Georgetown resident and D.C. council candidate for Ward 2 Fiona Greig voiced support for some off-campus student housing and university expansion as she announced her campaign against incumbent Jack Evans.

Greig, who has been a Ward 2 resident since 2007, will face off against Evans in November 2012. Evans has occupied the Ward 2 seat for the last 20 years and been historically less supportive of Georgetown’s expansion. Last election cycle, Evans won the seat with 65 percent, according to the Evans camp.

Though she was hesitant to fully endorse the 2010 Campus Plan, Greig said that she would like to work with the university and neighbors to create a practical plan for growth.

“I don’t think there’s enough support for it [in the community], but I do think the university should be allowed to grow, and I’d like to look further into its provisions,” she said,

Greig added that she agrees with some tenets of the current plan.

“I do believe that Georgetown is a permanent institution in this neighborhood, and the students deserve to have a say,” she said. “Even if they’re here for only four years, that’s comparable to the amount of time some professionals stay [in the area].”

In response, Evans said that he supports the university as a part of the District.

“[Georgetown] is an outstanding university and welcome in the community,” Evans said, adding that he has no set position on possible stipulations to the campus plan proposed by the D.C. Office of Planning that call for the university to house all students on campus by 2016.

In regards to neighborhood accusations about raucous student behaviors, Evans said that incidents should be evaluated on a case-by-case approach.

“You can’t generalize [about students],” Evans said. “It just depends [on the individual].”

Greig expressed support for off-campus student housing, an issue that has been the focal point of neighborhood frustration with the university.

“Students should have the right to live off campus,” she said. “I think students should feel proud of the neighborhood they live in and feel that they are neighbors. I don’t want a few bad apples to sour the whole batch.”

She also suggested that she would help Georgetown establish a satellite campus location at the Georgetown waterfront.

“[It] could be very proximate for students,” she said.

But Greig added that she thinks the university’s administration needs to continue to take action such as monitoring party activity to boost its accountability to neighbors.

“The university needs to be very proactive [and act as] a steward in the neighborhood on behalf of students,” she said.

ANC student representative Jake Sticka (COL ’13) said that he found Greig’s willingness to interact with students encouraging.

“[At a meeting in White-Gravenor Hall] she spoke to students, she took questions and she has reached out to me several times,” Sticka said. “I think we need a councilmember to engage with students, and I appreciate her moderate stance on the Campus Plan.”

Sticka said that Greig’s position in regards to the university makes her a unique candidate.

“That’s a significant difference between her and Evans. She really does understand what a key role the university plays in Ward 2 and the city,” he said.

Craig Cassey (COL ’15), the campus captain for Greig’s campaign, said Greig could become an advocate for students’ needs.

“She believes that students should have a voice [and] that we are a main part of Georgetown” Cassey said. “[Greig] is happy to see two student spots on the ANC board [as] she feels we have been underrepresented in the past.”

According to Cassey, Greig’s on-campus campaign team will be promoting voter registration and providing ways for students registered in different cities to switch residency.

Ash Das (MSB ’15), Greig supporter and campaigner, said that the student vote will play an important role on election day.

“It’s really up to us to mobilize [Greig’s] campaign,” Das said.