The junior and senior class committees and the Office of Off-Campus Student Affairs co-sponsored a forum on off-campus issues last night in the Leavey Center Program Room.

The forum focused on the relationship between Georgetown students and residents of the community living close to student housing, both on and off campus.

Much of the forum’s discussion revolved around noise and other unruly behavior associated with student parties and the effect such behavior has on the greater Georgetown community.

The discussion took on a question-and-answer format in which three panel members presented information and responded to arguments and issues raised by students in the audience. The panel included John Daly, the area coordinator of the Georgetown University Townhouses, Director of Off-Campus Student Affairs Jeanne Lord and Lt. Brian Bray of the Metropolitan Police Department’s 2nd District.

Daly led the discussion and stressed the idea that students should pay particular attention and respect to their non-student neighbors. He noted that many residents have far different schedules and different hours than students and said that students should consider how their actions might affect their neighbors.

“I hope you [the students] will pay particular attention to the people who aren’t affiliated with the university, get to know them, introduce yourself and really think about how what you’re doing in your home affects their daily life,” he said.

Daly said that one of the biggest complaints that he hears from residents is about excessive noise from students. He pointed out that families with small children are significantly affected by noisy student neighbors. One woman Daly spoke with said her two year-old child is often awakened late at night by the sound of students yelling while playing video games.

Daly also urged students to take the time to say a word to their peers who may be acting irresponsibly.

“I think that you as peers have a much greater impact on each other than I would ever have as an administrator,” he said. “I ask you not just to police yourself but to police your friends.”

Lord emphasized that most students and residents are reasonable and respectable and that it is a minority of both parties who are causing many of the problems. “It is unfortunate because the tensions have reached such a point that both groups – the university and the people out in the community – are trying to characterize the other side in a very, very narrow way,” she said.

Lord also described several measures that are in place to prevent direct confrontations between Georgetown students and local residents. One such measure is a hotline that residents can call from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., Thursday through Saturday, to report unreasonably loud parties. Operators then attempt to get in touch with the host of the party and to advise them of the complaints. If the operators are unsuccessful in the reaching the hosts, members of the Student-Neighborhood Assistance Program are dispatched to find the party in question and, if they deem it necessary, tell the hosts to tone down the noise level.

Lord also explained that the university has tightened its off-campus housing sanctions for unreasonably loud parties. The off-campus regulations are nearly as stringent as those for on-campus housing. The first offense results in party privileges being revoked for a specified period as well as possible fines and work sanctions. The second offense carries disciplinary probation in which deans and parents are notified and co-curricular sanctions are imposed in addition to fines and work sanctions. She recognized, however, complaints against students are not always warranted and administrators do their best to make fair and appropriate assessments of individual situations.

Bray emphasized that the police department serves the interests of both community members and students. “The police department is not just here for the citizens that own these houses, we’re here for you guys too.”

He recognized that residents occasionally make false or exaggerated claims against students and said his officers are sensitive to such occurrences. He also acknowledged that non-students in the community engage in loud and disorderly behavior as well and that the police department treats these offenses in the same manner as student offenses.

Bray also highlighted several pertinent laws that are important for students to be aware of. He explained that noise violations carry a $300 fine and that officers are not obligated by law to warn students before issuing this fine. It is up to the officers’ judgement to determine just how much noise constitutes a fine. Bray also said that the hosts of parties are responsible for any underage drinking that occurs in their residence.

Bray said he understands that hosts of parties cannot always control underage drinking and who enters and exits their residence.

“We try to be reasonable, we try to be fair about it. We don’t want to unduly punish people,” Bray said.

Related Links

 GUSA V.P. Submits Proposal To Help End GU-Neighbor Relations Problems (10/20)

 Neighbors Seek Disclosure Of GU Student Information (10/17)

 More Neighbor Problems for GU (9/29)

 Meeting Aims To Address Concerns (9/29)

 Neighbors File Suit Over Noise (9/22)