The many Georgetown students who spend their summers in D.C. can look forward to the benefits of a less crowded campus, fireworks on July 4, and access to Yates Field House. While most students could use Yates freely over the past summer, anyone who had spent a semester abroad during the previous school year was denied access to the gym. The current University policy is that students must have paid for two consecutive semesters in order to have access to Yates over the summer.
Not only did the University fail to adequately notify students of this policy, but they are also denying students who studied abroad a privilege available to everyone else. All students pay a Yates tuition fee every semester they are on campus, but nowhere is it made clear that this fee is used to provide summer access to Yates. This past summer, students who studied abroad had the option of paying $213.62, according to Yates student-employee Alex Roberds, to access Yates over the summer. In comparison, the fall 2016 fee for Yates is $210, which means that students wishing to pay the fee for the summer would be charged more for a shorter period of Yates access. The current University policy needlessly punishes students for choosing to study abroad, and should be changed to allow all students access to Yates over the summer.
