Press
Rebranded climate group demands officials cut ties with fossil fuel industry
ORCA organizers are demanding a plethora of climate-related reforms at the University.
Grad Students and Faculty Don’t Want to Work for Fossil Fuel Industry Anymore
University researchers should not be forced or even allowed to produce biased data for the fossil fuel industry.
The Insurance Industry’s Role in the Climate Crisis
The insurance industry has a uniquely important role in addressing the fossil fuel industry, and must acknowledge climate change as a liability. It is important to equip GW students with this knowledge before entering the job market.
If the COP27 Won’t Act, Students Will: Why We Demand Fossil Free Research
When COP27 comes to a close this Friday, we know better than to expect real change from our leaders who remain in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry. Instead, we turn to our fellow members of the Fossil Free Research movement for hope.
SUNRISE GW stages 12-hour sit-in at RSC office, calling for ban on fossil fuel funding
Sunrise GW protesters staged a 12-hour sit-in at the Regulatory Studies Center last Monday to protest the RSC’s 12 years of operations and call on RSC officials to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry.
The Fossil Free Research movement is taking universities by storm
A student-led effort to get fossil fuel money out of university research is building on the divestment movement’s biggest successes.
Sunrise GW leads funeral-themed protest, block intersection for three hours
Dozens of protesters staged a mock funeral and blocked the intersection of H and 21st streets as their first action of the semester.
Why Are Fossil Fuel Companies Funding Climate Change Research?
As oil and gas companies report record profits, the Fossil Free Research campaign calls on universities to refuse their donations and maintain independence.
FOX IN THE HENHOUSE: GETTING OILY HANDS OFF CLIMATE RESEARCH
Students and faculty are shining a light on fossil fuel infiltration of academia and organizing to ban fossil fuel dollars from climate and energy research.
Sunrise GW rounds out year of climate action pressure with Earth Day protest
Sunrise GW marched with dozens of protesters through campus on Earth Day pressuring officials to reject fossil fuel research funding from companies like ExxonMobil
If You Care About the Climate, Pay Attention to Koch Cash
The Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University receives millions in Koch and ExxonMobil funding, using academic credibility to undermine environmental protections.
Voters Agree: Fossil Fuel Funding in Climate Research Presents Conflict of Interest
57 percent of voters agree that “colleges and universities studying the impacts of climate change and sustainability should refuse donations from fossil fuel companies so they can remain unbiased in their research.”
SA Senate urges GW to phase out fossil fuel research funding
The Student Association Senate passed a resolution calling on the University to phase out research funding received from fossil fuel industry companies Monday.
Sunrise GW launches campaign demanding ban on fossil funding
Sunrise GW launched a campaign pressing officials to enact a ban on funding from a line of the country’s largest fossil fuel companies Tuesday.
Police arrest Sunrise GW members during protest near U.S. Capitol
More than a dozen protesters, several of them GW students, were arrested near the U.S. Capitol Monday while advocating for federal investments in renewable energy, public transit, public housing and schools.
Climate protesters arrested outside Senate office buildings
Capitol Police arrested about 13 people protesting Monday outside two Senate office buildings, just two days after tight security precautions closed off the U.S. Capitol complex from a small group of right-wing demonstrators.
Sunrise GW marches letter to LeBlanc, demanding closure of RSC
More than a dozen members of Sunrise GW delivered a letter to University President Thomas LeBlanc’s home Monday, demanding he sever the University’s ties to the Regulatory Studies Center and end GW’s “complicity” in the climate crisis.
Sunrise GW Isn't Done Yet
On Monday afternoon, roughly a dozen members of Sunrise GW delivered a letter to President LeBlanc’s campus residence, reaffirming their commitment to closing or cutting ties with the Regulatory Studies Center (RSC), a Koch funded research institute housed and supported by the university.
How SA advocacy has shaped University policies over the last decade
… Officials have also vowed to divest GW’s endowment from fossil fuels by 2025 after more than five years of SA advocacy. Administrators created academic forgiveness policies for freshmen and expanded them for all students between 2016 to 2020 after student advocacy.
ORG SPOTLIGHT: Sunrise GW
Staying connected with GW during a virtual semester is undeniably challenging, especially if you’re not in DC. Being together in our nation’s capital makes the GW experience what it is, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a student here; it’s that our passion and our drive to make the world around us a better place know no limits. Even during a global pandemic.
LeBlanc should resign – but GW needs to enact long-lasting change
Faculty and students are in a state of mutiny against University President Thomas LeBlanc’s leadership. At least a dozen organizations are calling for his resignation, signing petitions, writing letters and most recently protesting outside of his on-campus residence.
Petitions and statements criticizing LeBlanc, calling for resignation
Students, faculty, staff and alumni have launched more than a dozen petitions, letters and statements calling for University President Thomas LeBlanc to resign or reverse recent financial decisions.
Student organizations adapt to remote fall recruitment, programming
As the fall semester gets underway, GW’s more than 450 student organizations are learning to navigate the remote semester and adapt to new methods of outreach, programming and community building entirely online.
GWU becomes latest DC university to promise divestment from fossil fuels
Another D.C. university has announced its commitment to stop investing in companies that deal in fossil fuels.
Board of Trustees task force to recommend GW divest by 2025
The Board of Trustees’ Task Force on Environmental, Social and Governance Responsibility released recommendations that encourage trustees to fully divest GW’s endowment from the fossil fuel industry by 2025, according to an email sent to the GW community Tuesday.
Sunrise GW, other leftist student groups address complaints of racial inequity
Sunrise GW created a working group to address equity and racial issues in the organization after being accused by members of five student organizations for lacking inclusivity.
Sunrise GW renews call to quit fossil fuels as American University announces divestment
Board of Trustees Chair Grace Speights said GW is committed to taking “meaningful action” to address climate change after Sunrise GW’s most recent call for officials to divest from GW’s fossil fuel holdings.
Sunrise GW signs Earth Day letter supporting path to cut D.C. greenhouse gas emissions
Sunrise GW signed a letter urging the D.C. Council to inspect the District’s gas utility hazards and cut all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as part of a city-wide Earth Day push.
Sunrise GW, College Dems protest at annual bipartisan basketball scrimmage
Roughly 60 members of Sunrise GW and GW College Democrats protested GW’s investments in the fossil fuel industry at a basketball game Wednesday night.
Freshman, SA outsider launches campaign for executive vice president
A freshman and Student Association outsider is the third student to enter the race for executive vice president.
Divestment Supporters Rally at the Basketball Game
“Divest Now,” as written across a banner paraded around the University, has been a rallying cry for hundreds of George Washington University students due to criticism of the University’s endowment having a $60 million investment in fossil fuel companies.
Trustees create task force to examine GW’s environmental impact following protests
The Board of Trustees has created a task force to manage its “environmental, social and governance responsibility” following a week of student protests condemning GW’s fossil fuel industry investments.
Fossil fuel divestment must be backed by policy changes to be ‘meaningful,’ experts say
As tensions grow over GW’s fossil fuel investments, divestment experts say nixing the investments will have a marginal impact on the environment unless it is backed up by green policy changes.
‘Vague’ undergraduate report overlooks humanities, sustainability, students say
Student leaders said a report detailing long-term goals for undergraduate education uses “vague” language and overlooks “important” concepts of humanities and sustainability.
George Washington University officer placed on leave after video appears to show him pushing student down stairs
A George Washington University campus police officer has been placed on administrative leave after a video emerged that appears to show the officer pushing a student protester down a flight of stairs outside the home of the school’s president.
GWU police officer placed on leave after appearing to push student down stairs
A George Washington University campus police officer was placed on administrative leave after a video emerged that appears to show the officer pushing a student protester down a flight of stairs outside the home of the school’s president.
Students Call for GW to Divest From Fossil Fuel Industry
George Washington University students are calling on the school to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Mark Segraves reports on a couple of incidents caught on video.
George Washington University is losing its way
As questionable as were his words, the actions of George Washington University President Thomas LeBlanc are far more troubling.
Student leaders issue bias incident survey in wake of LeBlanc divestment video
Three student groups released a joint survey Sunday to gather student feedback about encounters in which administrators have acted “inappropriate, unsettling or biased in nature.”
Sunrise GW marches to LeBlanc’s home to push for fossil fuel divestment
Sunrise GW marched from Kogan Plaza to University President Thomas LeBlanc’s house and a nearby administrative office demand that he shut down the Regulatory Studies Center and divest from fossil fuels.
GWPD officer who allegedly shoved protester placed on administrative leave
A GW Police Department officer has been placed on administrative leave after he appeared to push a student down a flight of stairs during a climate protest Wednesday.
Sunrise GW protester alleges GWPD officer pushed her down stairs
A GW Police Department officer appeared to push a student down a set of stairs during a protest organized by Sunrise GW in multiple videos The Hatchet obtained.
Faculty group criticizes LeBlanc’s divestment analogy, calls for more faculty input
A group of faculty members released a letter condemning racially insensitive remarks about divestment that University President Thomas LeBlanc made in a video earlier this week.
Students deliver letter calling for fossil fuel divestment, protest in front of LeBlanc’s home
About 70 students marched with Sunrise GW Wednesday to deliver a letter to officials asking for the University to divest its holdings in the fossil fuel industry.
Divestment protesters interrupt Regulatory Studies Center anniversary event
Roughly 35 members of the fossil fuel divestment advocacy group Sunrise GW protested an event commemorating the Regulatory Studies Center’s 10th anniversary Tuesday.
University president apologizes for saying he wouldn’t shoot black people
Student newspaper falsely characterizes his defense of minority rights
Here’s What The Change-Makers Of 2016 Have Done With All That Big Activist Energy
The need for change hasn’t gone away. But the tactics are different.
University President Apologizes Over Majority-Rule Comparison
George Washington University’s president has apologized for comments the university described as an “insensitive example used in conversation” with a student.
LeBlanc apologizes for ‘insensitive’ analogy amid backlash from SA, divestment activists
University President Thomas LeBlanc said he “deeply apologizes” for comments he made in a video that surfaced Saturday that shows him comparing support for fossil fuel divestment to hypothetical support for shooting “all the black people here.”
SA Senate urges GW to divest from fossil fuels
The Student Association Senate passed a resolution Monday calling on the University to distance itself from the fossil fuel industry.
Political action most effective in pushing for fossil fuel divestment: experts
Officials and students have clashed for years over divesting from the fossil fuel industry, but the University has not made any commitments to retract its holdings.
#ShutdownDC: District Brought to Standstill over Inaction on Climate Emergency
Washington, DC — Over two dozen environmental and justice groups coordinated a massive shutdown of twenty major locations in the District, snarling traffic and business operations and creating chaos for commuters as they brought the nation’s capital to near gridlock.
Student organization demands GW divest from fossil fuel holdings
Students are calling on officials to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry and reconsider its relationship with a research center that receives donations from fossil fuel companies.
Students protest LeBlanc’s decision to remove sustainability pillar from strategic plan
A student organization focused on reducing single-use plastic usage is protesting University President Thomas LeBlanc’s decision not to include sustainability as a key pillar in the University’s next strategic plan.
'More than worth it': Climate protesters justify snarling DC traffic and forcing cars to idle
Protesters justified blocking major intersections around Washington, D.C., on Monday by claiming their intention was to raise awareness about climate change and call American politicians to take action.
In photos and video: Climate protests snarl D.C.'s morning commute
Climate activists disrupted Washington, D.C.'s Monday morning commute by blocking key intersections to protest "the systems that created and perpetuate the climate crisis," per Shut Down D.C., the protest group that organized the strike.