Last week student representatives to the Advisory Neighborhood Council, the local governmental body that handles off-campus issues related to Georgetown students, helped push through a bill of rights that protects students against future community activity that infringes on students.
A good step, students living off campus are probably saying, but that still won’t solve this current dilemma: the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
Campaign Georgetown has launched an aggressive e-mail campaign urging students to contact Mayor Anthony A. Williams and to ask him to reverse recently enacted BZA policies that unfairly target students. One such policy, as the signs which now blanket the campus make perfect clear, is the University’s obligation to call landlords and even parents when students violate the University’s code of conduct. Another states that off-campus housing is not a right, but a privilege that can be revoked for bad behavior.
We’ve told you why these policies are are unfair. By now, you’ve probably seen the signs and determined that for yourself. So now, you might be asking, “Why e-mail the Mayor?”
Mayor Williams appoints members of the BZA. He is ultimately responsible for justifying their behavior to the city. And when it becomes perfectly clear to him that upwards of 6,000 students?who speak for the other 49,000 students that comprise about 10 percent of the District population?take offense at what they consider to be the BZA’s grossly discriminatory policies, he will certainly take action.
“What exactly can he do?” students might ask. For starters, he could indirectly make his views felt in the upcoming law suit between Georgetown and the BZA. As District leader, he could push the BZA to moderate its demands or to even drop them entirely.
Mayor Williams certainly has an interest in preventing a high-publicity court battle that would result in a BZA defeat. This would encourage other universities, whose students are no doubt equally upset over BZA policies, to file further lawsuits against the District. It might also cause District residents to wonder why their Mayor oversees an unelected body that discriminates against students.
Our solution is simple: Follow Campaign Georgetown’s advice. E-mail the Mayor. Mayor Williams won’t act unless we do. He certainly wants to avoid the “anti-student” label, and we have the opportunity to make sure he does.
