Next fall, O Street will be a little greener, healthier and have a whole new hip-hop beat.

The 14 student groups, selected by the Office of Residence Life, will bring their creativity and energy to the new Living-Learning Community on the 3600 block of O Street.

Students were selected based upon a proposal they submitted at the beginning of the three-and-a-half-week application period, which began Sept. 29, and were notified about whether or not they were accepted on Oct. 6. Last Thursday, students were given their housing assignments, which were randomly chosen.

“The Magis Row selection process went very well,” Katie Heather, assistant director of Residence Life, said. The committee was inspired by the passion, creativity and diversity of interests it saw during the presentations. “All of the communities have a unique plan for how they will interact with the Georgetown community next year,” she said.

Three of the groups will focus on academics and educational achievement: the Georgetown Minority Achievement Community, Community for Academic Integrity and Education and Literacy in the D.C. Community.

Kelly Hughes (COL ’10), a member of Education and Literacy in the D.C. Community, is looking forward to the opportunity afforded to her roommates and her with Magis Housing.

“We’re really excited about our project,” Hughes said. “All four of us have a strong interest in education and approach it from different perspectives. We’re hoping to work closely with existing Georgetown tutoring programs and to be a central resource for students.”

Hughes also stressed the need to find fun and unusual opportunities for Georgetown students in addition to doing work where it’s really needed.

Other groups, including Latinas for the Advancement of D.C.’s Youth, Beyond Georgetown: Minorities at Work, and the Global and Interfaith Living Community, plan on uniting and working with the diverse communities within the D.C. area.

Lowell Karr (MSB ’11), member of the Justice and Diversity in Action House, said he hopes his group’s idea, along with community service, will help other Georgetown students become more involved in the surrounding D.C. area.

“We want to not only discuss justice and diversity issues, but also to focus on D.C. and motivate Georgetown students to travel beyond M [Street] and Wisconsin [Avenue] and help those in our area who are less fortunate than ourselves,” Karr said. “We feel that most students are passionate about helping others, but don’t really have a good understanding of the situation in D.C.”

Taking a spiritual turn, the Catholic Social Justice Community will be a group based on Christ’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves, according to the office of Residential Life descriptions. The residents will be committed to raising awareness about core principles of Catholic social teaching.

The Women and Spirituality Magis Row House, founded by GU Sisters for Christ, is also described on the Residence Life Web site as a place for women of all faiths to contemplate, discuss and grow in their own belief, which they consider a vital part of personal and professional success.

Two houses, the Georgetown Green House and The Global Health Awareness and Activism Project, will focus on environmental and health issues that impact the global community.

The Green House will work to promote ecologically favorable practices among the student body, while the Global Health Awareness and Activism Project will address global health issues from different vantage points. They will attempt to integrate the programs that deal with global health within the School of Foreign Service, the School of Nursing and Health Studies and the College.

The final three houses, Carroll House, Hip-Hop Justified and the Nobody Home, have varying ideas on how to involve Georgetown students in the surrounding community.

The Carroll House will examine Georgetown’s past, particularly in terms of politics and religion, to see how these elements have historically worked together at Georgetown.

Hip-Hop Justified aims to use hip-hop as a device for social justice and will study the hip-hop revolution’s social, economic, political and racial elements.

Finally, the Nobody House will work to raise awareness about homelessness in the D.C. area and offer aid to those suffering on the streets through their service events.

“Ultimately, the success of the program depends on the commitment of each house and the row as a whole, and how devoted they are to their themes and programs,” Karr said. “If that is accomplished, then Magis Row will be a success and a service outlet for the Georgetown community.”

According to Heather, the full descriptions of each house will be posted on the Residence Life Web site and will be sent out to everyone involved in the selection process and to anyone interested in Magis Row’s inaugural year.

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