Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

GUSA Restricts Door-Knocking

Door-knocking for the upcoming Georgetown University Student Association will be restricted to weekdays between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., with the exception of election day, after the GUSA senate passed a recent resolution to restrict door-knocking hours, which was signed by GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) Feb 3.

Any door-knocking outside of the specified hours will be a violation of election campaign rules.

“It shows that GUSA is listening to students,” Tisa said.  “It’s pretty simple and just common sense.”

Senator Cannon Warren (SFS ’14), a former presidential candidate, introduced the bill, which his former running mate, Senator Andrew Logerfo (COL ’14), and Senator Patrick Spagnuolo (SFS ’14) co-sponsored.

The resolution is similar to a past failed bill, in which Warren attempted to pass a campus-wide referendum to prohibit all door-knocking during GUSA Senate and executive elections. The bill, which was introduced in February 2013, failed by a margin of 17 to 3.

“If you ever catch the Senate by surprise or they think you are trying to pull one over on them, they will react very negatively,” Warren said.

“Hopefully, people are going to see how much better their life is,” Warren said referring the recently passed bill. “The people who suffer most from door-knocking aren’t necessarily the people who are having their door knocked upon but the stupid campaign staffers who are somehow roped into knocking on 8,000 doors for a GUSA candidate.”

However, some attribute the large voter turnout in recent student elections, over 50 percent, to door-knocking efforts.

“An outright ban would start taking away from the legitimacy of what GUSA has built up over the past several years,” GUSA presidential candidate and senator Ben Weiss (COL ’15) said. “To entirely ban door-knocking would have been to drastically step back how much GUSA could be able to do for the everyday student.”

The limitation of door-knocking will remove the emphasis from knocking on the most doors possible during campaign season.

“It should actually give the campaigns a breather of their own because now it is guaranteed that only during that four-hour window will people be door-knocking,” Tisa said.

Candidates are hopeful that this resolution will focus the scope of communication between students and candidates.

“I think each year you are starting to see GUSA campaigns that are continuing to innovate and figure out ways to get their message across, which I think is incredibly useful for an informed electorate,” presidential candidate Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) said.

As a previous door-knocker and active member in GUSA, Tezel asserted that he can see how other students, with no direct role in GUSA, can find it vexing.

“I was in GUSA, I was interested in a lot of these issues, so it never annoyed me personally, but I could sometimes see how students could be a bit annoyed by the frequency of door-knockers,” Tezelsaid.

Although the regulation of door-knocking will diminish its prominence in campaigning strategy, Tezeldoes not foresee an elimination of door-knocking altogether.

“A lot of people who vote on those bills are the ones who might be needing to utilize that the next time they are running,” Tezel said.  “I think there still is an intrinsic value in having that face-to-face connection with voters.”

While the bill was centered on protecting the privacy and peace of mind of students, some students don’t hold strong feelings about door knocking.

“I don’t have strong feelings on the policy either way,” Scott Syroka (COL ’16) said.  “Plus, life is too short to waste your energy getting angry about someone knocking on your door during campaign season.”

Eamon Johnston (SFS ’17) is witnessing a GUSA campaign for the first time.

“I feel like I might have preconceived notions of the candidates from very limited interaction, so it might be nice to actually talk to them or talk to someone who works with them,” Johnston said.

Although a poll conducted by The Hoya after the GUSA executive election last year indicated that 58 percent of the 793 students polled specified that they disliked door knocking the most out of all campaign methods, Zach Singer (SFS ’15), another presidential candidate, is confident that students want to know about the issues and happenings in GUSA.

“I have personally seen a big change in the way people responded to GUSA my freshman year and the way people respond to GUSA today, which is a positive change I think,” Singer said. “GUSA is becoming more and more relevant, which means the elections have become more relevant.”

Overall, candidates agreed that it is important for students to be informed about candidates and whatGUSA is doing.

“The way that GUSA has worked is that there are roughly three weeks a year, one week during Senate elections and two during the presidential elections, when GUSA tries to go out and let everyone know what we have been doing and what we want to do,” Weiss said.

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