Noise violations top the list of concerns for a new “task force” of University administrators and neighborhood residents, according to Citizen Association of Georgetown President Denise Cunningham’s March newsletter.
“The escalation of noise in the neighborhood is an issue that needs to be constantly addressed,” Cunningham said in an interview.
The group, which has officially met once, was created after neighborhood residents met with University representatives four times throughout the past year. Its members include Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Jeanne Lord and Jenna Lowenstein (COL ‘09), who represents Georgetown students on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC).
After the formation of the working group, University President John DeGioia invited the group for a breakfast meeting, which, according to Cunningham’s March letter to CAG members, was “very productive” and “not just a meet-and-greet encounter.”
Lord described the breakfast as “just an opportunity to hear their concerns and assure them that we are always taking their concerns into consideration.”
Lowenstein said that she and the working group already have preliminary plans to better educate students on noise violations.
“In the past, [students] assumed that [noise] citations were like parking tickets, but really [the citations] bring with them an arrest record that needs to be reported on future job and grad school applications,” Lowenstein wrote in an e-mail.
Cunningham said that noise had become such a concern that CAG convened a meeting earlier this month with “residents of 36th street, University representatives, the Metropolitan Police Department and the ANC about the huge escalation of unruly behavior in that neighborhood.”
“What was really productive about this meeting is that this was a real chance for residents to air their concerns, especially to the MPD,” Cunninghman said, adding that Lowenstein was the only student who was invited to the meeting.
Both Lord and Lowenstein indicated that Georgetown University Student Association President Pat Dowd (SFS ‘09) may soon be invited to join the working group.
Dowd, a member of CAG, said he was not yet aware of this invitation, but was familiar with the challenges that noise posed to neighbors and students.
“When me and my roommate would throw parties we would let our neighbor know beforehand and we would try to find a mutually agreeable time to end the party,” Dowd said. “I found all our neighbors are pretty reasonable. At the same time, we understand that sometimes they feel, ‘If the party goes past one, we’re not gonna call you, we’re just gonna call the cops.’ We understand that there’s a threshold we’re not supposed to cross.”
