In the spring of 2001, Kathleen Maas-Weigert was named director of Georgetown’s newly founded Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service. The Office of Volunteer and Public Service, which operates the majority of the University’s service programs, was placed under this new expansion. From the beginning, Weigert told the student selection committee that students would be CSJ’s first priority and she maintained that student involvement would be encouraged at all levels. While she may indeed favor increased student involvement, that does not excuse the CSJ’s inability to live up to the promises she made. During her tenure, the relationship between the CSJ, VPS and students has deteriorated rather than improved.
“I think that Ms. Weigert is a great person and a great professor. with great intentions but her goals and priorities are not always the same as those of the students and VPS staff,” said Lizzie Gelber (CAS ‘04).
Weigert’s plans included the institution of “night hours” to provide a venue and equipment for groups to use during convenient evening hours. In an interview this week, she reaffirmed her commitment to students, saying student involvement should be on the rise both in CSJ and VPS. This year, however, Weigert has done just the opposite by cutting night hours, citing demands on the budget and low attendance rates. While budget concerns are understandable, it is hard to rectify Weigert’s issues when VPS is still unaware of the budget for 2002-2003, according to director Suzanne Tarlov.
Developments concerning the van program pose the greatest threat to the continued vitality of VPS. Currently, VPS operates vans for the use of its service groups, and allows access to other student groups upon request. Without van access, service groups would be forced to restrict their activities to Metro-accessible sites, and Georgetown students would be unable to help those located in relatively inaccessible parts of Northeast and Southeast Washington, where need for their service is the greatest.
Currently, CSJ is consulting with the Provost over moving the vans outside of VPS into the Office of Transportation Management or the Department of Public Safety. Undeniably, the vans represent a major expense for the CSJ?$4,000 a year in on-campus parking alone. However, if coordination of vans is moved outside of VPS, it will be difficult to guarantee service groups the vans they require. The best way to ensure this is to keep the vans under the purview of VPS.
The Center for Social Justice remains an important force uniting teaching, research and service, and Weigert is a valuable ally in that work. However, if the University wishes to pay more than lip service to community involvement, the CSJ administration needs to do more than pay lip service to students’ and the VPS staff’s concerns.
