To honor the first anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Tom Ridge visited GW Feb. 23. He looked back on the department’s accomplishments and outlined future goals, including a plan to make technology and communications protocols more standardized between emergency response agencies and the continued monitoring of the student visa process.

Photo Claire Duggan

Former presidential candidate and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean officially endorsed Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) for president at a campus rally in Kogan Plaza March 25. The occasion marked Kerry’s second visit to GW in eight days, as he had previously spoken in GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs’ Jack Morton Auditorium to deliver a military policy address. Sen. John Edwards (D.-N.C.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D.-Conn.) also visited this academic year to deliver policy addresses.

Photo Claire Duggan

Kweisi Mfume, president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, spoke to students, faculty and staff members, and the Washington community in the Marvin Center on Oct. 29. The event was sponsored by the GW chapter of the NAACP.

Photo Claire Duggan

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (and GW Law School graduate) John W. Snow, JD ’67, delivered the Law School’s 24th Annual Manuel F. Cohen Memorial Lecture on March 3. Snow spoke about various topics relating to the economy and fielded questions from faculty members and students.

Photo Claire Duggan

Champ Bailey, former Washington Redskins Pro Bowl player who is now with the Denver Broncos, visited a Jumpstart program site in Northwest Washington, D.C., in December, where GW students are serving as Jumpstart Corps members. The program engages more than 70 college students and 150 preschool children in D.C., as well as more across the country, to work on language, literacy, and social skills. Bailey was named a spokesperson for the group.

Photo Claire Duggan

Actress Drew Barrymore joined with the new youth voting initiative “Declare Yourself” to raise awareness on campus in November. To celebrate the launch of the nonpartisan, nonprofit program’s Web site, Barrymore shared the stage in GW’s Jack Morton Auditorium with “Crossfire” hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala, television writer and producer Norman Lear, and high school students from across the United States.

Photo Thom Kohout

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, MBA ’71, delivered a policy address Sept. 5 in Lisner Auditorium and cut the ribbon to officially open 1957 E Street, GW’s newest academic building and home to the Elliott School of International Affairs, the Department of Geography, and the Executive Education Program.

Photo Claire Duggan

Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett spoke to a standing-room only crowd of MBA students in November. He took student questions for more than an hour and told the crowd that the ability to inspire, work with, and get things done through other people was the cornerstone of his management strategy.

Photo Claire Duggan