On Wednesday night, the Student Committee on Student-Community Interaction held a Town Hall Meeting at Washington International School to present a preliminary list of proposals meant to alleviate the concerns of Georgetown and Burleith residents.
The committee was formed earlier this year by ANC commissioners , and representatives from the Georgetown University Student Association and Campaign Georgetown. Wednesday’s meeting marked the first time the committee met publicly to discuss their proposals.
Unlike many other previous attempts by the University to address residents’ concerns, the proposals offered by the committee try to strike a balance between short-term measures meant to alleviate some of the most pressing concerns of local residents and more long-term measures aimed at a permanent change in the tenor of student-community relations.
The short-term reforms, in many cases, have been heard before: an increase in weekend Metropolitan police presence, and expansion of SafeRides. Much more revolutionary were the committee’s suggestions regarding a lasting resolution to residents’ concerns.
The members of the committee, as well as the community members, repeatedly mentioned a “change of culture” when it came to long-term reform. Just such a change is needed if there is going to be a lasting difference with respect to the issue of off-campus noise.
The question must be asked, however, how such a “change of culture” would affect the Georgetown experience. There would seem to be a disconnect between the feelings of Georgetown students, many of whom came to due to the plethora of off-campus opportunities, and the demands of local residents, who would rather students remained on campus on the weekends.
This disconnect may not be as troublesome as it might at first seem. The “off-campus opportunities” Georgetown students are attracted to are hopefully not parties on T Street, but rather the city’s vast educational, cultural and professional resources. It would not require a major change in the relationship between students, their campus and their city to address complaints about off-campus noise. Indeed, such a “change of culture” could only improve our university, rather than destoy its identity.
As such, the committee’s recommendations with regard to this long-term change are valuable. Particularly encouraging is the proposal to begin educating students from their first days at Georgetown about the responsibilties of living in a residential community. Instead of simply attending a mandatory orientation to off-campus life when one actually moves off-campus, as is now the case, students need to be sensitive to the needs of the neighborhood their very first days as Georgetown students. The committee proposes that NSO and on-campus resident assistants specifically address treating our neighbors with the respect they demand and deserve.
At the same time, students rightly expect community members to treat them no differently from any other adults. Certain community members still take a dim view of the situation, recommending curfews and asking that campus publications list parties busted over the previous weekend. However, it is selfish of us as students to hope for community members to treat us with the respect we deserve, without taking steps on our part to do the same for them. The committee should be commended for making a real effort to work with said community members to bring about a real change in a long-contentious relationship.
