• GWU Web site • Post Education Section • Talk: Schools & Kids message boards • Live Online Transcripts • Subscribe to washingtonpost.com e-mail newsletters • mywashingtonpost. com -- customized news, traffic, weather and more

In anticipation of the World Bank/IMF protests, George Washington University is going one step farther than simply canceling classes -- the university is planning to loan students money and arrange for discount airfare to encourage them to leave town.

George Washington University President Stephen Trachtenberg will be online to discuss the decision and the impact the protests are expected to have on the downtown campus.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

washingtonpost.com: President Trachtenberg is running a few minutes late, but will be online shortly.

Stephen Trachtenberg: It seems to me that a person who is going to be held accountable for the welfare of the students, the faculty and the campus has to be cut some slack on this. It is easy for someone to make a judgement if they have no responsibility.

Dallas, Tex.: I appreciate the university's concern for the welfare of the students. However, has there been any discussion with regard to the fact that Sept. 27 is Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish Calendar? Please consider allowing the dorms to remain open until Sept. 28. Thank you very much.
Judge Jay Robinson

Stephen Trachtenberg: The university has made accommodations for Jewish students with Hillel to take care of their religious needs.

Washington, D.C.: As I'm sure you are painfully aware, when an administrator makes a decision like this you can't please all the students, in fact you'd be lucky if you pleased a majority of them. You had to make a decision between some unsavory choices and I commend you for handling it as you have. How do you think this course of events will impact your future relations with the student body?

Stephen Trachtenberg: No. The President of the student association was consulted during the planning period, as was the President of the parents association, the chair of the faculty senate and board of trustees. All pertinent stakeholders were heard from prior to making the decision. Full consultation took place.

Washington, D.C.: You have encouraged all GWU students, even those living off campus, to leave the Foggy Bottom area, and if possible return home. Are you telling students not to participate in the protests?

Stephen Trachtenberg: No. We have been quite explicit that we are taking no position on the issues. We encourage students to exercise their first amendment rights. Ours is not a substantive decision, it is a procedural decision to close buildings as a request of the Metropolitan District Police. We have declined to provide any accommodations for the IMF/World Bank meetings.

New York, N.Y.: Have any of the students threatened any legal challenge to the closing of the dorms? Or is there a clause in their housing agreement giving you the authority to unilaterally restrict them from their rented rooms in this sort of situation?

Stephen Trachtenberg: I haven't heard anything about that issue yet, but anything is possible.

Washington, D.C.: GWU did not shut down during any of the massive civil rights marches on Washington, nor did it shut down during the anti-Vietnam War protests, despite that anti-war protests had repeatedly turned violent, with ROTC offices and military installations being firebombed. Why are the fall protests against the IMF and World Bank more of a threat to GWU? Keep in mind that no students were hurt during the April, 2000 protests and property damage was limited to some graffiti.

Stephen Trachtenberg: Yes, this is unprecedented. The police believe that the number of participants in the impending meeting will be three times that of the last. And they believe, on the basis of what took place at the last three of these meetings in the United States, Canada and Italy, that there is more potential for mischief than earlier. Ultimately it comes down to this - if the police department of the city tells us that our students and faculty are potentially at risk and asks us to close, it is hard to think of how to say no. Particularly when they tell you that they are going to be building barriers in the public streets surrounding your campus, they are going to be closing the subway stop and traffic is going to be restricted. I can't imagine how our faculty and staff would get to the campus; therefore the normal operation of the University would have been impossible.

Dupont Circle: I'm not on the side of the protesters, but it does seem to me that you've offered them a massive PR weapon in their fight. What better way for them to say that the world is against their cause than to point toward the shut-down of an institution of higher learning when they come to town? In fact, they'll probably say that your decision was bought and paid for by the IMF, even though there's absolutely no proof of that.

In my mind, it would have been better to ignore them. GWU did just that during the last time they came to town, and everything worked out fine.

Stephen Trachtenberg: Yes, but there were 30,000 protesters last time. They anticipate 100,000 this time. They have the unhappy experience of Italy, in which riots took place and one demonstrator was killed, and the police didn't ask us to close down -- this time they did.

Philadelphia, Pa.: How can you expect students to come up with the money to take a mandatory vacation? I question the legality of this decision. Your students have paid for a semester's worth of housing. Landlords cannot evict a person, even temporarily, until all of that person's paid rent is up. And even then, most states require an extra month. I don't see how this is any different. Canceling classes is fine, but kicking students off campus is well over the line of decency and legality.

Stephen Trachtenberg: Talk to my lawyer.

Stephen Trachtenberg: We get no pleasure or profit from closing the residence halls. We believe this is an emergency safety issue and that the request by the police department to close the facilities was something we had to take dead seriously. Better safe than sorry.

Washington, D.C.: President Trachtenberg, what do you say to the suggestions from students that the University should have notified students of this plan earlier, giving them more time to make plans home.
-GW Student

Stephen Trachtenberg: We notified then as soon as the decision was made. We couldn't have notified them before. They had three weeks notice.

Washington, D.C.: I am not a GW student, however my apartment building is right smack in the middle of the campus. I was wondering whether the barricades erected around the perimeter of the campus will prevent non-students from accessing their homes as well. I have consulted with my building managers, and they did not have any answers...

Stephen Trachtenberg: You will have to talk to the D.C. police about that. We pointed that out to the police and told them that we take no responsibility for the non-university buildings.

Mt. Pleasant, Washington, D.C.: If students refuse to leave their dorms (which they have paid for) what legal action can be taken against the students or against the university?

Stephen Trachtenberg: The students will leave. The buildings will be closed and locked.

New York, N.Y.: It seems that you can't win. If you kept the University open and students were injured there would be a swath of lawsuits.

And students are such cry babies. The maturity of the average college student approaches that of a twelve year old. So much for people growing up faster than in the past.

Stephen Trachtenberg: I respect the maturity of the students. I think anybody would complain about being inconvenienced this way. I hope it turns out that the decision was overly cautious. I am prepared to be embarrassed at having been too careful.

But if the police predictions are accurate, I am confident that I will be pleased that I did what I did.

College Park, Md.: How much truth is there to the rumors that the D.C. police will now be using GWU as a staging area/base for their activities during the protests? What can you do to prevent this?

Stephen Trachtenberg: They will be using one of our buildings to house some supplementary personnel. We thought that that was a reasonable request out of a concern for the safety and welfare of the neighborhood and the city. We declined requests to hold IMF/World Bank events on campus explaining that we were a neutral venue on the issues -- taking sides neither with the IMF/World Bank or with the protesters.

Washington, D.C.: 1.How is it that a University descision that effects over 5,000 students can be made completely without the involvement of students. Shouldn't there be a more deomcratic precoss involved in such descion making?
2. Do you believe that by keeping the students on campus they were essentially a buffer zone? With so many "innocent bystanders" around the police have to concsiously use restraint. By forcing the students to leave, it may put the police in a position where they know exactly who is in the crowd and wont think twice about using dangerous force.
~Josh Kohn
Junior-GWU
Off-Campus resident

Stephen Trachtenberg: I believe in representative democracy not participatory democracy. We couldn't consult 5,000 students about this decision. We did consult the elected student association.

My concerns are not political. If a police officer gets confused between a protester and a GW student and the student gets hit in the head, that is my student that gets injured. My decision was made out of a concern for the safety of the GW community and included the possibility that GW students, innocent of the protests, might be injured.

Washington, D.C.: How can I and other GWU graduate students get discounted tickets to make a trip home during the recess? Thank you.

Stephen Trachtenberg: We have a Web site that deals with all of the particulars and matters dealing with this that you can access through the GW site. We have been working with World Tek Travel who have arranged special rates with South West Airlines from BWI. Delta Airlines will be offering special student fares as well and we are still on the case. We are also going to be providing emergency housing for students who show a need. W

Washington, D.C.: Tell me why residents of the Mt. Vernon dorms will not be allowed to have guests that weekend?

Stephen Trachtenberg: The Mt. Vernon campus is under construction and we are concerned that an influx of visitors is potentially dangerous. We are anticipating thousands of university students will be coming to Washington from all over the country seeking accommodations. The campus is not ready for guests. There are open construction facilities and pits and it is not a place we want strangers walking around. We are concerned with their welfare and our liability.

Washington, D.C.: Seeing that you yourself went to law school and understand the importance of the LSATs, I was wondering if you will be making arrangements for those students who are taking the LSATs the following weekend? Also, what do you plan to do it the University needs to be shut down for longer than those 5 days?

Stephen Trachtenberg: We have no reason to believe that the university is going to be shut down for more than those five days. I am confidant that the LSAT issues will work themselves out over the course of the next three weeks.

20052: I think the decision to close the campus and residence halls was smart. It may not be very convenient for some students, but it's good to see that the University has its students' and staffs' safety in mind.

Stephen Trachtenberg: Thank you.

Washington, D.C.: What provisions are being made for international students when campus is closed?

Stephen Trachtenberg: Again, they should consult the Web site and the Dean of Student's office, but accommodations will be made.

Washington, D.C.: I want to know what you plan on doing for the employees that work for the Hospital and the MFA Building? We (the employees) had to come to work during the 2000 Protest and our lives were in danger. The Metro trains had stoped running and the smell of tear gas was every where? Why not close these offices and stop putting our lives in danger?

Stephen Trachtenberg: The Hospital and the MFA are associated with GW but are autonomous. Secondly the police have not asked us to close the hospital. In fact we anticipate that the hospital will be in operation to provide service to persons who may need it. Even without violence, a crowd of 100,000 people is likely to have some health care needs over a four day period.

Arlington, Va.: How much total do you expect to spend in assisting students travel, and what is the total cost the protests will bring to the University?

Stephen Trachtenberg: I do not know.

Stephen Trachtenberg: We are not thinking of costs now, we are thinking of the safety of students and staff. It will not be cheap.

Cleveland, Ohio: I am getting the impression from your answer that the University was not asked, but told to close by the DC police. How, exactly was the "request" communicated to the University.

Stephen Trachtenberg: The Chief of Police and his staff met with a group from the university. They mulled over and studied the issues and asked us to close. I asked for the request in writing and they wrote me a letter. Obviously I wasn't thrilled at the idea

Stephen Trachtenberg: I felt I had a duty to the University and a civic responsibility to acceed.

Montreal, PQ: Did the recent protests in Genoa influence your decision to close campus?

Stephen Trachtenberg: Yes.

Long Island: What about the fraternity houses on G Street that are not owned by GW? Are they going to be closed?

Stephen Trachtenberg: Not by me.

Washington, D.C.: The decision to close all of the residence halls on campus, including those which are 6 to 8 blocks away from the IMF/World Bank buildings, really sends the signal that University doesn't want it's students to participate in the protests. As an alumni of GW, my professors always encouraged me to take advantage of the many events going on in this city either as a participant or as an observer. Students choose to come to GW to experience and learn from events like this. Do you feel that by sending students home you will be denying them from seeing in person an important event related to the debate on globalization?

Jeff Chatellier

Stephen Trachtenberg: They do not have to go home, they can stay and participate just as many of the demonstrators from out of the city will do but the residence halls are going to be behind a fence that the police are putting up.

I completely concur with the sentiments of the question and regret this unhappy turn of events.

Stephen Trachtenberg: This is an unhappy situation. The University wishes it were otherwise. We see no virtue in closing except to enhance the physical welfare of campus community and the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. We would not have closed except for the request by the District of Columbia police department to do so.

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

Stay tuned to Live Online:

Bob Levey at 1 p.m. EDT
Political Insider at 1 p.m. EDT
Preschool Transition at 1 p.m. EDT
Montgomery County PTA at 1 p.m. EDT
Redskin Fred Smoot at 1:30 p.m. EDT
National Book Festival: Maria Arana at 2 p.m. EDT
Tech Support: All About Browsers at 2 p.m. EDT
Film: Rita Kempley at 2 p.m. EDT
The Chat House at 2 p.m. EDT
Home Schooling at 2 p.m. EDT
Microsoft Case at 2:30 p.m. EDT
Nightwatch: Eric Brace at 3 p.m. EDT

Did you know that you can follow more than one Live Online discussion at the same time? Just open another browser window and toggle back and forth between discussions! And, if you miss one, catch up with the Live Online transcripts.

Keep up with the latest in news, sports, politics and entertainment with washingtonpost.com e-mail newsletters.

NEW! Personalize your Post with mywashingtonpost.com. Get customized news, traffic, weather and more.

   |      |