May 10, 2012 – Hi friends. While many students are wrapping up their academic year and beginning to leave campus for the summer, we are busy preparing for senior week and commencement.

As students pack up, we are making special efforts this year to reduce the amount of trash during move out. This year, with help from Holy Trinity, we are collecting food, toiletries, school supplies, furniture, and kitchen items from students and other residents of Georgetown and Burleith. We hope these usable items, which will be distributed through KEYS for the Homeless, will help out those most in need in the D.C. Metro area.

Since some trash is unavoidable, you may have noticed items on the curb marked with bright bulk trash signs. Our trash trucks are still out collecting trash twice a day, and on Wednesday we made our first collection of bulk trash from properties in Burleith and West Georgetown. You’ll also notice a bulk trash bin at Prospect and 37th Streets that students will be using for items that cannot be donated. We’re coordinating with the D.C. Department of Public Works throughout this process and appreciate your feedback if you notice something that needs our attention.

My colleagues have organized some great events for our seniors to celebrate their accomplishments during “Senior Week” which starts Friday. Many events are on campus, but there is also a ball at Union Station and a number of field trips so you may see a few folks coming and going to these special events next week.

Finally, our commencement is next weekend with events on campus staring Thursday and running through Sunday. Thousands of visitors will come to campus and to the Georgetown neighborhood that weekend. We are busy with our preparations for the nine commencement ceremonies that take place in addition to many other events and celebrations on campus. We are working on plans to manage traffic and parking during the weekend. We will have more details next week so neighbors can anticipate the impact of events over the weekend.

If you have any concerns about our preparations or the impact these activities may have on the neighborhood, please let us know. We are working hard to prepare for this weekend, and to make it a great celebration for all of our graduates and their guests. We welcome your input.

That’s all for this week. Until next week – be safe!