Sept. 17, 2002

Laying a Foundation for Diplomacy

President Trachtenberg, Chairman Manatt Lead Ceremony to Sanctify the New Home of ESIA

By Thomas Kohout

The cornerstone of the new building at 1957 E St. is level, it is square, and it is plumb — the craftsmen have done their job. So said Robert H. Starr, grand master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia Free and Accepted Masons, after performing the traditional Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony Sept. 5.

The ceremony, the first such ritual performed on the GW campus since the construction of New Hall in 1996, marks the final stretch to the grand opening of the eight-story, mixed-use facility later this fall. Upon its official completion, the building will be the seventh new facility, or major renovation, on campus since 1996.

“It’s most satisfying to see this new building, which will house the Elliott School of International Affairs,” said Lloyd Elliott, former president of The George Washington University and the namesake of the Elliott School. “This new facility will give the school and the University a considerable boost.”

Each tool used in the traditional Masonic cornerstone ceremony has a specific correlation to the values held dear by the Masons and echoed by the University: the trowel, symbolizing unity, spreading the cement of friendship and affection that unites the brotherhood of man; the square, representing virtue, demonstrating the strong foundation upon which to support our lives; the level, representing equality and the democratic idealism; and the plumb, representing uprightness, and the development of the mind, soul, and conscience.

“GW will continue to be an outstanding institution of higher learning into the far-distant future because the values, which are the foundation of this University, are timeless,” said President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. “Indeed, today’s ceremony demonstrates that our priority is the education of talented, active, and imaginative students who will leave here to go across the street to the State Department, or across town to Capitol Hill, or across the oceans to some far distant land. Whether these students are engaged in building democracy, or in analyzing economic policy, or negotiating a land-use agreement, or monitoring elections, they will carry with them the commitment to the highest standards of intellectual inquiry and problem solving, in other words, these students carry with them the values of The George Washington University. ”

Elliott added that given GW’s proximity to the Department of State as well as to Congress, the Elliott School is particularly prominent in the study and practice of international affairs. “International affairs, as nobody needs to be reminded these days, is an important area of study.” He joked that during the early portion of his tenure as GW’s president, that proximity was less of a selling point. “It has become something a of a fable, but in the late ’60s, with all of the protesters in the city, I stopped saying ‘our campus is within a stone’s throw of the White House.’”

The building, composed of eight levels of academic facilities, residence hall space, and three levels of parking, will house the Elliott School and Executive Education programs, as well as the Department of Geography. The academic spaces vary for teaching in a multitude of venues, including theater/auditorium spaces, seminar rooms, classrooms, and offices. The residential component consists of one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites (for a total of 193 beds), common areas/recreation room, and a retail space.
Students began living in the residence hall portion last month. Classes are scheduledto be held in the facility beginning in January.

 

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