Four years can change a lot in a relationship. In the relationship between the University and the Georgetown community, four years can mean a lawsuit, a court order and, last week, the approval of a plan that will move the relationship further down the road. Students should congratulate the University for pushing through the 10-year master plan and gaining the trust of our neighbors.
Many students today aren’t familiar with the fight over the University’s once-a-decade master plan process, when the District’s Board of Zoning Adjustments requires all universities to submit a plan outlining their physical and economic development goals. Fewer still realize that the University has spent their time and resources fighting to get this plan passed without crippling restrictions on student life that would render students in D.C. almost second-class citizens. These include revocations of off-campus living and parking privileges, as well as statutes requiring the University to report student code violations to several local organizations. The restrictions would even have required special registration for student automobiles.
The University challenged these restrictions in court and finally won out after four years of legal battles, and last week the BZA finally approved the 2000 development plan. What is more, the Administration has have spent time working with the community, within the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the Metropolitan Police Department, and through students to improve town-gown relations to the point where this new plan will most likely not be challenged again. This alone could be considered a miracle.
Now, the University can expand and renovate our campus, as well as gain final approval for the Multi-Sport Facility and the Performing Arts Center. The Administration will also begin construction on the new Business School building and plans to build a new science center. Perhaps most exciting, the University has the opportunity to discuss increasing undergraduate enrollment by 389 students. All these opportunities for change and expansion will give Georgetown the ability to cement its reputation as a truly great university.
The Administration’s willingness to fight for the rights of its students, work with its neighbors and now have conversations, as administrators are so fond of saying, about improving the University show that their hearts are in the right place. Students, faculty and administrators alike should come together to make the most of this opportunity.
And of course, when 2010 rolls around, we can look forward to the whole process beginning anew.
