Members of the campus community pushing to eliminate what they consider to be intolerance against LGBTQ students met with university administrators, including University President John J. DeGioia, this week, but have since continued to voice their demands, saying that they are not yet satisfied with DeGioia’s response.

Numerous students and faculty members sent e-mails to DeGioia beginning last week urging him to take part in an open meeting to discuss their demands. While DeGioia declined to take part in such a meeting, he and Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson met privately with four members of the GU Pride board on Tuesday morning and sent a university-wide e-mail later that day.

“There are no circumstances in which students, faculty and staff should walk in fear because of any aspect of their identity,” he said the e-mail.

The e-mail was sent less than two weeks after a Georgetown sophomore was arrested for assaulting another student early on the morning of Sept. 9 in what is being considered a hate crime. Hundreds of students have since called for several reforms, including extended resources to the LGBTQ community, mandatory events to educate students about the LGBTQ community and a revised LGBTQ working group.

While Olson said that the meeting between DeGioia and the students on Tuesday – as well as two other meetings scheduled on the same day about the group’s demands – was productive, the students present said that they were not yet satisfied by the university administration’s response. They voiced their continued concerns yesterday when about 15 members of GU Pride gathered in Red Square and requested to give to DeGioia a petition outlining their demands, but were barred from entering Healy Hall by the university’s Department of Public Safety.

The protest began as GU Pride co-Presidents Olivia Chitayat (COL ’10) and Scott Chessare (COL ’10) spoke in front of students and news cameras from WUSA9. They demanded that action be taken by Nov. 9 – two months from the date of the alleged assault.

Chessare announced that if the demands are not met by that date, the group would escalate their level of protest. However Chessare said there are no specific plans for what this would entail.

“Six years ago, the Unity Coalition was formed to demand the creation of a resource center,” Chitayat said. “Here we are six years later, still asking for the same thing.”

The protestors, wearing yellow T-shirts displaying the words “I am,” then marched to DeGioia’s office to present him with a T-shirt as well as a petition with more than 1,500 signatures stating GU Pride’s demands.

When they arrived at the steps of Healy Hall, they were barred entrance to the building by about 10 Department of Public Safety officers, who ran to the doors and blocked them. For the first few minutes after the group arrived at the steps, DPS officers allowed other students who were not part of the group to enter the building, although they eventually prevented anyone from doing so.

The students remained outside the building, shouting “Come out, Jack!” and “Silence is ridiculous! Our Georgetown is better than this!”

DPS Sergeant Winfred Walton did not comment on who was and was not allowed to enter the building but said that certain individuals were being granted entrance because of another, unspecified event that was taking place inside the building. When students asked why they were not allowed to enter, Walton repeatedly said, “I am not here to negotiate with you.”

“I was insulted that as a student of this university I was not allowed in simply because I’m wearing a shirt that supports the LGBT community,” said Shamisa Zvoma (MSB ’08), a GU Pride member and a former co-president of the group.

DeGioia’s Chief of Staff Erik Smulson came out after about 15 minutes to accept the T-shirt and signatures on DeGioia’s behalf, telling the students, “We’ll take a look at this and get back to you.”

Several students said they were frustrated that DeGioia did not come out to address the students in Red Square yesterday. “I’m disappointed that DeGioia’s not responding to us,” Chitayat said.

The protest took place just two days after four members of the GU Pride took part in a series of meetings – one with several university administrators, one with DeGioia and Olson and a third with a group of faculty members.

According to Jason Resendez (COL ’08), publicity chair for GU Pride, one of the group’s priorities during the meeting was persuading DeGioia to speak publicly on issues of tolerance and hate crimes. “I hope we’ll be able to convince Dr. DeGioia that a public forum to discuss these issues is needed and demanded by the Georgetown community,” Resendez said before Tuesday’s meeting. “This is something we deeply and truly believe, as do the over 1,300 other Georgetown students who signed our petition.”

Olson said that the meeting was “very productive.”

Chessare said that while DeGioia voiced his support for the group’s interests, he did not commit to any concrete actions.

GU Pride cancelled plans for a public forum scheduled for Wednesday after DeGioia declined to speak at the forum.

University spokesperson Julie Bataille did not specifically say why DeGioia did not attend, but cited scheduling conflicts as a potential reason.

Michael Costa (COL ’09), facilitator for OUTSpoken, a campus LGBTQ support group, was not satisfied with DeGioia’s decision.

“That is unacceptable. We won’t allow this to be swept under the rug. . He’s here for the students; that’s what the school is about,” Costa said.

Tuesday’s protest came eight days after a rally in Red Square, during which GU Pride began collecting signatures for the petition and about 70 students marched to DeGioia’s office to deliver it. Members of GU Pride met afterward with Olson, Director of the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access Director Dennis Williams and Vice President for University Safety Rocco DelMonaco to discuss the group’s grievances.

In the e-mail sent to the university community, DeGioia said he would not tolerate homophobia or discrimination of any kind. “Whether it is homophobia, racism, sexism, religious or other discrimination, intolerance of any kind is an affront not only to individual faculty, staff and students, but to our entire campus and community.” In his letter, DeGioia called for a campus-wide discussion of discrimination at Georgetown.

Olson, who was present at the first two of Tuesday’s meetings, said DeGioia “was very interested and engaged” in talking with the students and that this e-mail “reflected the seriousness of the administration.”

GU Pride members still say they are unsatisfied with DeGioia’s level of commitment. “It was well-intentioned, but it was three weeks too late,” Resendez said yesterday. “DeGioia’s words . are baseless if actions don’t back them up.”

Williams, who attended the first meeting with GU Pride members on Tuesday, said he expects the formation of a revised working group to be at the center of future discussion.

“I do not know what is the current status of that group, but I do know it can benefit from this opportunity to get students re-engaged,” Williams said. “I find the points in the Pride petition to be reasonable and entirely worthy of the serious consideration they are receiving.”

In terms of how the revised group will function, the administration is “still working through who’s going to be part of it,” Olson said.

After Tuesday’s meeting, a commitment to further discussion was confirmed, and according to Olson, a follow-up meeting is going to be scheduled. Zvoma said that no specific follow-up meeting had been planned as of yesterday.

Members of GU Pride, however, said they feel their demands have not been met with immediate action. “He says he’s an ally, but that means more than giving lukewarm commitments,” Chessare said of DeGioia at yesterday’s gathering in Red Square.

“The next step will be to build pressure from all aspects of the Georgetown community: from the students, from our parents, from alumni and from allies outside the gates,” Resendez said. “At this point, change is the only thing we’ll accept.”