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UHP Peer Advisor Bios & Contact Information

Welcome, prospective honors students! Peer Advisors are excited to answer your questions and share their experiences about the University Honors Program and beyond. Check out their bios and contact information below. 

To speak with a Peer Advisor, please reach out to them by email. They are happy to chat with you, set up a time to speak by video conference, and/or refer you to additional resources.

Please reach out to uhp@gwu.edu if you have any additional questions.

 

Abby Guen

Email: abby_guen@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: International Affairs (Development, Economics Concentrations)

Minor: Political Science

Study Abroad: Santiago, Chile

Extra-Curriculars: GW MotherFunkers A Cappella, GW STAR Tour Guide, GW Women in Economics, Work Study, Off Campus Internships

Can talk more about: Elliott School, Study Abroad, the Performing Arts Community, internship searching, Four-Year Planning

 

Alicia Harris

Email: aliciah@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: Environmental Studies, Political Science

Minor: Geographic Information Systems

Honors Housing: West Hall (first-year honors housing) 

Research experience: briefly a Research Assistant for the Geography Department doing a mapping project in India

Can talk more about: Literally anything! I live and breath residential life, but I also am very familiar with the music program and I know a fair amount about greek life

 

 

Alyssa Misiewicz

Email: amisiewicz@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Majors: International Affairs, Political Science

Minor: Spanish and Psychology (potentially)

Extra-Curriculars: International Affairs Society, College Democrats, PAD (pre-law frat) 

Can talk more about: Elliott School, time management, political involvement

 

Andrew Butt

Email: andrewbutt@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: International Affairs (Asia) and Chinese Language and Literature

Minor: Religion

Extra-Curriculars: Student theatre, Forbidden Planet Productions, Resident Advisor on the Mount Vernon Campus

Can talk more about: Living on the Mount Vernon Campus, connecting first years with the Foxhall/Foggy Bottom/wider DC community. Four-Year Planning

 

Bridget Carl 

Email: bridgetcarl@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Majors: Public Health, Economics

Honors Housing: West Hall (first-year housing)

Research experience: Fall 2019 Research Assistantship in environmental economics

Can talk more about: On-campus employment, being a STEM student, taking intellectual/academic risks

 

Brittney Ho (Peer Advisor Leader) 

Email: brittneyho@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Majors: Journalism and Mass Communication (School of Media and Public Affairs)

Minor: Communication

Honors Housing: District House (upper-level housing) 

Can talk more about: Work-life balance within UHP, finding community, transition from the suburbs into a city, internships

 

Caroline Clough

Email: cclough@gmail.gwu.edu

Major: International Affairs and History

Can talk more about: Elliott School, Four Year Planning, Double Majoring, and living in D.C.

 

Christina Peitler 

Email: chrispeit23@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: History

Minor: Creative Writing

Extra-Curriculars: Band, Roosevelt Institute 

Can talk more about: Classes, student life, DC, the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences

 

Claire Shelby

Email: claireshelby@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Major: BS in Business: International Business and Business Economics & Public Policy

Minors: French and Philosophy

Extra-Curriculars: Delta Sigma Pi Co-Ed Professional Business Fraternity – Senior Vice President; Club Gymnastics member; GWSB First Year Development Program Mentor; GW STAR Tour Guide; GWSB Ambassador

Can talk more about: Business school, traveling more than 2,000 miles from home (California!), alternative fraternity and sorority life, making friends and connections, prioritizing what matters most, keeping in touch with family members, organization skills

 

Daniel Kassl (Peer Advisor Leader)

Email: danielkassl@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: Political Science

Minor: History

Can talk more about: D.C. living, course registration, undergraduate research, Peer Advisor Leadership

 

Declan Duggan

Email: Declanduggan@gwmail.gwu.edu

Major: International Affairs

Extra-Curriculars: I am a member in Sigma Iota Rho, GW’s gender inclusive international affairs honors society, I am also a member of strategic crisis simulation, and I write opinions for the Hatchet.

Can talk more about: The Elliott School, first-year honors program classes, navigating the four year plan, getting involved on campus, adjusting to college life.

 

Emma Stopek

Email: erstopek@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: Political Science

Minor: French

Extra-Curriculars: Forbidden Planet Productions, Greek Life, GW Star (Student Admissions Representative) 

Can talk more about: Future planning, which classes to take, housing and social life, work-study 

 

Emma Westcott

Email: ewestcott@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Major: Business Administration – Marketing

Minor: Music

Extra-Curriculars: Radio Show Host and Music Blog Columnist at WRGW, GW’s campus radio station; gear manager for the Student Music Coalition

Can talk more about: Switching majors/minors and/or switching home schools, four year planning, getting involved with music on campus, resolving roommate conflicts, adjusting to life in DC, living far from home.

 

Hailey Scatchard

Email: hmscatchard@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Majors: International Affairs, Economics

Study abroad: Paris with IES Abroad, Fall 2019

Research experience: research assistantship my sophomore year, where I worked on a paper about the sharing economy

Honors Housing: West Hall freshman year, District Hall sophomore and junior year

Can talk more about: managing career development and schoolwork!

 

Hope Ledford

Email: hopeledford@gwmail.gwu.edu

Major: Political Science

Minor: Statistics, Criminal Justice

Extra-Curriculars: IGNITE @ GW (Director of Internal Affairs); GWU Phi Alpha Delta (pre-law fraternity) 

Can talk more about: Internships, Federal Work Study, adjusting to city life, scheduling / organization

 

Jack Bentley

Email: jbentley23@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Major: Business Administration and Math (double degree)

Minor: Philosophy

Can talk more about: anything about freshman student life, music, video games; also, I can talk more about the Philosophy Club, and my experience as a Copy Editor at Current Magazine, and Web & Content Editor at Poptized Magazine

 

Jack Conway

Email: jconway11@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Majors: Political Science and Finance .

Honors Housing: West Hall Freshman Year

Can talk more about: Double majoring across schools. I can also talk about what it is like to live in West Hall.

 

Jennifer Schoppman

Email: jenschoppmann@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: Psychology

Extra-Curriculars: Mock Trial

Can talk more about: Pre-law, mock trial, LGBT issues, mental health resources, coffee spots in DC (very important), the DC food scene.

 

Jo Evard

Email: jse@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: Peace Studies and Political Science

Minor: Sustainability

Honors Housing: Lived in West Hall this year and will be living on the District floor next year!

Research experience: I did a Research Assistantship about climate change and its impact on companies with Sanjay Patnaik last semester 

Can talk more about: Transitioning from different academic environments, LGBTQ+ community presence on campus, political atmosphere on campus, opportunities available to honors students, the general atmosphere of both GW and the UHP, tips for living in West Hall, the pros and cons of the dining plan, cooking with dietary restrictions, general DC activities, and anything to do with my majors! 

 

Jonas Pearce

Email: jspearce@gwmail.gwu.edu

Major: Political Communications

Can talk more about: I love advising all things school related- especially integrating into the GW community. Being from Utah, I understand how crazy a transition it can be to be from living in your parents house to being with 3 other people in DC.

 

Jordan Bachman

Email: jordanbachman@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: Political Science, French

Extra-Curriculars: STAR Tour Guide, Executive Recruitment Board for Kappa Alpha Theta

Can talk more about: Adjusting to life away from home (especially for students not from the East Coast), finding a community, time management/balance 

 

Lilly Swank

Email: alexandralswank@gwmail.gwu.edu

Major: International Affairs and Economics 

Extra-Curriculars: Rookie Chair on the Women’s Club Rugby Team, Brother in Alpha Phi Omega community service frat 

Can talk more about: (Considering) changing majors, LGBT issues, adjusting to life in DC from suburbs, exploring student orgs, mental health support, finding the cheapest food on and off campus (vital)

 

Liz Szafranski

Email: eszafranski@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Major: Geography and Biology

Research experience: I do research in the geography department studying Siberian informal road network changes and threats

Can talk more about: I took a gap year before starting college and worked for the Americorps. I’m passionate about sustainability, food systems, climate justice, plants, and anything to do with the outdoors and nature. I also volunteer as an EMT with GW EMeRG, and I am a guide with GW TRAiLS

 

Mary Oehler

Email: moehler@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Major(s): Archaeology and Biological Anthropology

Minor: Classics (potentially)

Study abroad: Summer excavations to Ireland (4 weeks) and Israel (6 weeks)

Honors Housing: West Hall (first-year housing) and District (upper-level housing)

Can talk more about: Taking classes off-campus (i.e. at the Smithsonians), my experience in a professional Anthropology Fraternity, Kappa Alpha Theta (social sorority, where I’m in charge of education workshops), and volunteering at the National Museum of Natural History. 

 

Matthew Stauder 

Email: mstauder@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: BA – International Affairs (International Development); BS – Economics

Extra-Curriculars: March for Our Lives GW, GW Interfaith Council; off-campus faith-based organization, homeless outreach

Can talk more about: Four-Year Planning, choosing Honors Classes/Professors and creating a schedule, GW student life, greater DC engagement

 

Megan Greenstein

Email: megangreenstein@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Major(s): Political Communication

Minor(s): Art History, Philosophy

Study Abroad: GW Global Bachelor’s Program – Queen’s University Belfast, Bond University – Australia

Extra-Curriculars: DC Through a Lens (photography org), Philosophy Club, Wooden Teeth (literary magazine)

Can talk more about: Global Bachelor’s Program, Four-Year Planning, applying to the SMPA, Origins / Philosophy, studying abroad, the honors program community (the best thing about GW!) 

 

Meilian Kurlas

Email: mkurlas@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Majors: Biomedical Engineering

Extra-Curriculars: Engineers without Borders, George Hacks, Cherry Tree, SEASSPAN mentor, Clark Scholars program

Can talk more about: STEM majors/programs, taking honors courses as a STEM student, stepping out of your shell in college as an introvert

 

Mikaila Loughlin

Email: loughlinm2024@gwmail.gwu.edu

Major: Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience

Minor: Sociology & Criminal Justice

Can talk more about: answering questions about the uhp, helping construct four-year plans, chatting with prospective and incoming uhp-ers, giving advice/input regarding courses and professors, and being a friendly face you can come to with any questions whatsoever 🙂

 

Morgan Drake

Email: mgdrake19@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Major: Nutrition Science (Pre-Med)

Minor: Public Health

Research experience: Nutrition Education, Health Policy research, Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, chronic disease, HIV, and public health broadly; FIESTA4HOPE 

Extra-Curriculars: Pi Beta Phi Vice President of Member Experience; One Tent Health volunteer; Little Friends for Peace volunteer; GW American Medical Women’s Association Advisory Committee; GW student admissions 

Can talk more about: Contract courses, pre-health track, course planning

 

Nicky Cacchione (Peer Advisor Leader) 

Email: nickycacchione@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Major: International Business

Minors: Spanish & Philosophy

Study abroad: Buenos Aires Argentina for half a semester (this semester)

Honors Housing: Didn’t live in Honors Housing, but was a Vernie! 

Can talk more about: Internships/career goals, financial aid, GWSB, and mentorship experience in the UHP Peer Advising program, Beta Theta Pi, and the First Year Development Program in the School of Business. 

 

Nina Bell

Email: ninabell@gwmail.gwu.edu

Major: Neuroscience

Minor: Biology

Research experience: Research Assistant studying the vestibular system in the Neurology Department at GW SMHS 

Honors Housing: West Hall, District House

Extra-Curriculars: Alpha Chi Sigma (chemistry fraternity) (Social Chair), First-Gen United (Peer Mentor), Biology Learning Assistant, Nu Rho Psi, Red Cross volunteer, hospital volunteer

Can talk more about: Pre-Health, Four Year Planning, STEM research, finding balance

 

Parker Blackwell

Email: Pblackwell33@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Major: Archaeology and Classical and Near Eastern Studies

Research experience: Completed independent research on Global Art Crimes in in Fall 2021 and currently researching illicit Antiquity trade in Africa

Honors Housing: I lived in West Hall my freshman year and loved it. I was very close with the people on my floor, and when the weather was nice, I’d do as much of my homework outside as possible.

Extra-Curriculars: Member of Delta Iota Gamma (Archaeology fraternity), Student Rights and Responsibilities Panelist, Member Eta Sigma Phi (Classics Honors Society)

Can talk more about: Exploring student orgs, utilizing advisors and making the most of office hours, and the self-discipline of self-care

 

Perry Santos

Email: perrysantos@gwmail.gwu.edu 

Major: Political Science & English

Research experience: research assistantship through the UHP

Extra-Curriculars: GW Philippine Cultural Society (Administrative Officer), GW Funkers A Cappella, CCAS 1001 (Peer Mentor/Teaching Assistant)

 

Tommy Naum

Email: nauma2@gwmail.gwu.edu  

Major: Biology (Molecular)

Minor: Philosophy

Can talk more about: Anything pre-med/STEM-related, adjusting to a city campus, UHP classes, finding extracurriculars that mesh with your interests, applying for org executive boards/internships/volunteer opportunities, and learning to organize a balanced college schedule (academically and socially).

Like for many of you, the needless murder of Walter Wallace has been difficult to process. As a program, we firmly condemn the countless murders of Black people as a result of racism and systemic oppression. Please know that UHP staff and faculty stand by you through difficult events such as these, and we strongly encourage you to take advantage of the supportive resources available to you as a GW student. We also implore you to continue to educate yourself on issues related to racism and hate, and how to be an advocate for marginalized communities. 

 

GW Resources:

Counseling and Psychology Services 

Multicultural Student Center 

GW Office for Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement

GW Bias Incident Reporting

GW’s Office of Advocacy and Support 

(ttps://safety.gwu.edu/oash

Anti-Racist Resources We Are Reading: 

Anti-Oppression LibGuide: Anti-racist resources

Educational and actionable resources

A Detailed List of Anti-Racism Resources: Book, movie recommendations, and more

 

It’s almost time to register! To help prepare, check out these tips and reminders.

Early Registration Date: Friday, November 13th @ 9AM-11:59PM EST

Early registration is for your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semesters!

Regular Registration Schedule

Undergraduate Students:
Monday 11/16	90 or more credits earned (use your transcript to find your total credits)
Tuesday 11/17	70 or more credits earned (use your transcript to find your total credits)
Wednesday 11/18	50 or more credits earned (use your transcript to find your total credits)
Thursday 11/19	30 or more credits earned (use your transcript to find your total credits)
Friday 11/20	0 or more credits earned (use your transcript to find your total credits)

If you’re not sure when you register, you can check your earned credit hours in GWeb using the following path: Student Records & Registration Menu > Student Records Information Menu > Transcripts > View Unofficial Transcripts. Make sure you’re looking at overall hours earned for the accurate total!

Waitlists

The option to add yourself to the waitlist becomes available on November 23rd when general registration opens. More on waitlists here.

Hold Information

Check your record via GWeb regarding holds prior to your scheduled registration time. Any hold on your account will prevent access to registration. You can view any holds on your account by looking at: Student Records & Registration Menu > Student Records Information Menu > View Administrative Holds.

Make sure to check now and again in the days lead up to registration. Check early, and check often! More on holds here.

Upper Level Honors courses

Remember that if an Honors course is cross-listed, you can sign up for any open section. To ensure that the non-Honors section counts as an Honors requirement, please ask a Program Manager to submit a petition in Degree Map.

Fall Registration Advising

All honors students are encouraged to see a Program Manager before registration. Make sure you are prepared with a tentative course schedule using the Spring 2021 Schedule of Classes and Honors course descriptions when they become available. As new course information and revisions become available, we will update the website. Please re-check the information on the Schedule of Classes and the Honors site before you register to ensure that you’re up-to-date!

Unfortunately we won’t be able to meet in person for advising events and meetings, but please feel free to make a virtual appointment with us online: honorsprogram.gwu.edu/make-appointment. In addition to our regular 30 min time slots, we will also have 15 min slots available starting on November 9th until November 20th. 

As always, your peer advisor is a wonderful resource if you have questions about specific courses, professors, or anything you’d like advice on!

Hello! Here are the links for things mentioned recently on Instagram:

Microaggressions Workshop Sign-up

 

Dear UHP Students,

Over the last few months, UHP administrators and faculty have heard from members of our community expressing lack of support and alienation during their time in the UHP. We are actively listening to students about their experiences and what we hear motivates us to move more quickly to make necessary changes to ensure that each and every student is well supported and able to thrive and succeed in the UHP and at GW more broadly. We sincerely apologize to all of our students who have experienced alienation in our program, and we fully commit ourselves to doing better moving forward. We recognize these issues as urgent matters of justice that call for immediate action, our earnest care, and ongoing commitment. We are thankful to the many students who have shown great leadership in continuing to call for change and we want our UHP community to understand that addressing these issues will be a top priority in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

As we continue to work to create a more diverse and inclusive UHP, we want to inform you of our immediate, short-term, and long-term goals for our program as a whole. Below you will find an initial roadmap for our work, which includes some of the program’s priorities and will be modified and updated as the UHP Diversity & Inclusion Committee develops additional ideas.     

Immediate Goals (Summer 2020)

• Implementation of a self-governed Diversity & Inclusion Committee 
• Participation in #GWInSolidarity by faculty and staff
• Anti-bias training for peer advisors (followed by continued discussion)
• Ongoing curriculum discussion amongst the core faculty
• Begin to work on improving student awareness of GW’s Bias Incident Response system  

Short Term Goals (2020-2021 Academic Year)

• Anti-bias training for faculty, staff and students (followed by continued discussions)
• Improved first-year and general community building
• Working with Admissions to more clearly define our admissions criteria and to improve advertising of the UHP to students applying to GW (including an improved UHP website)
• UHP website page dedicated to reporting on ongoing Diversity and Inclusion initiatives
• Ongoing curriculum updates to first-year courses
• Ongoing discussions between UHP students, administration and faculty to improve diversity, inclusion and belonging with the goal of building trust in our UHP community

Long Term Goals

• Sustaining a welcoming community through programming, yearly anti-bias training, and continued collaborative D&I discussions
• Recruiting and retaining a more diverse student body and faculty
• More variety in UHP upper-level course offerings

We also want to share with you that during the summer, we held our first UHP Diversity & Inclusion Committee meetings. Our conversations were open, honest, and productive. The group is developing a non-hierarchical organization so that students, faculty, and staff have an equal voice in raising concerns, discussing issues, and making recommendations to the program. The faculty and administration who participated in these initial conversations are particularly grateful for the candor of our student participants, and we welcome any additional students who would like to become members of the committee at any time (simply complete this brief form). We will keep the UHP community as a whole updated on the progress of the committee through a minimum of one report per semester (which will be posted on our blog and announced through the weekly Honors NewsFlash).  

In solidarity,
The UHP Administration & Faculty

Professor Maria Restrepo is teaching a second section of ‘Transitional Justice’ (Self & Society course) in the fall. Read more here.

There is still lots of time to add a new course to your fall schedule! Professor Jeffrey Spike will be teaching a brand new Honors Self & Society course titled “Ethics in Public Health”. You can read the course description here.

GW recently changed its policy to allow 5 days after you receive your final grades to change to a P/NP grade mode. This also includes honors courses. If you would like to change your honors course grade mode to P/NP, please submit a grade mode change form to uhp@gwu.edu up to five days after you receive your final grade. 

Please note that some P/NP courses may move to a Degree Map block called “Not Counted.” This means that normally the course must have a letter grade to fulfill the requirement. If this happens, please do not worry. The registrar’s office must manually change all of these; they will get to it! We will also be monitoring honors courses to make sure any are corrected as quickly as possible.  

As always, let us know if you have any questions!

Calling all budding philosophers! In case you didn’t know, Origins & Evolution of Modern Thought fulfills Philosophy major/minor requirements: 

• HONR 1015 counts for PHIL 2111 (History of Ancient Philosophy) 
• HONR 1016 counts for a Philosophy elective, for both the major and minor. 

Also, this is a friendly reminder that if your SEAS program requires you to take PHIL 2135 (Ethics in Business and the Professions), that counts as one of your Arts & Humanities requirements. 

Check in with Ben or Brianna to learn more!

TODAY’S RIDDLE IS:

What tastes better

than it smells?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWERS:

What has a heart

that doesn’t beat?

First correct answer goes to Syndi Nadler with ARTICHOKES! And the best wrong answer goes to Bri Mirabile with “One of Medusa’s victims, or Edgar Allen Poe’s floor.” Tokens for you both!