When the class of 2023 arrived at Foggy Bottom in August 2019, there was no reason to suspect the world-changing pandemic era to come. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” was dominating the pop charts, and people were still mad about HBO drama “Game of Thrones”’ final episode, which aired that spring. By the spring 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic would globally derail life as we knew it. Still, students found ways to thrive and things to celebrate. And George Washington University played a key role in helping the world recover from the pandemic. Read on for some of the last four years’ major stories, including GW Today’s most-read.
First Year: 2019-20
- Climate activist Greta Thunberg accepted an Amnesty International award at GW’s Lisner Auditorium in September.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton visited GW twice: first in September to discuss voting rights and again with her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, in October.
- In December 2019, President Donald Trump became the third president in history to be impeached. (The class of 2023 would see this happen twice, as Trump was again impeached for inciting an insurrection in January 2021.)
- New leadership joined multiple schools: Barbara Lee Bass was named vice provost for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, John Lach joined the School of Engineering and Applied Science as dean and Dayna Bowen Matthew was named dean of GW Law.
- At the Academy Awards in February 2020, “Parasite” became the first movie not in English to win the best picture Oscar.
- Rumblings about the dangers of the emerging COVID-19 virus began in late 2019 and ramped up through the following months. On March 16, 2020, then-president Thomas J. LeBlanc made it official: COVID-19 had derailed the year on campus. The remote learning period would continue through the remainder of the spring semester.
- Instructors and students had to adapt to the emergency with new technology and new teaching and learning strategies.
- The “anthropause” caused by the pandemic had a complex effect on the natural world and on ecosystems in which humans usually play a larger part.
- The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis sparked Black Lives Matter protests in D.C. and around the world.
- In June, GW announced it would eliminate all fossil fuel investments from its endowment.
Sophomore Year: 2020-21
- Over the summer, GW was named as a clinical trial site for the COVID-19 vaccine. The university would play an essential role in the development of Moderna’s emergency vaccine, approved for use in December of that year.
- Anthony Fauci, then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke to a GW audience at a virtual event in August. He would return multiple times over the following years.
- Joe Biden was elected president in November after a contentious election cycle. Multiple GW experts were tapped as part of his transition team.
- Alyssa Ayres joined the Elliott School of International Affairs as dean.
- A study from GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health found a severe lack of diversity in the health care workforce that could have painful ramifications for minority communities.
- Mark S. Wrighton joined GW as interim president Jan. 1, 2021.
- On Jan. 6, a crowd stormed the U.S. Capitol building in a clash that left multiple people dead. A Washington Post team covering the event included multiple GW alumni, who would later win Pulitzer Prizes for their work.
- The container ship Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March, causing major disruptions of global trade but also some very funny online jokes.
Junior Year: 2021-22
- For the first time since March 2020, the university resumed operations almost fully in person at the beginning of the academic year.
- The GW Board of Trustees approved renaming the Cloyd Heck Marvin Center, now the University Student Center.
- Students and faculty digitally commemorated the lost for a massive COVID-19 memorial on the National Mall.
- In October, the classes of 2020 and 2021 celebrated their belated commencements on the National Mall with a keynote delivered by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) The weekend also served as the culmination of GW’s bicentennial celebrations.
- GW Law alumni packed Supreme Court clerkships.
- Lauren Onkey joined GW as director of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design.
- GW joined the U-Pass program, offering students unlimited Metrorail and Metrobus rides for a flat fee.
- #FreedBritney: A judge ended the conservatorship over pop star Britney Spears’ life and finances.
- Russia unexpectedly invaded Ukraine in late February, leading to concern and activism from community members.
Senior Year: 2022-23
- GW announced in June that it would discontinue the use of the “Colonials” moniker. Since then, community participation in Moniker Madness has narrowed the options to four possible successors.
- In the feel-good story of the summer, two GW nursing students rescued an injured hiker in Shenandoah National Park.
- The renovated Thurston Hall opened to residents at move-in. Like District House, Thurston was an early implementation site for GW’s transformative dining experience.
- GW community members stood in solidarity with Iranian demonstrators protesting the regime’s treatment of women and other oppressive policies.
- Ellen Granberg was announced as GW's 19th president.
- Vice President Kamala Harris swung by the University Student Center during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
- GW experts provided guidance on tax code changes this spring.
