Category: Higher Education.

The fund will allow the Store to continue bridging gaps toward a more food-secure community.

For as long as he can remember, hunger and nutrition programs have been at the top of Steven V. Roberts’ list for philanthropic endeavors.

Mr. Roberts has had a long philanthropic journey in his personal life and with George Washington University. He serves on the board of directors for Bread for the City, and the J.B. and M.C. Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs, and his late wife, Cokie Roberts, dedicated their Christmas gift money toward hunger and feeding programs in the Washington, D.C., area.

“We always felt that hunger and nutrition was one of the best ways that you could tangibly intervene and make people’s lives better,” Mr. Roberts said. “I’ve been very blessed and fortunate in my life, and I have resources that I want to use to help student life at GW.”

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During a King Week event, the “Decolonial Dialogue” panel shared how their diverse experiences have been impacted by the moniker as well as ways the university can decolonize education.

There are many ways that colonialism affects Georgie Britcher on campus, she said, and the most impactful is that there is no space for her to be herself.

“I often find myself hiding my Indigeneity and also recognizing I have the privilege to do that in many spaces,” said Ms. Britcher, who is president of GW Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights. “People should not have to hide who they are on this campus.”

She also described firsthand experiences where students and faculty joked around with the term “savage,” even after expressing the harm that the word has caused.

“Culture is not a joke, and I think that especially rich white students think that it is and are allowed to think that it is because they’re not going to face the repercussions,” Ms. Britcher said.

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While “self-care” has a reputation for indulgence, the practice is actually about simple activities that nurture overall health.

Self-care is much more than candles and bubble baths.

While these things can be helpful for some, it is not something that will help everyone meet their needs, which is why it is important for everyone to develop their own personalized self-care routine.

While George Washington University students balance a myriad of responsibilities, and as the semester wraps up and finals commence, it is critical to incorporate self-care into their schedules.

In the spirit of self-care, the Residential Education team this week will be helping students focus on their own self-care by providing access to tools and information for students to use to build their own personalized self-care kit. Area Coordinators will be distributing information in the coming days through activities customized to each hall.

To help students understand more about why self-care is important and how GW students can get started on their self-care journey, Chris Davis, assistant director of clinical services at the Colonial Health Center, offers some helpful tools and tips:

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A partnership with the D.C.-based TwentyTables app brings affordable food options to the GW community in Potomac Square beginning today—with launch giveaways on Wednesday.

Looking for new food options? A new George Washington University partnership with dining app TwentyTables will bring those options to the university community, including four food trucks daily in Potomac Square from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for dinner.

To celebrate the partnership, GW and TwentyTables will host a kickoff event from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 30 at Potomac Square with food and merchandise giveaways and a ribbon cutting with President Thomas LeBlanc. TwentyTables is also running a series of promotions for the kickoff, including the Golden Ticket giveaway where a student can win free meals for the semester.

At Potomac Square, which is an open area in the 2000 block of G Street across from Lisner Hall, food trucks will regularly be stationed throughout the year for lunch and dinner service. The Potomac Square initiative aimed to bring another community space to the university.

Mark Diaz, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the recent renovation of Potomac Square to feature covered seating areas and an array of seating was part of this summer’s effort to direct $10 million toward dozens of projects in residential, academic and administrative spaces, improving the university community’s experience and enhancing GW’s culture.

“University leadership saw Potomac Square as a perfect opportunity to utilize a previously underused space to enhance the GW community by increasing on-campus areas to meet and socialize,” Mr. Diaz said. “Potomac Square has been transformed from an open-air meeting area into a vibrant and robust space where students, faculty and staff can eat, spend time together and relax.”

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First-year and transfer George Washington University students were welcomed to campus Saturday with helping hands, warm smiles, a presidential lemonade stand and GW sweatshirts.

Sydney Walker, a transfer student from Upper Marlboro, Md., was still in the process of moving into Somers Hall on the Mount Vernon campus when her family decided to take a break and visit the GW Family Welcome Suite in the Marvin Center’s Great Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Being an only child, Ms. Walker said that she was a bit nervous about sharing a space for the first time, but that she is excited to get started studying creative writing.

Her parents, Sam Walker and Kenya Ulmer, graduated from George Washington University in 1996 and 1997 respectively. They first met in Madison Hall. Both said they were happy to see their daughter at their alma mater.

“It’s kind of surreal, being back on campus and seeing how things have changed and some things are the same,” Ms. Ulmer said of moving her daughter to campus. “I think I have one more cry left in me.” 

In her first year, Ms. Walker’s parents said they hope she becomes even more independent, meets new friends and embraces GW’s international community.

“I would hope that in terms of being around this community that she gets to absorb all of the different cultures that she’s around and gets to know how it is to do her own thing for a little while,” Mr. Walker said.

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The film screening and panel tackled the issue of preventing young athletes from developing the degenerative brain disorder.

Without football, Robert Turner II, assistant professor of clinical research and leadership at the George Washington University and former professional athlete, said he would not be where he is today.

Football made college accessible to him as a first-generation student, which later created paths for him to earn a master’s degree and a Ph.D.  Dr. Turner also authored the book being released late this summer, “Not for Long: The Life and Career of the NFL Athlete,” through his academic research, which would not have been possible if football hadn’t been available to him.

Still, Dr. Turner acknowledged the importance in making football and the culture surrounding the sport safer for children who play. Doing so, he said, would allow the sport to continue as a tool that adds value to the lives of the players.

“People need to play sports because there’s a lot of overall benefits to it, but where we get messed up a lot of times is when parents see their kid as the next so-forth and so-on, no matter what the sport is,” Dr. Turner said. “I think that has long-term negative consequences on the athletes themselves.”

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