Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, it is the oldest Roman Catholic institution of higher education in the United States and the nation's first federally chartered university.[12][13][14]

The university has eleven undergraduate and graduate schools. The university's main campus is on a hill above the Potomac River and identifiable by Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark. Georgetown is classified among

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Notable alumni include 28 Rhodes Scholars, 32 Marshall Scholars, 33 Truman Scholars, 543 Fulbright Scholars, eight living billionaires, two U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and two U.S. Presidents, as well as numerous international royalty and 14 foreign heads of state. Georgetown has produced more U.S. diplomats than any other university, as well as many members of the United States Congress, State Department, and CIA.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][excessive citations]

Because of Benjamin Franklin's recommendation, Pope Pius VI appointed former Jesuit John Carroll as the first head of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, even though the papal suppression of the Jesuit order was still in effect. Carroll began meetings of local clergy in 1783 near Annapolis, Maryland, where they orchestrated the development of a new university.[33] On January 23, 1789, Carroll finalized the purchase of the property in Georgetown on which Dahlgren Quadrangle was later built.[34] Future Congressman William Gaston was enrolled as the school's first student on November 22, 1791, and instruction began on January 2, 1792.[33]

President James Madison signed into law Georgetown's congressional charter on March 1, 1815, creating the first federal university charter, which allowed it to confer degrees, with the first bachelor's degrees being awarded two years later.[39][40] In 1844, the school received a corporate 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 Roman Catholic students, the Medical School was founded in 1851.[41]

The U.S. Civil War greatly affected Georgetown as 1,141 students and alumni enlisted in one army or the other, and the Union Army commandeered university buildings.[32] By the time of President Abraham Lincoln's May 1861 visit to campus, 1,400 troops were living in temporary quarters there. Due to the number of lives lost in the war, enrollment levels remained low until well after the war. Only seven students graduated in 1869, down from over 300 in the previous decade.[42] When the Georgetown College Boat Club, the school's rowing team, was founded in 1876 it adopted two colors: blue, used for Union uniforms, and gray, used for Confederate uniforms. These colors signified the peaceful unity among students.[43] Subsequently, the school adopted these as its official colors.

Enrollment did not recover until during the presidency of Patrick Francis Healy from 1873 to 1881. Born in Georgia as a slave by law and mixed-race by ancestry, Healy was the first head of a predominantly white American university of acknowledged African descent.[c] 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 undergraduate curriculum, lengthening the medical and law programs, and creating the Alumni Association. One of his largest undertakings was the construction of a major new building, subsequently named Healy Hall in his honor. For his work, Healy is known as the school's "second founder."[44]

After the founding of the Law Department in 1870, Healy and his successors hoped to bind the professional schools into a university, and focus on higher education.[36] The School of Medicine added a dental school in 1901 and the undergraduate School of Nursing in 1903.[45] Georgetown Preparatory School relocated from campus in 1919 and fully separated from the university in 1927.[46] The School of Foreign Service (SFS) was founded in 1919 by Edmund A. Walsh, to prepare students for leadership in diplomacy and foreign commerce.[36] The School of Dentistry became independent of the School of Medicine in 1956.[47] The School of Business was separated from the SFS in 1957. In 1998 it was renamed the McDonough School of Business in honor of alumnus Robert E. McDonough.[48]

In 1975, Georgetown established the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, soliciting funds from the governments of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Libya as well as American corporations with business interests in the Middle East.[51][52] It later returned the money it received from Muammar Qaddafi's Libyan government, which had been used to fund a chair for Hisham Shirabi, and also returned further donations from Iraq.[53] Georgetown ended its bicentennial year of 1989 by electing Leo J. O'Donovan, S.J. as president. He subsequently launched the Third Century Campaign to build the school's endowment.[54] In December 2003, Georgetown completed the campaign after raising over $1 billion for financial aid, academic chair endowment, and new capital projects.[55] In 2005, Georgetown received a $20 million gift from Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, member of the Saudi Royal Family; at that time the second-largest donation ever to the university, it was used to expand the activities of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.[56]

Georgetown University was founded by former Jesuits in the tradition of Ignatius of Loyola; it is a member of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.[34][62] Georgetown is not a pontifical university, though seven Jesuits serve on the thirty-six member Board of Directors, the university's governing body.[63] Catholic spaces at the university fall within the territorial jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Washington, such as Dahlgren Chapel, the university's principal Catholic place of worship.[64] Fifty-two members of the Society of Jesus live on campus, and are employed by Georgetown mostly as professors or administrators.[65] Jesuit Heritage Week has been held every year since 2001 to celebrate the contributions of Jesuits to the Georgetown tradition.[66]

The role that Georgetown's Catholic heritage has played in its policies has been controversial at times, even as its influence is relatively limited.[67] Stores in University-owned buildings are not allowed to sell or distribute birth control products.[68] The university hosts the Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life every January to discuss the pro-life movement.[69] Georgetown University Medical Center and Georgetown University Hospital, operated by MedStar Health, are prohibited from performing abortions.[70] However, as of 2004[update], the hospital did perform research using embryonic stem cells.[71]

Georgetown has been criticized by religious groups, such as the Cardinal Newman Society, for not following the teachings of the church. The school has come under criticism for hosting prominent pro-abortion rights speakers, such as John Kerry and Barack Obama.[72][73] Washington's Archbishop, Donald Wuerl, also criticized the university for inviting pro-abortion rights Kathleen Sebelius to be a commencement speaker.[74] Religious groups have likewise denounced Georgetown for being too LGBT-friendly and for allowing gay-themed events, including a performance, during which "a male student went as a high-heeled Mary and danced to Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' while Jesus (a woman) looked on."[75]

Between 1996 and 1999, the administration added crucifixes to many classroom walls, a change that attracted national attention.[76] Before 1996, crucifixes had hung only in hospital rooms and historic classrooms.[77] Some of these crucifixes are historic works of art, and are noted as such.[78] According to a 2004 interview with Imam Yahya Hendi, the school's on-campus Muslim cleric, pressure to remove the crucifixes comes from within the Catholic community, while he and other campus faith leaders have defended their placement.[79] The Intercultural Center is an exception to this controversy, rotating displays of various faith and culture symbols in the lobby.[80] In 2009, Georgetown's religious symbols were brought back to national attention after the university administration covered-up the name of Jesus in preparation for President Barack Obama's speech on campus.[81]

As of 2017[update], the university had 7,463 undergraduate students and 11,542 graduate students.[7] Bachelor's programs are offered through College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Nursing, the McDonough School of Business, the School of Continuing Studies, the School of Health, and the Walsh School of Foreign Service, which includes the Qatar campus.

Admission to Georgetown has been deemed "most selective" by U.S. News & World Report,[108] with the university receiving 27,650 applications and admitting 11.7% of those who applied for the Class of 2025.[109] As of 2011[update], Georgetown's graduate schools have acceptance rates of 3.6% to the School of Medicine,[110] 21.2% to the Law Center,[111] 25% to the MSFS,[112] and 35% to the MBA program.[113] In 2004, a National Bureau of Economic Research study on revealed preference of U.S. colleges showed Georgetown was the 16th most-preferred choice.[114] The School of Foreign Service (SFS) has been ranked #1 in the United States for international affairs according to Niche, as well as #1 in the world according to Foreign Policy Magazine.[115][116] The Medical School is ranked 44th in research and 87th in primary care,[117] while the McDonough School of Business ranked 25th in MBA programs, second in international business, fifth in nonprofit management, and 13th in part-time business studies.[118] Georgetown University Law Center is ranked 14th in the United States[119] and 12th in the world,[120] as well as first in clinical training and part-time law, second in tax law, third in international law, fifth in criminal law, seventh in health care law, ninth in constitutional law, and tenth in environmental law.[119] 006ab0faaa