General Information 
Academics 
Business Assets 
Community Assets

General Information

Founded in 1789, the same year the U.S. Constitution took effect, Georgetown University is the nation’s oldest Catholic university. What began as Georgetown College, a small gathering of 12 students and a handful of professors, has grown into a major international university that includes four undergraduate schools, respected graduate programs, a law school and a medical school.

The vision of Georgetown founder John Carroll, S.J. still guides the University in its commitment to Catholic, Jesuit education in the liberal arts tradition, with respect for diversity and open dialogue in the pursuit of truth.  Georgetown is a national University rooted in the Catholic faith, committed to spiritual inquiry, engaged in the public sphere and invigorated by religious and cultural pluralism. For more than two centuries, it has maintained a strong commitment to its heritage. Georgetown adheres to the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Catholic character of the University is evident.

Georgetown's 104-acre Main Campus includes 58 buildings on the Main Campus and the Medical Center, and student residences that can accommodate more than 5,000 students, approximately 90 %of the full-time traditional undergraduate student body.

Fall 2003 marks the opening of the new Southwest Quadrangle, which includes three student residence halls, a dining facility, underground parking and a Jesuit community residence.

Athletic facilities include an Astroturf field, two natural turf athletic fields, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, a student athletic facility and a gymnasium.

Academics

Undergraduate Admissions

More than 15,400 students applied for fall 2003 admission to Georgetown's four undergraduate schools, including Georgetown College and Schools of Foreign Service, Business and Nursing. Georgetown accepted approximately 20% of applicants. More than 50 % of accepted students were in the top 10% of their class, and about 36 % of accepted students were ranked first, second or third in their high school class. http://www.georgetown.edu/undergrad/admissions/

Academic Excellence

Since 1984, 18 Georgetown students or graduates have received Rhodes Scholarships. Twelve of these 18 were awarded since 1990.  Nine students have received Luce Fellowships since 1991, 20 students have been awarded Mellon Fellowships in the Humanities since 1984, and 17 students have received Truman Scholarships since the award’s establishment in 1977. Since 1990, seven students have earned Marshall Scholarships.

Georgetown’s faculty includes some of the nation’s leading scholars in a wide array of fields—from linguistics to ethics and cancer research to health care policy. Georgetown became a Research I institution in 1994. 

In April 2003, U.S. News & World Report released the annual graduate school rankings. Georgetown's Law Center ranked 14th. The Law Center placed in the top 10 in several specialty categories.  (First for clinical training, Third for tax law and trial advocacy, fourth for international law, sixth for dispute resolution, and eighth for environmental law.) The MBA program maintained a strong graduate ranking of 24th. The Medical Center ranked 47th among Medical Schools in research.  Overall, in the magazine's yearly undergraduate rankings of colleges and universities, Georgetown ranked 24th in the country.

At the School of Medicine, students continue to perform exceptionally well in residency assignments they received through the National Residency Matching Program. In 2003, Georgetown University School of Medicine received 7,493 applications for 170 slots.  http://www.georgetown.edu/home/learning.html

Georgetown students are exposed to a broad range of opportunities to study religion and grow in faith through academic courses, campus ministry, religious services, retreat programs, residence life efforts and a growing Catholic Studies Program.

Academic programs related to business

Georgetown’s seven schools offer a wide variety of academic and continuing education programs. These include courses and special programs designed to allow those who live and work in the District to further their education. The School for Summer and Continuing Education offers evening and summer courses in the humanities, sciences, business, international relations and government. 

The University offers evening graduate degree programs in fields such as business, public policy, international relations and information technology. 

The Georgetown Law Center also offers a four-year evening program, the largest such program in the nation. 

The School of Foreign Service and the School of Business offer mid-career advanced degree programs designed to enhance the work experience of career professionals. A listing of individual school and departmental websites can be found at http://www.georgetown.edu/home/learning.html.

Executive Education

Offered through the McDonough School of Business, Executive Education at Georgetown University offers a variety of options for companies and individuals who wish to broaden their international business exposure: International Executive Programs, International Executive MBA, public policy forums and specially-designed custom programs. More information can be found at http://www.msb.georgetown.edu/exec_ed/exec_edu.htm.  

Faculty Experts

Leading Catholic scholars from all over the world teach and study on Georgetown's campus, and the University houses renowned centers of excellence that contribute to the Catholic intellectual tradition through research and dialogue on issues of great significance to the Catholic Church. Visit www.georgetown.edu/home/employee.html for a list of current faculty.

Business Assets

Faculty Experts

 

Georgetown University's world-class community of scholars provides insight, analysis and expertise on a wide variety of news and events. Visit the online faculty database at http://explore.georgetown.edu to see leaders and speakers on business, faith and ethics, government, international relations, law, medicine, public policy, social justice and other issues. For additional information contact the appropriate office of communications: Main Campus - 202-687-4328; Medical Center -  202-687-5100; Law Center - 202-662-9500

Center for Professional Development

The Center for Professional Development (CDP) extends the mission of Georgetown University to working professionals. CPD’s programs enable participants to learn and grow both professionally and personally. The Center offers courses and certificate programs on evenings and weekends, as well as in two and three day formats to fit busy schedules. The Center also works with organizations to develop custom learning programs for their employees. Program areas include Leadership and Management, Organizational Consulting, Information Technology, Business for Professionals and Financial Planning. For more information, visit the Center’s website at http://cpd.georgetown.edu.

Career Placement

 

The MBNA Career Center’s recruiting program works to connect talented and capable Georgetown University students with prospective employers. Organizations may want to recruit and interview prospective interns and full-time employees through Georgetown’s recruiting program.

 

The Center can arrange for students to see available job or internship postings and submit their resumes to companies online.  Companies can conduct on-campus interviews in the University’s recruiting suite. 

 

For more information on the recruiting program call 202-687-3493.

Corporate Counsel Institute

This annual Institute at the Georgetown University Law Center is designed for in-house counsel and practitioners who work closely with in-house counsel. Presenting pragmatic solutions to real-world problems and addressing current interests such as global economic policy, crisis management, e-commerce strategies, government antitrust enforcement and securities law, the Institute provides direct interface with some of the country's top policymakers and general counsels at Fortune 500 companies. 

Sessions will address such topics as doing business in China, antitrust policies and priorities of the new administration, securities issues such as regulation FD and e-commerce financing, ethical issues confronting corporate counsel and current case law and regulatory reviews in environmental law, patent law and mediation.

For more information call 202-662-9890 or email grinkemg@law.georgetown.edu

Center for Business and Public Policy

The Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy works to engage scholars, business people and policy makers in relevant inquiries and dialogue on key business, economic and ethical policy issues confronting American and international businesses today. 

The program hosts the annual Workplace Safety Summit, as well as a number of public policy forums throughout the year. For more information, contact the Center at 202-687-0806 or cbpp@msb.edu. 

Georgetown Business Ethics Institute

The Georgetown Business Ethics Institute was established to foster the creation and dissemination of significant conceptual, empirical and applied knowledge in business ethics. The research results of its members and associates are disseminated in places of national and international repute.

The practical implications, methods and techniques that derive from these research results are used to advance the ethical understanding and activities of students and practitioners in the realm of business, at the local, national and international levels. For more information, call 202-687-7701 or email brenkg@msb.edu.

Legal Services

 

The Law Center’s acclaimed clinical programs provide legal services to juveniles and adults on issues ranging from landlord/tenant relations to criminal justice and civil rights. In addition to the clinics, Law Center faculty, staff and students provide thousands of hours of assistance to DC residents through pro bono projects, public interest internships and other volunteer activities. Programs include:           

o    Center for Applied Legal Studies: Represents refugees seeking political asylum in the United States because of threatened persecution in their home countries.

o    Criminal Justice Clinic: Provides representation to indigent criminal defendants in both jury and non-jury trials in the District of Columbia Superior Court.

o    DC Street Law Program: Teaches DC high school students and adult learners law-related subjects, such as criminal, consumer, family, housing and individual rights law.

o    Domestic Violence Clinic: Represents victims of domestic violence in DC Superior Court, bringing actions to obtain injunctive relief in the form of civil protection orders.

o    Family Advocacy Clinic: Represents young people and their parents or “kinship caretakers” and provides counsel to coalitions working to reform education, legal and government assistance programs in the District of Columbia.

o    Federal Legislation Clinic: Provides a comprehensive education regarding the federal legislative process, with students researching federal legislative process, with students researching bills, developing solutions for dealing with substantive problems and drafting proposed statutory language and report language.

o    Harrison Institute for Public Law: Provides legal services that strengthen political and economic democracy to citizen coalitions, housing cooperatives, community development corporations, government agencies and state and local legislatures.

o    Institute for Public Representation: Represents under-served groups and individuals in environmental protection, communications law and policy and civil rights.

o    International Women’s Human Rights Clinic: Works to promote the legal status of women around the world, focusing particularly on ending practices such as sexual harassment, domestic violence, polygamy and female genital mutilation.

o    Law Students in Court: Civil litigation clinic that offers students the opportunity to develop lawyering and advocacy skills through representation of clients in the Civil Division of the DC Superior Court, most frequently in the Landlord and Tenant and Small Claims branches. This clinic is a separate non-profit organization that provides clinical education opportunities to students from all DC law schools. For more info, visit http://www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/

Conference Facilities

The 13,000 square-foot Georgetown University Conference Center, managed by Marriott International, Inc., caters to a wide range of conference and guest needs. Facilities include conference rooms and boardrooms, a 10,500 square-foot Grand Ballroom and 146 guest rooms. A full range of technology and foodservice options are available. For more information, contact the Sales Department at 202-687-3243.

Community Assets

Community Involvement/Outreach

Founded in 1789, the University has maintained a close relationship with the nation’s capital for more than two centuries, providing services, opportunities, leadership and resources to Washington, DC neighborhoods, businesses and government. Under the leadership of University President John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University has strengthened its commitment and expanded its contributions to the District in a variety of ways.

Access to University Resources

As a major international research University, Georgetown offers its neighbors in the Washington, DC area access to a wide variety of resources which include:

o    lectures by prominent public figures and scholars;

o    courses in advanced degrees, as well as a wide variety of non-credit classes;

o    libraries with specialized governmental, legal, medical, scientific, bioethical and theological collections and cutting-edge electronic research tools;

o    religious services; performing arts and other cultural events and support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and cancer support groups; and

o    athletic facilities and sporting events

For more information, visit:  http://www.georgetown.edu/home/campus.html

Investing in the District

Over the past several decades, Georgetown has devoted significant resources to aiding and collaborating with District neighborhoods and resident. The University maintains a deep commitment to addressing a variety of societal issues, from education and economic planning to health assistance and child development. A small sampling of programs includes:

o    Schiff Scholar Institute of College Preparation: Begun in 1989, the Schiff Scholar Institute of College Preparation picks a group of local seventh grader students every six years and offers them a range of free academic and extra-curricular activities that help them prepare for college. Two groups of nearly 70 students have completed the program since its launch—the first in 1995 and the second in 2001. The 34 recent grads, originally classmates at Ronald H. Brown Middle School in Northeast DC., will go to such colleges and universities as Georgetown, Barnard, Drexel, Temple and Hampton.

o    City First Bank: In 1995, Georgetown made a founder's investment of $1 million in City First Bank of DC which opened in 1999. The bank emphasizes service to low- and moderate-income District neighborhoods. The bank seeks to increase home ownership and establish stable, mixed-income communities, to provide the range of financing needed to upgrade housing stock and commercial centers and to strengthen the base of local small businesses.

o    The Perry School: Three Georgetown programs that support local community development—the Department of Family Medicine, the Office of Volunteer and Public Service and the Child Development Center—recently opened offices at the Perry School Community Services Center in Northwest, DC. At the Perry School, Georgetown volunteers address health and nutrition needs, provide tutoring for children and parents and offer college preparatory, conflict resolution and child development programs.

o    Manna Community Development Organization.  For the past three years, McDonough School of Business professor Bob Bies has placed more than 200 students at Manna Community Development Corporation (CDC), located in the Shaw neighborhood.  These students have helped the CDC develop businesses that will both serve the neighborhood and bring tourists to the new Convention Center through market surveys, financial analyses and organizational studies. 

Community Service in DC

Georgetown embraces and lives out the Catholic, Jesuit ideal of service in its undergraduate, graduate, law and medical schools.

The more than 100 community service initiatives at Georgetown involve countless students, faculty, staff and alumni, and range from teaching children to offering pro bono legal services to providing health care for the medically underserved. Learn more about the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching, and Service at http://www.georgetown.edu/home/service.html.

Building Relationships with Community Organizations

 

The Center for Urban Research and Teaching supports curricular and research projects involving community service throughout the University. The Cetner services as the home of Partners in Urban Research and Service-Learning (PURS), a collaborative project bringing together 10 Georgetown social science faculty and community leaders to develop research projects serving the community. The Center has also sponsored workshops for faculty and co-sponsored a symposium, "Writing for and with the Community," with the Writing Program. It is currently working to expand its community-based programs, including a major initiative in support of eight Catholic elementary schools serving some of the least advantaged communities in the District of Columbia.

The University works closely with community organizations and agencies in the District to help develop programs that serve the needs of the Washington, DC community. Each semester, Georgetown’s Volunteer and Public Service Center coordinates the “You Can Make a Difference” fair, which allows community service agencies in the District to recruit volunteers at Georgetown. 

http://www.georgetown.edu/departments/english/writing/curt.html

Reaching Out to the University's Neighbors

As Georgetown has grown over the years, so has the surrounding community and the University is now nestled in the midst of an historic neighborhood. The University has reached out to the community immediately surrounding the University in unprecedented ways and implemented ambitious new initiatives in areas of mutual concern. The initiatives such as creating new leadership positions dedicated to city and neighborhood relations, including an assistant vice president for external relations, increasing the number of students housed on campus and developing plans for new residences to house 780 more students; and implementing new initiatives related to student living off campus, including a weekend hotline for neighbors; an office of off-campus student affairs; and mandatory student orientation sessions related to students' responsibilities as neighbors. 

Office of External Relations

The Office of External Relations (OER) seeks to coordinate and facilitate effective relations with the city and local organizations and the Georgetown community. OER serves as the University's primary liaison to the neighborhoods surrounding the University and the Washington, DC community including the Mayor, City Council, business associations, government officials and agencies. OER also participates on the Board of the Georgetown Business and Professional Association, the Georgetown Partnership, the DC Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Business Improvement District. For more information, contact the Office at 202-687-5677 or visit http://www.georgetown.edu/admin/publicaffairs/external_relations/

Supporting the Local Economy

Georgetown’s powerful impact on the District’s economy is evident not only in the money spent in the District by the University, but also in the spending of students and employees and the multiplier effect of university expenditures. In fiscal year 2002, Georgetown contributed directly to the District’s economy in the following ways:

o    Georgetown paid approximately $85.5 million in wages and salaries to DC employees.

o    Georgetown spent approximately $50.9 million in the purchase of goods and services from vendors located in the District, $2.0 million of which was directed toward 25 DC Minority Business Employers.

o    Georgetown paid approximately $7.4 million in taxes to the District.

o    Georgetown provided $25.8 million in student financial aid, scholarships and loans to 1,016 students from the District.

o    Georgetown employed roughly 1,800 employees who are residents of the District.

Athletic Department Programs

 

30 coaches from the Georgetown University Athletic Department have worked with children from four DCPS Junior High Schools, providing them with “shadowing” experiences that allowed the students to learn about sports management as a possible career choice. 

 

GAME (Georgetown Athletes Mentoring Enterprise) reaches out to 35 public schools throughout the region, bringing students to campus to work with Georgetown athletes, coaches and administrators to participate in the University’s sports, as well as seminars on subjects ranging from substance abuse to life on a college campus. 

 

Medical Center Partnerships

The Georgetown University Medical Center hosts many programs that reach out to our neighbors in the District of Columbia. The programs cover a range of geographic and medical areas, from Medical Student Education, in which more than 80 medical students work each year to address smoking with 5th graders and improve health literacy for teen mothers, to a partnership with the DC Department of Health and the DC Primary Care Association to ensure survival of the safety net clinic, strengthen community support services and improve access to health care.  Many faculty members in the Medical Center partner with community organizations, including the Unity Health Care Partnership. 

This material was prepared for the Greater Washington Initiative by Georgetown University.