Don’t Be Hatin’

“Hate Free Georgetown”—a week of events intended to bring different groups on campus together in response to bias related incidents this past Fall, will run March 15 through March 20 and is sponsored by a variety of campus groups, including GUGS, Hoya Blue, The Corp, Groove Theory, GU Pride, nomadictheatre, and campus a capella groups.

Events include a “Dance Day” on Monday from 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. in Red Square, GUGS burgers in Red Square from 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. on Thursday, a “Field day” on Healy lawn on Friday from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. with games like capture the flag and tag, and a “Performance Festival” Saturday from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. in McNeir auditorium featuring nomadictheatre and a capella performances, and student-written scenes about non-violence.

HFG will be tabling in Red Square Monday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. where students can sign pledges of support and get HFG Georgetown buttons, allowing entry into the events later in the week. See the full list of HFG events.

The Business of Happiness

Join President DeGioia and Washington, D.C. business leaders Monday at 4:30 p.m for a panel discussion on the “Double-Bottom Line”—the concept that success in business is driven by both fiscal results and a positive impact to people and society. Panelists include Ted Leonsis, former AOL vice chairman and author of The Business of Happiness; Tom Adams, founder and CEO of Rosetta Stone; Donald Graham, chairman of the Washington Post Company; Sheila Johnson, co-founder of BET; and Joseph Robert, chairman and CEO of J.E. Robert Companies, Inc.

The event will be held in the Lohrfink Auditorium in the Rafik B. Harari Building. Space is limited and students should RSVP to attend. For those unable to attend, the MSB will also have a webcast of the event.

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business was ranked the 23rd best undergraduate business program in the country by BusinessWeek Magazine’s 2010 rankings. The MSB saw improvements in nearly every judging criteria: “Teaching Quality” (A+, A in 2009), “Facilities” (B, C in 2009), and “Job Placement” (A+, C in 2009).

The completion of the Rafik. B. Hariri Building certainly had an effect not only on the Facilities subcategory, but on Georgetown students overall impression of the business program. In fact, the most telling statistic about how we’ve improved may be the school’s student survey ranking: 29th in 2010, up from 72nd in 2009. 2009’s MSB graduates were also tied for the 2nd highest median starting salary in the country.

Defying the trend of recent store closings in Georgetown, M29, a new “lifestyle boutique,” opened their flagship store on Monday in the Four Seasons Hotel at 29th and M Streets.

The store sells a hodgepodge of lifestyle goods, ranging from original art and clothing/accessories, to home furnishings plus these sweet foldable bikes. The store also employs some pretty cool marketing concepts – like allowing children to play in and decorate a cardboard playhouse while their parents shop in the store.

Picture from Twitter user M29Lifestyle

Study for midterms got you down? The College Dems and Republicans bring you a bipartisan lineup of Congressmen to distract you from your Econ textbook—unless you’re a government major, in which case attending these events might actually be considered studying. Win-win.

Republicans – Schock-ingly Good Looking?

The Georgetown College Republicans are hosting U.S. Representative Aaron Schock (R—Ill.) on Wednesday, March 3 from 7:10 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in ICC 105. Schock, at 28 years old, is the youngest member of the House of Representatives, and has been known to be mooned over by Congressional interns on both sides of the aisle. I hope someone at the event will bring Schock the tough questions, like this reporter from TMZ.

Democrats – Hoya, Hoya Saxa

Though he was not voted “the hottest freshmen Congressman” by the Huffington Post, Representative Henry Cuellar (TX-28) is a Georgetown grad (SFS’78) and holds more degrees—five—than any other congressman.  He represents a border district in Texas and will speak about the prospects of immigration reform in Congress. The event will be held Monday, March 1 in the Gervase Conference Room from 5:45 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. After 7:00 p.m, the College Dems will host a game watch for the GU/WVU basketball in the Alumni Lounge.

We’ve heard the sons of Harvard…

…are gonna play the 13th-ranked Hoyas in men’s lacrosse on Wednesday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. on the Multi-Sport field. The 12th-ranked Crimson are fresh off a victory in their tune-up season opener vs. Canisius College. The Hoyas, who fell in a hard-fought loss to No. 7 Maryland, will be looking for a win before opening up Big-East Conference play on Saturday against St. John’s. Come out and support the Hoyas!

Photo from Flickr user republicanconference used under a Creative Commons license

Let’s talk security

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (what a mouthful!) will be speaking today at 1:00 p.m. in Gaston Hall. The lecture, ‘’NATO—Delivering Real Security in an Age of Uncertainty,” will also feature former Secretary of State and Georgetown Professor Madeleine Albright. Attendance is open to current GU students, faculty, and staff and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. The doors will open at 12:00 p.m. but no bags, briefcases, or backpacks will be allowed inside.

We vaguely remember a failed filibuster and his mustache

Also speaking on campus Monday is former U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, who will give a lecture from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Mortara building. Bolton had some tough words for President Obama in a speech Saturday at CPAC, saying that the president “does not care about foreign policy” and “is not ready to be president.” His lecture, “The Current State of Foreign Affairs and Policy,” will be moderated by Republican strategist Bradley Blakeman. There will also be a Q&A session following the lecture. Students wishing to attend the event should RSVP.

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It’s a big week at Georgetown.

Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein will be speaking on campus Wednesday, and for the half-dozen non-political Hoyas out there, there are entertainment options aplenty. I’ve also heard that Georgetown plans to hold classes for a full week—good luck with that.

Corporate Control, Official Lawlessness and What’s Left of Democracy’

Ralph Nader—consumer advocate, journalist, attorney, and perennial presidential candidate—and Bruce Fein, former associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan, will be giving a lecture on the Supreme Court case (pdf) Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

The lecture will take place Wednesday, February 17, in Gaston Hall from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will be followed by a Q & A session. Any students thinking about protesting the lecture should be advised that Mr. Nader, a political activist and consumer rights advocate, might in fact encourage such protests.

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Think You Know Your Harry Potter?

Melissa Anelli, a Georgetown alumna and ‘webmistress’ of top Harry Potter fansite The Leaky Cauldron, is giving Georgetown a behind-the-scenes look into her career as a fan turned author. This Wednesday, she’s speaking at Georgtown about topics ranging from the outing of Professor Dumbledore, to Harry Potter’s cultural impact, to her time spent with J.K. Rowling herself. Anelli will be speaking Wednesday, February 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hariri Building’s Lohrfink Auditorium.

The Vagina Monologues

Sponsored by Take Back the Night and hosted in conjunction with V-Day 2010, The Vagina Monologues is a no-holds-barred performance featuring the empowering stories of women and girls from around the world. Tickets are $10 for students ($12 General Admission) at the Davis Center box office for shows Thursday through Saturday (February 11-13) at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m.

Careers for the Common Good

The fourth Annual Careers for the Common Good features more than 40 alumni and networking opportunities in the fields of Education, International Development, Health, Human Rights, Environment, Government, and the arts. The event will be help Tuesday, February 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Fisher Colloquium at the Hariri Building. Students must RSVP with the Center for Social Justice to attend.

Georgetown University currently has 30 undergraduate alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers, a number which puts its volunteer levels at eighth in the nation among comparatively sized schools in 2010 (PDF). However, that number is down over 14 percent from last year, and down over 54 percent since 2004, according to a press release that came out on Thursday.

Georgetown has seen its ranking consistently fall from second best in the country in 2004 and 2005 to its current spot, tied with the University of Chicago at eighth best among medium-sized schools. Neighboring D.C. universities also fared well in mid-sized university rankings, with The George Washington University and American University taking first and second places respectively in the category.

Full rankings for 2004-2010 (PDF).

Last week, the Financial Times published its list of the world’s best Global MBA Programs (PDF), where it ranked Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business Full-time MBA Program 38th. Up two spots from the 2009 list (PDF), Georgetown’s program snagged a job placement effectiveness ranking of 32nd, a faculty research ranking of 55th, and the “value for the money” ranking of 83rd.

The school’s weighted alumni salary fell only slightly this year, to $121,402, from $121,786. More strikingly, the number of Georgetown MBA students who found employment within three months of graduation dropped drastically from 98 percent in 2009 to 78 percent in 2010.

The recession may be “over”, but a shopper walking down Wisconsin Avenue or M Street might see the area’s vacant buildings and “going out of business” signs and get a completely different picture of how Georgetown’s businesses are faring.

After taking such a walk and learning that Commander Salamander would soon be joining the list of Georgetown stores that had either closed or moved in the last year, Vox decided to try to get a clearer picture of the area’s economic climate by talking to James Bracco and Nancy Mirahira at the Georgetown Business Improvement District and John Asadoorian, a retail broker who represents property owners and stores like Rugby and Georgetown Cupcake.

Although some retailers have suffered recently, Georgetown’s businesses weren’t hit any harder than other commercial districts, according to Bracco, the executive director of the BID.

“People are just shopping a little smarter now,” he said, citing the country’s still high unemployment numbers. ”Those are all potential consumers who don’t have money in their pocket to go buy a new pair of jeans, much less a designer couch.”

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