Last week, Georgetown University Student Association Senior Counselor Sam Ungar (COL ’12) sent an email to GUSA senators and campus media announcing the creation of Students for a Better Georgetown, an independent advocacy group of GUSA members involved in Working Groups for Georgetown Energy, the Social Innovation and Public Service fund, and the New South Student Center. Ungar said the group intends to mount an “aggressive” pro-referendum campaign, encouraging students to vote for the fund allocations.
“It was obvious that all three of the [referenda] should pass, so we wanted to bring everybody together as best as we could to make sure that we are all fighting together,” Ungar said.
Students for a Better Georgetown hosted two town hall meetings this week, and over 30 students knocked on around 1,600 doors in support of the campaign on Tuesday.
“Our knockers were knocking at an average of one door every seven seconds,” Ungar said. “We’re really pushing.”
The campaign, with Ungar as manager and GUSA Vice President Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) as chairman, plans to hold an endowment referendum from the 24th to the 26th for students to vote on the reform proposals.
In Spring 2011, the Student Activities and Fee Endowment, or “SAFE reform,” unanimously passed in both the Finances and Appropriations Committee and the GUSA Senate, mandating that $2.4 million from Georgetown’s endowment, which had accumulated in recent years from the annual mandatory Student Activity Fee, be spent. The advisory board of the Endowment Commission decided to allocate these funds among the three leading student projects—SIPS, Georgetown Energy, and NSSC. The three student groups will be receiving approximately $1.2 million, $250,000, and $2 million, respectively.
SIPS’ funds will go towards investing in student initiatives embodying the Jesuit ideal of “men and women for others.” Any graduate from Georgetown since 2001 will be able to apply for funding for a socially innovative, or public-service-oriented entrepreneurship project. “We think it’s the first in its kind in any campus in the world,” Ungar said.
“SIPS will work to help individual students with non-profit, social, and business ventures to bring them up to scale,” SIPS co-founder Paige Lovejoy (SFS ’12) said. A student committee and advisory council will connect students with experts in their field. Since the University’s endowment includes contributions from Georgetown graduates’ tuition, recent alumni will also have access to the SIPS fund for research and public sector projects.
Georgetown Energy will allocate their money to installing solar panels on University-owned townhouses along 37th Street, and into a Revolving Green Fund. The referendum is projected to establish Georgetown as a leader in sustainability as a university by providing a showcase of houses with solar panels along 37th street. “Tour guides will point at it in years to come,” Ungar said.
The Revolving Green Loan Fund will allow GUSA to make continuing investments in sustainability in years to come. The “solar street,” which will be comprised of seven to nine townhouses and begin construction this summer, will cost about $50,000, and in the subsequent 20 years will generate $100,000 in savings back to students. The remaining $200,000 will be placed into a Revolving Green Loan Fund, which will be administered independently through the SIPS fund.
“This fund is meant to sponsor student sustainability projects on campus,” Townhouse Working Group member Patricia Cipollitti (SFS ’15) said. “Any student can apply for a loan to this fund and, eventually, once the fund is big enough, it will start to give grants for sustainability projects as well.” [Full disclosure: Cipollitti is a staff writer for the Voice.]
The New South Student Center proposal will build an outdoor terrace by New South Hall overlooking the Potomac and revamp the building’s first level into student space. The area will provide space for students to relax, study, and host events.
For each referendum to pass, a minimum of two thousand students must vote on it, with at least 1001 voting “yes.” Unsurprisingly, GUSA members are urging students to pass all of them.
“They are three very different proposals, but they share the common theme that they are going to have tangible and visible benefits for the campus community,” Ungar said.
Voting tables will be set up by Leo O’Donovan’s dining hall. All three of the ideas must pass the 2,000 votes threshold total in order to be considered legitimate.
“I think that these three proposals are such a slam dunk that people will be excited to vote for them,” Ungar said.
