After two hate crimes this fall and a foiled attempt by a student LGBT group to deliver a petition to him, Georgetown University President John DeGioia announced last night that the school will have a dedicated LGBTQ resource center by next fall.

Scott Chessare, co-president of Georgetown’s LGBT student group GU Pride, called the announcement a win and said to the Georgetown Voice, “I don’t think we would have believed less than two months ago that there would be so much institutional change in such a short amount of time.”

On National Coming Out Day, student protesters wore yellow shirts that said “I am” and marched to President DeGioia’s office to present him with a yellow shirt and a petition for the LGBTQ resource center. Public safety officers prevented them from entering the building.

The first alleged hate crime of the school year occurred September 9 on 36th Street between O and P streets, just outside the campus boundaries. Student Phillip Cooney was arrested by the MPD on September 27 and charged with assaulting another Georgetown student and yelling homophobic slurs at him. Students were notified of the crime nearly three weeks after the fact. This spurred protests and meetings with University administrators.

A second incident took place October 14. Two unknown men followed the victim from the steps of Lauinger Library to Healy Hall; both buildings are on campus. The two men pushed the victim into the side of a building and made homophobic slurs against him, however the victim doesn’t consider it a hate crime.

Photo by rachaelvoorhees.