On Sept. 12, the McCourt School of Public Policy unveiled its state-of-the-art headquarters in the heart of downtown Washington, DC, at 125 E St. at Georgetown’s Capitol Campus.
In a ribbon-cutting event, McCourt School Dean Maria Cancian was joined by local, federal and university leaders, including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser; DC Councilmember Charles Allen; acclaimed artist Maya Lin; Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio); U.S. Virgin Islands Congressional Delegate Stacey Plaskett (SFS’88); Georgetown Provost Robert M. Groves; Frank McCourt (C’75), the founding donor of the McCourt School; Rev. Ebony Grisom, the director of Protestant Life; and Thomas A. Reynolds III (B’74), the chair of Georgetown’s board of directors.
“Today we celebrate a major milestone for our school, the realization of a remarkable vision articulated at our founding: That we should be in a new building, steps from the Capitol, energizing Georgetown’s growing Capitol Campus,” Cancian said in her remarks at the event.
In the new space, McCourt School students, faculty, staff and researchers will be in one location for the first time in the school’s history. Students in the new building will study in McCourt’s range of graduate degree programs, as well as its new undergraduate degree program in public policy jointly offered with the College of Arts & Sciences. They will also be close to the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court, government agencies and other major policy institutions.
The ribbon-cutting event celebrated the official opening of 125 E St., the new home for the McCourt School of Public Policy.
“We designed this space to be a new front door to public policy in Washington, DC,” Groves said at the ceremony. “It isn’t by accident that we’re sitting here in this space. We envisioned new collaborations that are possible here, new partnerships that are possible, engagements with local, national and global leaders who are just footsteps away from this building. We want it to happen right here at this 125 E address.”
The new space features over 150,000 square feet of space, 20 classrooms, a 400-seat auditorium and conference rooms. The building also features a rooftop event space and terrace with views of the U.S. Capitol that is open to all members of the Georgetown community and serves as a flagship convening space. Central to the building’s design are spaces to encourage frequent interactions and conversations to exchange ideas, including many shared and flexible office spaces as well as a grand stairwell that cuts across all nine floors of the building.
Lin, who designed the National Mall’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial, created artwork and designs throughout the building in a multipart installation known as “Mapping Our Place in the World.”
At the event, Cancian also announced the opening of an outdoor footbridge that connects McCourt’s new building to the Eleanor Holmes Norton Green at Georgetown Law, allowing for easier access between the two schools.
The McCourt School’s new home includes a 400-seat auditorium, an outdoor terrace space and ample convening spaces throughout the building for events and collaborations.
The opening of 125 E St. comes at a time of increased interdisciplinary research at Georgetown. The building’s close proximity to influential institutions in domestic and international policy also provides opportunities for students, faculty and researchers to collaborate with partners in the nation’s capital.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser gives her remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“If you love politics and policy, you’re in the perfect city for it. This is why this investment at this location is so important,” Bowser said in her remarks. “You could be somebody like me that grows up and believes in good policy, believes in serving people and believes in changing neighborhoods. You could become mayor of your own hometown. You can be an appointed official. You can work with the Congress to make our country better.”
Over the last year, the McCourt School has already welcomed numerous partners into the new space. In February, Decision Desk HQ announced it would base one of the nation’s only decision-desk operations at the McCourt School, providing students with opportunities to work with a leading provider of real-time election results and race calls. This past July, the McCourt School also partnered with the Future Caucus and hosted the Future Summit, the nation’s largest bipartisan convening of young state legislators.
At 125 E St., Georgetown University and the McCourt School will be able to provide more programming and spaces to convene with leaders from across the nation’s capital.
Frank McCourt, the founding donor of the McCourt School, gives his remarks at the ribbon-cutting event.
Also in September, the McCourt School announced the launch of its McCourt Tri-Caucus Visiting Congressional Fellows program. The program will welcome current and former members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to the McCourt School to help introduce students to new perspectives on contemporary policy issues affecting underrepresented communities. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, will be the inaugural fellowship recipient in January 2025.
“My hope is that this is a symbol of Georgetown’s commitment to possibilities, that this becomes a home for the hundreds and the thousands of students from all over the world that pass through it,” McCourt said in his remarks. “That this home emboldens them to dream, to dream about the future that they want for all of our children, and then inspires them to set out and build that future.”
A Growing Capitol Campus
The McCourt School’s new headquarters at 125 E St. is just one part of an expanding Capitol Campus.
For over 150 years, Georgetown Law has anchored the university’s presence downtown. The Capitol Campus now includes 500 First St. NW, home to the Global Health Institute and a range of cross-campus, interdisciplinary research centers, and 55 H St. NW, a residence hall for undergraduate and graduate students.
In fall 2025, 111 Massachusetts Ave. NW will open and be home to the School of Continuing Studies, Earth Commons Institute, the Capitol Applied Learning Labs and other programs from the McDonough School of Business, School of Health, School of Nursing and Biomedical Graduate Education.
Recently, the university also acquired 77 H St. NW, a residential building with retail space. Georgetown Law also has plans for a new 200,000-square-foot building that will meet a critical demand for academic space on campus — providing smaller classrooms, collaborative study areas, spacious convening rooms, and a Moot Courtroom and Clinical Programs Suite.
“For the past few years, we’ve been building this new campus of multiple buildings with a very simple message to ourselves and to others,” Groves said. “Georgetown is becoming a larger and more impactful institution for the world.”
