Throughout my journey at GW, I’ve observed how various communities experience layers upon layers of intersecting disadvantages. It happens all the time—students from different backgrounds, facing financial, social, academic, and even spiritual burdens, navigating systems that weren’t designed with them in mind. Some students come to GW without the same academic grounding. Others cannot afford dorms and end up commuting long hours, often in unsafe or unpredictable conditions. I’ve met students who spend nearly 20 hours a week commuting, dealing with harassment, unsafe environments, or simply losing time that could be spent studying, resting, or building community. From the very beginning—during orientation—campus life is sorted around dorm communities, leaving commuters to feel like they’re on the outside looking in.

Many describe GW as a 9-to-5 job rather than a place to grow. Meanwhile, students who can’t afford tuition sometimes qualify for Federal Work-Study (FWS), but not always. Awareness around FWS is low, especially among first-year students, and many miss the opportunity to apply in time. As a result, they end up working demanding off-campus jobs like Uber driving that don’t accommodate their academic schedules. Even when students do receive FWS, they face the opportunity cost: spending 20 hours a week on low-skill, non-career-advancing jobs instead of focusing on academics, building professional networks, or participating in campus life. These burdens often compound with family obligations, especially for first-generation students or those who support non-English-speaking family members. On top of this, student support services are underfunded. I used to work at the Academic Commons tutoring center—it has just 6 or 7 tables for a university of over 27,000 students.

It only supports a narrow band of introductory courses, and there is little active research into what kinds of support students actually need. People argue that graduate students don’t need as much tutoring—but graduate students are often more diverse, come from different educational systems, and may lack access to advanced academic English writing or foundational preparation. The same is true for the Writing Center, which is far too small. DSS services have also been flagged as underfunded by advocacy groups on campus (source).

Dining is another concern. Many students cannot afford the cost of dining plans and often skip meals just to save money. Others are dissatisfied with the quality and nutritional value of the meals themselves. Hunger, financial pressure, and poor nutrition are not abstract issues—they are layers of disadvantage that follow students into the classroom.Another layer is religious observance. GW’s religious accommodation policy is minimal. Students may receive one excused absence, but they are required to notify professors well in advance. Even then, the impact of religious holidays—Ramadan, Lent, Navratri—extends well beyond a single day. These are extended periods of worship, reflection, fasting, and prayer. Students observing them often cannot eat or pray at the appropriate times due to class schedules. Some even skip class entirely to meet their spiritual obligations. GW’s current policy does not reflect the depth and duration of these commitments.To take equity seriously, GW must improve academic flexibility—offering deadline extensions, adjusted schedules, and greater support for students with demanding commitments like extended religious observances, while giving all students more chances to truly master the material.

These academic forgiveness policies have been shown to improve academic outcomes, enrollment, and retention rates without reducing engagement or causing negligence (Brookings).Finally, many identity-based student organizations are significantly underfunded. They ask for resources to host events, build community, and support their members—and are often met with less than what they need.

As SGA President, I would endeavor to:

- Conduct rigorous research—through surveys, focus groups, and student interviews—to understand unmet needs
- Work with statistics students to analyze patterns of disadvantage across identity groups
- Identify which services are falling short, and who is being left behind
- Lobby the administration for better funding, better orientation, and more flexible academic policies.
‍
As part of this effort, I also propose that students researching equity and systemic barriers on campus partner with GW’s Intersectionality Research Institute to launch a university-wide initiative on intersectionality in education. This collaboration could draw on the Institute’s expertise in race, gender, class, and structural inequality, while grounding the research in the lived experiences of our student body. It also creates valuable opportunities for students to engage in meaningful research and inquiry through Student Government, making student leadership a direct contributor to scholarly and institutional progress.Importantly, Student Government is uniquely positioned to facilitate this work—it has access to the student body across all schools and programs, as well as the tools to conduct broad, representative surveys and outreach efforts. By combining academic insight with student-led investigation, we can better understand how overlapping disadvantages shape campus life—and develop data-driven recommendations to address them.

We can’t afford to make assumptions about what students need. We have to ask. We have to listen. And we have to act.

Let us Heal GW.