Many Hoyas recognize the yellow house one block from the Hilltop Campus. What they might not know is that it houses Georgetown’s Office of Neighborhood Life (ONL).
Inside that yellow house is Gwen Coleman (G’21, G’23), whose mission at Georgetown is to help people understand how ONL is here to help them.
Coleman, director of ONL, grew up in New Jersey with her sights set on medical school. After graduating from Virginia Tech, she moved to DC to try the city she kept hearing about. She worked at a a hospital in Virginia while she contemplated her next steps. When she reached out to a college mentor for guidance, her mentor nudged her toward something she had never considered: higher education.
Coleman had served in student government in college and as an orientation leader and loved it. As it turned out, medicine and higher education were more interconnected than she thought.
“At the core of both is that I like helping people,” she said.
In 2016, she began her higher education career in alumni relations at American University. When a program coordinator role opened at ONL in 2017, she applied, wanting to explore a new aspect of university operations and how universities interact with their local communities. Nearly a decade later, she’s directing the very office that first hired her.
In her role, Coleman serves as the bridge between the Georgetown neighborhood community and the university. She handles all aspects of the relationship, from noise complaints and landlord disputes to students who need legal help or are moving back onto campus mid-semester. She also helps connect students and community members to resources in the area.
After 9 years, Coleman feels at home at Georgetown and loves how the university encourages Hoyas to continue growing wherever they are in life.
“Something about Georgetown feels very authentic to how I function,” Coleman said. “They have something else you can focus on beyond just work. We care about you as a person. We care about how you’re developing.”
At Georgetown, Coleman has never stopped learning, earning two master’s degrees in higher education administration and biophysics and physiology.
Learn more about Coleman, how she nurtures the university’s relationship with the Georgetown neighborhood and her ever-growing Lego collection.
My international background: I grew up in New Jersey, but I was born in southern Africa after my dad met my mom in Namibia while in the Peace Corps, and we didn’t come to the States until I was around seven. I like immersing myself somewhere new, rebuilding a community, learning who I am again and reestablishing connection. I’m not scared of it.
How I describe my role: A lot of people think it’s just the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program (SNAP), and that’s it. But ONL was born completely out of the campus plan. My job is really split between serving students and serving the community, and I think that’s really hard for people to understand. If a student gets a noise complaint, it doesn’t automatically go to conduct. It comes to me.
Why you can call me for anything: We have a 24/7 helpline. Trash, noise, a bike left on the sidewalk, a mattress they don’t know what to do with. It’s a quality-of-life helpline in the truest sense based on how people feel, and that’s the hardest thing to quantify.
What I want people to know about my work: I really do care about everything that comes in. I read every single report and call back every single person. I give people as much time as they need.
What surprises people most about the job: It’s rarely students versus neighbors. It’s usually people trying to live together. A lot of the time, the complaint is coming from a fellow student who has a big exam tomorrow and has been listening to a party for a few hours, but doesn’t want anyone to know they called.
What connects medicine to this work: At the core of both is that I like helping people. People come in whatever state, from irritated and mad to scared. You have to be able to pivot and respond to whatever that is, reassure them and then go figure it out with whatever resources you can drum up. I bounced back and forth between medicine and higher ed for a long time, and even started a physiology degree at Georgetown because I thought I was going to leave. But eventually I realized the throughline was always there. I just found a different way to show up for people.
My superpower: I’m very people-focused. People are so silly and so fun, and that gets stripped away sometimes when you’re at work, and you’re focused or tired or hungry. I have what I call a superpower in getting people to remove their masks. I’ll be on a 15-minute Zoom with someone, and I notice something in his background and ask if he’s in Alaska. Turns out he’s from Alaska. We talked for 10 minutes, and his emails have been so much more open ever since.
What keeps me coming back to Georgetown: I don’t know how Georgetown has done it, but there’s something very special about Georgetown and the people who are here. People are silly, a lot sillier than you think they are. I like finding those interactions and interacting with people in that way.
My very nerdy side that runs pretty deep: I have a Lego shelf. Right now, I’m building the Pirates of the Caribbean ship. I have a Transformer, and I desperately need the Star Trek set because I am a Trekkie, not a Star Wars person. They are two different things. I’ve been listening to K-pop since 2005, so I’m an old K-pop girl, pre most groups people know now. My youngest sister lives in Korea, so I visit every six months. I also just love learning. I’m always on Wikipedia, always Googling something.
My sticker collection: I have commitment issues with putting them on things, so I keep sticker books instead, and the pages are made of sticker paper, so you can reposition everything.
My favorite spots around Georgetown: Somewhere near the neighborhood, honestly — I actually don’t go on campus that much, which makes a lot of sense given the job. I’m also on the board of Georgetown Main Street, so I spend a fair amount of time along that corridor. They put on the flower tour, the chocolate tour, and work to keep the shops and restaurants here — giving out grants, running workshops for small business owners. That strip feels like home, too.
