Holding posters with slogans such as “Down with the lockdown” and ”$36,000 a year and we can’t visit our friends,” Georgetown students protested the continuing 24-hour lockdown on Wednesday afternoon in Red Square.
The protesters, organized by the Georgetown University Student Association’s Club Union, distributed the office phone numbers of administrators involved in the lockdown policy, so that students could call and explain the shortcomings of the policy to them,
“There is no real avenue for people who are locked out of the dorms to do anything,” GUSA Historian Adam Doverspike (SFS ‘03) said.
The lockdown is a result of a new safety policy implented by the University after Sept. 11.
Students’ GOCards allow them access only to the building in which they live. Non-residents of the dormitory must have the door opened for them and then be signed in by a resident of the building.
GUSA does not support the policy, and stated in a letter to the administration that it is unsafe. Several forums have been held by the administration to elicit student opinion. A revised policy, in which students could access all buildings and 24-hour guards would be posted in dorms, is currently being considered by the University.
Although changes to the policy may occur, some students are still upset about the lack of student input and the slow pace of the changes. Students are also concerned about the possible locking of ICC and the use of an alarm on the south door of Copley.
“I am upset that students haven’t been consulted on this policy,” said Club Union member Lou Caravella (CAS ‘03), who demonstrated in Red Square.
GUSA has had representatives at weekly campus safety meetings this semester.
Although the protest was smaller than the Club Union had hoped for, they are planning on holding more events in the future, according to Doverspike.
Students may decide to distribute the phone numbers in dorms, and the Club Union will continue to vocalize its complaints until the policy is changed, he said.
