Officials will rename Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and launch a new website next month, the office’s director announced Monday.
SRR Director Christy Anthony said at a Campus Plan Advisory Committee meeting that effective Aug. 1, the office will become the Office of Conflict Education and Student Accountability, a title that she said better reflects the staff’s efforts to address student conflicts and violations through coaching and mediation. Anthony said the new name and website will not reduce the office’s operations and functionality, adding that Foggy Bottom community members can continue to report off-campus misconduct on the new website.
Here’s some of the meeting highlights:
GWPD to commence final phase of arming implementation this month
GW Police Department Chief James Tate said officials will initiate the third and final phase of the University’s arming implementation plan after the Campus Safety Advisory Committee meets for the first time later this month. Officials developed the plan in April 2023 following the Board of Trustees’ decision to arm GWPD officers.
During phase three of the plan’s rollout, officials will arm sergeants, leaving 22 total officers armed after Tate and lieutenants started carrying firearms in phases one and two.
GWPD initially planned to begin phase three in April, but Tate said the department delayed the start after officials canceled the first CSAC meeting slated for April 25 — the first day of the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard.
Officials rescheduled the CSAC’s inaugural meeting for July 24, according to a GW email sent to committee members obtained by The Hatchet. Tate said officials won’t arm additional officers until the committee, made up of five students, five staff, five faculty, one community member and six officials, holds an initial meeting to begin discussing effective safety practices and challenges on campus.
Tate also delayed phase two from September to February because the department “didn’t want to rush things,” particularly as students began frequent campus protests in the fall following the onset of the war in Gaza.
Officials unveil updated plan for I Street Mall renovation
Adam Aaronson, the assistant vice president of construction management and campus planning, said officials updated their redesign plans to maintain all landscaping beds in the section of I Street between 23rd and 24th streets after neighbor concerns that officials would remove them.
Officials announced plans to revamp the I Street Mall pedestrian area near GW Hospital in January to conduct “major” landscaping, remove rat-burrowing areas, add lighting and reconfigure seating in the space. Instead of removing landscaping as initially proposed, the new plan will lower the landscaping beds to sidewalk level, Aaronson said.
He said the new plan will continue to meet the renovation’s goals of increasing pedestrian safety and resolving rodent issues.
Aaronson said trustees approved funding for the project, adding that officials are currently determining a contractor, which they plan to finalize in August. Renovations will begin as soon as a contractor is solidified and officials expect the work to take two months, he said.
Two community members, Foggy Bottom Association President John George and Ed Comer, a member of the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, asked officials about potential ways to add additional trees to the renovation plan. Aaronson said more trees would reduce public safety by cluttering sight lines in the area.
University official says there is no solidified timeline for U-Yard fencing removal
Kevin Days, the director of community relations, said the fencing around U-Yard will remain in place for “awhile” as officials evaluate campus safety needs. He said he does not have an exact timeline for their removal.
Officials installed metal barricades and guarded the area beginning April 25, the day pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment in U-Yard. The area has had restricted access since.
A University spokesperson said in June that fencing will remain in Kogan Plaza, U-Yard and Anniversary Park while officials evaluate campus safety needs, but security guards began opening the gates in waves to Kogan Plaza during the day in early June.
Officials removed the barricades around Kogan Plaza on Sunday, according to a University email sent on July 12.
