Updated: Oct. 8, 2025, at 10:34 a.m.
Employees from GW’s law, business, medical and professional studies schools were among the 43 staff members the University laid off Tuesday, according to information gathered by The Hatchet, as officials declined to disclose which schools and offices were targeted by the University-wide cuts.
The 43 staff officials laid off at the conclusion of fiscal year 2026’s first quarter include six recruitment and admissions staff from the College of Professional Studies, at least one assistant dean from GW Law and several employees from the School of Business, School of Medicine & Health Sciences and GW Athletics. Officials spared the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, Elliott School of International Affairs and Graduate School of Education & Human Development in this round of layoffs, according to emails obtained by The Hatchet, and the status of other schools and divisions remains unclear as faculty and staff did not respond to requests for comment.
Officials warned of potential layoffs when they froze hiring in July to curb a persistent budget deficit, though Tuesday’s layoffs impacted only staff. In an email sent only to faculty and staff announcing the cuts, officials said the University would also leave several vacant positions unfilled, terminate the hiring freeze and reinstate the position management review process.
University spokesperson Shannon McClendon declined to specify where the layoffs occurred or who was affected, citing respect for employees’ privacy. She said unit leaders informed staff of their terminations Tuesday, with each employee receiving two weeks’ notice.
The Hatchet contacted more than 230 staff, faculty and administrators requesting information on layoffs within their schools, departments and offices and received responses from about 30. The majority of respondents, all current GW employees, said they had no information or declined to comment, often deferring to the Office of Communications and Marketing.
The Hatchet has confirmed 11 of the 43 layoffs and knows an additional number occurred in GW Law, GWSB and SMHS, but has not been able to confirm the exact number.
Last week’s layoffs came after months of officials affirming their commitment to avoiding mass cuts, framing other reductions as necessary measures to prevent them. Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes told the Staff Council in April that officials were not actively discussing laying people off as the University grappled with a yearslong deficit that prompted them to cut FY2026 budgets.
In July, officials said they did not anticipate mass layoffs and told the Staff Council they did not have plans for University-wide personnel cuts. Chief of Staff Scott Mory said in July that potential layoffs would not happen all at once and would depend on how unit leaders adjusted their budgets.
Officials implemented July’s budget reduction measures — including a hiring freeze, limits to non-essential discretionary spending, voluntary temporary reductions to leaders’ salaries and a review of procurement contracts and capital expenditures — to combat its structural deficit but said on Tuesday that “continued pressures” ultimately prompted the layoffs.
GW is not currently planning additional University-wide reductions, a spokesperson said. They said Huron Consulting — a controversial consulting firm with a history of recommending layoffs at universities that the University in August confirmed they hired — was not connected to the layoffs.
Here’s what we know so far about the staff layoffs across GW’s schools and divisions:
GW Law
GW Law laid off several staff members, including Assistant Dean for Environmental Law Studies Randall Abate, Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew said Friday during a virtual discussion with law students about the future of the school’s environmental law program.
Law students during the virtual conversation said they were worried about the future of the environmental law program without a leader, but Matthew said the elimination of Abate’s position doesn’t change the school’s commitment to the nine students currently concentrating in environmental law at the juris doctor level. Matthew said the school’s decision to eliminate Abate’s position was solely financial.
Abate said in an email that he must find new employment “immediately,” noting that his last day at the University is Oct. 14 — two weeks after he was “blindsided” by the news of his termination.
“I will land on my feet, but I’m very concerned for the students,” Abate said in an email. “They deserve much better.”
More than 10 GW Law community members who worked with Abate said they were “shocked” and “devastated” to hear of his termination and noted the great impact he had on their professional and academic careers at the University.
Kathy Hessler, assistant dean for animal law, said she has known Abate for about 13 years, and the elimination of his position is going to be a “huge loss” at GW Law, though officials are pulling in different faculty members to try to fill some of the roles Abate managed. She said Abate works harder than anyone she knows and has been a “champion” for students in getting them to come to GW and helping them with their career paths after graduation.
“It won’t be the same without Dean Abate,” Hessler said. “He’s a wonderful colleague, and I can’t imagine the place without him.”
Awista Ayazi, an adjunct professor at GW Law, said Abate is “singlehandedly” the reason she entered academia and began teaching at the law school. She said she had never considered teaching until Abate encouraged her to lead a course on human rights and environmental protection.
Ayazi said that when she walked into class Friday, her students expressed disappointment, shock and anger over Abate’s layoff, adding that they no longer feel they have anyone to turn to for advice, as they find career services unhelpful.
College of Professional Studies
CPS Dean Liesl Riddle said in an email to faculty and staff at 11:24 a.m. on Tuesday, several hours before officials sent the University-wide announcement to faculty and staff, that the recruitment and admissions internal team will consist of two associate directors as of Oct. 1 — one position that has been filled and a second position that officials are currently hiring for, which is down from eight staff prior to the layoffs.
She said CPS’ recruiting and admissions will now be done with its internal team and “scalable support” from the enrollment management service Noodle.
Riddle said in the email CPS created a new associate dean for enrollment management & student life role who will provide oversight for Noodle and the two new associate directors for recruiting and admissions. She said officials would post the new job posting online on Sept. 30, though the posting is not available as of Sunday.
“This was purely a financial and strategic decision—not a reflection of anyone’s value to our team,” Riddle said in the email.
School of Business
GWSB Dean Sevin Yeltekin said to faculty and staff in an email obtained by The Hatchet “several” staff members in GWSB were laid off, adding the decision within GWSB reflects broader “organizational needs” and “strategic realignments.”
Murat Tarimcilar, the chair of the Department of Decision Sciences, said in an email most staff laid off from GWSB were from the undergraduate and graduate programs offices.
Shivraj Kanungo, the vice dean for graduate programs, declined to comment. Rodney Lake, the vice dean for undergraduate programs, did not return a request to comment.
Yeltekin said in her email announcing GWSB’s layoffs said they were “scheduled” by officials, though officials never indicated a timeline that layoffs would occur.
Officials in July said they would likely lay off staff and faculty as they cut administrative and academic budgets for FY2026, but Chief of Staff Scott Mory told the Staff Council in July the scope of layoffs would depend on how office and division leaders adjust their budgets.
“Looking ahead, we will work together to ensure continuity of service and realignment of responsibilities in a thoughtful, sustainable way,” Yeltekin said in the email.
School of Medicine & Health Sciences
SMHS Dean Barbara Bass said in an email to faculty and staff Wednesday that “fewer than 1 percent” of SMHS staff were laid off. She said the decisions were made after an “extensive review” that reflected on the long-term financial situation of SMHS.
“This is a difficult moment, particularly for those in SMHS who are directly affected or who work closely with them,” Bass said in the email.
Other divisions and offices confirmed to be affected by layoffs
GW Athletics appears to have laid off at least four staff members, according to vacancies cross-referenced with web archives.
Athletics removed one staff member from the ticket sales and operations, sports marketing, athletics administration and student-athlete development departments’ sections of the website at some point after Sept. 17, per web archives.
Schools confirmed to be unaffected by layoffs
GW did not lay off staff in the CCAS, GW’s biggest school, according to an email CCAS Dean Paul Wahlbeck sent to faculty and staff Tuesday night.
Interim GSEHD Dean Lionel Howard said in an email Tuesday that was obtained by The Hatchet that the school did not layoff any staff, though he also said the layoffs were “scheduled.”
Benjamin Hopkins, the senior associate dean of academic affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs, confirmed ESIA did not lay off any staff last week.
Two program directors at the Milken Institute School of Public Health said the school also did not have any layoffs.
Schools where layoffs remain unconfirmed
It remains unclear if staff from the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the School of Nursing were affected. The Hatchet reached out to department chairs, faculty and administrators for each of these schools.
No one out of the 12 SEAS department chairs, administrators or faculty senators The Hatchet emailed returned a request to comment. Three out of 18 SON faculty and deans The Hatchet emailed said they did not have information regarding layoffs.
Kim Fulmer, the president of the Staff Council, declined to comment further on the layoffs after the Staff Council’s executive officers sent an email Tuesday evening expressing their “heartfelt solidarity” to laid off staff members.
Jenna Lee and Tyler Iglesias contributed reporting.
This post was updated to include the following:
The Hatchet updated this story to include information from an email SMHS Dean Barbara Bass sent to faculty and staff, which The Hatchet obtained after publishing. In the email, Bass confirmed that the school had laid off some staff members.
The story was also updated to include information about apparent layoffs in GW Athletics, according to vacancies on the staff directory cross-listed with web archives after publication.
This post was updated to correct the following:
The Hatchet incorrectly reported officials laid off seven recruitment and admissions staff in CPS. Six admission staff members were laid off in CPS. We regret this error.
