Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:
We open this new academic year filled with hope for the work we will accomplish together over these next few months. Already, new and returning students have begun to fill our residence halls, our libraries and laboratories, our classrooms and social spaces. Members of our community are beginning to experience our growing Capitol Campus, just steps from the U.S. Capitol. Our Hilltop is seeing new upgrades to infrastructure and sustainability. There is much to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead.
On behalf of President DeGioia, we take this opportunity to welcome all of you: new and returning students, faculty, and staff to our new academic year at Georgetown.
Over these past few weeks, we have been working with the senior leadership of the University to ensure continuity and continued success for our community this semester as President DeGioia continues his recovery from the stroke he experienced this summer.
He is making progress in his rehabilitation, bolstered by the terrific support of his family, an outstanding medical team, and many messages of encouragement from our community. He has asked us to convey his deep appreciation to all of you.
As we gather together in the opening days of the academic year, let us acknowledge our responsibilities to one another and as members of this community as we are guided by the University’s mission statement:
“Georgetown is a Catholic and Jesuit, student-centered research university.
Established in 1789 in the spirit of the new republic, the university was founded on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical and spiritual understanding. We embody this principle in the diversity of our students, faculty and staff, our commitment to justice and the common good, our intellectual openness and our international character.
An academic community dedicated to creating and communicating knowledge, Georgetown provides excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional education in the Jesuit tradition for the glory of God and the well-being of humankind.
Georgetown educates women and men to be reflective lifelong learners, to be responsible and active participants in civic life and to live generously in service to others.”
We wish you all a wonderful opening to the new academic year and express our sincere gratitude to all members of the University community.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Groves, Provost
Joseph A. Ferrara, Vice President and Chief of Staff to President DeGioia