The Georgetown University Legislative Advocates seek to redefine their role this semester, heading beyond the gates to expand their political impact on Capitol Hill.

According to club co-presidents and twins Joey and Ronnie Christie (COL ’12), the group, whose 11 members are trained as lobbyists, aims to be a resource for other student organizations across the District.

On March 18, they are planning to distribute letters on Capitol Hill that will detail the group’s future intentions. Key among these is facilitating communication between Georgetown and other District universities’ students groups. GULA’s Outreach and Partnership Director Allison Theveny (COL ’14) has contacted DC Students Speak, a similarly minded group geared at upholding students’ rights, in order to coordinate their efforts.

The Christies hope to be able to extend their reach beyond just student organizations, however. They also want to make their voice heard on major national policy issues.

“We’re definitely trying to be a resource, but we’re trying to branch out,” said Joey.

Particular targets are the possible federal budget cuts and their effect on Pell Grants, a form of federal financial aid. GULA plans to begin advocating for government spending on education through a student letter writing campaign.

The new stress on federal issues is part of a larger attempt to increase GULA’s presence in the D.C. community.

“If we mobilize the youth vote, we can get progress made,” Ronnie said.

While the Christies have set lofty goals for the organization, they do not expect to be able to fulfill all of them. Rather, they said, it’s about creating a precedent.

“We’re not going to see GULA become what we want to see it become, so we’re prepping a foundation,” Ronnie said.

Established on a bipartisan ground, GULA has tackled a variety of issues in the past. The club has previously focused more on on-campus issues, such as the maintenance of Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle bus routes, the institution of wireless Internet around the school and increasing space available for student meetings. It also works to partner with organizations that need legislative help.

“We rely on different legislative issues to come up,” Ronnie said.

This semester, GULA has found a potential policy project partner in Georgetown Energy, a club championing solar energy in D.C. Theveny is currently in talks with the club about the possibility of a future collaboration.

As a symbolic measure to compliment their broader goals, GULA has also unveiled a new club logo. The Christies are currently working on branding GULA and hope to be a much larger presence at the Student Activities Commission Fair next fall with the help of fortified marketing campaign.

“Before that, all we had was a cardboard sign,” Joey said.