s facetious. There has been a lot of backlash against trigger warnings lately, especially at universities. Recently, the University of... Read more

Opinion

Byte the Bullet: Let Students Use Their Computers

So far, my time at Georgetown has been one of adjustment. Like most freshmen, I got lost in the labyrinth as I searched for Darnall’s I-9 office for student employees.... Read more

Opinion

Reckless Rhetoric: Why Georgetown’s Apology Isn’t “Reparations”

President DeGioia, in his remarks introducing the measures to be taken to atone for the University’s sale of 272 slaves, spoke of a need to “reconcile” Georgetown’s history of and... Read more

Opinion

My Relationship with Thesaurus.com: The Road to Linguistic Independence

According to Cosmopolitan Magazine, an unassailable authority on all questions of love and romance, the ability to finish your partner’s sentences is the number 10  sign that you have met... Read more

Opinion

Cultivating Camaraderie: Addressing Loneliness on the Hilltop

There’s something really impersonal about many of the “back to school” tips and articles circulating this time of year.  They focus on our school-social life balance, our involvement in clubs,... Read more

Opinion

What Is a University?

It’s that time of year again. Just as we’ve begun to settle into our routines of paying little thought to the academic obligations that await us in Washington, we are... Read more

Opinion

Climbing the Hilltop: A Senior’s Advice to Freshmen

Ah, to be a freshman again. As a senior, I envy that you have your entire college experience in front of you. You have four amazing years where you can... Read more

Opinion

Let’s Talk About Your Mental Health

We have a problem with how we deal with mental health issues at Georgetown. As students, we seem unwilling to have an open conversation about what mental health is, who... Read more

Voices

Troubled Campus, Troubled Lecture Fund

The Lecture Fund’s inviting Cecile Richards, head of Planned Parenthood, to speak on campus is causing pain to significant segments of the Hilltop.  We might wonder, however, whether our troubled... Read more

Voices

Home Runs and Circuses: A Life at the Ballpark

One of my first memories is from 2001. I was five years old, and it was just a couple of months after 9/11. I was watching the New York Yankees... Read more

Voices

The Road Less Travelled: Understanding Different Journeys to the Hilltop

I sit in a classroom at Georgetown when my professor inquires, “How many of your high school classmates are sitting in seats like these right now?” Reflecting on years in... Read more

Voices

Contraception Without Deception: The Need for Clarity in Sexual Health

Health and Education Services (HES) claims that Georgetown adequately provides for students’ sexual health needs. Last year, at a panel on sexual health resources at Georgetown hosted by H*yas for... Read more

Voices

Not so Happy with Happy: Examining Disability Issues in Theater

As I sat on the hard plastic of a rigid chair in the auditorium of the Walsh Black Box Theater, watching the twists and turns of “Happy” unfold before my... Read more

Voices

Up In Arms: Pro-Life as More Than Anti-Abortion

All too often this campaign season, we hear presidential candidates like Ted Cruz marry the ideas of being pro-gun and pro-life while brushing over the cognitive dissonance that comes with... Read more