Approval of Georgetown’s 20-Year Campus Plan

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:

I am writing today to share that on December 1, 2016, the DC Zoning Commission unanimously approved our University’s 20 year Campus Plan.

Campus plans are the formal regulatory process universities in residential zones in the District of Columbia must undergo to forecast their anticipated enrollment and development.  Campus Plans have historically forecast development over 10 year periods; ours is a 20-year plan, spanning 2017-2036.  The plan reflects our University’s ongoing master planning initiatives: future academic programs and a vibrant living and learning community; a strategic student housing renewal program with a focus on renovations; and a comprehensive, results-based program to manage off-campus activities.  I invite you to learn more about our Plan.

I am deeply grateful to all those who came together through our Georgetown Community Partnership (GCP)—established in 2012 to facilitate consensus-based decision making among University and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital administrators, faculty, staff, students, and leaders in our Washington, D.C. community—to create this collaborative plan.  Developing a comprehensive plan that meets the needs of all stakeholders is challenging, and the unanimous approval by the DC Zoning Commission reflects an extraordinary commitment to dialogue and engagement from all who were involved.

The Plan was informed through an open engagement process through which members of our University and DC communities had the opportunity to review the plan and contribute their feedback.  In June, a complete draft of the proposed 2017 Campus Plan was shared with our University and neighborhood community for public review and comment.  Our University responded to all comments received and made several changes to the Plan in response to these comments.  The draft Plan was also presented and discussed at numerous briefings for the members of the University community and neighborhood organizations, as well as local and federal agencies throughout the spring and summer of 2016.  In September we were grateful to receive the unanimous approval of the Campus Plan from Advisory Neighborhood Commissions 2E and 3D, which immediately surround campus, and to receive statements of support by the Foxhall Community Citizens Association, Burleith Citizens Association, and Georgetown Citizens Association. 

I cannot begin to express my appreciation to Ron Lewis, Chair of ANC2E, and Christopher Augostini, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Georgetown University, for their leadership as co-chairs of the GCP, as well as the members of the DC Zoning Commission, the District of Columbia Office of Zoning, the Office of Planning and the District Department of Transportation.  I also wish to thank all our students—especially those who served as members of the GCP—for their dedicated and thoughtful work and feedback on the plan over the past four years.

Thank you all again for your exceptional efforts.  We look forward to all we can accomplish together in the time ahead.

You have my very best wishes.

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia