As seniors on Georgetown University’s College Academic Council (CAC), we’ve collaborated with professors, deans and university stakeholders for four years. As first-years, we led the successful charge for each student to receive 250 pages of free printing. Since then, we’ve worked on several academic issues, including waitlist and registration policies, the GUExperience transition and the selection of the next dean of the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS). Through these engagements and more, we’ve found administrators to be remarkably open and responsive to student concerns and insights.
This sentiment, unfortunately, doesn’t fully extend to Georgetown’s expansion to the Capitol Campus.
The Hoya recently reported that Georgetown could lose an estimated $91.4 million on Capitol Campus programs by Fiscal Year 2028, according to spring 2024 projections. Only 40 students are confirmed for the two undergraduate programs at the Capitol Campus for next year. Even with an optimistic estimate of 60 for CALL program participation, downtown enrollment between both the undergraduate and CALL programs next year will fall far short of the 145 initially projected. The 2026-2027 target of 360 downtown students also seems increasingly unrealistic.
Two years ago, while serving on the CAS Executive Council (ExCo), Naveen Shah (CAS ’25) warned about this possibility during the consideration of a new joint public policy degree with the McCourt School. CAC, comprised of undergraduates across the College, raised serious objections to the degree’s requirement that students spend their final two years living downtown, writing in an addendum to the degree proposal we did “not believe the proposal should proceed before these issues are thoroughly researched and addressed.”
As two government majors, we both instinctively understood the unique appeal of studying on the Capitol Campus, but we could never imagine leaving our friends and extracurriculars on the Hilltop. Barring access to MedStar’s helipad, we doubted many students would elect to navigate the commute through D.C. traffic for, say, evening club sports practice. This view was held by Sara Eyob (CAS ’27), who shared that she decided to drop the public policy major after weighing it against her involvement with friends and clubs on the main campus.
Our addendum to the degree proposal was ultimately revised to include concerns from the College faculty before the proposal passed unanimously in November 2022. But it is unclear if the Provost’s Office included this addendum en route to final approval with Georgetown’s Board of Directors, and there was no further communication about our objections.
Two years later, we are still troubled by how this disregard for students has led to an inauspicious start for undergraduate programs downtown. Nevertheless, we love Georgetown and want its ventures to succeed. So how can we turn this $90-million ship around? We have ideas, expressed here independently from CAC.
Let’s get a few things straight: First, Georgetown should diversify its revenue streams to ensure long-term viability. Second, expanding enrollment is one reliable way to achieve this goal. Third, Hilltop enrollment is legally capped, so enrollment expansion requires a new location. But fourth — crucially — most Georgetown students will never (voluntarily) leave the Hilltop.
One recommendation we have is for Georgetown to offer the Capitol Campus as a space for “semester in D.C.” programs for other universities nationwide. Given the amenities, location and Georgetown brand, we expect such a program to be wildly successful and help rectify financial issues.
Beyond the Capital Campus, the core issue is how major decisions are continually left to generations-removed — albeit very experienced — administrators and board members, leading to a level of groupthink that we believe is unacceptable given the stakes. A university boardroom dominated by discussion of fancy amenities and immersive internship opportunities may never realize that most Georgetown students would prefer to live all four years in Darnall than prematurely walk away from friends and extracurriculars.
In our last meeting with the College deans, we requested a permanent student voice in the Capitol Campus decision-making process. But even this would be a half measure. Students cannot continue being belatedly included in decisions on a case-by-case, merely advisory basis on Georgetown’s biggest initiatives.
There’s an easy fix: add a student to the board of directors. Peer institutions like Stanford, Duke and Cornell have all done this with positive results. Even in a non-voting role, a student present at meetings would provide critical feedback that we reckon board members will appreciate, as has been the case in all other administrative bodies we have been part of.
Undergraduates are the heart of Georgetown. We are impacted by every major academic and financial decision, and our contributions are crucial to avoiding missteps. Yet we cannot help but feel our recommendations only ever make it to the doorstep of “the room where it happens.” Georgetown students are diligent, intelligent and deeply invested in our school’s future. Take us seriously during the decision-making process.
Naveen Shah and Pratik Jacob are seniors in the College of Arts & Sciences.
