Eric Roper

Vice President for External Relations Lorraine Voles, who took over the newly created position in February, has tapped a former colleague from Capitol Hill to be her assistant vice president for communications.

Sarah Baldassaro, who previously served as communications director for Sen. Hillary Clinton, will be Voles’ second in command and oversee University Relations – which includes media relations. Voles and Baldassaro were formerly co-workers in Clinton’s office, when Voles was communications director and Baldassaro was deputy communications director.

Voles, who was a spokeswoman for Fannie Mae before coming to GW, replaced veteran journalist Mike Freedman, formerly the University’s vice president of communications. In addition to communications, her new position is also tasked with overseeing the University’s lobbying activities, previously delegated to a separate vice president.

Baldassaro replaces Chris Kormis, who worked at the University for nearly 20 years – eventually as assistant vice president for University Relations – and recently took a job as associate dean for marketing & communications at the Georgetown School of Business.

President Barack Obama came to Lisner Auditorium this morning for the ceremonial swearing in of Attorney General Eric Holder, a former member of the GW Board of Trustees.

In their brief remarks, both Obama and Holder emphasized the importance of following the rule of law and not letting ideology cloud the judgment of the Department of Justice. The comments were likely meant to represent a shift from the Bush administration, which was often accused of injecting politics into the legal system.

University President Steven Knapp met Obama backstage before the event, later describing him as “very warm, very genuine” and “very friendly.” Knapp spoke with Obama about GW’s achievements in public service and Obama responded that new legislation is being developed that would enable graduates to do more public service.

Knapp was unable to meet with Holder, who simultaneously arrived at another entrance. Holder served on the GW Board of Trustees from 1996 until he was appointed deputy attorney general in 1997.

Standing outside the event afterward, former University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg said he asked Holder to be on the Board after meeting him through some mutual friends.

“One of my great regrets is that no sooner had he joined the Board of Trustees than he had to quit because he became deputy attorney general,” Trachtenberg said.

A full article will be posted later this afternoon.

The Board of Trustees approved a $13 million boost to financial aid at their meeting in the Elliott School this morning, slightly higher than administrators had predicted. The body also approved a 3% tuition increase to $41,610, about equal to the past three years.

The amount of financial aid provided by the University rose from $120 million to $133 million. This increase will be funded by the University’s reserve funds, according to a financial report presented to the Board.

See the full story on GWHatchet.com.

Laura Treanor

The full article from the January 26 print edition of The Hatchet is available here.

Updated Saturday, January 24, 6:15 p.m. Sophomore Laura Treanor, 19, was found dead in her room in Ivory Tower Friday morning, according to University and police officials.

Treanor was The Hatchet’s contributing life editor and a member of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority.

A Metropolitan Police Department statement Friday afternoon said there was no apparent trauma to the body. University spokeswoman Tracy Schario said at 6 p.m. Friday that it “appears Laura died of natural causes,” which she said effectively rules out homicide pending a complete autopsy.

Treanor’s mother, Ann-Marie Treanor, said in an interview Saturday that an autopsy had been conducted on Friday night but toxicology results would not be available for at least a month. Treanor, who traveled to the District to identify the body, was told there was no damage to the organs.

Ann-Marie Treanor said in an interview Friday night that her daughter had recently complained of painful headaches and chronic bruising, and had been treated for Lyme disease in the fall – though Laura was not taking prescription medication at the time of her death, she said. She added that roommates reported finding blood on Laura’s nose and pillowcase on Friday morning.

Laura Treanor last spoke to her father by phone at 9 p.m. on Thursday night and said she was going out with some friends, her mother said.

A native of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Treanor was born in 1989 and lived in a quad in the 23rd Street residence hall. A roommate reported the death to authorities after finding her at 8:30 a.m., about an hour before an Alert DC message was sent out. Treanor was declared dead by a Medical Examiner representative at about 10 a.m.

A spokesman for MPD, Sgt. Kenny Bryson, said that officers responded to a report of an unconscious person Friday morning, and later requested a squad that investigates natural death. Bryson added that the death is likely not a homicide or suicide.

Beverly Fields, a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s office, confirmed that the body was transported to their office, and that the cause of death is still pending.

A University statement released at 1:15 p.m. Friday explained that “Because the cause of death has not yet been determined, MPD has technically classified this as a ’suspicious death.’”

A schoolwide memorial is scheduled for Monday, January 26th at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Center.

Treanor, who was Catholic, was a lector at The Newman Center last semester. The center is holding a memorial mass on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in The Newman Center chapel on 22nd and F streets.

In an interview, University President Steven Knapp said the University has been speaking with the family and does not know a cause of death.

“It just tells you once again how important it is for us to keep an eye out for each other and stick together as a community,” Knapp said. “Tragic things will always happen but we try to do everything we can to prevent them and to understand what people in the community are experiencing.”

Treanor is the first current student to die on campus in about four years.

Emily Cahn, Nathan Grossman, Sarah Scire and Alex Byers contributed to this report.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey was taken to the GW Hospital Thursday night after collapsing during a speech at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Northwest, D.C. At about midnight, a Justice Department official held an impromptu press conference in Washington Circle in front of the hospital, surrounded by about 20 television and print reporters.

The spokeswoman, Gina Talamona, said the attorney general was conscious and alert in the hospital. The Post has the full story.

Last month, Vice President Dick Cheney attracted national attention to the GW Hospital when he checked in for an atrial fribulation.