Annam, a resident of six years, explained he’s “always paranoid” about the potential for thieves to steal his information. He said papers tend to pile up at home, so “it’s nice” having a free avenue to conveniently scrap them.

Nodding towards the trash bin, Annam said, “The documents I shred have my information on them.”

FBA President John George said the shredding event emerged years ago as an opportunity to make personal document disposal more accessible to residents. At the time, D.C. offered secure document shredding at the Fort Totten Transfer Station, but “for many people, that means you have to have a car to get there,” he said.

Although the district relocated document shredding to this November, it remains a trip across town for residents – and a lot of papers to carry.

George told 91����, “Just having your address and name, that’s all the personally identifiable information that people can use to register themselves as you.”

“Nowadays, we get so much junk mail that our information is on, and people let it stack up,” he said. “I know my household does and hope we remember to go to the transfer station. Now, we’re bringing that service to the community.”

The last event was held in 2018 with another one scheduled for 2020, but it was canceled due to the pandemic.

This year, George said he received inquiries from many association members requesting a shredding event. The FBA hired the document destruction service to collect and destroy documents on-site.

Residents came in waves to the mid-November event, where a Shred-it truck awaited them across from the neighborhood’s triangle park, near the intersection of New Hampshire NW and I Street.

Neighbors transported years’ worth of documents in cardboard boxes, grocery bags and backpacks. Some residents made multiple trips, while others managed in one go by loading their papers in shopping carts.

Residents approached the trash bin one-by-one to discard their documents, respecting each others’ privacy.

But none were as cautious as Shred-It representative Allex Jackson, who make quick work of shredding residents’ documents.

“I hurry up and put it up there,” Jackson said of placing the trash bin in the lift without it being entirely full. He said he didn’t want residents to be able to see each other’s documents which would happen if he let them pile up.

Residents watched as Jackson initiated the shredder from the control panel adjacent to the lift, before placing the trash bin in the lift. The shredder drowned out the sound of morning traffic, and residents appeared confident that their documents were safely destroyed – leaving without questions after witnessing the process.

Longtime resident Janet Farbstein has previously taken advantage of these events and called them “a great service to the community.”

She said personal information theft seems to have gotten worse, and shredding her documents is “one thing I can do to protect myself.”

Online data theft rises as document theft declines

Rates of publicly-reported data compromises have increased by 17% nationally this year, but physical attacks have declined – especially document theft, according to the

Document theft has decreased by 75% since 2020, while cyberattack-related data breaches are up 27%, with phishing and ransomware as the top methods, according to the Center’s

Eva Velasquez, the Center’s president and CEO, recommended ways residents can protect themselves against cyberattacks. It begins with “good cyber hygiene.”

“Have 12-plus character unique passphrases for all your accounts. Use multi-factor authentication with an app. Don’t overshare personal information, and freeze your credit,” she said.

Velasquez added that it’s important for individuals who receive data breach notifications or discover they are victims of a breach to “develop a clear understanding of the specific data compromised.”

These details will determine the steps victims must take to prevent future breaches, she said. “The compromise of your username and password versus your payment card information will require victims to react differently.”

Future measures

To increase community awareness, George said the association would likely discuss “what it means to be more secure and prevent information theft” at one of their upcoming meetings.

“Right now, we’re at the document stage,” he said.

He said the association would “probably” gauge community interest in another type of collection, like electronic disposal.

Even if the association included electronic disposal at the next event, statistics suggest it would not significantly mitigate data theft risk among residents.

Physical attacks represent only less than 3% of reported data compromises this year-to-date, according to the analysis, compared to cyberattacks, which accounted for 87% of compromises.

Still, events like these give residents peace of mind. Farbstein said, “It’s great to be able to dispose of things I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting on the curb.”

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Over 100 Patriot Front members descended the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the beat of a snare drum, bearing American Flags and shields. They wore uniform outfits of khaki pants, dark blue sweatshirts and sunglasses.

91���� arrived on the scene at 4:45 p.m. as plumes of red smoke the demonstrators had released enveloped the Washington National Monument on their way towards the Capitol.

Michael Litterst, spokesperson for the National Mall, said that no permit application was received for the demonstration.

Patriot Front’s presence initiated a swift response from law enforcement with bike patrol and police vehicles flanking the demonstrators from each side while officers in ballistic vests carrying rifles followed from behind.

One police officer told 91����, “I have no idea what this is about; we just got on our bikes and followed like we were told.”

Police also made quick work of sealing off entrances to the Mall.

The rally sparked both fear and curiosity from bystanders, some of whom began to trail the demonstrators beside the police.

Activist Luke Kuhn was at a Black Lives Matter protest when he got an emergency notification about the demonstration at the Capitol. He said he warned others to stay away but wanted to confront the group. “This is the first time Neo-Nazis in combat equipment have been to the Capitol since Jan. 6.”

“They brought shields. They mean violence,” he said.

When the demonstrators finally stopped in front of the Capitol reflecting pool, leader Thomas Rousseau began to speak, but spectators began chanting “shut the f***k up” to drown him out.

According to the, Patriot Front generated approximately 80% of racist, anti-semitic and other hateful messages tracked in 2020.

As spectators’ chanting intensified, demonstrators began beating snare drums to obscure their voices, and police formed a barrier between the two groups.

The demonstrators also released blue and red-colored smoke, and spectators covered their faces with masks or jackets to prevent inhaling it.

Barjhav Sivagaru, a D.C. resident, said he was sitting next to where the smoke was set off, but the wind blew it the other direction. As he walked on, he said he began encouraging others to wear masks.

Colored smoke engulfed the Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument by the time the demonstrators began their trek back to the Lincoln Memorial.

Bystander Laura Opsahlong said she and her friend were sitting on benches eating hotdogs when the demonstrators passed. “I was shocked by their presence right in front of me. It was scary how in sync they were – it seemed like a legit militia group.”

According to Rousseau said, “Our demonstrations are an exhibition of our unified capability to organize, to show our strength,” when asked about the reason for the demonstration.

Ironically, the coordinated effort ended with dozens of demonstrators stranded at the roundabout across Arlington Memorial Bridge, since the U-Haul rented for transport could not fit them all.

The U-Haul made multiple trips over the course of hours while demonstrators waited silently and shrouded in darkness with their shields up, surrounded by police monitoring the scene.

The botched exit caused significant traffic disruptions. A traffic officer said, “Basically you can’t go outbound across Memorial Bridge.”

Metropolitan police sent out a statement after the event concluded that stated in part, “The assembly took place without any incidents or arrests. MPD will continue to monitor and assess any activities and plan accordingly with our federal law enforcement partners.”

The post White supremacists stranded across Memorial Bridge, after unpermitted National Mall demonstration first appeared on 91����.

Rogers, a long time D.C. resident, described her reason for regularly selecting seat C18 — on the right side of the floor, midway between the opera house doors and stage.

“One might think you want to be closer, but the sightline is great,” she said, extending her arm towards the stage to demonstrate the angle.

Opera-goers and Kennedy Center fans flocked to the theater on Saturday, Nov. 6, for the program called  “Come Home: A Celebration of Return.”

A tribute to the late Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the performance featured songs from some of her favorite operas.

The audiences’ excitement was palpable as conductor Evan Rogister emerged on stage, raising his arms to the thunderous applause of a full opera house before engaging the orchestra.

The evening opened with the overture to Wagner’s “Meistersinger.” A montage of images depicting the Kennedy Center’s construction played alongside the ensemble.

Following a few pieces, Chairman David Rubenstein materialized from the left stage door and assumed the podium beside it to address the audience.

The Kennedy Center “went dark” in March of 2020, he said, and was essentially closed for 18 month due to the pandemic.

Rubenstein credited patrons for making it possible for programs to return this season. “Many of you have been extremely generous in the last months,” he said.

Tim O’Leary, general director of the Washington National Opera, told 91����, “Every single person was needed to get us back to the Opera House stage.”

Many ticket-holders donated their tickets instead of seeking refunds, O’Leary said, and donors kept subscriptions even when “we could not offer them performances to attend.”

The Center lost over $80 million in income that would have been generated from the 2020-2021 programs, Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said in a. She said a “strategic focus” on contributions became crucial while waiting to re-open.

Opera aficionado Rogers kept up with the subscriptions offered at the Kennedy Center during the pandemic, booking “all of them” for 2021 through 2022.

“It helped me get through the pandemic to support the Kennedy Center in the ways I could,” said Rogers,  “in the hopes that the opera would be back.”

The Kennedy Center is funded through a combination of earned income, donations and endowments.

The Center’s total operating revenue in 2020 was $152.6 million, with programming and contributions comprising over half of that revenue at $114.8 million, according to its.

Performances and programs vital to the center’s revenue stream were canceled due to pandemic restrictions in the latter half of the season.

Although the Kennedy Center received $25 million in federal stimulus aid and allocated $22 million to employee compensation, benefits and contract fees, it sought to furlough 60% of its full-time staff in the spring of 2020, according to a.

O’Leary said, “The economic situation was truly changing for artists and arts organizations over the past 20 months.”

A grievance was filed by the D.C. Federation of Musicians when 96 National Symphony Orchestra musicians were told they would be furloughed with less than a week’s notice, said Federation President Ed Malaga.

He added that the Kennedy Center and union had entered into discussions about symphony musicians’ compensation, expanding to include opera and opera house orchestra musicians.

O’Leary said agreements with the artists’ unions allowed musicians and singers to be paid to the “extent possible,” despite not offering them much work.

The agreement reached kept musicians employed through the season with 75% of their salary and health benefits, Malaga explained.

However, he was “deeply disappointed” with the approach the Kennedy Center took towards their performers. At this time, Malaga said they had just received $25 million in CARES Act money and finished the REACH center, which raised $250 million as a capital funding campaign.

From my perspective, the Kennedy Center is our National Cultural Center. It’s our National Performing Arts Center. As such, I believe that they have a duty as part of their mission to be protectors and advocates of artists” – Ed Malaga, president of the D.C. Federation of Musicians

The Center’s mission is to provide these arts, Malaga said. “I think supporting these artists through this time of crisis would have been a signal to other arts organizations—they abdicated their leadership, fundamentally.”

Now, the Kennedy Center has returned with a “full complement of programs” including opera, music, dance and potentially arts education, according to Rubenstein’s remarks.

Malaga said he hopes the Kennedy Center will live up to the words of JFK etched on the façade of the building.

The post 91����ington National Opera returns to the Kennedy Center stage, alongside other arts groups first appeared on 91����.

Federal statistics reflect Rayne’s concern. The rate of veteran suicide in the United States is over 50% higher than the rate for civilians, according to a from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Biden Administration recently called this issue “a public health and national security crisis.”  

“Since 2010, more than 65,000 veterans have died by suicide — more than the total number of deaths from combat during the Vietnam War and the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan combined,” read a released by the White House last week. The press release announced a comprehensive new being implemented to reduce military and veteran suicide.  

This includes using professionally-developed public service announcements and paid media promoted via social media platforms, according to the prevention strategy.

In conjunction with these efforts, last month the VA launched a nationwide ad campaign called “Don’t Wait, Reach Out.” The campaign encourages veterans to seek support before they reach the point of experiencing a mental health crisis.

Ads direct viewers to a hosted by the VA containing a variety of suicide prevention resources — including a 24/7 crisis hotline, local resources and materials for family and friends. 

The website first presents users with an array of personal struggles described with sentences like “I am bothered by traumatic memories” and “I miss being part of my community.” The site then customizes the resources it suggests based on which statements the user found most relatable.

“I really want us to make it safer and more survivable to experience a mental health crisis,” said Dr. April Foreman, executive board member for the American Association of Suicidology. Foreman said she is very familiar with the new campaign but was not personally involved in its formation.

The VA partnered with the in crafting and implementing the advertisement strategy. The Ad Council is a prominent nonprofit known for iconic advertising campaigns like “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk,” “Love Has No Labels” and Smokey Bear.

“When we ask people to call a crisis line, we’re asking for something that’s really hard to do,” Foreman said, pointing to the stigma many veterans feel reaching out for help. This makes creating an engaging communications strategy vital for an effective campaign, something Foreman said has been difficult in the past.

Thirty-four-year-old retired Marine Wes Rhodes said, “​​I put off getting support for a long time because I thought it was something that made me weak.” Rhodes served from 2012 to 2017 as a Special Operations Capabilities Specialist for the Marine Raiders. 

As suicide rates worsened, Rhodes said a consensus emerged in the military community that “we needed to do something different” when talking about mental health.  

Rhodes, who served as copywriter in the ad campaign’s development, said his team tackled this stigma by incorporating the voices of the veteran community throughout the creative process. As the only veteran involved in the campaign’s production, he said he also served as unofficial consultant.

His team gathered countless first-hand stories and experiences from veterans and active service members to inform decision-making. They then conducted internal testing with large groups of veterans to gauge the product’s effectiveness.

“We were really thrilled with the response,” Rhodes said.  

The goal was to craft a message “​​grounded in real experiences” that makes veterans feel seen and understood, Rhodes said, instead of presenting them with stale “magic pill of happiness” messaging.  

The ads depict veterans adapting to civilian life and experiencing gradually worsening symptoms of depression and anxiety. A narrator describes the temptation to disconnect and suppress emotions as an easy way out of dealing with mental health struggles.  

“But you’ve never been interested in easy,” the narrator says. “Make no mistake — reaching out is hard. Do it anyway. You’re not alone.”  

The ads visualize the strength it takes for veterans to reach out for help when they’re in a dark mental space. (Courtesy of Ad Council)

Thirty-eight-year-old Ciara Rayne served as a Navy Corpsman for five years. When she speaks with military friends struggling with mental health, she said she often appeals to their training. She said in the Navy they were taught never to enter dangerous situations without sufficient back-up.  

“You go in there knowing your shipmates have your back,” she said. “Why does that vanish when we leave?”

Rayne expressed serious doubts that an ad campaign alone will effect meaningful change. However, she said if the initiative can help veterans recognize that getting help is not a sign of weakness, it will be worthwhile.   

“The fact of the matter is, it’s the opposite of weakness,” Rhodes agreed. “Getting support is a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of strength and courage.”  

The post Veteran suicide prevention efforts ramp up to combat ‘public health and national security crisis’ first appeared on 91����.

Last month, Mayor Muriel Bowser and GW University leaders announced a partnership to bring comprehensive medical care to residents in Wards 7 and 8 at the new St. Elizabeth’s East hospital.

United Health Services, GW Hospital’s administrator, will operate the 136-bed academic hospital under a 75-year lease. At the same time, physicians from the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences and GW Medical Faculty will serve as staff for the hospital, said hospital spokesperson Susan Griffiths.

Resident Travis Swanson described the current state of healthcare services in Ward 7 as “a tragedy.” There is no urgent care, and the closest hospital is Washington Medical Center, so it can be difficult for residents to access basic medical care, he said.

The new St. Elizabeth’s hospital will include maternity and pediatric services, a trauma center, primary care services, specialty services like cancer, diabetes, cardiac and general surgery, and specialty care based on community needs, among other services, Griffiths said.

Hospital construction breaks ground in 2022, with a planned opening in 2024.  Griffiths told 91���� hospital planners will take steps to improve medical access before then. Two urgent cares are scheduled to open in 2022 (one each in Wards 7 and 8) to supplement essential health services.

Although the hospital will increase resources and access to medical care, some residents say they are skeptical the community will use them.

An urgent care would be “a win,” at this point, said Tiffany Brown, a Ward 7 resident, but providers must consider if residents are willing to go to the doctors.

Similarly, Salim Adofo, the 8C Advisory Neighborhood Commission chairperson representing part of the neighborhood, said he has encountered the “entire spectrum” of feelings towards using health services in Ward 8. Some people want a top-tier hospital, while others don’t go to the hospital when they’re sick or for regular checkups, he said.

Healthcare disparities have persisted over time, said Dr. Jonathan Respress, M.B.A., a director in medical affairs. There’s more access but maybe people aren’t doing it, so “we have to take a step back and look at reasons for these disparities — management specifically.”

There are provider-related factors that contribute to this, Respress said. Providers have bias and clinical ideas about treating patients based on background and ethnicity and may have their own beliefs about the behavioral health of minority patients.

“Patient prep” is also a factor, he added. This includes why patients are using treatment, what their care is like, whether they understand the disease, what needs to be done to address it, and their perception of others getting treated.

Brown said one of the things she sees residents struggle with is being heard. “They are talked at, instead of to,” she said.

Adofo said that the culture of healthcare east of the river must be considered. “Historically, for many Black people, their relationship to the healthcare system is not a good one. Look at the Tuskegee study and how people felt about that.”

“Here we are in 2021, and folks are looking at healthcare as something that is friendly to Black people,” he said, “So any plan to address healthcare must include a plan for how to build the trust of a community that has been done wrong for so many years.”

Anne Banner, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences spokesperson, said there is already a community advisory board being formed to discuss community education and outreach initiatives.

As academic physician faculty, GW believes patient-centered care will optimize healthcare services, Banner explained. “A key element of patient-centered care is focus on continuity and community.”

With United Health Services’ support, GW will launch a family medicine residency program at St. Elizabeth’s to develop and train a group of physicians on that campus that are fully aware of the needs of residents in Wards 7 and 8.

As part of this undertaking, Respress said it is important for United Health Services to work with grassroots initiatives.  “Work with local community organizations that are really willing to take part and drive to mitigate issues that are going on in their community — because they know what those specific issues are.”

The last health disparity concern Respress noted is the healthcare system itself, namely the geography and availability of healthcare institutions. “When you look at GW or Johns Hopkins versus your area, of course, people are going to have access to different levels of care,” he said.

United Medical Center is the only hospital east of the Anacostia River residents have access to, and Poya Carmichael, VP and Public Relations and Corporate Secretary, said “the reputation of the hospital has not been the best” in recent years.

Adofo said there’s a “terrible stigma” surrounding United Medical Center in the community, and it’s decreasing services – there’s no trauma center or prenatal care.

“If I needed to go to the hospital, I would go someplace other than the community,”he said.

Dorothea Barnes, a school teacher who lives across from the hospital, said, “It’s really not a good hospital. I had some bad experiences here.”

Carmichael said United Medical Center’s turnover in leadership and management is reflected in the quality of care the hospital provides.

United Medical Center decided to close its maternity Ward permanently three years ago after a Health Services inspection found faults in the quality of care.

“You can’t have a baby east of the river,” said Brown.

She remembers her 13-year-old daughter watching the closure announcement on the news and saying, “Does this mean you can’t have a baby over here?” Brown said seeing her daughter make that connection at such a young age showed her that healthcare access “definitely is an issue.”

Both the District and United Health Services will invest significant resources in the construction and operation of St. Elizabeth’s hospital. The district will fund the in construction, and United Health Services will invest $75 million in healthcare in Wards 7 and 8.

The post GW partners to improve healthcare access in Southeast DC first appeared on 91����.

This “listening session” marked the first time the organization Students Against Sexual Assault had been able to get GW administration in the room to hear about students’ experiences.

Students and administrators alike filed into the small Amphitheater, tucked away on the third floor of the Student Center, slowly Wednesday evening, appearing nervous of what to expect from the session.

SASA Co-President Will Hoadley-Brill waited for a lull in conversation to address the gathering of students and GW representatives. He thanked the 27 campus organizations that co-sponsored the event and the administrators in attendance.

Taking the time to list each administrator by name, title and office, Hoadley-Brill said, “I wanted to recognize these folks by name, because this is a listening session for everybody who’s here in this space, and we are looking to move forward collaboratively.”

“The goal of this event is to allow survivors to have control over their own experiences and narrative,” Hoadley-Brill said. He says the space will attempt to address the “harm perceived to be caused by GW administration’s policies and offices, to be stated, acknowledged and processed.”

“Today, we are just here to be able to identify and acknowledge harm,” Hoadley-Brill said.

The final opening remark came from Claire Coleman, the director of the Office of Student Rights. She briefly addressed the crowd and participants on Zoom, saying administrators were asked to attend but not speak, before returning to her seat.

Complete silence enveloped the room as sexual assault survivors began to speak in person and via Zoom, with Hoadley-Brill reading anonymous submissions between speakers.

91���� agreed to keep the identities of participants confidential unless expressly given permission to name them.

Each survivor recounted their interactions with the Title IX office and the GW Police Department piece by piece, laying bare years of inconsistency in the university’s practices and an unwillingness to bar or expel those found guilty of sexual assault.

Title IX is a federal policy that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding.

I think we recognize that the Title IX office is absolutely limited by federal policy … but we also have to realize that the way cases are handled at GW have caused further harm for survivors.

-SASA Co-President Shira Strongin

Survivors said the reluctance to bar perpetrators from campus also applies to alumni and individuals who were never a part of the GW community to begin with, echoing   each other’s sentiment that “they have no reason to be here.”

GW student Abby Canning spotted her assailant, who is now an alum, in the student center last week and said she has now withdrawn from classes. She was only able to have him barred from campus for a semester after Title IX found him guilty of sexual assault, she said.

Survivors who spoke meticulously chronicled dates of meetings and what they were told by Title IX officers and GW police. Some students said they were “ghosted” after meetings with investigators, calling the office weeks later to discover their case had not progressed because an employee had left.

Others were told by Title IX that barring would be put in place pending the outcome of investigations, just to learn that it is up to the discretion of GW police to enforce it. As a result, outcomes have been highly irregular.

The final speaker joined from home via Zoom. She spoke about leaving the university a few weeks into school after she reported her assault to Title IX. She claims she was told by GW’s Title IX Director Asha Reynolds, “I can’t do anything unless they’re a bomb threat.”

91���� spoke with Reynold’s at the listening session, and she said she had no comment on any statements made by students but would email if she changed her mind. 91���� heard nothing further from her office.

The frustration, disappointment, and fear in the theater were palpable, and administrators could be seen shaking their heads at some of the statements.

Still, solidarity was the strongest emotion. Speakers used their remaining time to thank each other for standing up, and as survivors returned to their seats, they were embraced by friends who came to support them.

Students stayed after the listening session and talked in SASA-facilitated breakout groups about policy changes that could benefit survivors. While some suggestions were made, students mostly became a resource for one another, explaining how certain policies work and recommending offices that were helpful.

The listening session comes a few weeks after a protest held during commencement, organized by student activists Canning and Stephanie Lee, who revived the hashtag “GW Protects Rapists.” The protest mirrored a by then student Aniqa Raihan, whose rapist was found guilty but was still allowed to graduate. Raihan held up the sign “GW Protects Rapists” at the ceremony.

Canning and Lee met when GW’s Title IX office copied Lee in a confidential email to Canning this semester. After constant errors in their cases, Canning said this was the “last straw.”

Following a tedious investigation, Canning’s assailant was found guilty of rape by Title IX, but she was “frustrated the sanctions were so minimal.” He was only suspended for a semester and had to watch a TED Talk on consent, she said.

“Stephanie took the initiative to get the ball rolling and we’ve been working together every step of the way,” Canning said.

Lee took to Twitter to share her experience, and her post garnered a lot of responses from survivors with similar experiences.

Lee’s alleged assailant had graduated, but she was denied a barring order despite him returning to campus for graduation. GW police told Lee they could send him a notice informing him he was barred from her building, but “then he would know where to find me,” Lee said.

Canning and Lee decided to adopt the hashtag “GW Protects Rapists,” starting petitions and an Instagram account under the name. Determined for the movement not to “fizzle out like last time,” Canning said the two women partnered with SASA to advocate for change.

SASA Co-President Shira Strongin, was a freshman when the original “GW Protects Rapists” campaign was started, and the university had a “sacrificial lamb” that they fired, she said.

“The campaign died down after that, so when Stephanie and Abby brought it up again, I knew I wanted to make sure we were here to support,” Strongin said.

SASA crafted a policy proposal and organized a listening session, Strognin said. “We’re kind of like the bridge between the students, admin, and ‘GW Protects Rapists.’”

“Where Stephanie and Abby have been really mobilizing the community, there’s only so much we can do as a student organization,” Strongin said. “But because of the ties that we do have to the administration, and the respect they give to us as an org, we can push for this kind of policy change.”

The SASA co-presidents drafted two policy demands for GW to meet, sending it to the administration in coordination with the “GW Protects Rapists” protest.

The main demand is for the accessibility, standardization and formalization of the campus ban process for non-GW community perpetrators, including alumni. The second demand would guarantee long-term funding for the Office of Advocacy, whose advocates are the only confidential resource on campus for students experiencing trauma.  It can recommend campus bans, provide academic support and help survivors navigate the criminal justice route, Strongin explained. 

“The Office of Advocacy has been threatened with budget cuts and we have the foresight that this will become a continuing threat as we rebuild from the pandemic,” according to written SASA demands.

After the weekend of the protest and policy demands, SASA extended an olive branch to the administration by way of the listening session.

Hoadley-Brill said that SASA had already engaged in several productive meetings with administrators, as well as the GW Police Department on “beefing up” the policy barring non-GW community members from campus prior to the session.

The post GW administrators hear student grievances over handling of sexual assault cases first appeared on 91����.

The seventh outdoor sculpture exhibit “Human Nature” was meant to debut in 2020, but pandemic restrictions meant canceling the show became a very real possibility, said Co-Director Peter Maye.

Remarkably, Curator Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell said the pandemic emerged as an “opportunity for an organic show,” which granted creatives the chance to think of different ways to craft a “pandemic friendly exhibition.”

The creative team “really had to pivot,” said public relations manager Elizabeth Stein. “The artists themselves weren’t comfortable participating.”

The show created jobs

Maye proposed self-guided tours take the place of the scheduled group tours previously led by the curator and participating artists. He suggested placing QR codes at each sculpture, containing a recording of the artist describing their work.

The creative team immediately began the search for a video director as well as a storyteller to interview every artist. In a way, the pandemic fashioned an opening to hire more creatives, said Bryant-Greenwell, head of Public Programs with Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery.

Creatives were amongst those most affected by the pandemic in the country’s workforce with during the height of the pandemic in 2020, according to Americans for the Arts.

“Having the opportunity to hire more creatives is unique and great,” Bryant-Greenwell said.

The display made art accessible 

The QR codes also led to a “more dynamic delivery” of information, Stein said. It exposed residents to “pieces of information they want to hear,” since the video recordings gave artists the ability to elaborate on their work and why they use certain materials.

The community was able to experience culture in a safe way when most arts events were canceled, she added.

Artist Jerry Truong was originally excited about guided tours, especially leading one, but said he likes how the show worked out. The QR codes let residents and visitors spontaneously learn about the art, unlike previous years where scheduled tours were the norm.

“It is safer and more accessible,” he said.

However, J. Ford Huffman, a longtime resident and sculpture host, questioned the accessibility of the show’s new format. “The pandemic is on people’s minds and the solution is very creative, but it is important to bear in mind that not everyone carries a cell phone.”

A second-time host, Huffman said he misses the groups of people passing by his home and hopes for tours in the future. “It’s always nice to hear their voices discussing the artwork.”

“Human Nature” gained importance 

The theme originally took inspiration from the Trump administration stripping environmental protections as well as the Australian wildfires, Bryant-Greenwell said. “It seemed pertinent to talk about human responsibility.”

But the concept of “Human Nature”  became increasingly significant in 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Bryant-Greenwell referenced scientists’ discussions on how humans have encroached on habitats where these viruses thrive, enabling the spread of COVID-19.

Maye said he can’t think of anything more relevant to the interplay between humans and nature than the virus.  “We don’t have that much power,” he said, “and it affected the show 100%.”

Truong even used the pandemic-induced delay to make an entirely different sculpture from the one he had pitched to Bryant-Greenwell in 2019.

Click above for insight into the process behind Truong’s sculpture. (Arts in Foggy Bottom)

“After the pandemic and election, I had a whole different idea that is truer to my interests,” he said.

Truong’s sculpture on 25th St. consists of five transparent signs comprised of words from the American Pledge of Allegiance. “The thing about art is it sometimes struggles to deal with political issues, like the tensions that arose from the pandemic,” he said.

Bryant-Greenwell said the entire show became a response to the pandemic. “Look at the works, titles, and think differently about what it means.”

Artist Stephanie Garon’s sculpture of a bundles of sticks reflects the burden of women’s roles given the environmental impact. Women are often the caregivers, so access to things like clean water are issues women must contend with, she said.

“Women and girls are most vulnerable in crises like these.”

The community and the exhibit

Although the community could not gather for this year’s exhibition, residents were still willing to host sculptures.

Residents were supportive of the show and very moved by it, Bryant-Greenwell said. One couple she spoke with shared that political action is very near to them, so they felt personally connected to the theme.

Sculpture hosts Shirley and Scott Wayne said the theme was more important than ever, and that the exhibition “is a part of the neighborhood.”

From the start, Maye said the creative team thought “Human Nature” was a great fit for what the world is experiencing.

“Giving back is part of being human,” said Maye. “We gave our community and all of Washington an opportunity to see art that is accessible to everyone.”

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