Historically, Georgetown University’s ten-year plans have exacerbated the already-tense relationship between the school and its neighbors. This year, as the University looks to create and submit its plan for 2010-2020, is no different.
In an effort to avoid any serious clashes with the surrounding community, the University is holding a series of meetings with Georgetown residents to solicit their input on plans as they are still forming. The University hopes to begin ambitious construction projects over the next decade, including an expansion to the often-cramped Lauinger Library and adding a Convocation Center where the McDonough parking lot is currently located. During a late May meeting, residents rehashed common complaints: students’ “attitude problems,” the need for off-campus security patrols, and poor student housing conditions.
Residents have every right to complain, but only within reason. The University’s tentative plan includes several concessions to the neighbors’ demands, including provisions to reroute GUTS buses through the Canal Road exit and possibly building faculty and graduate student housing on the 3600 block of Prospect Street. Some neighbors, however, will not be satisfied until all students are housed on campus for four years. Off-campus housing is the source of much of the tension between residents and the University, and students are not without fault in that. When a Georgetown student moves off campus, he must recognize that he is joining the surrounding community. Simple acts, like introducing himself to neighbors, alerting them about parties and ending them at a reasonable hour, can go a long way in building a healthy relationship with residents.
Too often it seems that both students and residents are quick to assume that nothing can be done to alter town-gown relations. Both sides, however, could make more of an effort to peacefully coexist. Instead of filing complaints with the University and MPD, residents should try talking to students about their problems first. Likewise, students should acknowledge that they are living in a community with professionals, families, and retirees, and make more of an effort to interact with their neighbors on a cordial level.
According to Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson, there is going to be at least one more large community meeting in the fall. Students need to show residents that Georgetown students don’t come from a “generation of entitlement” and that we are fully capable of finding common ground with our neighbors. Students should attend these meetings and speak up for themselves. After all, Georgetown residents are not the only group with a vested interest in the Ten-Year Plan.
