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.
Its 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, todays 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 GWs 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 GWs 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 stones 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.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu