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Sporting events can always be summed up in wins and losses, percentages, and endless statistics. But for the 2000 Colonials volleyball team, box scores mattered little. Though the teams’ competitions may have been played on the Smith Center floor, the real struggle occurred in each player’s heart. “I will always remember Coach Moorehead having a very vivid personality on the bench. She would be up and jumping around during our rallies because she was just too excited to stay seated. . .she was always light-hearted,” said sophomore Abby Ernst, a middle blocker on the team. Thus news of Moorehead’s death completely stunned not only the players, but also the volleyball community nationwide. Always characterized in such glowing terms as “a tremendous coach,” “a second mom,” and “fun-loving,” her tragic death at age 30 left the team in a state of floundering distress. Enter assistant coach Jojit Coronel. “Coach was just really open to suggestions,” commented senior Tracee Brown.
“He kept the lines of communication open and constantly reminded us of our goals. His positive attitude and confidence really put us on the right track this season and brings a high confidence level and a true understanding of the game.” Still, Coronel deflected the praise, saying, “I was more than confident these women could overcome their grief; the only question was how much time they would need. I didn’t really need to motivate them, because I thought they would do it themselves. The entire season still lay ahead of us, and our first competition was actually our own tournament, so I knew we would be ready.” Coronel had such a positive impact on the Colonials, who won the Atlantic 10 championship and finished the season with a stellar 25-6 record, that he was named Coach of the Year by the Tachikara/American Volleyball Coaches Association Northeast Region.
“I think much of the award came from my ability to be patient,” explained Coronel. “I’ve been blessed with amazing women on the team, and their success is the reason for my individual accolades.” The team gave Coronel strong support; six graduating seniors helped ease the shock affecting the Colonials, especially the freshmen. “One of the overriding factors of our success this season was the leadership of our seniors,” Coronel pointed out. “Not only did they do a great job in putting us in a position to win, but they also took the freshmen under their wings; that off-the-court leadership definitely contributed to the success we had on the court.” The team’s cohesiveness and sense of family after the death of Coach Moorehead proves, just like the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team after a horrific plane crash claimed three members of the team, that sports are often so much more about fundamental elements of life than just win-loss records and shooting percentages. Team members and friends spoke of the effect Moorehead had on the lives around her. “As a person her doors were always open, and she encouraged us to come to her with anything,” Brown said.
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Scholarship recipient Jenny Lee is interviewed by a television reporter following the good news. (Thom Kohout) |
Talk about a gift. The George Washington University recently handed out seven full academic scholarships, each totaling more than $138,000, to seven District of Columbia high school students. The scholarships, entitled the Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Scholarships in honor of the GW president, are awarded to exceptional D.C. public high school seniors based on class rank, GPA, SAT score, course of study, teacher recommendations, and extracurricular and community activities.
Over the 12-year life of the program—previously known as the “GW 21st Century Scholarships”—recipients have received approximately $7.7 million in academic aid, tuition, room and board, and books.
This year’s recipients are Ashley Nicole Gordon and Mariamawit Tamerit from Benjamin Banneker High School, Rachelle T. Odom from Eastern High School, Greisy E. Fleidi from Theodore Roosevelt High School, Jeanny Lee and Isaiah Bruce Pickens from The School Without Walls, and Lisa Mueller from Woodrow Wilson High School.
All the awardees were surprised when their names were called out as winners. “I was excited, to say the least,” Isaiah Pickens said. “I saw all these cameras and was like, ‘whoa.’”
Jeanny Lee equaled Pickens’ shock when she was revealed as a recipient of the award. “They announced my friend’s name and it looked like they were going to turn and go,” she said in an interview with the GW Hatchet, the student newspaper on campus. “But then they announced my name. It was the first time in my life I’ve ever felt like that.”
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Isaiah Bruce Pickens accepts his scholarship award from associate director of admissions Sammie Robinson. (Thom Kohout) |
The application process for the Trachtenberg Awards is just as grueling as that for admission into the University itself, as all aspects of academic life are taken into account. Sammie Robinson, Associate Director of Admissions at GW, called handing out the scholarships one of the most exciting and enjoyable aspects of his position. Most of the Trachtenberg Award recipients are considering a number of other colleges and universities, including several Ivy League schools, Robinson said. However, he expects that most of these special students will enroll at GW.
Lee, upon receiving the award, made up her mind fairly quickly about where she will attend school in the fall. Ranked second in her class, she plans to attend GW and is extremely grateful for the opportunity the award provides her. Lee, who has already taken several classes at GW, including physics and sociology, said that though she would like to visit different parts of the country, she enjoys the urban life and would like to attend college in the city.
This particular community outreach benefits the District and GW, according to GW’s president. “This program continues GW’s commitment to not just be in the District but of the District,” President Trachtenberg said. “We’ve always believed in beginning our search for the best and brightest students right here in our backyard.”
—ZK
GW’s athletic programs will soon receive a major boost, with the completion of a state-of-the-art soccer/lacrosse field, an NCAA-regulation softball facility, and an 11-court indoor/outdoor tennis center on GW’s Mount Vernon campus.
The top-of-the-line athletic facilities will pave the way for two new varsity level sports programs at GW—women’s lacrosse (spring 2002) and women’s softball (spring 2003), and will provide a new home for the University’s men’s and women’s soccer and tennis programs.
Student athletes, who currently practice and play at far-flung venues throughout the Washington area, are anxiously awaiting the late spring completion of the soccer/lacrosse field, the August completion of the tennis facility, and the fall completion of the softball field.
“For the past several years, the soccer team has practiced and competed some 30 miles away in South Riding, Va., near Dulles Airport,” says Mary Jo Warner, GW’s senior associate director of athletics. “Our tennis teams also routinely travel up to 30 miles from campus to practice and compete. It will be nice for our athletes to have a home field just minutes away from the main campus. Our expectations are that these new top quality facilities will help us build premier teams.”
According to Warner, the new facilities will also allow for recreational and intramural use. “It’s really a plus for everybody,” she says. “We’re going to have great facilities, which should help increase spirit and camaraderie on campus and help boost our already respectable athletic programs.”
—JLF
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Department of Health Services executive Marcia Wooden accepts her diploma and a hug from CCEM Executive Director Herbert Tillery. |
GWputs its money where its mouth is when it comes to supporting the needs of its home city—even with regard to the complex matter of city management.
In 1997, in order to address the challenges of running a city, GW’s School of Business and Public Management joined the District of Columbia and the Fannie Mae Foundation to found the Center for Excellence in Municipal Management. Its goal: to ensure the instruction of leadership and management training for local government employees.
Since then, the center has ushered more than 200 professionals through its flagship program, the Program for Excellence in Municipal Management.
“When students walk away from this program, I want them to do something with what they have learned,” says Herbert Tillery, executive director of CEMM. “One of the biggest problems with government employees is a lack of training.”
PEMM consists of courses in leadership, public management, and analytical methods and conceptual competencies. The one-year program also integrates lessons of municipal management through a capstone exercise involving a mock budget crisis that the students have to solve for the city. The center’s intensive instruction has met the professional and academic criteria of the National Consortium of Certified Public Managers.
“Local government agencies don’t work together to solve serious issues,” Tillery says. “Yet many of the problems in the city need to be addressed by a number of agencies. We help agencies network across the board to rectify that lack of communication.”
Municipal employees interested in joining the program must go through a rigorous process to be accepted into the program—fulfilling a writing requirement, an oral interview, and they must obtain the approval of their supervisor.
While keeping their day jobs, 30 municipal managers attend monthly three-day sessions throughout the year. The program begins with a five-day basic leadership course, where the group focuses on basic leadership and management skills. The training is led by a combination of private-sector managers, and GW and Howard University faculty members.
Mayor Anthony Williams, a strong advocate for change, says, “It’s great what the University is doing—it is a way to rebuild the government. This is a lasting step in making a real impact. We are taking action and are making people accountable.”
Tillery’s wish for the program’s participants to do something with the skills that they have learned has already come true in the District. During the program, each student is asked to create a project that would benefit the city in some way. Many of these projects have already been implemented to improve human services, quality of life, and public safety.
One PEMM participant developed a new inpatient program called “Family Ties” at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. The program helps families re-establish relationships with mentally ill hospital patients. Another candidate’s project involved pulling together a coalition of people from 15 city agencies to develop a “clean city” program. The program has resulted in different D.C. departments working together to ensure that trash is being collected more efficiently. Several other areas have been impacted by the PEMM projects, including community arts, public safety response, crime and violence reduction, and public education.
“This program was most helpful,” says Jim Talbert, chief of special operations in the D.C. Fire Department. “I learned current trends in leadership and management skills, which will help me on the job.” Talbert’s special operations unit handles dangerous situations ranging from disposing of hazardous material to dealing with protesters.
Patrice Richardson, who works in the D.C. Public Schools, says she was able to develop relationships and learn how other city agencies work. “It’s good to learn that we are not the only ones dealing with certain problems,” she says.
President Trachtenberg comments that “GW has had a partnership with DC for 180 years and it is continually growing. This is an outstanding center that will develop new skills to serve citizens in this city’s ever-changing climate.”
The World Bank, Giant Food, the Cafritz Foundation, Riggs National Bank, KPMG, Peat-Marwick LLP, U.S. Department of Defense, Howard University, and Southeastern University have also joined as sponsors of the center.
“The University, the philanthropic community, and the business community all work together to support improvement in local government,” says Tillery. “It has given the city a new-found sense of hope to turn around.”
—Nancy Berry
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Wild Wings In what GW Dining Services officials hope will become an annual event, the first-ever GWing Bowl was held in the Marvin Center’s 5th floor Hippodrome on Jan. 26. GWing Bowl I, in which contestants attempt to devour the most buffalo wings in two five-minute feeding frenzies, was sponsored by the GW Dining Services and Coca-Cola. Contestants came to the competition complete with nicknames and full entourages; Guye “Tank” Turner (right), downed 71 wings to take the GWing Bowl I title and won airline tickets for two anywhere in the continental United States, as well as $500 toward his Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. |
The Columbian School of Arts and Sciences, the University’s principal institution for the study of humanities, human and behavioral sciences, as well as natural, mathematical, and biological sciences, is returning to its former name, the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, on July 1. A series of name changes had moved the college away from its original name.
“Most of our alumni are Columbian College alumni. Most of our faculty, staff, and former students identify with the Columbian College name. This is an opportunity for us to reconnect with our alumni and forge stronger links with today’s students,” said Dean Lester Lefton, who leaves GW this summer to become Provost at Tulane University in New Orleans.
A search is underway for his successor. Jean Folkerts, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs, has been named the interim dean while a committee conducts the dean’s search. Folkerts is not a candidate for the position, and she intends to return to her director’s position following the search. SMPA Professor Jarol Manheim is serving as the acting SMPA chair.
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Brian Kirrane, the marathon’s operations chairman, boogies with Marcus Johnson and his younger brother, Keith. Patients of the Children’s Hospital were invited along with their parents and enjoyed the event as much as the students. |
More than 80 students participated in the first annual GW Dance Marathon to benefit Children’s Hopstial on April 20 and April 21. Held in the remodeled Hippodrome student entertainment lounge (a.k.a. the Marvin Center fifth floor), dancers grooved, played games, and competed in contests from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday.
Of course, the marathon had a greater purpose then just a forum for students’ dance moves. All the proceeds from the event went to the Washington, D.C., Children’s Hospital, in coordination with the Children’s Miracle Network, a national not-for-profit organization that benefits disabled and sick children.
Dance Marathon events for the Children’s Miracle Network began at Penn State in 1973 and have spread nationwide. The GW chapter, organized and managed completely by GW students, raised almost $8,500 in its first year. The hope is to double that amount next year.
For more information, visit www.gwu.edu/~dance.
—ZK
The Virginia Campus held its ninth annual Tech Expo April 25 with primary sponsor America Online and several other sponsors that included washingtonpost.com and Washtech.com. The campus provides the expo to help businesses learn new tools from academic experts, and to allow the Washington-area business community to form new business connections and work on joint problem solving. This year’s event included keynote speeches from Phillip Merrick, chairman and CEO of webMethods, and Mario Vecchi, vice president of AOLTV. Panel discussions conducted by local business leaders covered topics such as forecasting e-commerce breakthroughs, the wireless Web, knowledge management, and Internet privacy.
Charles T. Manatt, JD ’62, longtime GW Board member, was elected chair of the university’s Board of Trustees May 18. He succeeds Sheldon S. Cohen, BA ’50, JD ’52, who will turn over the reins to Manatt July 1, 2001. In addition to his accomplishments as a leading tax attorney, Manatt most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republican and, earlier, he chaired the Democratic National Committee. Joseph L. Brand, JD ’63, will take Manatt’s current position as the Board’s vice chair on July 1. Other changes on the Board include four new members: Constance U. Battle, MD ’67, Jeffrey A. Flaks, MHSA ’66, Bobbie Greene Kilberg, and David Bruce Smith, BA ’79. Trustees becoming emeritus are Estelle Gelman, Theodore N. Lerner, AA ’48, JD ’50, and John D. Zeglis. Trustees leaving the Board due to the expiration of their terms are Luther Brady, BA ’46, MD ’48, Amanda M. Fugazy, BA ’95, Lawrence A. Hough, and William P.Rutledge, MS ’67.
Bonding in BrisbanePresident Trachtenberg enjoys a moment with a new friend in Brisbane, Australia, in September. Warm, fuzzy moments such as this were rarely on Trachtenberg’s busy agenda this year, though. Besides teaching and presidential duties, Trachtenberg collected heavy-duty frequent flyer miles on working visits this year to Egypt, Israel, Morocco, and Costa Rica. Busy overseas schedule notwithstanding, the president was nevertheless honored in 2001 as a “Washingtonian of the Year” by Washingtonian Magazine. The award especially cited his creation of the Trachtenberg Scholarships, which are full, four-year scholarships for the city of Washington’s brightest high school graduates. |
In coordination with the celebration of International Week at The George Washington University in early April, President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg officially bestoyed “International House” as the new name for the Riverside Hall dormitory, located at 2201 Virginia Ave. Located near the State Department, the dorm also will be receiving technological upgrades and amenities improvements to go along with its new name. GW’s study body represents more than 140 countries and has a heavy focus on international affairs studies.
“The GW Washington Forum,” a weekly public affairs radio produced by GW’s Office of Media Relations, is moving up the dial to WWRC AM-1260, from WWRC’s old frequency, AM-570. In addition to featuring conversations with faculty experts and others on issues geared for the general listener, the forum also draws segments from guest lectures, seminars, and symposia that take place on campus. The show will continue to be broadcast Saturdays at 6 p.m.
GW’s Center for Health Services Research and Policy celebrated its 10th anniversary in early April with a series of panel discussions. Coinciding with the School of Public Health’s weeklong celebration of National Public Health Week, the week of discussions centered on combating the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The Board of Trustees approved a modest tuition increase for the 200-2001 academic year. It is an increase of 3.6 percent for tuition and 4.1 percent for the total cost of undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board. Existing University fees will not be increased, however, students will be asked to pay a special fee announced two years ago to help defray the costs of a new, state-of-the-art Health and Wellness Center. University officials note that this is the lowest tuition increase in 13 years.
25 Years Ago
The campus loses the infamous “Tin Tabernacle.” The structure, built adjacent to Stockton Hall in 1925, served as a men’s gymnasium for 40 years but was made obsolete by the completion of the Smith Center in 1975. It was torn down on the weekend of Jan. 3, 1976. An alumni organization of sports boosters set aside 200 bricks from the old gym to be sold for $10 a piece.
50 Years Ago
Jackie Bouvier (Kennedy Onassis) receives a bachelor of arts degree, completing studies that she had begun at Vassar and at the Sorbonne. Her class, GW’s 130th, graduated on Lisner Terrace under the leadership of Dean Elmer L. Kayser.
100 Years Ago
The Board of Trustees authorizes improvements to the hospital and medical school. A three-member committee was appointed to arrange the legal details of rebuilding the medical school and enlarging the hospital, which opened in 1898 on the former site of a preparatory school at 1335 H St.
Readers wanting to learn more about GW’s history can find the University Archives Web site by accessing www.gwu.edu/~archives. The site’s Historical Almanac is especially informative.
Michael J. Worth announced this spring that he will be moving from his position as Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs to join the faculty of the Department of Public Administration as professor of nonprofit management. Worth, who has been guiding the University’s $500 million Centuries Campaign, will teach in the areas of philanthropy and non-profit management beginning on a full-time basis in the fall 2001 semester.
Known for producing innovative works on the cutting edge, Withers led her audience on a dramatic exploration of the northern and southern lights through a unique fusion of dance, music, and virtual technology.
The extra effort was worthwhile. The GW community and art patrons of Washington, D.C., were thrilled with the production, Withers says. “People described it as a new genre, a way of performing they had never quite seen before. They were deeply touched by it.”
As the students drank in the rich diversity of the fascinating land, they reflected on their own lives. “As we drove through small, rural towns in the Atlas Mountains, the locals lined up and waved at our bus,” says Saccardi, a human services major. “These hardworking people seemed to be at ease with the simplicity of their lives, and they greeted us with warm smiles. It makes you appreciate the small things in your life, the things that really matter.”
Karl Hobbs, former assistant coach from the University of Connecticut, is the new head coach for the men’s basketball team. Hobbs, 39, comes to GW after eight seasons at UConn, where he earned a reputation as a top recruiter. He is credited with the recruitment of current Washington Wizard Richard Hamilton, as well as Khalid El-Amin and Kevin Freeman, who all were starters for the Huskies’ 1999 national championship team.
