Center for Study of Winston Churchill Comes to GW

Agreement also includes a library, endowed professorship, and curatorship

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives the victory sign to onlookers.

© Bettmann/CORBIS

The Churchill Centre, a Chicago-based international educational organization devoted to preserving the legacy of 20th-century leader Sir Winston Churchill, has agreed to establish the National Churchill Library and Center at GW through an $8 million pledge to the university. This will be the first permanent American home for Churchill studies and will be located in Gelman Library.

The agreement between the two institutions includes rare books and other research materials for the new center, endowed academic positions for the study of Churchill and British history, and renovations to the ground floor of Gelman Library. The center will open in several stages between 2013 and 2015.

Specifically, the partnership entails a dedicated street-level space for the National Churchill Library and Center; a $2.5 million endowed professorship in Churchill and 20th-century British history in GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences; a $2.5 million endowed curatorship of the National Churchill Library and Center; and a $1 million program and collection endowment to fund a wide range of lectures, seminars, programs, and exhibits for scholars, students, and visitors.

An additional $2 million will be provided for renovations to the ground floor of Gelman Library to create the Churchill Library and Center, which will house an extensive collection of books and other research materials by and about Churchill and his times, as well as related exhibition space.

Talks to bring the center to GW began with former university President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. The project will be developed with the collaboration and support of major Churchill institutions in the United Kingdom, including the Churchill War Rooms and Museum, Chartwell (Churchill's family home, operated by the National Trust), and the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, the University of Cambridge, as well as members of the Churchill family.

A Better Barcroft

Renovation begins on baseball's home field

An artist's rendering of proposed improvements to Barcroft Field in Arlington, Va.

Since its inception in 1904, GW's baseball program has led a nomadic life. Shuffled from makeshift locations at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Va., to the White House's West Ellipse, its only respite has come in the past two decades, during which it has been housed at Field No. 6 at Barcroft Park in Arlington, Va.

But Field No. 6 has hardly been an ideal home. Devoid of the GW colors and insignia, with subpar grounds, rusty fencing, and no public restrooms, the Colonials' home base has been in desperate need of an upgrade for years. The patchy field requires constant upkeep just to stay playable, and this effort usually has to be undertaken by members of the team—forcing them to add hours of groundskeeping to their already packed schedules of classes, homework, and athletic games and practice.

Finally, though, the dream of an improved home base for GW's baseball players is becoming a reality after the Barcroft facility was identified as a priority in the university's Athletics Review. The first phase of major renovation began in January, when initial demolition of the existing structure—including the dugouts, backstop, fencing, and scoreboard—was completed and artificial turf installation began.

The field will receive new turf, stadium seating, and other amenities through a partnership between GW and the Arlington County Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department. Barcroft Park has served as GW's home field since 1993.

Members of the GW baseball team look on as construction begins on their new and improved playing field.

Jessica McConnell Burt

In hopes of readying the field for the 2012 season, the first phase of renovation will address the playing field, bullpens, and dugouts. Among other enhancements, the field will be upgraded to a top-of-the-line synthetic turf, the fencing will be replaced, and a new windscreen will be installed. New sunken dugouts will accommodate 40 players, coaches, and trainers, and will include wall and overhead storage for equipment as well as a bat rack. Lockable storage space for both dugouts will also be added.

In phase two, attention will turn to upgrading the stadium, including expanded seating, a new press box, and concessions areas. Amenities contingent on fundraising support (such as an upgraded scoreboard, partial overhead awning, and locker rooms) will be incorporated into a final phase of renovation.

Projected overall costs are at least $3 million for the renovation, and GW will share costs of maintenance with the county. In exchange, GW has secured rights to use the field for the next 20 years.

"Combined with the recent dramatic improvements to the Charles E. Smith Center and the Mount Vernon soccer and lacrosse field, the construction of an outstanding new baseball field at Barcroft Park will demonstrate the university's commitment to excellence in intercollegiate athletics," says Randy Levine, BA '77, president of the New York Yankees, who chairs GW's Strategic Planning Committee for Athletics.

Despite the disadvantages of their situation, the Colonials have made a strong showing, with a 291–181–1 record at Barcroft Park. The team's most successful year at Barcroft was in 2003, when it had seven consecutive home victories and ended the season with a 19–3 home record.

"It's a matter of having the right environment," says GW School of Business student Aaron Weisberg, a right-handed pitcher for the Colonials. "We could have the same skills and the same stats as the next team, but having a good facility where we can train, practice, and compete at our best—that's what gives us the competitive edge and helps us develop into truly top-tier athletes."

Brian Williams to Deliver Commencement Address

NBC Photo: Justin Stephens

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News and host of Rock Center, will address this year's graduates at Commencement on the National Mall May 20. Mr. Williams will receive an honorary doctorate and speak to an estimated 25,000 graduates and guests. International businessman and philanthropic leader Carlos Slim and internationally renowned artist and alumna Clarice Smith also will receive honorary degrees from the university.

Mr. Williams began his broadcasting career in 1981 at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kan. He worked at several local stations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City before joining NBC News in 1993. Mr. Williams served as NBC's chief White House correspondent and later assumed the role of anchor and managing editor of The News With Brian Williams on MSNBC and CNBC. In 2007, TIME named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2011, NBC News launched Rock Center with Brian Williams, the network's first new prime-time newsmagazine in nearly two decades.

"It is an honor to be asked, and I intend to point out the obvious. Every graduate in the audience will have achieved what I failed to do...earn a college degree," Mr. Williams said.

Mr. Williams attended GW for the fall semester of 1980.

International Law Expert

United Nations chooses professor for International Law Commission.

Rick Reinhard

GW Law Professor Sean Murphy has been elected by the United Nations General Assembly to the International Law Commission. The commission consists of 34 distinguished legal scholars, practitioners, and government officials from around the world who are elected to serve for five-year terms. Created in 1948, the objective of the ILC is to codify and progressively develop international law through restatements of the law, studies of legal topics, and draft treaties.

While the U.S. government nominated Mr. Murphy, he serves on the commission as an independent expert.

Mr. Murphy will continue as a full-time professor at the Law School, where he is the Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law, and he hopes to bring some of his experiences on the ILC back to the classroom.

Topics currently being studied by the ILC include international law on the expulsion of aliens, immunity of heads of state from national criminal jurisdiction, protection of persons in times of disaster, and aut dedere aut judicare (the obligation to extradite or prosecute people who commit heinous crimes).

Before joining the Law School faculty in 1998, Mr. Murphy served as the legal counselor of the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, arguing several cases before the International Court of Justice. He also served as U.S. agent to the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, arguing cases on behalf of the U.S. government and providing advice to U.S. nationals appearing before that tribunal. Between 1987 and 1995, Mr. Murphy worked at the U.S. Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser.

George Welcomes…

Innovation in Action

ITF focuses on six new initiatives.

Reducing paper demands, leveraging the expertise of the GW faculty and staff as in-house consultants, and increasing the use of university housing and other facilities are among six new projects selected for a program that has generated millions in savings and new revenue for reinvestment elsewhere around the university.

The six new initiatives join 11 others greenlighted earlier by the Innovation Task Force, an initiative created by President Steven Knapp in 2009 with the charge of identifying $60 million in annual, recurring savings and new revenue through improvements in GW business operations and new academic programs. The newest enterprises will bring the ITF past the two-thirds mark, with $43 million identified.

The six new initiatives, expected to generate more than $5 million per year beginning in fiscal year 2015, are:

Housing Optimization: Increasing residence hall occupancy—especially in the summer months and in the spring semester—could add an estimated $2.6 million in revenue.

Cloud Computing: The university will look for opportunities to migrate some services into the type of centralized, shared, and web-accessible computing resources known as the "cloud." The results are estimated to save the university $1 million.

Paperless: Saving paper is environmentally friendly and also saves the university on associated costs like ink, printers, copiers, and maintenance. The proposed steps include a paperless graduate admissions process, increasing electronic course evaluations, and the launch of a GW-wide document scanning and retrieval system. Together those changes are estimated to result in savings of $600,000.

More Efficient Customer Service: The university will explore ways to more efficiently answer the frequently asked questions of students, parents, and faculty and staff members. The outcome may include new web-based solutions. The initiative, estimated to save $300,000, is aimed at offering users consistent and reliable information while better utilizing staff.

Expanding Use of Facilities Beyond Academic Year: Some campus facilities are not fully utilized during the summer. Attracting conferences, nonprofit groups, and students to the facilities at the Mount Vernon Campus in the summertime, for example, could yield an estimated $400,000.

Leveraging In-House Expertise: Even a modest reduction in the use of external consultants, in favor of the expertise of faculty and staff members, is estimated to save the university $200,000.

As this batch of initiatives moves into the detailed planning phase, the ITF will begin vetting ideas for the next round, which will be chosen in the spring.