Students upset over the University’s new alcohol policies may be surprised to learn that many Georgetown community members are as upset as they are.
Over the past three weekends, more and more students have been traveling off campus to find parties, according to Burleith residents. Students and community members alike believe that this migration and the disruption it causes in the community are a direct results of the changes in the University’s alcohol policies.
“There’s always an increase in parties at the beginning of the year, but this year it seemed that the intensity also increased dramatically,” Lenore Rubino, President of the Burleith Citizens Association, said.
Ed Solomon, Chairman of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission of Georgetown, noted a substantial increase in e-mails over the past several weekends about the noise associated with parties, and said that “the natural progression will be for parties to move off campus,” as a result of the change in campus policy.
Director of Student Affairs Charles VanSant admitted that the University did receive a “significant” number of hotline calls and e-mails over Labor Day weekend, but would not to say that the increase was due to the policy changes.
“I have a real problem with people saying that anybody is forcing students off campus,” VanSant said. “By going off campus, a student is saying that ‘the most important thing for me is to drink,’ which I think is sad.”
However, Matthew Hammel (COL ’10), of the group ‘Work Hard Play Hard—GU Students for Stopping the Madness,’ disagrees with VanSant’s assessment of the situation.
“Students are in fact being forced off campus, as many fear suspension, threatening tactics by DPS and now arrest,” he said in an e-mail, making reference to the increased Metro presence around campus this past weekend.
Regardless of why students are seeking off campus parties, many residents living near the University were not aware of the new campus policies until large numbers of students appeared in the streets near their homes.
Rubino said that though the new policies did not occur “out of the blue,” she was not aware of them until after students arrived back on campus, and was informed of them by Jenna Lowenstein (COL ’09), the student Commissioner on the ANC.
“From the neighbors’ perspective, this represents an inexcusable policy that really disregards their interests,” Lowenstein said.
According to Lowenstein, many citizens stood up during the September ANC meeting to express their concerns about not being consulted about the policy changes, which would affect the community as a whole.
The idea that the policy changes do not apply once students leave campus concerns both community members and students alike.
Lowenstein noted that student safety is her main concern as the burden of the party scene shifts from on-campus to off-campus. Other community leaders have expressed similar concerns.
“I think that the University should exhibit the same concern for students living off-campus as students living on-campus,” Bill Skelsey, ANC Commissioner for West Georgetown, said. “I don’t think the University should stop caring about what students do after they leave Healy Gates.”
Many community members are frustrated with how the University is handling the situation and, much like students, lament that the University did not inform them of the impending changes.
“The University should engage the community as well as the student body in the discussion because I don’t think that anyone was consulted,” Skelsey said.
According to VanSant, he and other administrators have been meeting with small groups of community members over the past several weeks. Student groups such as ‘Work Hard Play Hard,’ and leaders of the Student Association have also been meeting with administrators, seeking a “temporary moratorium” on the new rules.
It seems that Hoyas and neighborsshy;—often at odds—have found themselves on the same side.
“The students and community members don’t always get along, but this is an issue that students and the community agree on,” Lowenstein said.
