The Student Association announced students will have the opportunity to study longer at Marvin Center and use meeting space at the State Plaza Hotel for free this semester.
Three meeting rooms are now available for student use at the State Plaza Hotel on F Street in partnership with the F Street Bistro, located inside the hotel. In addition, J Street and Columbian Square, located on the first floor of Marvin Center, are open two additional hours – until 2 a.m.
University administrators will evaluate the extended operating hours at Marvin Center and might decide to expand the hours further and bring in a beverage service for late-night studiers.
“Students always tell me how important the Marvin Center is to their late-night study sessions,” said SA President Nicole Capp, who concluded negotiations with University officials on Friday. “I’m proud that we worked with administrators to ensure that the activity doesn’t have to end at midnight anymore.”
In addition to extending Marvin Center hours, the SA outlined its plans to achieve objectives in academics, the greater D.C. community and student diversity in its second “Shared Vision for Student Advocacy.”
The body plans to be actively involved in helping to change the University Writing curriculum, which consists of mandatory writing-intensive courses for students in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. SA leaders formed a task force at the end of last semester to help prepare for a report on the program before the Board of Trustees, Capp said.
GW’s student government will also expand its efforts to reach the D.C. community outside of Foggy Bottom and advocate for such things as lowered Metro fares for students. Last semester, SA leaders went to the D.C. city hall and the U.S. Capitol to meet with local leaders.
“It was the first time the SA has gone up to city hall and the Hill and given a human face to the University,” Kroeger said. “GW is not this entity that swallows up (the city).”
For diversity affairs, the SA plans to draft the “Colonial Creed: A Statement of GW Community Values.” The Colonial Creed will be modeled after the Carolinian Creed of the University of South Carolina, said Kroeger, a junior.
“It is very important that everyone at GW knows what we stand for and what we will tolerate,” he said.
Robert Chernak, senior vice president for Student and Academic Support Services, has worked closely with Capp and Kroeger during their time in office and said they have done an “outstanding job” thus far.
He said, “They have stayed focused on their campaign platform, have worked hard and extremely well together, and both are an absolute delight to work with as colleagues to move forward initiatives that have had positive impacts on the quality of the GW experience for GW students.”
Emily Cahn contributed to this report.
