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>> The recently fired president of the University of the District of Columbia—who had been criticized in the past for taking expensive trips on the university’s dime—was fired without cause, said his attorney to the Post. As such, Allen L. Sessoms, who was fired on Wednesday night, would be eligible for a full year worth of pay—$295,000—and benefits. The board said it fired Sessoms because its members were unhappy with the direction he was taking and the speed with which he responded to requests that the university be made smaller and more cost-effective.

>> While legislators in Maryland have proposed additional gun control measures, their counterparts in Virginia are saying that the commonwealth should spend more on putting police officers at schools, writes the Examiner. Currently, $2.1 million is budgeted annually for school security, a number that many Virginia legislators say should increase in the wake of the Newtown massacre. Yesterday Gov. Bob McDonnell also created a task force to explore proposals to increase safety at schools.

>> The names, grades and student ID numbers of hundreds of Fairfax County high school students were leaked and posted on a website for anyone to see this week, reports NBC4. Police say that they believe that the hacking of a school server and the subsequent posting of the information—which is private under federal law—could be an inside job.

Briefly Noted: D.C. taxpayers subsidize school lunch program to the tune of $10 million per year … Slain Prince George’s County witness declined offer to move … D.C. task force recommends that every school have a librarian … D.C. government employees to get Christmas eve off, but nothing has yet been announced for the feds … Religious leaders to gather at Washington National Cathedral to discuss gun violence.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, a D.C. restaurant took the name of an infamous Peruvian president and Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) encouraged her colleagues to get on a bike. In 2010, D.C. broke the 600,000-resident mark.