Students are organizing an off-campus door-to-door campaign to educate neighbors about methods to ensure students receive equal treatment in the District.
At the Sept. 4 meeting of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E, Commissioner Justin Wagner (CAS ‘03) proposed a Students’ Bills of Rights as part of an effort to end discrimination against students living in D.C. The vote was postponed until students and neighbors could further discuss issues of discrimination.
The door-to-door campaign was scheduled to begin Wednesday, Sept. 12, but was postponed until Monday, Sept. 17 after Tuesday’s acts of terrorism directed towards the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
The campaign is being spearheaded by Campaign Georgetown, the student watchdog group for off-campus affairs and the Georgetown University Student Association. According to Philippa Sparg (SFS ‘03), co-chair of Campaign Georgetown, the group is hoping to speak to all Georgetown residents.
“We want to explain to our neighbors that Georgetown students feel like they have been discriminated against, and ask the community to join with us to support our goal of ending discrimination in Georgetown,” Sparg said.
Students who go door-to-door will have a petition for residents to sign which will “ask residents to say they don’t support discrimination on the basis of matriculation,” ANC Commissioner Justin Kopa (CAS ‘03) said.
Campaign Georgetown and the GUSA have also planned a door-to-door campaign for student residence halls. The groups hope to educate students about the BZA ruling and student discrimination.
