Student Government Association senators passed a resolution calling on officials to ramp up resistance to President Donald Trump’s “unconstitutional federal interference” in higher education at a meeting Monday. 

The unanimously passed resolution calls on officials and the Board of Trustees to reject federal “monitoring and interference” into its governance, curricula, admissions and research and to use its financial and legal resources to protect students, faculty and staff from deportation, harassment and “criminalization for activism.” SGA Sen. Aicha Sy (CCAS-U), who sponsored the resolution, said it calls on officials to prioritize protecting students over enacting policies to appease the Trump administration, like deemphasizing diversity, equity and inclusion policies and allowing federal agents on campus. 

Amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI policies at universities, GW has halted its search for a vice provost to lead the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement, postponed its annual Diversity Summit and said University officials are conducting a “careful review” of a Department of Justice memo stating Universities with DEI programs could face “significant legal risks.” GW Law also shuttered its DEI website in March.

“The University will always put its interests first before its students, and it is our responsibility to not allow this to continue,” Sy said. 

SGA senators also heard updates from officials about the 2027 campus plan, campus renovation and construction projects and confirmed the Joint Elections Commission’s next commissioner. 

Here’s a breakdown of the meeting:

Federal interference resolution

Sy, chair of the SGA’s Committee on Community, Advocacy and Inclusion, said the Trump administration’s efforts to suppress DEI initiatives at universities and monitor student speech has left academic freedom in “direct jeopardy” at universities like GW. 

“Recent actions have shown that when universities comply with politically motivated demands, it is students, especially those from marginalized and international backgrounds, who suffer most,” Sy said.

More than three dozen students attended Monday’s meeting to cheer as SGA senators passed the resolution and voice their support during the public comment period.

Zainab Abdi, the SGA executive branch’s director for free speech, said the University has not taken enough action to protect students’ free speech on campus or push back against the Trump administration’s attacks on diversity initiatives. Abdi said the University must reject cooperation with the Department of Justice after the agency sent a letter in August accusing GW of acting deliberately indifferent to campus antisemitism.

University President Ellen Granberg said in a community message earlier this month that the University requested a meeting with the DOJ to discuss its finding in the letter, but they have not yet met. 

“Here at GW, our administration has repeatedly affirmed its willingness and intent to take any means necessary to restore federal funding, even if it means selling out students,” Abdi said.

Abdi said the University will only outright reject the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape higher education institutions with enough student pressure and urged students to continue demanding that officials prioritize protecting them. 

“The students have the power,” Abdi said. “And as student government, it is our duty to act on that power.”

A first-year student who spoke during the public comment period, who identified herself with the first name Mayda, said she worries about speaking out on campus and fears for her peers’ safety due to the Trump administration’s actions against free speech at universities. She said she was disappointed at convocation when Granberg did not speak out about pressing issues facing the University, like threats to diversity and free speech.

“I can’t help but wonder if the institution I am graduating from will even be a place I’m proud of,” she said.

The Trump administration offered a compact to universities across the country earlier this month, which would grant preferential federal funding in exchange for institutional reforms, including adopting institutional neutrality and capping international student enrollment. Officials earlier this month said they are not considering adopting the compact, shortly after University spokesperson Shannon McClendon said officials would consult key advisors about the proposal.

2027 campus plan updates

Tyler Patrick, a representative from Sasaki Associates, one of the design firms leading GW’s 2027 campus plan, said the project aims to align itself with the University’s new strategic framework officials unveiled last week. Patrick said the campus plan does not necessarily outline specific steps the University should take to alter its campus over the next 20 years and instead provides more general principles to guide development.

“We’re thinking about all the elements that are in the strategic framework and what relationship they actually have to physical space and how we use space,” Patrick said.

Patrick said the campus plan, a regulatory outline D.C. colleges and universities are required to submit to the District government every 20 years for approval, will evaluate the campus’ future through eight goals, including how to use the University’s buildings to maximize academic and research excellence, build a cohesive campus identity, how the University’s campuses interact with each other and how to make the campus more environmentally sustainable.

Patrick said Sasaki has sought extensive feedback from community members about how they currently use GW’s campus and how they envision its future. He said they have heard student concerns about accessibility to common spaces, like University Yard, which officials installed fencing around following a pro-Palestinian encampment in May 2024, but have not yet made any recommendations to campus officials about what to do with them.

“It’s something that we’re taking into deep consideration,” Patrick said. “We certainly want to make sure we’re finding democratic spaces on campus for gathering for any and all students to feel welcome.”

Campus renovation projects

Vice President for Safety and Operations Baxter Goodly updated SGA senators on completed, ongoing and planned renovations to campus facilities and buildings, including major renovations to Mitchell Hall and elevator repairs in the Science and Engineering Hall after a significant flood in the building caused damage in early September.

Goodly said Mitchell Hall’s renovations are on track to be completed in summer 2026, with the building set to reopen for student housing next fall. He said the building will be entirely renovated when it reopens, with a new lobby, student common spaces on every other floor, an elevator going to the roof deck and updated dorm rooms.

Goodly said officials are developing a plan, which they will likely unveil in two years, to close each of GW’s remaining unrenovated residence halls for an academic year to completely renew them, like they did with Thurston Hall in 2020 and Mitchell Hall this year. He said the buildings officials will likely target for complete renovations in the next five to seven years are Munson Hall, Madison Hall and Somers Hall on the Mount Vernon Campus.

“We are developing a plan,” Goodly said. “As always, it’s about funding, making sure that we have a good road ahead when it comes to finance.”

Goodly said a flood in SEH last month fried the electrical components in the building’s four elevators, with officials still only able to bring two back into operation nearly two months after the flood and having to entirely replace others. He said, prior to the flood, officials planned to replace all four of the building’s elevators, a project they are now expediting.

“It’s going to be a process,” Goodly said. “We’re going to ask for your patience, we hope to get the third one up soon.”

Goodly also provided updates on several ongoing projects, like renovations to the Elliott School of International Affairs’ City View Room and State Room, where officials removed the State Room’s tiered seating layout and are converting both rooms into general-purpose event spaces with new audio-visual equipment.

He said officials also plan to replace Jack Morton Auditorium’s carpeting and seating over winter break, after officials installed new screens and lighting over the summer.

Goodly said officials added outdoor seating throughout campus this semester including in U-Yard, Kogan Plaza, Square 80 and outside Rome and Phillips halls, following a walkthrough with SGA leaders — including SGA President Ethan Lynne — in August 2024.

Other SGA business

Lynne said he was saddened by Faculty Senate Executive Committee Chair Katrin Schultheiss’ resignation as chair of the committee earlier this month at the request of six of nine FSEC representatives, who cited a build up of unspecified concerns over several months. Lynne said he had “no greater faculty partner” than Schultheiss, saying that she was responsive, insightful and willing to collaborate with student leaders on solutions to issues facing the University.

“I call upon whoever the next FSEC chair is to continue to strengthen and not diminish the relationship between our two bodies,” Lynne said. “The school, and the people we represent, depend on us working together.”

SGA senators also voted unanimously to appoint senior Alex Wan as the commissioner of the JEC, which administers the SGA’s annual elections held in the spring. Wan said he seeks to create a JEC known for being “certain and judicious” and reaffirm students’ faith in the electoral process.

Wan’s appointment comes after the JEC’s top two commissioners graduated last spring, including former JEC Commissioner Michael Ubis, who held leadership roles on the commission for three years. 

“Given the current turbulence and challenges for our democratic institutions, I think it is important for the JEC and its work to serve aspiring candidates and defend against those who seek to gain an unfair advantage,” Wan said.

SGA senators also unanimously voted to confirm Sabrina Gaiazov and Sadie Callaghan as public members of the SGA’s Ethics Committee.

The SGA will hold its next meeting on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in the University Student Center Grand Ballroom.