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Georgetown University

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Georgetown University is a private university in the United States, located in Georgetown, a neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is both the oldest Roman Catholic and oldest Jesuit university in the United States, having been founded on January 23, 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. It is a member institution of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. It is incorporated as The President and Directors of Georgetown College.

Georgetown University is globally recognized for the strength of its academic programs. The university currently has 6,719 full-time and part-time undergraduate students, 4,193 full-time and part-time graduate students on the Main Campus, 1,992 students at the Law Center and 748 students in the [School of Medicine] as of 2005-06. The university employs approximately 1,166 full-time and 534 part-time faculty members across its three campuses.

Contents

History

The spires of Georgetown University rise above the Potomac
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The spires of Georgetown University rise above the Potomac

The founding date is the subject of some controversy. For a time, the university claimed 1634 as its founding date, this being the year that Jesuit education began in what is now Georgetown. The year can be seen carved in stone above the entryways of Copley Hall and White-Gravenor Hall, where a stained glass window also reads "Est. 1634." If one takes this as the university's founding date, Georgetown is the oldest university in what is now the United States, predating Harvard by two years. Construction on the surviving buildings of the formal college began in 1788, the first student was admitted in 1791, and classes commenced in early 1792. The date that is now officially recognized, 23 January 1789, is when the Jesuit order acquired the title to the land that became the core of the campus. Interestingly, the Jesuit religious order was under prohibition or suppression during the period of Georgetown's founding, and was restored only in the early 19th century.

The main campus's location was briefly in Montgomery County, Maryland before the Georgetown area, including the campus, was absorbed into the District of Columbia in 1790 (See History of Washington, D.C. and Georgetown, Washington, DC). The Georgetown Seal is an anachronism in this respect, with the Latin around it "Collegium Georgiopolitanum ad ripas Potomaci in Marylandia" or "The College of Georgetown on the shores of the Potomac in Maryland." Georgetown College suffered from continual financial difficulties during its early years, but was bolstered when it received a federal charter in 1815. The Medical School was founded in 1850, and the Law Department (now Law Center) in 1870. The school nearly collapsed during the U.S. Civil War, as most of the students left to fight for both sides. After the war, Georgetown's Crew Team adopted blue and gray as its colors to signify unity between its rowers from the North and those from the South. They subsequently became the official school colors. The school did not begin to recover until the presidency of Reverend Patrick Healy, S.J. (1868-1878), the first acknowledged African-American to head an American university. Healy is the son of a former Irish soldier and his mulatto slave wife, Healy is less than one quarter African, but is nonetheless championed as an unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement, despite having attempted to obfuscate his ethnicity. Healy is credited with reforming the undergraduate curriculum and the Medical and Law programs, as well as creating the Alumni Association.

In addition to the liberal arts division, now known as the Georgetown College, Georgetown University has eight other divisions. The undergraduate School of Nursing was founded in 1903 and was combined with a graduate nursing program and a Health Studies Track to form the School of Nursing and Health Studies. The School of Foreign Service (SFS) was founded in 1919 by Father Walsh in response to the need for institutions to train American youth for leadership in foreign commerce and diplomacy. The School of Languages and Linguistics (now the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics within Georgetown College) was organized in 1949. The School of Business Administration was created out of the SFS in 1955. It was renamed for Robert E. McDonough in 1999 and is now the McDonough School of Business offering both undergraduate and MBA degrees. The graduate programs are the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Law Center, the School of Medicine, the School of Continuing Studies, and the Center for Professional Development.

In December 2003, Georgetown completed its Third Century Campaign, joining only a handful of universities worldwide to raise at least $1 billion for financial aid, academic chair endowment, and new capital projects.

People

Faculty

For a listing of some of the recent faculty of note, see the category: Georgetown University faculty

The Georgetown University faculty includes a number of notable former political and business leaders, most of whom teach on a part-time basis. These include former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios, former-CIA director George Tenet, former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former US Senator and Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, former Ambassador-at-Large Robert L. Gallucci, former Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar, Public Health Advisor of the World Bank Bernard Liese, and former President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski. Notable faculty of Georgetown's past include Jan Karski, William Boyd-Carpenter and Carroll Quigley.

Alumni

For a comprehensive list of alumni, see the list of notable Georgetown University alumni.

Besides numerous members of the United States Congress and the senior diplomatic corps, many Heads of state (including Bill Clinton, a former President of the United States) are alumni of the university and Georgetown graduates have served at the head of such diverse and important institutions as the AFL-CIO, the United States Marine Corps, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Football League, the University of Illinois, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Texas A&M University, the American Medical Association, the Internal Revenue Service, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Conservative Party of Canada, the United States Navy and the Peace Corps. Major corporations run by graduates include Citigroup, Investor AB and Lucent Technologies. Major regulatory bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board have had G.U. alumni at the helm in recent years. In any election cycle, a number of state governors will, generally, hold Georgetown degrees (Indiana and New Hampshire elected graduates in 2004, and graduates stood for election in Alabama, Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the immediate prior cycles).

In the international military arena, both the current head of the U.S. Multinational Force in Iraq and the Supreme Commander of NATO are alumni from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service. In law, both the Solicitor General of the United States and a current Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court received their undergraduate degrees at Georgetown.

Two of the fifteen most powerful women in the world as rated by Forbes magazine in 2005, (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the President of the Philippines, and Patricia Russo, the Chair of Lucent Technologies) are alumnae of the university.

Speakers and visitors

Georgetown is renowned for the notable speakers who visit campus regularly. Those who have come recently include British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales; former Secretary of State Colin Powell; National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice; Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury; opera singer Placido Domingo; Noam Chomsky; Sam Donaldson; many senators and former senators, including John Kerry, Bob Dole, and Joe Lieberman; many ambassadors, both US and foreign, including those from China and Syria; and many former presidents, including former presidents of Spain, Italy, Poland, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil.

Campus

Georgetown University is situated on an area of higher elevation above the Potomac River, overlooking Washington, DC and northern Virginia. The campus incorporates ivy-covered buildings, fountains, a cemetery, large clusters of flowers, groves of mature trees, and open quadrangles.
The Dahlgren Quadrangle
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The Dahlgren Quadrangle

The Main Campus, primary center of Georgetown student life and intellectual activity, is just over 100 acres (400,000 m²) in size. The University counts over 58 buildings, student residences capable of accommodating approximately 80% of the student body, and various athletic facilities. In late 2003, the Southwest Quadrangle Project was completed. This project brought a new 784-bed student dorm, an expansive cafeteria, an underground parking facility, and new Jesuit Residence to the campus. The school's first performing arts center was completed in November 2005, while longer-term projects include a self-contained Business School campus, the construction of a unified sciences center, and expanded athletic facilities.

The Main Campus's main library is Lauinger Library, named after an alumnus killed during service in the Vietnam War. Riggs Library dates from the nineteenth century, and was once the institution's primary library, but is now devoted primarily to archival historical materials and as a setting for formal university functions.

The Georgetown University Law Center campus. From left to right, the Edward Bennett Williams Law Library, McDonough Hall, and Gewirz Student Center.
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The Georgetown University Law Center campus. From left to right, the Edward Bennett Williams Law Library, McDonough Hall, and Gewirz Student Center.

The Main Campus is approximately two miles from the White House, and four miles from the United States Capitol building. The main gates, known as the Healy Gates, are located at the intersection of 37th and O Streets, NW. A majority of undergraduates live on campus in several dormitories and apartment complexes, though a minority lives off-campus in the surrounding neighborhoods—Georgetown to the east and Burleith to the north—and a few reside further away. As of fall 2004, a limited number of dormitory rooms were available for graduate students, but most still reside off campus.

The Medical School is located on a property adjacent to the northwestern part of the Main Campus on Reservoir Road. All students in the Medical School live off-campus, most in the surrounding neighborhoods, with some in Dupont Circle and elsewhere through Washington DC and environs.

The Law Center is located in downtown DC on New Jersey Avenue, near Union Station. Some first-year students at the Law Center live in the one on-campus dormitory. Most second-year and third-year students, as well as some first-year students, live off-campus. As there is little housing near the Law Center, most are spread throughout the Washington metropolitan area.

Student Organizations

University-Funded Organizations

Georgetown University has a large number of student organizations that cover a variety of interests: student government, club sports, organizations focused on media and publications, performing arts, religion and volunteerism and service. A current list can be found [here] on the university's website. Georgetown's societies include the nation's oldest debating club, the Philodemic Society, and the oldest continually running dramatic society in the United States, the Mask & Bauble Society http://www.georgetown.edu/organizations/mask/..

Georgetown University has three student-run newspapers. The Hoya is the university's oldest newspaper. It has been in print since 1920, and since 1987 has published twice weekly. [The Georgetown Voice], founded in a split from the Hoya in 1969, is a weekly newsmagazine and [The Georgetown Independent]is a journal of news, commentary and the arts published monthly. The University also has a campus-wide television station, GUTV, and a radio station, WGTB. The campus newspapers and radio station have a long history of clashing with the administration.

Independent Organizations

In addition to student organizations and clubs, Georgetown University is also home to the largest student-run company in the nation, Students of Georgetown, Inc. [link], also known as "The Corp" which does business in excess of $3 million a year. The Georgetown University Grilling Society (GUGS, pronounced "jugs"), formed in 2002, gained national attention after participating in a grilling competition televised on the Food Network.

[The Georgetown Heckler] is an online comedy newspaper founded in 2003 by Georgetown students.

The Georgetown Chimes, the university's oldest (founded in 1946) and only all-male singing group, are renowned for their entertaining performance style, devotion to the group and university, and unique ethos. The Chimes, though not officially affiliated or funded by the university, are famous for going on to become high achievers and for remaining influential and involved with the university.

In keeping with the school's Catholic identity, the school has discontinued the funding of certain student groups that compromise its Catholic values. In the 1980s, the University fought a protracted lawsuit to retain the ban on gay and lesbian student organizations. The suit was resolved when the court ruled that the university must allow the group to access campus facilities, but allowed the university the right to refuse recognition of the groups. In 1992, the school revoked the accreditation of a group known as "Hoyas for Choice." While the group no longer receives university funding, it is still allowed to operate. As Georgetown does not allow them to use the trademarked "Hoya" name, the organization is now known as "H*yas for Choice."

Fraternities and Secret Societies

Georgetown University does not recognize the existence of fraternities, sororities, and secret societies among the student body. Georgetown's Student Affairs Policy specifically prohibits "2. Fraternities and sororities: single sex groups with ritualized, demeaning or secret membership practices, and specifically those organizations affiliated with the national Intrafraternity Council, Pan Hellenic Association, and Pan Hellenic Council.
Healy Hall amid the autumn foliage
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Healy Hall amid the autumn foliage

3. Secret societies: groups that do not disclose their purpose, membership or activities, or whose purpose, membership or activities are discriminatory." from receiving access to university benefits. http://www.georgetown.edu/student-affairs/policies.html#EligibilityforBenefits Many students are not aware of their existence either, as fraternities and sororities enjoy only limited visibility.

Fraternities with chapters active on campus are Delta Phi Epsilon (professional) (DPE) (Georgetown's Chapter of this professional professional foreign service fraternity, Alpha Chapter, was established in 1920. Its members include several deans of the Walsh School of Foreign Service, as well as Jesuits), Alpha Epsilon Pi (Georgetown's chapter, Eta Sigma chapter, affiliated with campus Hillel, was established in 2002, making it the school's first social fraternity)http://www.aepi.org/contact/index3.html, and the Georgetown University Sigma Phi Epsilon SEC chapter. (Established in early 2005, the chapter is scheduled to receive its charter in Fall 2006). There are also a number of minority interest fraternities chartered at other unversities that have membership on campus.

Co-ed fraternities at Georgetown include the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi (charter revoked 2006), Phi Alpha Delta Professional Pre-Law Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, and Alpha Phi Omega (APO). Of these fraternities, Alpha Phi Omega is the only fraternity recognized and given funding by the university, as it is seen as a service organization. http://www.georgetown.edu/home/student_organizations.html

Delta Phi Epsilon Foreign Service sorority is among the most active sororities.

There are also several secret societies at Georgetown: The Society of Stewards, and The Second Society of Stewards; as well as alleged secret societies, Crux Orbis, Cloak and Dagger, and Torch and Talon. http://www.deltaphiepsilon.net/Other_Fraternities.html

Academics

Bachelors, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through Georgetown College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business, the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, the Law Center, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and Health Studies, the School of Continuing Studies, and the Center for Professional Development.
Healy Hall
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Healy Hall

Majors and certificates

Georgetown University offers undergraduate degrees in 48 different majors in the four undergraduate schools, as well as offering opportunities for students to design their own individualized courses of study.

All majors in the College are currently open to students in the College and the School of Business as minors, as are certain other fields, including Catholic Studies, Culture and Politics, Environmental Studies, Justice and Peace Studies, Medieval Studies, Social and Political Thought and Women's Studies. Students in the College and School of Foreign Service may complete certificate programs in African Studies, Arab Studies, Asian Studies, Australian and New Zealand Studies, European Studies, International Business Diplomacy (SFS only), Justice & Peace Studies (SFS only), Latin American Studies, Medieval Studies (SFS only), Muslim-Christian Understanding, Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies, Science, Technology and International Affairs (College only), Social and Political Thought (SFS only) and Women's Studies (SFS only).

Georgetown College - Bachelor of Arts

View of Healy Hall and New South Hall from across the Potomac River in 1999
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View of Healy Hall and New South Hall from across the Potomac River in 1999

Georgetown College - Bachelor of Science

Walsh
Interior of Riggs Library
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Interior of Riggs Library

The SFS grants the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service to undergraduate students. Graduate students can pursue six interdisciplinary graduate programs: four regional studies programs as well as the Master of Science in Foreign Service and the Security Studies Program. The regional studies programs include Arab Studies (MAA), German & European Studies (MAGES), Latin American Studies (CLAS), and Russian & East European Studies (REES).

The STIA program is the first of its kind. Harvard and Georgia Tech, among others, now have STIA programs as well.

In 2005 the SFS joined four other U.S. universities in opening a campus in Education City in Doha, Qatar. All costs for the development of this campus are paid for by the non-profit Qatar Foundation. The requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree are the same as those of the Washington campus. The only major available will be International Politics. Classes will start in August 2005 with 25 students. Enrollment will expand to 100 within four years.

McDonough School of Business

White-Gravenor Hall
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White-Gravenor Hall

Offering unparalleled access to the world's business, policy and thought leaders, Georgetown University's Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business ("MSB") is committed to developing leaders capable of making complex business decisions in a global environment and who are dedicated to serving their companies, society and humanity. The McDonough School's undergraduate, MBA, executive education and International Executive MBA programs provide solid grounding in all the core management disciplines, with an emphasis on the global, ethical and political environment of business.

Several academic themes distinguish the McDonough School of Business and give the school a special identity among managers and academicians, including international and intercultural dimensions of the marketplace, the importance of written and oral communication, and interpersonal effectiveness in organizations.

The McDonough School core courses in the traditional disciplines of accounting, finance, marketing, management, and the decision sciences support these themes. Additionally these themes are supported by the McDonough School's strong support of a minor concentration in one of the nearly 50 liberal arts disciplines. Undergraduate concentrations include:

Graduate work offered by the school includes:

School of Nursing and Health Studies

Since its founding, the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies (NHS) has been at the forefront of education in the health care field, offering many programs unique to America's elite institutions. Offering undergraduate and graduate programs in nursing and the health sciences, graduates are prepared to enter the complex fields of medicine, nursing, law, health policy, and health systems administration.

Undergraduates may pursue study leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Nursing or the Bachelor of Science in Health Studies. The BSN degree prepares students for examination for licensure as a professional nurse. The Bachelor of Science in Health Studies degree program currently offers three tracks: Human Science, International Health, and Health Care Management Policy. The School of Nursing and Health Studies also offers: a Baccalaureate Program for RNs, Second Degree BSN Program, a Certificate in International Health for Nursing Majors, and a Certificate in Population Health. Undergraduates have various opportunities to study abroad to put their various fields into practice. Graduate fields of study include: Acute and Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Direct Entry to Advanced Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Anesthesia, Nurse Midwifery, Post-Masters Nursing Programs, and a Master of Science in Health Systems Administration.

Rankings, etc.

Georgetown's overall undergraduate acceptance rate as of 2006 was 21%http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3736&profileId=1, among the most selective of any university in the United States. The undergraduate schools maintain an Early Action admissions program. According to admissions fact sheets, applicants applying to Georgetown typically consider the Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, University of Notre Dame, Duke University, and the University of Virginia during their application and subsequent enrollment periods. The Princeton Review ranks Georgetown #15 on its "Toughest To Get Into" category and #20 for "Most Politically Active." It is ranked #23 (tied with the University of Virginia) among national universities by US News & World Report.

Athletics

The school's sports teams are called "the Hoyas". Many years ago, students well-versed in the classical languages invented the mixed Greek and Latin chant of "hoya saxa", translating roughly as "what (or such) rocks!" Eight years after the foulding of The Hoya student newspaper, a campus sports writer began to refer to teams as the "Hoyas" rather than as the "Hilltoppers". The name was picked up in the local dailies, and Hilltoppers soon fell out of view. The mascot of Georgetown athletics programs is [Jack the Bulldog].

The teams participate in the NCAA's Division I. Georgetown competes in the Big East Conference in virtually every NCAA sport, though the football team competes in the Division I-AA Patriot League and the rowing teams compete in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC).

The Men's Basketball team, the most successful and well-known sports program at the university, won the NCAA championship in 1984 under coach John Thompson. The current coach is his son, John Thompson III. In 2006, the basketball team reached the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament and was ranked in national polls for the first time since 2001.

Trivia

Georgetown in fiction

External links

Academic departments

Student organizations

References

References

 

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