Welcome back to the Deep Dives. Today, we are
taking you right into the heart of Washington,
D .C. But we're focusing our lens not on, you
know, the White House or Congress, but on the
intellectual engine that really feeds them both.
We're doing a deep dive into Georgetown University.
That's right. And when most people hear Georgetown,
they they instantly think of politics, right?
They think of the historic neighborhood, maybe
the iconic Healy Hall architecture. They see
this pipeline to power. But what they might be
missing is. the profound and, I mean, often very
contradictory identity of this institution. So
our mission today is to go far beyond the glossy
brochures, beyond the standard rankings. We are
going to unpack the complexity of Georgetown,
the oldest Catholic institution in the U .S.,
founded by Jesuits. Yet it operates as this hyper
-secular, politically charged global research
powerhouse. And yes, an institution whose survival,
its historical survival, was directly tied to
the horrific business of slavery. Right. And
the central tension we really want to explore
for you, the listener, is this. How does a foundation
built on faith, on resilience, and frankly, on
historical compromise, how does that coexist
with the demands of 21st century global influence
and modern activism? We promise an aha moment
here that tracks the university's story from
18th century clandestine education right through
the Civil War and up to its explosive modern
expansion with campuses stretching from D .C.
to Doha, Qatar, and now Jakarta, Indonesia. OK,
so let's start with the. basics, the essential
facts that form the bedrock of what they call
the Hoya identity. What defines this place? Well,
officially, Georgetown is a private Jesuit research
university, and it carries the highest designation
for research activity in the U .S. It's called
R1, doctoral universities, very high research
activity. And that R1 status, just to be clear,
that's a huge deal, right? It means they aren't
just teaching, they're actively generating massive
amounts of new knowledge across so many fields.
Absolutely. And its pedigree is, by American
standards, And the founder was Bishop John Carroll,
who was, I mean, he was the man appointed as
the first head of the Catholic Church in the
newly formed United States. Exactly. And that
founding wasn't just significant for its religious
role. Critically, Georgetown holds this dual
distinction. It's the oldest Catholic institution
of higher education in the U .S. and the nation's
first. federally chartered university. The first.
So that federal charter, that was signed by President
James Madison in 1815. So that officially gave
it the right to confer degrees. That direct,
I mean, that structural connection to the federal
government is literally woven into its founding
legal DNA. It is. And the university motto seems
to perfectly capture this inherent duality, this
tension that defines its whole history. It's
Latin, of course, utrac unum. Utrac unum, which
means... It means simply both into one. It's
the perfect phrase for an institution that is
constantly having to reconcile these warring
concepts. You know, faith and politics, tradition
and radical modernity, North and South during
the Civil War. And today I'd say global wealth
and Jesuit ideals. We're going to come back to
this idea again and again. So the scale of the
university today, I mean, it just reflects this
immense ambition. Just look at the finances and
the scope. The institution has a really robust
endowment. As of recent data, it sits near $4
billion. To be specific, $3 .95 billion as of
2025. And this financial muscle supports a massive
internationally focused student body. Huge. The
total enrollment is over 20 ,000 students. And
that's split between 7 ,833 undergraduates and
12 ,198 postgraduates. So it's heavily weighted
toward grad students. And it's truly a global
magnet. It draws students from over 135 countries
worldwide. This is not a regional. College. This
is a global platform. Okay, let's unpack this
history, because the story of Georgetown's founding
is so much more complex than just a simple date.
It's a story of resilience, really, born from
suppression. It really is. It starts in the 17th
century. The Jesuit settlers, they originally
founded the province of Maryland back in 1634,
and they established a religious and educational
presence pretty much right away. But that presence,
it came under immediate threat. So the moment
the Royalists were defeated in the English Civil
War, that was 1646, these really stringent laws
came into effect. The penal laws, they forced
Jesuits to conduct Catholic education, which
was crucial to their mission, entirely in secret.
And you have to think about that context. For
over a century, Catholic education couldn't operate
openly in Maryland. They had to teach in secret,
passing on knowledge and faith away from the
gaze of the authorities. The official establishment
of Georgetown was a direct result of the American
Revolution finally granting religious freedom
and allowing John Carroll to organize the Catholic
Church openly. And Carroll was just, he was relentless.
Even though the worldwide papal suppression of
the Jesuit order was still active during the
late 18th century, century, he just pushed forward.
He saw the need for a Catholic institution that
could thrive in this new republic. So he finalized
the property purchase right there in the Georgetown
neighborhood in January 1789. And the precision
of the records for that era is just amazing.
We know that instruction began officially on
January 2nd, 1792, and the first recorded student
was a young man named William Gaston, who enrolled
on November 22nd, 1791. But these early days,
you know, they cemented the foundation, but the
college almost immediately ran into serious financial
trouble. And that 19th century was just marked
by incredible stress. I mean, massive challenges
directly related to the new nation's growing
pains, especially the financial. instability.
That's absolutely right. The school was constantly
under considerable financial strain in those
early years. It relied heavily on private funding
and, you know, whatever limited profits they
could squeeze out of the lands that had been
donated to the Jesuit community. And this perpetual
financial pressure, this is what led to what
is arguably the most morally fraught event in
Georgetown's history, the 1838 slave sale. Right.
And this detail is so crucial for understanding
the history of the university's survival. In
1838, the Maryland Jesuits, who were responsible
for funding Georgetown and other regional schools,
they conducted this mass sale. A mass sale. The
sale involved roughly 272 enslaved people, men,
women, and children. And the transaction sent
them down to two Deep South plantations in Maringouin,
Louisiana. This sale, it raised desperately needed
capital funds that were necessary for the survival
and expansion of the Young College. And this
act, it simultaneously ended the Jesuit Order
slaveholding in Maryland, but only by consigning
hundreds of people to the brutal conditions of
Deep South plantation slavery. It's a haunting,
dark legacy. And it's one the university is still
actively grappling with today through reconciliation
efforts and dialogue with descendants. Yes. And
then less than two decades after that, that morally
catastrophic event. The Civil War erupts, and
it tears the nation and the student body completely
apart. The impact on the hilltop was immediate
and just enormous. The numbers are staggering
for a college of that size at the time. 1 ,141
students and alumni enlisted on both sides of
the conflict union and Confederates. And the
war didn't just affect the alumni. It physically
came to the campus. The Union Army actually commandeered
several university buildings. They used them
as temporary quarters for troops positioned to
defend Washington, D .C. You had the most powerful
man in the country visiting. Yeah. President
Abraham Lincoln himself visited the campus in
May of 1861 and found 1 ,400 troops living there.
That must have just fundamentally altered the
atmosphere and the entire operation of the college
overnight. Oh, it did. The loss of life and the
general disruption, it meant that after the war,
enrollment just plummeted severely. In 1869,
only seven students graduated. Seven. Seven.
Compare that to over 300 students graduating
annually in the decade before that. It was truly
a crisis of survival, and the school needed to
heal. And the method they chose to symbolize
that healing, it speaks directly back to that
motto we mentioned, utrac unum, oath into one.
Yes. In 1876, at this incredibly symbolic gesture,
the Georgetown College Boat Club the rowing team,
adopted the school colors, blue representing
the Union and gray representing the Confederacy.
It was an explicit physical representation of
trying to forge some kind of peaceful coexistence
among students who had fought and suffered on
opposite sides of the deadliest conflict in U
.S. history. So the post -war recovery, however,
it's inseparable from the man often called the
second founder, Patrick Francis Healy. And his
story is one of the most compelling and complex
in American higher education. It really is. Healy
served as president from 1873 to 1881, and he
truly rescued the school from that post -Civil
War slump. He's the one who transitioned it from
a small, struggling college into a modern university
structure. But what stands out and what requires
us to just pause and reflect is his personal
history. Healy was born enslaved by law in Athens,
Georgia, in 1834. His father was a white Irish
immigrant plantation owner, and his mother was
a mixed -race slave. So though he was of African
descent by ancestry, he was educated abroad,
and he identified fully as Irish Catholic. And
he was accepted as white in Catholic and European
society at the time. That identity is just a
profound contradiction woven right into the fabric
of the university. Here you have a man born into
the brutal reality of Southern slavery, the very
system that partially funded the early college.
And he went on to become the first person of
African descent to head a predominantly white
American university. Even if that identity was
suppressed or unacknowledged by the public at
the time, this transformation from property to
proprietor in one generation, it just speaks
volumes about the incredible contradiction. embedded
in Georgetown's founding story. And his legacy
is physical, too. He wasn't just a figurehead.
He actively and fundamentally reformed the entire
institution. He's credited with completely overhauling
the undergraduate curriculum, significantly lengthening
the medical and law programs to meet modern professional
standards, and formally establishing the Alumni
Association. And of course, the most visible
testament to his vision is Healy Hall. He oversaw
the construction of that massive neo -medieval
Gothic structure between 1877 and 1879. That
building defines the campus skyline today. It
is the physical representation of his ambition
to elevate Georgetown from a regional college
to a major national university. That title, second
founder, is entirely warranted. He brought the
institution into the modern academic era. So
that foundation of resilience and ambition, it
really set the stage for Georgetown's development
into the complex academic structure it is today.
Right now, it's composed of 11 undergraduate
and graduate schools, all highly specialized,
particularly in areas relevant to D .C. life.
Right. You see this natural evolution that's
tied directly to the city. The College of Arts
and Sciences, established in 1789, that's the
historical core. But very quickly, professional
schools followed the growth of the nation. The
School of Medicine in 1851, the Law Center in
1870. And the university has also adapted by
dissolving schools that were no longer as relevant
to its mission, like dentistry, which closed
in 1990, and languages and linguistics, which
dissolved in 1994. But the school that truly
defined Georgetown's global reputation, the one
that makes it synonymous with diplomacy, has
to be. to be the Walsh School of Foreign Service,
the SFS. Oh, the SFS was a massive game changer.
It was founded in 1919 by Edmund A. Walsh. And
think about the timing there. 1919, right after
World War I, the U .S. was shifting from an isolationist
power to an emerging global superpower. And Walsh
explicitly founded the school to prepare students
for leadership roles in diplomacy and foreign
commerce. It immediately tied the university's
academic mission to the critical needs of the
federal government and international affairs.
And they continued to structure their offerings
to meet the capital's needs. The business program,
which began as part of the SFS, it eventually
separated in 1957, and that became the McDonough
School of Business, or MSB, in 1998. And on a
separate note about academic evolution, it's
interesting to look at the gender changes. The
university didn't become fully coeducational
until the College of Arts and Sciences admitted
female students during the 1969 -1970 academic
year. However, the professional schools often
led the way. The School of Nursing, for example,
had admitted women since its founding in 1903,
which really reflects a trend across many older,
formerly all -male institutions. So we've established
this as an elite -focused institution. But just
how difficult is it to get into this highly selective
machine? It is extremely difficult. U .S. News
& World Report consistently deems Georgetown
most selective. And the undergraduate data for
the class of 2025 gives us a very clear picture.
They received 27 ,650 applications and only admitted
11 .7 % of those applicants. Wow. Let's put those
numbers in context for you, the listener. That
means for every nine students who apply, only
one gets in. And the students who are accepted
are statistically at the very, very top of their
classes. Precisely. 87 % of admitted students
were in the top 10 % of their high school class.
And if we look at standardized testing, the mid
-50 % range for the SAT evidence -based writing
and writing was 700 to 700 die. For math, it
was 690 to 780. These metrics place Georgetown
firmly in competition with the most prestigious
academic institutions in the United States. And
the selectivity doesn't ease up at the graduate
level. In fact, it seems to tighten. Oh, it tightens.
The graduate schools are hyper -selective, particularly
the medical school, which reported an astonishing
2 .8 % acceptance rate. The law center, a top
-tier school, admits only 12 .9%. Even the Master
of Science in Foreign Service program, the MSFS,
sits at a 25 % admit rate. These numbers, they
just underscore the institution's desire not
just for intelligence, but for demonstrated excellence
in very focused fields. And the rankings reflect
that intense focus on specialization. They aren't
just generally good. They are world leading in
certain areas. In international affairs, the
SFS is peerless. Their international relations
masters and bachelor's programs were ranked first
in the world in 2024 by foreign policy. I mean,
if you are seeking to train for global leadership,
this is the gold standard. And on the legal side,
the Law Center is highly ranked, 14th overall
in the U .S. But its real strength is in these
specific subfields. Exactly. It ranks first in
clinical training and part -time law, second
in tax law, and third in international law. This
focus on clinical training in particular means
that students are not just learning theory. They're
actively engaging with real world legal practice
right next door to the Supreme Court and all
the federal agencies. And we also can't overlook
the McDonough School of Business. The MSB undergraduate
program was ranked third in the country by Poets
and Quants in 2024. The academic power here is
focused. It's sharp and it's consistently top
tier in policy, law and business. So shifting
to that. R1 research status we mentioned. It's
not just about prestige. It's about generating
crucial breakthroughs. What are the research
priorities that define this output? Well, the
priorities align perfectly with the Jesuit tradition
in the D .C. environment. Religion and ethics,
public policy and science, with a really notable
focus on cancer medicine. For example, the Lombardi
Comprehensive Cancer Center is famous for pioneering
work. Yes, the Lombardi Center. They developed
the breakthrough HPV vaccine for cervical cancer,
which has had a monumental global health impact.
They also pioneered the conditionally reprogrammed
cells, or CRC technology, which is a massive
step forward in cancer research. In 2019, the
university's research spending exceeded $240
million, with a large component coming from federal
funding, that reciprocal relationship with the
government again. And here's where the global
ambition goes physical, this expansion across
continents. Georgetown has aggressively moved
beyond the hilltop, establishing campuses to
project its influence abroad, especially with
the SFS Qatar campus. The Qatar campus is fascinating.
It opened an education city in Doha in 2005.
And crucially, it offers the exact same Bachelor
of Science in Foreign Service, the BSFS degree,
as the D .C. campus. It also hosts the Center
for International and Regional Studies, or CIRs.
This expansion was really driven by the Qatar
Foundation, and it cemented Georgetown's status
as a major player in Middle Eastern academic
and policy circles. And the expansion hasn't
stopped there. In January 2025, the university
launched the SFS Asia -Pacific campus in Jakarta,
Indonesia. This is clearly a strategy. to extend
their diplomatic training directly to the future
policymakers of one of the world's most dynamic
and critical regions. And they also have other
facilities supporting their global student body.
There's Villa La Balls in Fiosole, Italy, which
serves as the stunning study abroad center focused
on Italian culture, and the McGee Center for
Eastern Mediterranean Studies in Alanya, Turkey.
It's a truly enormous international footprint
that very few other American universities can
match. But this global reach is not cheap. And
when we discuss global politics, you have to
follow... the money trail. We have to talk about
foreign funding. This is a critical detail in
understanding Georgetown's financial structure
and really its global entanglements. Our sources
show that between 2012 and 2018, Georgetown received
a massive influx of over $350 million from Gulf
Cooperation Council countries. That's Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, and the UAE. So hundreds of millions of
dollars flowing directly from foreign governments
and ruling families into the university's operations
in specific schools. Yes. And we can point to
a specific high -profile example. The 2005 gift
of $20 million from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a member of the Saudi
royal family. This was the second largest donation
to the university at the time, and it was designated
to expand the activities of the Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding.
they tie the university directly to powerful
international governmental interests, which,
you know, must inherently affect the geopolitical
discourse conducted within the walls of SFS.
So we've established that Georgetown is this
complex machine of global politics, finance,
and elite academics. Now let's dive into the
profound internal conflict, the core tension
that makes the institution so fascinating. This
is where that Utracuna motto... truly comes to
life. It really is. Georgetown constantly attempts
to balance its devout religious identity rooted
in the 18th century with the demands of its highly
secular, politically liberal 21st century clientele
in the nation's capital. Let's start with that
Jesuit foundation. Yeah. The university was founded
in the tradition of Ignatius of Loyola, and it
remains a key member of the Association of Jesuit
Colleges and Universities. That history isn't
just a plaque on a wall. It's structural. It's
deeply structural. That Catholic presence ensures
continuity. There are 52 members of the Society
of Jesus who live on campus working as professors
or administrators. But most importantly, seven
Jesuits serve on the 36 -member board of directors.
That's the body responsible for setting the direction
and policy of the university. So this guarantees
that the core Jesuit ethos remains part of the
institutional decision -making framework. But
the administration also, at the same time, promotes
this radical religious pluralism. something few
other historical Catholic institutions have matched.
Absolutely. And this commitment is institutionalized
through entities like the Berkeley Center for
Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, founded in
2006, and also the annual Building Bridges seminar,
which started back in 2001. These initiatives
bring together religious leaders from around
the globe to foster interfaith understanding.
This emphasis on diversity is a necessity, really,
given the student demographics. According to
2009 data, only 41 % of students identified as
castric, with another 22 % identifying as Protestant.
So the majority of the student body is either
secular or belongs to other faiths. And Georgetown
has shown a clear commitment to serving these
diverse spiritual needs. It employs a full -time
rabbi, serving a Jewish student population that's
approximately 6 .5 % of undergraduates. But what's
truly pioneering is their outreach to the Muslim
community. Georgetown was the first U .S. college
to hire a full -time imam. serving over 400 Muslim
students on campus. And in 2014, they continued
this path by appointing their first Hindu priest.
This is a clear statement that while the university
is Catholic, its mission is one of spiritual
pluralism. However, this core Catholic identity,
it inevitably creates these flashpoints when
it collides with modern, secular, social, and
moral norms. These are the moments that truly
test that Uttarakhand imbalance. We can trace
this conflict back to the physical campus itself
with the crucifix debate. Between 1996 and 1999,
the administration made the decision to add crucifixes
to many classroom walls. Previously, they had
only been found in the historic parts of the
campus or the hospital. And this action, which
seemed like a simple affirmation of Catholic
identity, it attracted significant national media
attention and provoked an intense internal debate.
What's truly fascinating is the cross -cultural
element. In 2004, when external groups pressured
the university to remove the crucifixes, the
school's full -time Muslim cleric, Imam Yahya
Hindi, actually publicly defended their placement.
Really? Yes. He argued that the symbol affirmed
the spiritual nature of the campus, which is
just a powerful demonstration of interfaith solidarity.
So the deeper policy tension, that focuses on
moral issues. For instance, the university maintains
these strict policies that align with Catholic
teaching. University -owned buildings are prohibited
from selling or distributing birth control products.
Right. Furthermore, the Georgetown University
Hospital, though it's operated by MedStar Health,
is prohibited from performing abortions. Yet
there's a nuance even here. As of 2004, the hospital
was permitted to perform embryonic stem cell
research, showing that the ethical lines the
university draws are precise and often negotiated.
And we see this duality played out so powerfully
in student life. Annually, the university hosts
the Cardinal O 'Connor Conference on Life. which
is the largest student -organized pro -life conference
in the entire country. That is a massive event
affirming Catholic teaching. Yet, coexisting
with this, you have the pro -abortion rights
group, Ages for Choice. And this group is not
officially recognized by the university. That's
why they need the asterisk in their name. Because
their platform directly conflicts with official
university policy. However, the university permits
them to meet and set up tables on campus. This
is that delicate legal and moral framework in
action. upholding the religious foundation while
still guaranteeing freedom of expression. This
tension, it often spills over when high -profile
political figures are invited to campus, particularly
in D .C. The university faced strong criticism
from conservative religious groups in 2005 and
2012 for hosting prominent pro -abortion rights
speakers, like then -Senator John Kerry, President
Barack Obama, and Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius. And there was also that infamous
incident in 2009. Before President Obama's speech
on campus, the administration covered up the
name of Jesus, which was inscribed on a wall
so as not to appear to be using a sacred space
for a political event. And this seemingly minor
decision brought the entire conflict over religious
symbols and political neutrality right back into
the national spotlight. Social issues are equally
charged. In 2013, religious groups strongly denounced
the university for allowing gay -themed events,
including one controversial performance where
a male student, dressed in high heels and a blue
cloak, performed a dance to Madonna's Like a
Virgin. parodying the Virgin Mary. Right. Yet
just a few years before, in 2010, Newsweek raided
Georgetown among its top gay friendly schools.
These conflicts just illustrate that Georgetown
is not a unified entity. It is a battleground
where 18th century Jesuit principles constantly
meet 21st century progressive politics. And the
administration has to navigate this tension every
single day. Speaking of D .C. influence, let's
look at the faculty that defines the institution's
political leaning and intellectual outlook. Well,
while the faculty demographics skew predominantly
male by a two to one margin, politically, the
faculty is heavily liberal. We know this based
on donation patterns, which show significant
support for liberal candidates, notably contributing
more than the average academic institution to
the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign.
So this means that students are receiving high
level political and policy education from a very
engaged, largely liberal academic perspective,
all housed within that formal conservative Catholic
tradition. But the real unique selling point
of a Georgetown education is the roster of influence
they attract. The faculty roster is just packed
with people who have shaped history, former high
-level officials who cycle through the university
after public service. It's policy taught by the
actual practitioners. This list is a who's who
of U .S. and global leadership. We're talking
former secretaries of state like Madeleine Albright
and Henry Kissinger, former CIA Director George
Tenet, and National Security Advisor Anthony
Lake. And even the judicial branch is represented.
Former Supreme Court Justices William J. Brennan
Jr. and Antonin Scalia and current Chief Justice
John Roberts have all spent time teaching there.
The student experience is one of proximity to
power. The theoretical is immediately grounded
in the practical experience of the people who
actually sat in the seats of power. And this
isn't limited to the U .S. The influence is decidedly
global. They attract international figures like
the former prime minister of Spain, Jose Maria
Aznar, and the former president of Colombia,
Alvaro Uribe. Georgetown is a revolving door
for global political leadership, giving students
unparalleled access to the people who shaped
recent history and who are still defining international
affairs today. Now let's move to the physical
reality of being a Hoya. a student living and
studying right in D .C. The main campus is appropriately
nicknamed the Hilltop, a beautifully organized
104 acres overlooking the Potomac River. And
the campus has a very distinct architectural
signature. It's dominated by collegiate Gothic
and Georgian brick architecture styles, giving
it that classic, revered university feel, a very
deliberate nod to tradition. And the crown jewel,
the symbol of the university and Patrick Francis
Healy's vision, has to be Healy Hall. Oh, Healy
Hall is a national historic landmark built in
that dramatic neo -medieval style between 1877
and 1879. It houses some of the most iconic spaces
in the university, including Gaston Hall, which
is known for hosting major lectures and ceremonies,
and the gorgeous Riggs Library. It serves as
the physical and intellectual anchor of the entire
campus. And while the historic center was Dahlgren
Quadrangle. Contemporary student life tends to
gravitate around Red Square. Recent construction
shows the university's commitment to modern science
and student life, including Regents Hall for
Science and the Healy Family Student Center,
or HFSC. which is a massive 43 ,000 square feet,
offering everything from study spaces and dance
studios to the popular student pub, the Bulldog
Tavern. But it's essential to remember that the
institution is spread across D .C. The Law Center
campus is separate, situated right in the Capitol
Hill neighborhood near Union Station. It consists
of five buildings, including the sole on -campus
dormitory, the Gewirtz Student Center. Then you
have the downtown campus, which houses the School
of Continuing Studies, or SCS. This is a state
-of -the -art 95 ,000 -square -foot building
located in the vibrant Chinatown neighborhood,
and it hosts specialized graduate programs like
applied intelligence and journalism. And the
location of the SCS is a very deliberate choice.
It's focused on accessibility for working professionals.
It boasts a perfect transit score of 100, meaning
public transit access is effortless, and a walk
score of 98. This shows a deep understanding
of the needs of nontraditional, often already
employed, graduate students in a major city.
Now, for one of the most remarkable and unique
aspects of Georgetown culture. student self -governance
and commerce. Georgetown hosts two of the nation's
largest organizations run entirely by students.
This is truly unparalleled responsibility handed
to undergraduates. First, you have Students of
Georgetown, Inc., universally known as the Corps.
Founded in 1972, they are an entirely student
-owned and operated umbrella corporation. And
this is not a bake sale operation. The Corp operates
multiple successful businesses. We're talking
coffee shops, grocery stores, catering services,
and the popular Hilltoss salad store. They generate
roughly $5 million in annual revenue, and the
surpluses are channeled directly back into the
student body through scholarships and philanthropy.
It's high -stakes business run by young adults.
And then there's the financial muscle, the Georgetown
University Alumni and Student Federal Credit
Union, GUASFCU. It's the largest all -student
-run credit union in the United States. They
manage over $17 million in assets and serve 12
,000 members. To have undergraduates running
a fully functional multimillion dollar federal
credit union is just a testament to the trust
placed in the Hoya student body. And that tradition
of student led organizations extends to media,
which acts as a powerful channel for the school's
noted political activism. Right. The Hoya is
the oldest campus newspaper published twice weekly
since 1920, covering campus and city news. Then
you have alternative voices like the Georgetown
Voice, a popular news magazine. And for the real
policy enthusiasts. And the political energy
here is just palpable. The Princeton Review ranked
Georgetown as having the second most politically
active student body in the United States. And
this energy is highly organized and effective.
Absolutely. Look at the groups that channel this
activism. The Georgetown Solidarity Committee,
for example, successfully campaigned for significant
workers' rights. for pay raises for cleaning
staff and police and successfully ended the use
of sweatshops for university apparel. And this
activism recently bore significant institutional
fruit with the GU Fossil Free Group. They successfully
advocated for the university to divest its entire
endowment from fossil fuels. A campaign that
resulted in the administration announcing full
divestment in February 2020, a huge win for climate
activism in higher education. It just highlights
that for a school that trains policymakers, the
students are often the first to put policy into
practice right on their own campus. Before we
move to athletics, there's a small detail on
social life. Greek life is surprisingly low participation,
about 10 % of undergraduates. The university
officially recognizes only one Greek organization,
Alpha Phi Omega, which is purely focused on community
service. Right. Now let's get to the beloved
and slightly bizarre nickname. Where did Hoyas
come from? The name originated sometime before
1893 from a mixed Greek and Latin chant, Hoya
Soxa. It roughly translates to what rocks or
such rocks. The baseball team, which was known
as the Stonewalls at the time, likely inspired
the chant. The nickname just stuck. And by the
1920s, Hoyas was widely adopted, eventually replacing
the older, slightly bland team name, the Hilltoppers.
And athletically, they are NCAA Division I. Competing
primarily in the Big East Conference for most
sports, though football is in the Patriot League,
they're a major name in college sports, particularly
basketball. Oh, yeah. Men's basketball won the
NCAA championship in 1984 under John Thompson,
and they hold the record for the most Big East
Conference titles with eight. That legacy is
part of the national consciousness. But don't
overlook the specialized teams. The sailing team
has been incredibly dominant. They've won 14
national championships and one world championship
in match racing since 2001. And men's soccer
also claimed the NCAA title in 2019. Finally,
though, we have to note a modern shadow cast
on the athletic department. The 2019 college
admissions bribery scandal. Right. The former
tennis coach, Gordon Gordy Ernst, was implicated
in this scandal. He was involved in facilitating
the fraudulent admission of up to 12 students
using fake athletic credentials while accepting
up to $950 ,000 in bribes. He later pled guilty
to bribery and tax charges. And this event just
serves as a sharp reminder that even institutions
rooted in public service ideals are susceptible
to high -profile corruption when access and wealth
converge. It was a failure of institutional oversight
in an era of hyper -competitive college admissions.
Okay, let's bring this all together by examining
the final output, the legacy and the influence
of the alumni. Immediately after graduation,
the numbers show a heavy focus on professional
careers. About 73 % of graduates enter the workforce
right away. And they are immediately highly compensated.
The median starting salary sits at $87 ,100,
which is extremely strong. And then the median
mid -career salary is $179 ,300. Graduates coming
out of the McDonough School of Business, the
MSB, report the highest average starting salary,
breaking the six -figure mark at $100 ,859. And
where do they go? The professional pipeline is
very clear. 40 % of graduates start their careers
in consulting or financial services. So this
isn't just a political school, it's a financial
powerhouse. Georgetown is consistently ranked
among the top 10 alma maters reported by current
Wall Street employees. But the output of public
service remains undeniable. Beyond the immediate
paycheck, Georgetown is a powerhouse in producing
global scholars. They are one of the nation's
top producers of Fulbright scholars, with 565
historically, and they were ranked the number
one producer in 2020, 2020, And they're also
consistently producing the next generation of
leadership through other prestigious scholarships.
Their alumni include 32 Rhodes Scholars, 46 Marshall
Scholars, and 33 Truman Scholars. This just solidifies
Georgetown's position in the highest echelon
of U .S. academic institutions focused on creating
public servants and global thought leaders. And
that intense academic rigor is channeled into
one clear area, global political power. The two
most popular undergraduate majors are consistently
government - and international relations. Georgetown
has really earned the title of diplomatic pipeline.
It has educated more U .S. diplomats than any
other university in the nation. At least 92 alumni
have achieved the rank of U .S. ambassador. That
statistic alone highlights the central role the
SFS plays in American foreign policy. And if
we look at U .S. leadership alumni, the list
is just staggering. You have two U .S. presidents,
Bill Clinton, a 1968 SFS graduate, and Lyndon
B. Johnson, who attended the Law Center, though
he left without a degree. Two Supreme Court justices,
Antonin Scalia and Edward Douglas White, are
alumni, alongside 116 members of Congress who
have Georgetown ties. And let's just name check
a few cabinet -level officials to bring this
influence to life. Robert Gates, former Secretary
of Defense, Jack Lew, former Secretary of the
Treasury, and John F. Kelly, former White House
Chief of Staff and Secretary of Homeland Security.
The influence extends deep into the military
as well. Right. The Hoya Battalion, their Army
ROTC unit, is the oldest military unit native
to D .C. and was ranked the best in the country
in 2012. Alumni include four -star generals like
George W. Casey Jr. and Joseph Dunford, the former
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And the
international pipeline is equally impressive,
completely fulfilling the mandate of the SFS.
Our sources identify 12 graduates who have served
as international royalty or heads of state. This
includes King Felipe VI of Spain, King Abdullah
II of Jordan, and José Manuel Barroso, who served
as both prime minister of Portugal and president
of the European Commission. And beyond politics
and military, the cultural impact is substantial,
and it's often rooted right on campus. Alumnus
William Peter Blatty won an Academy Award for
the screenplay of The Exorcist, a novel famously
set and partially filmed right there on the Georgetown
campus, utilizing those dramatic Gothic visuals.
And that cinematic success continues with 12
-time Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper and
Jonathan Nolan, who's known for his writing on
major films like Interstellar and The Dark Knight.
The alumni also include Pulitzer Prize winners
like Walter Pincus and Megan Tuhey. Georgetown
is consistently channeling its intellectual rigor
toward influence in every major sphere, political,
financial, media, and defense. So this has been
an incredibly detailed and I think necessary
deep dive into Georgetown University. We've seen
an institution that is exceptionally influential
on global politics and diplomacy, but one that
is constantly grappling with this profound internal
friction, that tension of Utrecht Unum. That's
the key takeaway. We've tracked the high profile
conflict between its conservative Catholic foundation
and its increasingly liberal activist and secular
campus culture. And we also confronted the historical
complexities head on, particularly the morally
devastating 1838 slave sale and the complex pioneering
legacy of its mixed race second founder, Patrick
Francis Healy. Georgetown has meticulously built
itself as the essential training ground for the
global elite. often situated literally blocks
away from the State Department and the U .S.
Capitol. Yet everything is, at least theoretically,
framed by a 236 -year -old Jesuit ethos of service
to the common good. And this leads us to our
final provocative thought for you to consider.
tying together the past and the present. Given
Georgetown's explicit and unavoidable historical
ties to slavery, a foundational injustice that
was necessary for its early survival, and its
ongoing reliance today on massive, high -profile
global and government funding, including those
hundreds of millions of dollars from Gulf nations.
How does this deep connection to global power
and wealth fundamentally influence its ability
to maintain its founding Jesuit principles of
social justice and service to the common good
in the 21st century? It is a question of mission
versus the necessity of modern geopolitical finance.
Perfect note to end on. Thank you for joining
us for this Deep Dive.