One of the most important issues at many universities is the interaction between university administration, students and non-student neighbors. At Georgetown, this issue comes up very frequently in the news—whether it be problems or solutions brought up at meetings of neighborhood organizations such as the Advisory Neighborhood Commission or the Alliance for Local Living.
University-neighbor relations in the District could be critical to the future success of Georgetown. The University is involved in a lawsuit with the Board of Zoning Adjustment over the BZA’s recent decision on Georgetown’s 10 Year Plan. The BZA made it’s decision after requesting Georgetown neighbors submit letters responding to the plan. The BZA then placed 19 conditions on the 10 Year Plan which must be followed in order to maintain BZA support. The University subsequently challenged the BZA in court, claiming that the conditions violated students’ rights.
As is evident from the situation with the BZA, the University must work to create a positive relationship with Georgetown’s neighbors. In the past year, the administration has started various groups intended to improve relations between the University, neighbors and students.
Georgetown residents have both positive and negative commentary on students and their activities in the area surrounding the University. These seven letters discuss what some neighbors view as the most important issues for students to know about. Georgetown-area residents have valuable contributions and critiques of the University-neighbor relationship. This feature is intended to give neighbors a chance to speak directly to the student body; their words will speak for themselves.
“Town-Gown” Improvement
My wife and I moved from Connecticut into the Cloisters West 14 years ago anticipating my retirement in 1990. We chose the location for several reasons, one of which was proximity to the educational, cultural and athletic benefits we might experience from Georgetown University. (I graduated from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service in 1951 but in those days there was not enough room for most SFS students to live on campus, a home sharing a property line with Georgetown is the closest I ever came to “living on campus.”
We anticipated that such a location might sometimes be a little noisy and that beer cans might sometimes appear in our patio—and thus we have not been surprised at some incidents, although unpleasant experiences are always disappointing. What we did not anticipate was the bitterness we found among some neighbors, including alumni like myself as well as former faculty. Over the years there have been problems that have affected us directly, but there have been many more instances that have been enjoyable, not just in the cultural-academic sense but in meeting and knowing students. For several years we drew on the crew team for dog sitters (crew folks are early risers). In short, we more or less knew that living next to a college campus has both pluses and minuses. But we also learned that if people of intelligence and good will put their minds to it, the situation can be enjoyable.
And we think it is and has improved. I’m not sure I could list or analyze all the reasons, but at least two factors stand out. First, the University administration has made significant advances in the last seven or eight years in recognizing and more importantly dealing with “town-gown” issues (I won’t attempt to list all of their positive actions). Second, there has been much more student consciousness of their place in and need to play a role in the community. Student “activism” in the sense of participating, e.g., electorally by running as candidates or supporting non-student candidates, not just in a “let’s get those bad guys” but in a “let’s try to be helpful” way is a very positive development.
We look forward to continuing to enjoy our home adjacent to the University. Things are seldom dull here.
Sid Spencer has lived in the Cloisters for 14 years.
The University’s shortcomings
Young people like to party; older people like peace and quiet. Reconciling the two is not easy, as we in Georgetown can testify. I can easily make a long list of complaints about inconsiderate students, and I suspect students can make a long list about unfriendly residents. But that would be to avoid the main problem, which is a University administration that refuses to provide adequate facilities and support for the social and cultural life of students. Students are forced to pay high rents to live in off-campus housing not designed for their needs because the University provides housing inadequate in quantity and quality. The University dragged its feet for years before building a student social center and then it used much of the space for a money-making hotel.
For that matter, where are the facilities and the University support for a dense network of student groups doing theater (from experimental productions of student plays to Shakespeare), music (from rock bands to string quartets), dance (from ballet to folk) or intramural sports? All of these are standard features at universities to which Georgetown likes to compare itself. At the elemental level, where are the lounges where students can throw parties to which they invite 50 of their friends? No wonder students have to turn to neighborhood bars and streets for their social life. And no wonder Georgetown residents have so little contact with the University: There are so few cultural events to attract us, to let us admire students for their creativity and energy.
Georgetown students have done much to become involved in the community, more than we residents have done to become active at the University. For instance, I salute Justin Wagner (CAS ’03) and Justin Kopa (CAS ’03) for their dedication to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission; Mr. Wagner has been particularly active on issues such as trash and police relations that concern the town more than the gown. The problem is not the students; it is the University administration which refuses to provide the facilities and services students deserve.
Patrick Clawson has been a resident of West Georgetown for 20 years.
What students can do
As a long-time Georgetown resident, a some-time participant in the town-gown dialogue and the parent of a college student, I have observed that the two most important words in town-gown relations are “noise” and “trash.”
Students should remember that their non-student neighbors are generally awake during the day and asleep at night. Turn the stereos and the loud voices down, especially after 10 p.m.
They also should remember that we all have an obligation to help keep our streets and sidewalks clean. This means putting out trash receptacles and taking them in on trash collection days, and keeping the sidewalks clean. Drop that bottle or can in the trash, not on the street.
To improve town-gown relations, Georgetown University students should behave as though their parents lived next door or along the street where they walk—somebody’s parents do.
Grace Bateman has resided in West Georgetown for 21 years. She is a former commissioner on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
Community opportunities
Georgetown students would benefit from learning more about the communities surrounding them. It’s not just about the village of Georgetown—which itself is a diverse and interesting place. Neighborhoods such as Burleith, Foxhall Village, Hillandale and the Cloisters each have their own personality and concerns. Students could learn a great deal by listening at neighborhood meetings and by reading community newsletters. Some issues give good illustrations of the political process at work—something many students come to Georgetown to study—but most activities are just a good way to get to know your neighbors.
There are plenty of opportunities to contribute to community life. Sometimes it seems that we in D.C. have the ultimate democracy—a government that runs largely on the dedication and energy of volunteers. Neighbors are working to improve public safety, to clean up the streets, and generally to get the city government to work properly; these efforts require cooperation, energy and persistence. This fall’s streetscape program to rebuild the sidewalks of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street will require lots of citizen input and planning if we’re to expect anything truly better than what we have now. There are also important charitable activities in our backyard, such as the Georgetown Ministry Center, serving the many Georgetown homeless people, and the volunteer programs that sustain our public schools (Hyde Elementary, Hardy Middle School and Ellington School of the Arts). More student involvement (as well as more University involvement) in such community building would always be welcome.
Peter Pulsifer has lived in Burleith for 11 years. He has been a commissioner for the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E since 1999. His district includes Burleith, West Georgetown and the St. Mary’s building on Georgetown’s campus.
University benefits
Two negative aspects of living next to Georgetown University are the copious amounts of trash generated by group houses and the rowdy, bawdy language and behavior overheard at 3:00 a.m. Have you looked at the ground right outside the front gates of the University? The ground is littered with broken beer bottles.
Have you ever winced as you turned from M Street up 33rd Street and seen the bags of trash (assuredly put out either days before or days after pickup days) spilling their contents onto the sidewalk and street? I wish students would take the extra minute to follow the very simple guidelines for trash and recycling pickup. And if you are smoking a cigarette or drinking a soda, throw it in the proper trash receptacle when finished!
I am also a bit ashamed for the students who insist upon letting the neighborhood know the depths or heights of their curse-inflected grief or joy, especially at 3:00 a.m. Aren’t you at Georgetown in part to polish your brains and souls? You use a thesaurus for term papers, why not think of more creative and mellifluous positive expression when howling drunkenly under my child’s bedroom window? The same introspection serves for the students who have used my alleyway and my car on which to relieve themselves.
That said, I love living next to the University and stroll the campus often, hunting for fish and pine cones with my children, taking extension courses, using the library for research, the track for exercise, the top of the student center for a secret July fourth fireworks viewing platform. I count both students and professors among my friends and neighbors. The University gives more than it takes from our community and has made real efforts to connect to the neighbors. We need to take the “town-gown” covenant seriously and then all will benefit from having a wonderful University in the middle of this unique urban community.
Alison Alten Jia has been a resident of West Georgetown for seven years.
The ups and downs of students
My name is Bonnie Hardy, and I am a 27-year resident of Burleith who has been actively involved in community affairs over the years. I was asked to comment on town-gown relations which I shall do, but first, I want to thank the Voice for the opportunity to do so. I want to tell you how much I enjoy you students. It is always a treat to be greeted by a laugh and a few words as Basset and I walk the neighboring streets. I like your spontaneity, and I admire your energy and your youthful outlook on life. I know you work hard and are proud to be Georgetown students.
Now let’s look at the down side of students living in the neighborhood … There are parties that are too loud and too big where guests come and go all night, trashing of the neighborhood as a result of these parties, rats as a result of careless trash habits and random acts of vandalism. It is this type of behavior that made the D.C. government’s Board of Zoning Adjustment order the University to cap its undergraduate enrollment and mandate conditions that the University must adhere to concerning off campus student behavior. Please prove to me and to others that this type of behavior will not be a part of this academic year—that behavior of past students will not be yours. We as neighbors and you as students can enjoy a pleasant living experience together if respect and consideration are the norm.
I have heard a lot of talk lately from student leaders wanting to help with off campus life. Here are a few suggestions: Assist off-campus students who live in sub-standard houses and pay outrageous rents; help off-campus students make their landlords more responsive to repair work; circulate a list of landlords that have lousy track records; circulate a list of potential babysitters, dog walkers and housesitters that would be very helpful to all the young families and dog owners in the community.
Bonnie Hardy has lived in Burleith for 27 years.
Bridging the gap
Some 1500 first-year students just began their undergraduate careers at Georgetown. I’m sure they were excited to be able to study at one of America’s top universities, to take advantage of the resources offered in the nation’s capital and to live in one of the great historic districts in the country. But many of them also may have been distressed to pick up copies of the campus newspapers and read editorials that told them, for example, that the neighbors think they are “unwelcome and irritating guests in their community,” (The Georgetown Voice, Sept. 6) and that “various community actors are threatening the rights of students.” (The Hoya, Sept. 7) Of course these are editorials and are opinions, but I imagine they are opinions that reflect the feelings of many returning undergraduate students at Georgetown.
I’m saddened that students think they are unwelcome in the community, and I don’t believe it is the feeling of a majority of Georgetown residents. It’s certainly not my feeling. But students should also know that for many neighbors, Georgetown University is defined by the poor behavior of some of its students: late night noise, improper disposal of trash and other inconsiderate behavior that no one would tolerate in their neighborhood. The positions taken by some community leaders that may appear to students to be a form of discrimination simply show the incredible frustration within the community over years of problems with some of their student neighbors.
To me, the top issue is to build mutual respect and understanding between the student community and residents of Georgetown. Students, under the leadership of ANC Commissioners Justin Wagner (CAS ’03) and Justin Kopa (CAS ’03), have made some progress in building bridges to the community. Community leaders also need to build bridges to students. The energy put into the effort to come up with an ANC resolution concerning University students now needs to be continued and directed at actually improving the community-student relationship. One way to measure progress might be to look at the editorials in the campus newspapers next September and see if incoming first-year students get a more positive introduction to the neighborhood.
Len Levine has lived in Hillandale for almost five years. He is a Commissioner for the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E which includes Hillandale, Colony Hill, parts of Foxhall as well as Darnall Hall and Henle Village on the Georgetown campus.
