At GW, students see the symptoms of underfunding everywhere. Visit the Academic Commons and you’ll find a small tutoring center with just a few tables. Read the Hatchet, and you’ll see that DSS—our disability support office—has been repeatedly flagged asunder-resourced (source). Ask around SGA, and you’ll hear how student organizations collectively request four times more funding than the $1.3 million currently allocated in the annual budget. It is clear: there are urgent needs that are going unmet.

That’s why we must ask—where is the money going? We believe tuition is not just a transaction. It’s a promise: a promise of support, access, real opportunity, and belonging. But right now, few students can say with confidence how their tuition is actually being used. The GW administration’s financial transparency website(source) fell far short of expectations. It compiled already publicly available data and offered no new insights into how university resources are distributed or why certain priorities get funded over others. More than a logistical issue, this is an ethical concern. Many students associate the lack of financial transparency with deeper issues of misaligned priorities, unaccountable leadership, and broken trust.

They see rising tuition, unlivable dorm costs, and an underfunded campus experience—and wonder who is benefiting from the current system. Despite these widespread concerns, previous student governments have failed to pursue this issue with serious urgency. The current administration—led in part by presidential candidate Ethan Lynne—did create a Financial Transparency Working Group under the broader Financial Transparency Initiative. I served on that working group. But within two months, the group was quietly dissolved without producing a single recommendation or articulating a single demand to the GW administration. Even more telling: in the February 10 update from the current SGA’s advocacy efforts with the Board of Trustees (source), the priorities listed included dining reform, reproductive access, and classroom upgrades. But financial transparency wasn’t even mentioned. That silence speaks volumes. The issue wasn’t ignored by accident—it was excluded by design. We cannot afford to play it safe. We cannot continue to absorb student frustration with symbolic politics and careful maneuvering. As SGA President, I will:

- Revive the Financial Transparency Working Group and protect it from premature dissolution
- Conduct and leverage student surveys and polling to gauge campus sentiment, ethical concerns, and transparency priorities and make more robust demands.
- Publicly document and publish recommendations informed by student voice
- Apply pressure to GW leadership through active lobbying, media partnerships, and direct engagement with trustees

If we’re serious about access and affordability, we need to know how our institution operates. The only way to build trust is through clarity. GW students call themselves Revolutionaries for a reason. It’s not just a mascot—it’s a mindset. A refusal to accept the status quo. A commitment to push boundaries. We will not be afraid to ask hard questions. We will not be afraid to demand better.

Let us Heal GW.