A Message from Olivia and Jon - Our Mission Statement

A’s are great, but C’s get degrees—the slogan of the Kleier/Pejo campaign plays on a refrain of many burnt-out, stressed-out college students working to over-exertion based on the belief that a degree from a top-ranked university will guarantee them a job and a happy life. While the campaign does not promise the same life-long benefits that the adage would suggest, our “A’s” (accountability and accessibility) and our “C’s” (community, conversation, cooperation, and change) do promise to build a stronger sense of community life and life in the community on Georgetown’s campus.

Our vision of “community life” is grounded in the de-emphasis of the oft-cited “toxic club culture.” “Toxic club culture” refers mainly to the strenuous application and interview process conducted by what are perceived as Georgetown’s most “elite organizations.” The campaign believes that, while not intentionally malignant, this process not only fosters campus cliques and exclusivity but also degrades the standing of other non-application organizations. Specifically, cultural clubs (organizations mostly comprised of students from one cultural group) bear the brunt of marginalization. They are often viewed as “cliques” in and of themselves—the students of x identity group wanting to “stick with their own.” Despite this claim, the mission statements of most cultural groups feature commitments not only to building communities within Georgetown but also to sharing the culture of that community with the larger student body. The heart of the campaign is to emphasize that cultural groups are not an afterthought but, rather, contribute actively to the overall culture of Georgetown’s campus.

Therefore, as the campaign encourages cultural clubs to be recognized as equal partners in making up campus culture, the campaign also encourages Georgetown and its students to make a positive change in the culture of Washington, D.C.—in other words, to have a “life in the community.” “Life in the community” means living up to the cliché of “breaking the Georgetown bubble,” which means engaging with the larger D.C. and DMV (District-Maryland-Virginia) culture. Oftentimes, “breaking the bubble” stops at the waterfront, at Wisconsin Avenue, at the National Mall and Smithsonian Museums; however, D.C. and the DMV are also comprised of the communities outside of the affluent neighborhoods and federal property: the D.C. area is as diverse as any other major American city and the reduction of the city’s culture to “politicians and lobbyists”—“the Swamp,” as it has come to be known—is not only a gross simplification but also an offensive one. Working with cultural organizations on campus will serve to bring the privilege and resources of Georgetown beyond its granite gates.

Which leads us to our report card: A’s are great, but C’s get degrees. Accountability and accessibility are our A’s because they have always been the cornerstone of GUSA Executive Administrations. Past campaigns have emphasized the weakness of GUSA in these areas and have promised to restore the university administration’s accountability and accessibility to students and GUSA’s accountability and administration to the student body. This campaign builds on those promises by making them our A’s—the things in which we aspire to be truly and recognizably excellent. Accountability and accessibility, however, are baseline assessments of any standard administration: this campaign’s promise is to go beyond the “bottom line” and raise our C’s into A’s. This campaign feels that the C’s—community, conversation, cooperation, and change—are lacking. The work this campaign will perform, even in the time leading up to the election, involves reaching out to students from all cultures and areas of interest to foster participation (community); building respectful, comfortable, and fruitful relationships between those different groups (conversation); and mobilizing that community to work together to reach those goals of inclusive community and life and active engagement with life in the community (cooperation).

Ultimately, this campaign is pledging to work for genuine, meaningful, and tangible change. Georgetown is presented with an extremely unique opportunity—both within its walls and outside in the larger national conversation. Over 50% of Georgetown students (classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025) will have been on campus for less than a year or not at all. As with the country, there is a choice whether to return to “normal life” as it has always been, or embrace the momentous movements of the last eight months and work to create a more welcoming, more inclusive, more equitable, and more just community where every student—every individual—feels the power and importance of their singular voice. We—the Georgetown student body—do not have to restore “things as they were,” bending to old stereotypes and preconceptions. With dedication, hard work, and, most importantly, joy, we can remake ourselves as a positive force in our community, in D.C., and in the nation.