Georgetown University will host a meeting of all the student body presidents in the District of Columbia Wednesday night in the GUSA Seminar Room.

According to GUSA President Ryan DuBose (COL ’02), who will chair the meeting, the D.C. Metro University Student Alliance meeting will address the issue of student discrimination in the area, as well as introduce a motion to lobby the federal government for tax-free textbooks for students.

“We’re trying to figure out how all the universities in the District of Columbia can join forces and work together on the issues we are all facing,” DuBose said. “We ultimately want to find a way for all student leaders to work together.”

Wednesday’s meeting will be the second of the year, and DuBose said that organizers plan to convene every month at a different university.

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, DuBose and other student leaders considered postponing the meeting, but after speaking to other universities decided to hold the meeting as scheduled.

“We want to talk about the responses to the attack while it’s still fresh in our mind,” DuBose said. “There was lots of support that week and the week after the attack – we we’re all in contact with each other when we heard about the bomb threats at American and the crises elsewhere. We want to build an infrastructure to support each other in case something like this ever happens again.”

On behalf of Campaign Georgetown, Junior Class Representative arty LaFalce (COL ’03) will make a presentation to gain support for the student bill of rights, a resolution that was presented to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission last month. According to its proponents, the resolution is a positive affirmation of student rights intended to open the door for future discussion regarding the reality of student discrimination.

Schools that will be participating in the meeting include American University, George Washington University, George Mason University, Catholic University, Howard University, Gallaudet University, Marymount University, University of the District of Columbia and Trinity College.

D.C. MUSA meetings began at the end of last year, but DuBose the organization was unable to make any significant accomplishments until a constitution was formalized.