In 1634,Jesuit settlers from England founded theProvince of Maryland incolonial-eraBritish America.[14] In 1646, the defeat of theRoyalists in theEnglish Civil War led to stringent laws againstCatholic education and the extradition of known Jesuits from the colony, including missionaryAndrew White, and the destruction of their school at Calverton Manor.[5] During most of the remainder of Maryland's colonial period, Jesuits conducted Catholic schools clandestinely. Following the end of theAmerican Revolutionary War, plans to establish a permanent Catholic institution for education in the United States were realized.[15]
AtBenjamin Franklin's recommendation,Pope Pius VI appointed former JesuitJohn Carroll the firsthead of the Catholic Church in the United States, even though the papalsuppression of the Jesuit order was still in effect. Carroll began meetings of local clergy in 1783 nearAnnapolis, where they orchestrated the development of a new university.[16] On January 23, 1789, Carroll finalized the purchase of the property in Georgetown on which Dahlgren Quadrangle was later built.[17] Future CongressmanWilliam Gaston was enrolled as the school's first student on November 22, 1791, and instruction began on January 2, 1792.[16]
During its early years, Georgetown College suffered from considerable financial strain.[18] The Maryland Society of Jesus began its restoration in 1805, and Jesuit affiliation, in the form of teachers and administrators, bolstered confidence in the college.[19] The school relied on private sources of funding and the limited profits from local lands which had been donated to the Jesuits. To raise money for Georgetown and other schools in 1838, Maryland Jesuits conducted amass sale of some 272 slaves to twoDeep South plantations inMaringouin, Louisiana, from their six in Maryland, ending their slaveholding.[20][21]
PresidentJames Madison signed into law Georgetown'scongressional charter on March 1, 1815, creating the first federaluniversity charter, which allowed it to confer degrees, with the first bachelor's degrees being awarded two years later.[22][23]
In 1844, the school received acorporate charter under the name "The President and Directors of Georgetown College", affording the growing school additional legal rights. In response to the demand for a local option for Catholic students, the Medical School was founded in 1851.[24]
TheAmerican Civil War greatly impacted Georgetown as 1,141 students and alumni enlisted in one army or the other, and theUnion army commandeered university buildings in order to defend the national capital from a fearedConfederate attack.[15] By the time PresidentAbraham Lincoln visited the Georgetown campus in May 1861, 1,400 troops were living in temporary quarters there. The number of lives lost in the Civil war caused enrollment levels to remain low until well after the war. Only seven students graduated in 1869, down from over 300 in the previous decade.[27] When the Georgetown College Boat Club, the school'srowing team, was founded in 1876 it adopted two colors: blue, used forUnion uniforms, and gray, used forConfederate uniforms. These colors signified the peaceful existence of students who held various loyalties.[28]
Enrollment did not recover until the late 19th century, during the presidency ofPatrick Francis Healy from 1873 to 1881. Born inAthens, Georgia as a slave by law andmixed-race by ancestry, Healy was the first person ofAfrican descent to head a predominantly white American university.[e] He identified as Irish Catholic, like his father, and was educated in Catholic schools in the United States and France. He is credited with reforming the undergraduatecurriculum, lengthening the medical and law programs, and creating theAlumni Association. One of his largest undertakings was the construction of a major new building, subsequently namedHealy Hall in his honor. For his work, Healy is known as the school's "second founder".[29]
In 1870, after the founding of theLaw Department, Healy and his successors hoped to bind the professional schools into a university, and focus onhigher education.[19]
TheSchool of Foreign Service (SFS) was founded in 1919 byEdmund A. Walsh to prepare students for leadership in diplomacy and foreign commerce.[19] TheSchool of Dentistry became independent of the School of Medicine in 1956.[32] The School of Business Administration was separated from the SFS in 1957 and was renamed theMcDonough School of Business (MSB) in 1998 in honor of SFS alumnus Robert E. McDonough.[33][34]
Georgetown also aimed to expand its resources and student body. The School of Nursing has admitted female students since its founding, and most of the university classes were made available to women on a limited basis by 1952.[35] With the College of Arts and Sciences welcoming its first female students in the 1969–1970academic year, Georgetown became fullycoeducational.[36]
In 1962, theCenter for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) was founded at Georgetown University as athink tank to conduct policy studies and strategic analyses of political, economic and security issues throughout the world.[37] WhenHenry Kissinger retired from his position asU.S. Secretary of State in 1977, he taught at Georgetown SFS, making CSIS the base for his Washington operations.[38][39][40] In 1986, the university'sboard of directors voted to sever all ties with CSIS due to differences in academic direction and competing fund-raising efforts.[41]
Healy Hall, which houses classrooms and the university's executive body
In 1975, Georgetown established theCenter for Contemporary Arab Studies, soliciting funds from the governments of the United States,Saudi Arabia,Oman, andLibya as well as American corporations with business interests in the Middle East.[42][43] It later returned the money it received fromMuammar Qaddafi's Libyan government, which had been used to fund a chair forHisham Shirabi, and also returned further donations fromIraq.[44] Georgetown ended its bicentennial year of 1989 by electingLeo J. O'Donovan, S.J. as president. He subsequently launched the Third Century Campaign to expand the school's endowment.[45]
In December 2003, Georgetown completed the campaign after raising over $1 billion for financial aid, academic chair endowment, and new capital projects.[46]
John J. DeGioia, Georgetown's first lay president, led the school from 2001 to 2024. DeGioia continued its financial modernization and sought to "expand opportunities for intercultural and interreligious dialogue."[51] DeGioia also founded the annual Building Bridges Seminar in 2001, which brings global religious leaders together, and is part of Georgetown's effort to promote religious pluralism.[52] TheBerkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs began as an initiative in 2004, and after a grant fromWilliam R. Berkley, was launched as an independent organization in 2006.[52]
Fifty-two members of the Society of Jesus live on campus, and are employed by Georgetown mostly as professors or administrators.[56] Jesuit Heritage Week has been held every year since 2001 to celebrate the contributions of Jesuits to the Georgetown tradition.[57]
Georgetown's Catholic heritage has been controversial at times, even though its influence is relatively limited.[58] Stores in university-owned buildings are prohibited from selling or distributingbirth control products.[59]
Between 1996 and 1999, the administration addedcrucifixes to many classroom walls, a change that attracted national attention.[63] Before 1996, crucifixes had hung only in hospital rooms and historic classrooms.[64] Some of these crucifixes are historic works of art, and are noted as such.[65]
In May 2004, ImamYahya Hendi, the school's on-campus Muslim cleric, faced pressure to remove crucifixes while he and other campus faith leaders defended their placement.[66] TheEdward B. Bunn, S.J. Intercultural Center rotates displays of various faith and culture symbols in its lobby.[67]
In 2009, Georgetown's religious symbols were brought back to national attention after the university administration covered-up thename of Jesus in preparation for then President Barack Obama's speech on campus.[70]
In August 2013, religious groups denounced Georgetown for allowing gay-themed events, including a performance, during which "a male student went as a high-heeledMary and danced toMadonna's "Like a Virgin" whileJesus (a woman) looked on."[72]
Students studying outside Wolfington Hall Jesuit ResidenceWhite-Gravenor Hall hosts the Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Master's anddoctoral programs are offered through the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Law Center, the School of Medicine, theMcCourt School of Public Policy, and the School of Continuing Studies. Master's students occasionally share some advancedseminars with undergraduates, and most undergraduate schools offer abbreviated bachelor's and master's programs following completion of the undergraduate degree. TheMcDonough School of Business and theEdmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service both offer master's programs. The School of Foreign Service is renowned for its academic programs in international affairs. TheCenter for Contemporary Arab Studies also offer a Master's of Arab Studies, as well as certificates.[79]
Each graduate school offers at least onedouble degree with another graduate school.[80] Additionally, the Law Center offers a joint degree with theJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.[81] The School of Continuing Studies includes the Center for Continuing and Professional Education, and operates four types of degree programs, over thirty professional certificates and non-degree courses, undergraduate andgraduate degrees in Liberal Studies, as well as summer courses for graduates, undergraduates, and high school students.[82] The School of Dentistry closed in 1990 after 89 years in operation.[83]
Admission to Georgetown has been deemed "most selective" byU.S. News & World Report,[94] with the university receiving 27,650 applications and admitting 11.7% of those who applied for the Class of 2025.[95] As of 2024[update], Georgetown's graduate schools have acceptance rates of 2.8% to the School of Medicine,[96] 12.9% to the Law Center,[97] 25% to theMSFS,[98] and 35% to theMBA program.[99] In 2004, aNational Bureau of Economic Research study on revealed preference of U.S. colleges showed Georgetown was the 16th most-preferred choice.[100]
The undergraduate schools maintain a restrictiveEarly Action admissions program, as students who have applied through anEarly Decision process at another school are not permitted to apply early to Georgetown.[8] 94% of students accepted for the class of 2017 were in the top 10% of their class and theinterquartile range ofSAT scores was 700–770 in Reading/Writing and 680–780 in Math.[109] Georgetown accepts the SAT andACT, though it does not consider the writing portion of either test.[110] Over 55% of undergraduates receive financial aid, and the university meets 100% of demonstrated need, with an average financial aid package of $23,500 and about 70% of aid distributed in the form of grants or scholarships.[111] Georgetown isneed-blind for domestic applicants.[112]
As of 2017[update], Georgetown University employed 1,414 full-time and 1,196 part-time faculty members across its three Washington, D.C. campuses,[8] with additional staff atGeorgetown University in Qatar.[113] The faculty comprises leading academics and notable political and business leaders, and are predominantly male by a two-to-one margin.[114]
Georgetown University's faculty members give more support to liberal candidates, and while their donation patterns are generally consistent with those of other American university faculties, they gave more than average toBarack Obama 2008 presidential campaign.[115][116]
Georgetown University isclassified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".[125] As of 2014[update], Georgetown's libraries held over 3.5 million printed items, including 1.25 million e-books, in seven buildings, with most inLauinger Library.[126] The Blommer Science Library in the Reiss Science Building on campus, houses most of the Science collection. Additionally, the Law School campus includes the nation's fifth-largestlaw library as of 2007.[127] Georgetown faculty conduct research in hundreds of subjects, but research priorities are in religion, ethics, science, public policy, and cancer medicine.[128]
Georgetown University has four campuses in Washington, D.C.: the undergraduate campus located in the neighborhood of Georgetown, the Medical Center, the School of Continuing Studies (in Chinatown) and the Law Center. The undergraduate campus and Medical Center are together in theGeorgetown neighborhood in theNorthwest Quadrant of Washington and form the main campus. Other centers are located around Washington, D.C., including the Center for Continuing and Professional Education atClarendon inArlington County, Virginia. Transit between these locations and theWashington Metro is supplied by a system of shuttles, known as GUTS buses.[134] Georgetown also has branches of the School of Foreign Service inDoha, Qatar, andJakarta, Indonesia, as well as villas inAlanya, Turkey, andFiesole, Italy. In their campus layout, Georgetown's administrators consistently used the traditionalquadrangle design.[135]
Georgetown's undergraduate and medical school campuses are situated on an elevated site above thePotomac River overlookingNorthern Virginia. Because of this, Georgetown University is often referred to as "The Hilltop". The main gates, known as theHealy Gates, are located at the intersection of 37th and O Streets NW, and lead directly to the heart of campus. The main campus is relatively compact, being 104 acres (0.4 km2) in area, but includes fifty-four buildings, student residences and apartments capable of accommodating 80% of undergraduates, and various athletic facilities.[136] Most buildings employcollegiate Gothic architecture andGeorgian brick architecture. Campus green areas include fountains,a cemetery, large clusters of flowers, groves of trees, and open quadrangles.[137] New buildings and major renovations are required to meetLEED Silver criteria,[138] and the campus was nominated for the District Sustainability People's Choice Award in 2018.[139]
In addition to the front lawn, the main campus has traditionally centered on Dahlgren Quadrangle behind Healy Hall, which is home to Dahlgren Chapel; however, in recent decades, Red Square has replaced the Dahlgren Quadrangle as the focus of student life.[143] North of Red Square is an extended pathway that is home to buildings such as the Intercultural Center (ICC), the Reiss Science building, the newly constructed dormitory named afterPedro Arrupe, and the large Leavey Student Center.[144]
The medical school is located in the northwestern part of the main campus on Reservoir Road. It is integrated with Georgetown University Hospital.[145]
In the 21st-century, the West side of the Hilltop has emerged as a newly developing area of the main campus. The university completed the Southwest Quadrangle Project in late 2003 and brought a new 907-bed upperclassmen residence hall, the Leo J. O'Donovan dining hall, a large underground parking facility, and a new Jesuit Residence to the campus.[146] The school's firstperforming arts center, named forRoyden B. Davis, was completed in November 2005. The new business school headquarters, named forRafik Hariri, opened in Fall 2009, and Regents Hall, the new science building, opened in Fall 2012. Along with the adjacent Leavey Student Center, these two large buildings have become popular study spaces and overlook a newly developed scenic lawn space.[147]
In the fall of 2014, the university opened a new student center, the Healey Family Student Center (HFSC) to complement the longstanding Leavey Center. The Healey Family Student Center is located on the first floor ofNew South Hall, a space that functioned as the university's main dining facility until the Leo J. O'Donovan dining hall opening in 2003. It features over 43,000 square feet including several study spaces, conference rooms, dance, and music studios, as well as a pub called Bulldog Tavern and a salad store Hilltoss, which is operated byThe Corp.[148]
As a location, Georgetown was ranked nationally as the second-bestcollege town byThe Princeton Review in 2011.[149] The Georgetown neighborhood west of Wisconsin Avenue NW is dominated by the presence of university students. Students have easy access to the M Street commercial area, the Georgetown Waterfront, and numerous trails that lead to the National Mall and other parks. Despite this, "town and gown" relations between the university communities and other Georgetown residents are often strained by facilities construction, enlargement of the student body, as well as noise and alcohol violations.[150] Several groups of neighborhood residents have attempted to slow University growth in Georgetown, creating friction between students and the surrounding neighborhood. Despite the relative safety of the neighborhood, crime is a persistent issue, with campus security responding to 257 crimes in 2008, the majority of which were petty crimes.[151]
TheLaw Center campus is located in theCapitol Hill neighborhood on New Jersey Avenue, nearWashington Union Station, and consists of five buildings. First-year students at the Law Center can live in the single on-campus dormitory, the Gewirz Student Center.[152] Most second- 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.[153]
The Campus Completion Project, finished in 2005, saw the addition of the Hotung International Building and the Sport and Fitness Center. G Street and F Street are closed off between 1st and 2nd Streets to create open lawns flanking McDonough Hall, the main building on the campus.[154] In 2019, the university purchased $70 million of a building at 500 First St. NW to add to the Georgetown University Law Center. Opening in 2020, the 130,000-square-foot edifice will provide classrooms and offices for researchers in health, technology, law and other fields.[155]
TheSchool of Continuing Studies (SCS) campus is located in a 95,000 square foot, state-of-the-art building in downtown Washington, D.C. The campus currently serves as the home for Georgetown's graduate programs in fields such as Applied Intelligence, Journalism, Public Relations, Real Estate, Sports Industry Management, and Urban & Regional Planning.[citation needed]
The current building, which was completed in 2013, includes 30 classrooms, a 125-person auditorium, a digital media lab, a broadcast studio, an interfaith chapel, and a dedicated library. It is located in theChinatown neighborhood of the city and is considered to be one of the most accessible locations in town, with a Transit Score of 100 and a Walk Score of 98. It is also located just a few blocks away from theCapital One Arena, the home court of the men's basketball team.[156]
Entrance to Georgetown University's Qatar Campus in Doha Education City
In 2002, theQatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development presented the School of Foreign Service with the resources and space to open a campus inEducation City inAl Rayyan, Qatar.[157] SFS-Qatar opened in 2005 as a liberal arts and international affairs undergraduate school for regional students.[158] It offers the sameBachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) as the main campus, in addition to three certificates. Apart from language courses, including Arabic and French, all courses are taught in English and the curriculum and course materials in the specified majors are identical to those offered at Georgetown's main campus in Washington D.C.[159]
In December 2007, Georgetown opened a liaison office in Shanghai, China to coordinate withFudan University and others.[164] In 2008, the Georgetown University Law Center in conjunction with an international consortium of law schools established theCenter for Transnational Legal Studies in London, England.[165]
Students celebrate Georgetown Day in late spring with a campus carnival
The Georgetown undergraduate student body, at 6,926 as of 2016[update], is composed primarily of students from outside the District of Columbia area, with 33% of new 2016 students coming from theMid-Atlantic states, 11% being international students, and the remainder coming from other areas of the U.S.[173] The student body also represented 129 countries, with 11% beinginternational,[174] including over 330 undergraduate and 1,050 graduate students who chose to come to Georgetown as a study abroad destination in 2009–10.[175] In 2014–2015, the racial diversity of the undergraduate student body was 57.0%white, 8.8%Asian, 6.2%black, and 7.5%Hispanic. The median family income of Georgetown students is $229,100, with 51% of students coming from the top 5% highest-earning families and 13.5% from the bottom 60%.[176] 55.1% of undergraduates are female.[177]
Although it is a Jesuit university, only 41% of the student body identify asCatholic, while 22% identify asProtestant as of 2009[update].[178] Georgetown employs a full-timerabbi, as 6.5% of undergraduates areJewish.[178] It was the first U.S. college to have a full-timeimam, to serve the over four hundredMuslims on campus,[179] and in 2014, they appointed their first Hindu priest to serve a weekly community of around one hundred.[180] Georgetown also sponsors student groups forBaháʼí,Buddhist, andMormon traditions.[181] The student body consists of both religious and non-religious students, and more than four-hundredfreshmen and transfer students attend anonreligiousIgnatianretreat, called ESCAPE, annually.[182][183]
A 2007 survey of undergraduates also suggests that 62.8% are sexually active, while 6.2% identify asLGBTQ.[178][184] Three quarters of a 2009 survey consideredhomophobia a campus problem.[185]Newsweek, however, rated Georgetown among its top "Gay-Friendly Schools" in 2010.[186]
A survey by the school in 2016 showed that 31% of female undergraduates reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact, and 86% of LGBTQ students reported some form of sexual harassment at the college.[187] In 2011,College Magazine ranked Georgetown as the tenth mosthipster U.S. college,[188] whilePeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals considered it the third mostvegan friendly small U.S. school.[189]
Almost all undergraduates attend full-time.[190] A majority of undergraduates, 76%, live on-campus in several dormitories and apartment complexes, including all underclassmen.[191] As of 2011[update], 1255 undergraduates and 339 graduate students live off-campus, mostly in theGeorgetown,Glover Park,Burleith, andFoxhall neighborhoods.[192] Since Fall 2022, housing is available for on-campus graduate students at55 H St. NW, which is 30 minute from the Hilltop campus via the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS).[193] Students at the Law Center are accommodated at the Gewirz Student Center. All students in the Medical School live off-campus, most in the surrounding neighborhoods, with some in Northern Virginia and elsewhere through the DMV region.[194]
Students volunteering at a Washington, D.C. school
As of 2012[update], 92.9% of Georgetown University undergraduates are involved in at least one of the 179 registered student organizations which cover a variety of interests: student government, club sports, media and publications, performing arts, religion, and volunteer and service.[195] Students also operate campus stores, banks, and medical services. Students often find their interests at the Student Activities Commission Club Fair, where both official and unofficial organizations set up tables.[196] TheGeorgetown University Student Association is the student government organization for undergraduates. There are also elected student representatives within the schools that serve on Academic councils, as well as to the university Board of Directors, and, since 1996, to the GeorgetownAdvisory Neighborhood Commission.[197]
TheModel United Nations team that is run by the Georgetown International Relations Club, the largest club on campus, and its affiliate, Georgetown International Relations Association, has attained the status of best in the world on several occasions.[202]
There are sevena cappella groups on campus, including The Georgetown Saxatones,The Georgetown Chimes, the Phantoms, Superfood, The GraceNotes, the Chamber Singers, Essence, Harmony, and the Capitol G's.[203] These groups perform annually at the "D.C. A Cappella Festival", held since 1991; the "Cherry Tree Massacre" concert series, held since 1974; and "Spring Sing", held since 2011.[204][205][206] The Georgetown University Band is composed of the Georgetown Pep Band and the Georgetown Wind Ensemble, and performs on campus, in Washington, D.C., and at post-season basketball tournaments.[207]
In addition to student organizations and clubs, Georgetown University is home to one of the nation's largest entirely student-owned and -operated corporations,Students of Georgetown, Inc.[208] Founded in 1972, "The Corp" operates threecoffee shops, twogrocery stores, the Hilltoss, a concept similar toSweetgreen, catering services, and seasonal storage for students.[208] The business has annual revenues of about $5 million,[209] and surpluses are directly re-invested into the Georgetown student body through Corp Philanthropy, which gave out over $85,000 in scholarships and donations to Georgetown groups in 2014–2015.[210]Georgetown University Alumni & Student Federal Credit Union is the largest all student-run credit union in the United States, with over $17 million in assets and 12,000 members.[211] The Georgetown University Student Investment Fund is one of a few undergraduate-runinvestment funds in the United States, and hosted CNBC'sJim Cramer to tapeMad Money in September 2006.[212] Hilltop Consultants is a student-run nonprofitconsulting agency that works with local and international organizations includingTeach For America,Habitat for Humanity, andSpecial Olympics.[213] The Hilltop Microfinance Initiative is a student-runmicro-finance organization, aiming to empowerunderserved communities in DC, Maryland, and Virginia throughsmall business loans and financial coaching.[214]
Another student-run group, the Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service, "GERMS", is an all-volunteer ambulance service founded in 1982 that serves campus and the surrounding communities.[215] Georgetown'sArmyReserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) unit, the Hoya Battalion, is the oldest military unit native to the District of Columbia,[216] and was awarded the top ranking among ROTC programs in 2012.[217] The proportion of ROTC students at Georgetown was the 79th highest among universities in the United States as of 2010[update].[218] GUGS, the Georgetown University Grilling Society, has been a Georgetown tradition since 2002, selling half-pound hamburgers in Red Square on most Fridays.[219]
Students demonstrate and pass through Red Square, the center of student activism on Georgetown University's campusMembers of Plan A Hoyas and H*yas for Choice protest in Red Square
Georgetown University student organizations include a diverse array of groups focused on social justice issues, including organizations run through both Student Affairs and theCenter for Social Justice Research, Teaching, & Service (CSJ). The latter organization, founded in 2001, works to integrate into their education Georgetown's founding mission of education in service for justice and the common good.[220]
Oriented against gender violence,Take Back the Night coordinates an annual rally and march to protest against rape and other forms of violence against women.[221] Georgetown Solidarity Committee is aworkers' rights organization whose successes include ending use of sweatshops in producing Georgetown-logoed apparel, and garnering pay raises for both university cleaning staff and police.[222] Georgetown Students forFair Trade successfully advocated for all coffee in campus cafeterias to beFair Trade Certified.[223]
Georgetown has many additional groups representing national, ethnic, and linguistic interests. Georgetown has the second-most politically active student body in the United States according toThe Princeton Review.[149] Groups based on local, national, and international issues are popular, and political speech is protected on campus. Student political organizations are active on campus and engage their many members in local and national politics. The Georgetown University College Republicans represent their party, while the Georgetown University College Democrats, the largest student organization on campus in 2008, represent theirs.[224]
As a Catholic university, thepro-life organization Georgetown University Right to Life is officially recognized by the university.[225] In 1981, Right to Life students helped found The Northwest Center, one of two crisis pregnancy centers in Washington. Every year, the organization sends a delegation to theMarch for Life to show support for the nationalpro-life movement.[226] In addition, every January since 2000 the club has organized theCardinal O'Connor Conference on Life. It is the largest student-organizedpro-life conference in the United States.[227]
The pro-abortion organization H*yas for Choice is not officially recognized by the university as its positions onabortion are in opposition to university policy, including supporting late-term abortion as is still legal inWashington, D.C., prompting the asterisk in "H*yas".[228] While not financially supported by the school, the organization is permitted to meet and table in university spaces.[229]
Georgetown is also home to a number of student organizations focused onsustainability andenvironmentalism.[230] GREEN, the Georgetown Renewable Energy and Environmental Network, is the largest of these groups. Another student group, GU Fossil Free, was founded in 2013, and aimed to pressure the university to divest its endowment from fossil fuels.[231] Georgetown is a member of the Ivy Plus Sustainability Consortium, through which it has committed to best-practice sharing and the ongoing exchange of campus sustainability solutions along with the other member institutions; it hosted the annual Ivy Plus summit in 2019.[232][233] The university announced that it would fully divest its endowment from fossil fuels in February 2020.[234]
TheLeavey Center office ofThe Hoya, the university student newspaper founded in 1920
Georgetown University has several student-run newspapers and academic journals.The Hoya is the university's oldest newspaper. It has been in print since 1920, and since 1987, has been published twice weekly.[235]The Georgetown Voice, known for its weekly cover stories, is anewsmagazine that was founded in March 1969 to focus more attention on citywide and national issues.[236]The Georgetown Independent is a monthly journal of news, commentary and the arts.[237] Founded in 1966, theGeorgetown Law Weekly is the student-run paper on the Law Center campus, and is a three-time winner of theAmerican Bar Association's Best Newspaper award.[238] Established in 1995, theGeorgetown Public Policy Review is a student-run journal based out of the McCourt School of Public Policy that publishes online articles and a peer-reviewed spring edition.[239] TheGeorgetown Journal of International Affairs, established in 2000, is a student-managed, peer-reviewed journal that publishes perspectives on current affairs and international relations from experts such as heads of states and renowned professors; it is the official journal of the School of Foreign Service and published byJohns Hopkins University Press.[240]
The Georgetown Academy, restarted in 2008 after a hiatus, targets traditionalistCatholic readers, while theGeorgetown Review, founded in 2016, aims to bring aconservative andlibertarian viewpoint to campus.[241][242] Other political publications include theGeorgetown Progressive, an online publication run by the Georgetown University College Democrats, andCounterpoint Magazine, a liberal monthly founded in the spring of 2011.[243]The Fire This Time is Georgetown's minority news source.[244]The Georgetown Heckler is a humor magazine founded on the Internet in 2003 by Georgetown students, releasing its first print issue in 2007.[245]
The university has a campus-wide television station, GUTV, which began broadcasting in 1999. The station hosts an annual studentfilm festival in April for campus filmmakers.[246]WGTB, Georgetown's radio station, is available as awebcast and on 92.3 FM in certain dormitories. The station was founded in 1946, and broadcast on 90.1 FM from 1960 to 1979, when university presidentTimothy S. Healy gave away the frequency and broadcast capabilities to theUniversity of the District of Columbia because of WGTB'sfar left political orientation. The station now broadcasts through the Internet in its headquarters in the Leavey Center.[247]
Many Jesuit schools choose to disassociate from Greek systems, and Georgetown University officially recognizes and funds only one of the many Greek organizations on campus,Alpha Phi Omega, the national co-ed community service fraternity. Other Greek organizations exist on campus, although none require members to live in Greek housing.[248] Additionally, Georgetown University students are affiliated, in some cases, with fraternities at other nearby universities and colleges.[249]
Hoya, the Georgetown University's nickname
About 10 percent of undergraduate students participate in Greek life, a ratio lower than at many other colleges and universities.[250][251]
Gaston Hall, a venue for events, including this May 2015 speech by former U.S. PresidentBarack Obama
Annual events on campus celebrate Georgetown traditions, culture, alumni, sports, and politics. In late April, Georgetown University celebrates Georgetown Day.[252]
Homecoming coincides with a home football game, and festivities such as tailgating and a formal dance are sponsored by the Alumni Association to draw past graduates back to campus.[253] The largest planned sports related celebration is the first basketball practice of the season. DubbedMidnight Madness, this event introduces the men's and women's basketball teams shortly after midnight on the first day the teams are allowed by NCAA rules to formally practice together. The festivities include a dunk contest, a 3-point contest, a scrimmage, and a musical act.[254]
In March 2002,U.S. News & World Report listed Georgetown's athletics program among the 20 best in the nation.[255] Georgetown's student athletes have a 94% graduation success rate,[256] and over 100 have gone on to play at some level of professional athletics.[257]
The school's teams are called "Hoyas", which originated sometime prior to 1893, when students invented the mixedGreek andLatin chant of "Hoya Saxa", translating roughly as "what (or such) rocks". Theschool's baseball team, then called the Stonewalls, began in 1870, and football began in 1874; the chant likely refers to one of these teams.[258] By the 1920s, the term "Hoyas" was used to describe groups on campus, and by 1928, campus sports writers started using it instead of the older team name, the "Hilltoppers".[259][260]
The sailing team has won 14 national championships and one world championship in match racing since 2001.[264][265] Over this time, the sailing team has graduated 79 All-Americans and six College Sailors of the year.
Georgetown has been nationally successful in bothcross country andtrack and field.[266] In 2011, the women's cross country team won Georgetown's second team NCAA championship.[267][268]
The men's andwomen's lacrosse teams have both been ranked in the top ten nationally,[269][270] as have both soccer teams, with the men winning Georgetown's third team national championship in 2019,[271] and the women making the national quarterfinals in 2010[272] and the semifinals in 2016.[273]
Former Georgetown tennis coach Gordon "Gordie" Ernst, one of several people implicated in the2019 college admissions bribery scandal, is alleged to have facilitated the admission to Georgetown of as many as 12 students through fraudulent means while accepting bribes of up to $950,000.[276] Ernst had relocated to theUniversity of Rhode Island, where he was placed on administrative leave after he was charged and arrested. He later pled guilty to conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, three counts of federal programs bribery, and to filing false tax returns for failing to report many of the bribery payments.[277][278][279]
While about 73% of graduates enter the workforce immediately following graduation, many pursue advanced degrees in law, medicine, business, and other fields.[280] Georgetown alumni pursuing graduate study have been recipients of 32Rhodes Scholarships,[281] 46Marshall Scholarships,[282] 33Truman Scholarships,[283] 15Mitchell Scholarships,[284] and 12Gates Cambridge Scholarships.[285] Georgetown is among the nation's top producers ofFulbright Scholars, with 565 over its history, and produced more than any other institution in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024.[286][287][288][289] It is also one of the top-ten yearly producers ofPeace Corps volunteers as of 2016[update].[290] Georgetown ranks among the top ten U.S. colleges for median graduate income,[291][292] with graduates of theMcDonough School of Business having the highest average starting salaries, at $100,859;[280][293] Georgetown alumni in general have a median starting salary of $87,100 with a median mid-career salary of $179,300, as of 2023-2024.[294]
Government and international relations are the two most popular undergraduate majors at Georgetown, and many students go on to careers in politics and diplomacy.[295] Over 450 alumni currently serve as members and staffers onCapitol Hill.[296] Georgetown educated more U.S. diplomats than any other university as of 2015, including at least 92 alumni that have attained therank of U.S. Ambassador.[297][298] Twelve foreign heads of state and government have graduated from Georgetown.[298][299] Georgetown alumni have served asforeign ministers in a dozen countries.[300]
^Collegium Georgiopolitanum is the Latinnominative case. On Georgetown diplomas, the name appears in thegenitive case in the phrasePraeses et Professores Collegii Georgiopolitani (tr. "President and Faculty of Georgetown College").[2][3][4]
^WhilePatrick Francis Healy inherited African ancestry from his mother and was consequently classified as racially black according to the "one-drop rule" of 19th-century American society, he self-identified racially as white and ethnically as Irish American.
^The School of Dentistry was founded in 1901 as a department of the School of Medicine, and was elevated to a school in 1951. The school was disestablished in 1990.[73][74]
^The School of Languages and Linguistics was created out of the School of Foreign Service in 1949 as the Institute of Languages and Linguistics. It was elevated to a school in 1959. In 1994, the school was subsumed primarily by the College of Arts & Sciences.[75][76][77]
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^"Georgetown University History".Georgetown.edu.Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. RetrievedOctober 13, 2020.After the Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia, in 1862, several campus buildings were turned into a temporary hospital, including the former Jesuit Residence. To celebrate the end of the Civil War, Georgetown students selected the colors blue (Union) and gray (Confederate) as the school's official colors in 1876.
^"Colors".Georgetown.edu.Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. RetrievedDecember 25, 2019.
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^O'Connor, John J.; Gasperetti, Elio (1955). "A Negro President at Georgetown University Some Eighty Years Ago".Negro History Bulletin.18 (8):175–176.ISSN0028-2529.JSTOR44176904.
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^Khalil, Osamah F. (2016).America's Dream Palace: Middle East Expertise and the Rise of the National Security State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-97157-8.
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^"The Library in Numbers".Georgetown University Library. 2014.Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. RetrievedAugust 11, 2014.
^"Frequently Asked Questions".Georgetown University Law Center – On-Campus Housing. January 10, 2007. Archived fromthe original on July 2, 2007. RetrievedAugust 2, 2007.
^"Washington Neighborhoods". Office of Housing and Residential Life.Georgetown University Law Center. May 3, 2007. Archived fromthe original on July 6, 2007. RetrievedAugust 2, 2007.
^Mlyniec, Wally (October 26, 2004)."Construction Notes".Georgetown University Law Center – Campus Completion Project. Archived fromthe original on July 3, 2007. RetrievedJuly 8, 2007.
^"Why GU-Q".Georgetown University in Qatar.Archived from the original on April 17, 2024. RetrievedApril 11, 2024.
^"Welcome to the Villa".Georgetown University – Villa le Balze. April 23, 2008. Archived fromthe original on December 7, 2008. RetrievedJuly 26, 2007.
^"Study Abroad in Italy".Georgetown University – Villa le Balze. April 23, 2008. Archived fromthe original on December 7, 2008. RetrievedAugust 12, 2008.
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Durkin, Joseph ed.Swift Potomac's Lovely Daughter. Two Centuries at Georgetown through Students' Eyes (Georgetown UP, 1990) 446 pp.
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