Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy offered post-election wellness programming to students Nov. 6, resulting in online backlash from conservative-leaning media outlets. 

The programming, which offered students Lego bricks, coloring, various snacks and mindfulness exercises, is part of McCourt’s Wellness Wednesday series, which offers students weekly opportunities for self-care and community engagement. Frannie Block, a journalist at the conservative media company The Free Press, initially reported on the programming Nov. 4, accusing the university of coddling its students; her reporting resulted in comments criticizing the university on Instagram and Twitter. 

 Jaclyn Clevenger, McCourt’s director of student engagement, announced the programming over email the morning of Nov. 4, prior to the election. 

“In recognition of this stressful time of year, Wellness Wednesday this week will be supersized and transformed into the McCourt Self-Care Suite,” Clevenger wrote in an email to McCourt students. “All McCourt community members are welcome to gather.”

The longstanding program has previously featured yoga classes, sundae socials, smoothies and coloring activities.

Abril Hunter (GRD ’25), president of the McCourt Student Association, the student government of the McCourt School, said McCourt’s student body values Wellness Wednesday activities. 

“It’s definitely one of those few tangible ways that you can actually see what it looks like for your school to give back to you as a student, even when times aren’t specifically stressful,” Hunter told The Hoya. “We do it every Wednesday. It’s the middle of a week and it’s in that stretch that’s sometimes hard to get through as a grad student.”

Block, however, mocked these resources in her article, entitled “Legos, Cocoa, and Coloring Books for Georgetown Students,” describing them as attempts to coddle an infantilized student body. 

“The only thing missing is a blankie,” Block wrote in her article. “I wanted to ask Clevenger why college and graduate students needed milk and cookies to recover from their stress — and how being coddled in college might someday affect American diplomacy.”

In a follow-up article posted Nov. 6, Block said that the “Self-Care Suite” was intended to indulge its liberal students in the wake of the election.

“This is the Kamala Harris demographic, and the school’s administration understood that its student body would need help adjusting to the fact that Donald Trump would soon be their next president,” Block wrote.

The New York Post published an article shortly after, describing the activities as ones “that wouldn’t be out of place at a child’s birthday party.”

The Free Press and The New York Post did not respond to The Hoya’s requests for comment.

A university spokesperson said that the suite was part of the university’s continued, structured programming to support its students.

“Guided by the University’s Jesuit tradition of ‘cura personalis’ — caring for the whole person — Georgetown is deeply committed to the health, welfare and ultimate success of all students,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “That commitment calls us to offer a wide array of resources for students throughout the academic year, including during midterm and final exam periods.”

Hunter said the self-care resources were not intended to support students of any specific political position.

“The event was announced before the election, even though it was held after the election. Obviously, there’s no way to know the results of the election prior,” Hunter said. “Assuming that, due to political leaning, our student body only has resources because we won’t engage in disagreement is just false. Kamala could have won, and that’s not the case, but the event would still have happened either way.” 

George LeMieux (CAS ’25), a board member of the Georgetown Bipartisan Coalition, an undergraduate student group that facilitates political discourse, said the articles and related backlash are emblematic of recent trends in online conservative spheres.

“This is a very stereotypical thing that conservatives blow up on liberal college campuses,” LeMieux told The Hoya. “Election time is a stressful time — I have no problem with them offering programming to help students de-stress. I think someone from the university should perhaps realize from a PR perspective that doing Legos and coloring might not have been the best way to go about it, though.”

Hunter said the backlash has not affected students and campus life at McCourt. 

“We have really, really strong students at our school and we have so much empathy and understanding and these articles haven’t really impacted students,” Hunter said. “I think it’s just surprising that something like an email that happens genuinely every single week has been taken to such a national level.”