After Georgetown University formalized its off-campus living expectations, a university-run neighborhood patrol more than doubled its proactive contacts with students living in the surrounding area, according to data reviewed by The Hoya.
The Student Neighborhood Assistance Program (SNAP) both responds to complaints and actively patrols for possible conduct violations, including amplified noise. The rise in cases comes as students complain that SNAP unnecessarily escalates disciplinary consequences for noise violations, stifling student social life.
Any formal interaction between students and SNAP staff is considered a contact, which employees may elevate to an incident report if they believe it may involve a conduct violation. In Fall 2025, campus administrators began requiring university employees to submit an incident report for every violation they witnessed, without any warnings.
A university spokesperson said SNAP, which is housed under the Office of Neighborhood Life, plays an essential role in mediating relationships between Georgetown students and neighborhood residents.
“Through the university’s 24/7 community helpline, SNAP responds to a variety of issues and often is able to respond and address concerns before the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is contacted, reducing the chances a student is given a misdemeanor citation,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya.
In Fall 2025, proactive SNAP contacts — contacts resulting from patrols, not complaints — increased by almost 125%. Total SNAP contacts also rose by about 22%, reaching their highest levels since Fall 2021, when Georgetown returned to in-person operations after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nicole Abudayeh (SFS ’26) — co-director of the Student Advocacy Office (SAO), which advises students on disciplinary proceedings — said SAO has seen a marked increase in its workload after the citation changes.
“There was an uptick in students who came to our office for advice about off-campus housing — those are students who are preemptively asking our advocates, ‘What does a SNAP violation look like? How can we prevent getting a violation if we’re having a gathering off campus?’” Abudayeh told The Hoya. “I think there was a renewed interest in getting those answers preemptively and making sure that the process is understood before you actually go through it.”
Ethan Westbrook (SOH ’26), who had multiple encounters with SNAP in Fall 2025, said SNAP unfairly applies citations, discouraging him from hosting social events.
“Any time we have had any sort of thing going on at our house, SNAP has invariably showed up,” Westbrook told The Hoya. “By any sort of thing, I mean anything. We got contacted earlier this year for playing Wii bowling in my living room.”
“We’re not a frat house,” Westbrook added. “We’re not throwing parties three times a week. It’s been absolutely excessive and absurd.”
A SNAP citation could result in formal conduct charges, which appear on official university transcripts. Students living off-campus who receive three conduct violations for excessive noise may be required to relocate to on-campus housing.
SNAP incidents — contacts that are referred to the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) for adjudication — have remained relatively consistent, according to data The Hoya reviewed. In Fall 2025, around 10% of all contacts and 40% of incidents resulted in a formal conduct citation.
Madeleine Callender (CAS ’26), the other SAO co-director, said OSC often chooses not to elevate SNAP reports to full conduct citations.
“If the Office of Student Conduct deems the SNAP report that was submitted to not be worth the level of escalating to something bigger, then the hope is that they won’t,” Callender told The Hoya. “That is something that has been true in the past — that every SNAP report doesn’t become something larger.”
Darius Wagner (CAS ’27), Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) president, said he has seen the Office of Neighborhood Life attempt to reduce SNAP incidents by waiving less-severe cases.
“It’s a really tricky situation where you’re balancing the needs of the neighborhood, but also you’re seeing how some departments on campus are making attempts to limit the amount of things that go to persecution,” Wagner told The Hoya.
Jack Hill (CAS ’29), GUSA’s neighborhood liaison, said neighborhood complaints have been more extreme than in past years.
“They’re getting their parties shut down more for way less noise and for way less activity than it was in the past,” Hill told The Hoya. “I think that it’s being used more as a means to shut down any kind of noise or anything that someone doesn’t like, and I don’t think that’s exactly fair to many members of the community.”
“I think this is just another step in the wrong direction,” Hill added.
Wagner said SNAP is putting unfair pressure on students to be perfect, harming their college experiences.
“Students deserve some alleviation,” Wagner said. “They shouldn’t be subject to such scrutiny and things like that. I deeply care about this because it’s college — you only have four years, and I want to make sure this is the most welcoming and safe environment for folks, and that includes being able to host comfortably and gather with friends.”
Hill said since students have few on-campus social spaces, such as Village A, the threat of SNAP contacts stands to dampen student life.
“I definitely think it has a huge impact because I think that most of Georgetown’s major parties come either from Vil-A or off campus, like at townhouses,” Hill said. “I think that with SNAP calls increasing, it becomes a lot harder for students to enjoy themselves.”
Westbrook said repeated SNAP contacts are beginning to weigh on his senior year experience.
“Now it seems like any time I have music playing through a speaker, even if it’s just the five of us in the kitchen, SNAP shows up,” Westbrook said. “Any time there’s any semblance of noise audible from the streets, SNAP shows up.”
“For me, living off campus, it’s starting to feel like you can’t have any sort of gathering whatsoever,” Westbrook added.
Chloe Taft contributed to reporting.
