Citizen organizations of Georgetown, one. Georgetown students, zero.
The D.C. Court of Appeals’ June 20 decision to deny the University’s request for stay for portions of the University’s Ten-Year Plan comes as another victory for the non-student residents of the surrounding Georgetown community who view students as negative addition to the neighborhood.
In this summer’s decision, the Appeals Court has thus validated the Board of Zoning and Adjustment’s conditions to making public University students’ disciplinary records, as well as the publication of the license plate numbers of all students’ auto vehicles.
Critics of these BZA-imposed conditions exclaim that they are blatant violations of the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the D.C. Human Rights Act. The argument is as follows: Firstly, student disciplinary and misconduct records are part of a student’s educational record. Educational records are guaranteed privacy under FERPA. Subsequently, the publication of student disciplinary records is an obvious violation of FERPA.
Secondly, the D.C. Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on matriculation. Since the BZA conditions are singling out Georgetown students as a group that needs to be monitored through the publication of disciplinary records and auto ownership, this is direct discrimination against University students.
The aforementioned arguments have been relayed back and forth between University officials and the BZA, the University and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and now the University and the D.C. Court of Appeals. As the University’s case currently stands, it seems as if all of the University’s efforts have been to no avail.
Looking at the June 20 decision, it is difficult not to jump to the conclusion that the District of Columbia has ruled that students do not possess the same rights as other D.C. residents due to their assumed impermanent status. The BZA conditions are just the tip of the iceberg.
For one, it is close to impossible for Georgetown students to get a parking permit in the District. According to the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, a significant number of the addresses falling in the 2A and 2E zones are blacked out from eligibility to obtain student reciprocity parking permits. Conveniently, many of these addresses happen to be residences regularly occupied by Georgetown students. Coincidence? That is for you to decide.
In addition to this, the University has been involved in a five-year battle with D.C. courts to restrict Georgetown students from voting in the District. Several community organizations have loudly advocated this restriction on the basis that a large number of students maintain their residency in the states in which their parents’ reside. Too bad for the number of students who decide to forgo their former state citizenship in favor of D.C. citizenship. Fortunately for students in this instance, D.C. courts have thus far ruled in our favor.
While ANC Commissioner Justin Wagner (CAS ‘03), one of the two students who holds a position on the ANC board, expresses his optimism in the improving relations between the University and its neighbors, not all can be as positive as he.
With ANC 2E Chairman Peter Pulsifer unabashedly declaring his view of the impact of the University on the community as a negative one, it seems as if Georgetown students still have a long way to go before we earn the respect of disgruntled neighbors.
