In early November of 1833, Jesuit scholastic Charles Lancaster took a group of students to the Capitol to observe a session of Congress. During the return trip to Georgetown, one of the students, Virginus Newton, began stopping at saloons despite Lancaster’s repeated admonitions. Lancaster reported Newton’s misbehavior, and he was promptly expelled. 

The "Ki Yi Yi" Revolt was a student riot that took place in early 1850. Originating with a dispute between the administration and the Philodemic Society, the revolt culminated with a series of riots and expulsions that led students to leave campus and issue demands to the administration. Ultimately, students returned to campus and ended the revolt when the administration agreed to revoke the expulsions in exchange for apologies from the expelled students.

Protests Erupt

On May 15, 1963, on the eve of final exams, several hundred students left their dorms and assembled in Healy Circle. There they aired a list of grievances that included administrative secrecy regarding use of fees and tuition, mediocre quality of theology courses, oppressive disciplinary measures, and deplorable quality of the cafeteria food.

Georgetown's relationship with Nike has been the subject of repeated student protests due to wage and working conditions in the company's factories. In the late 1990s and mid-2010s, students conducted sit-ins at the university president's office to demand more rigorous monitoring of Nike's factories.

The Lemon Day Protest was a student protest against tuition and fees increases in 1973. Students piled lemons in front of Fr. Robert Henle, S.J.'s office to protest the university's decision.

In April 1986, the Georgetown University Student Coalition Against Racism (SCAR) and the Progressive Student Union (PSU) launched a series of protests regarding the University’s investment in American companies that profit from business in apartheid-era South Africa. At the time, Georgetown’s holding in these companies, an estimated $28.6 million, represented 16% of the University’s endowment.

In the spring of 1970, Georgetown experienced a wave of student and faculty protests in response to the invasion of Cambodia and the Ohio National Guard's shooting of student protesters at Kent State. The protests led to unprecedented academic disruption, and finals were optional for the first time in school history.

Over the years, the students of Georgetown University have taken a stand against the invitation of certain individuals to come to campus and speak. Georgetown students have a history of protesting through the disruption, and at times, the forced cancellation of planned speeches. 

H*yas for Choice, often known as HFC, is a pro-choice student organization at Georgetown. Due to tensions between the club's pro-choice advocacy and the University's adherence to official Catholic doctrine, which opposes both contraception and abortion, HFC has not received University funding since the 1990s and is the only on-campus supplier of contraceptive products.

Georgetown University Right to Life, sometimes known as RTL, is a pro-life student club. Right to Life plays a major role in organizing the Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life, an annual pro-life conference held at Georgetown.

GU Pride is a student organization for LGBTQ students at Georgetown. Founded in the 1970s and formerly called Gay People of Georgetown University (GPGU), the organization successfully sued for University recognition throughout the 1980s.