Setting the standard for a modern liberal arts education
The College of Arts & Sciences has centuries of experience empowering lifelong learners through a distinctive approach that develops well-rounded skills in analysis, interpretation, and communication.
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HOW OUR STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD—AND THEMSELVES
Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences…
PROMOTES DEEP INTELLECTUAL ENGAGEMENT
We teach and model the value of contemplation. Students ask not only “how?” but also “why?” as they question their underlying assumptions and find new ways to see the world.
FUELS THE CREATION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE
Creativity and inquiry are powerful tools in advancing the common good. Students learn from expert scholars, who guide them in the process of discovery through research, writing, and expression.
FOSTERS COLLABORATION
Strong ties connect our faculty and students, and span disciplines, linking the arts, humanities, and natural and social sciences. Students prepare for a world where progress is always a product of collaboration.
DEVELOPS INFORMED AND EMPATHETIC THINKERS
We are passionate about the personal formation of our students in the Jesuit and Catholic tradition. Our students engage with diversity of every kind, learning to challenge their own beliefs while maintaining important core values.
INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
At a university of our caliber, this learning and formation take many forms. To stay at the forefront of teaching and research—and to fully engage our community’s talents—we must continue to uncover and invest in new ways to advance the College’s mission.
Gifts to the College of Arts & Sciences will ensure that our graduates set out into the world having studied with world-class scholars and diverse cohorts of peers, engaged in hands-on research, and experienced the transformative possibilities of interdisciplinary work.
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Learning with peers
We will support young scholars in community with one another.
Guided by Georgetown’s Jesuit tradition, the College fosters the work of formation by bringing students together to develop their interests and discover their authentic selves. Diversity of all kinds—of experience, identity, expertise, and thought—catalyzes this process and deeply enriches our community. Everyone benefits when we enroll bright, passionate students from a broad array of backgrounds and ensure they can thrive.
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The Jesuit value of cura personalis, care of the whole person, is foundational to our identity and mission. It is more important than ever to bolster the intellectual, social, and emotional wellbeing of our students. This takes intentional engagement from every facet of the university— truly holistic support that meets students’ needs from orientation to graduation.
UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS: REMOVING FINANCIAL BARRIERS
More than 45 years ago, Georgetown made the transformational decision to become one of the nation’s few institutions that admit undergraduate students on a need-blind basis and meet U.S. students’ full demonstrated financial need. This commitment is critical to our success: it ensures that the students we choose can choose us, too; it enables us to compete for the best talent; it embodies our Catholic and Jesuit values; and it enriches the experience of the entire campus community.
Georgetown’s foremost philanthropic priority is to increase the number of donor-funded undergraduate scholarships—awards that reduce students’ loan burdens and help set in motion the exponential impact of a Georgetown education.
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“I hope to find my true passion. I hope to live a life dedicated to the service of others. I hope to be able to use the privilege that I have to attend Georgetown and channel it into real and valuable change. This scholarship means so much to not only me but my family, as well. I am pursuing a career that is very novel in my family. This support lifts away worries that we might have had about taking a leap of faith into our unknown.”
—MARY NGUYEN (C’25); HOUSTON, TEXAS; BIOLOGY MAJOR
“While growing up in rural Michigan had its advantages, my community certainly had a glaring diversity deficit. Whether in terms of race, politics, or academics, Georgetown was unique among the colleges I applied to for not only promoting diversity but for establishing it as a tenet of student life. This diversity has allowed me to engage with students with backgrounds, identities, and interests I would not have otherwise. For that, I am ever grateful.”
—SAM LOVELL (C’25); BRUCE TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN; GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS MAJOR
SEMINAR COURSES: CREATING INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITIES
Seminar-style courses guide students’ formation in the classroom, promoting sustained interaction with peers and faculty mentors. Through a pilot program—the College Global Seminars—we have offered experiential learning courses emphasizing cross-cultural learning and enabling students to dive deeper into the historical, political, and religious dimensions of significant places around the world.
These courses take advantage of spring break, integrating a week-long international trip that connects classroom excellence with onsite engagement. Capped at 15 students, the seminars target sophomores who would not otherwise spend a semester studying abroad due to campus obligations or financial constraints. Students conclude the course by reflecting on their immersion experience through a capstone project.
In addition, the College’s Ignatius Seminars, named in honor of Saint Ignatius, model for students from their very first year that learning is not only about mastering information but also about reflection. Limited to between 16 and 20 students and offered exclusively to first-year students in the College, these seminars introduce students to the art of academic discussion, analytical reading, and effective writing. Currently, students apply for a limited number of spaces in these highly sought-after seminars. We seek to expand the number of courses—and hope to extend the model to students in their sophomore year, too.
A SAMPLING OF RECENT FIRST-YEAR SEMINARS
Psychology of Joy with Purpose
Biodiversity and Conservation
Global History of Skateboarding
Equality of Educational Opportunity
How to Read a Difficult Book: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Magis: The Real Metaverse Discovering Culture Through Language
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“My Ignatius Seminar was absolutely foundational to my transition into Georgetown’s learning community. The environment fostered through this unique experience sprouted friendships, insightful discussion, and a quaint community of likeminded—yet different—first-years.”
—ANNA DEWEY (C’26)
STUDENT COHORTS: FOSTERING BELONGING AND CONNECTION
Student-to-student learning in informal settings is vital. Cohort-based models offer a way to build community and unite diverse groups of students around shared experiences, passions, and professional interests. Those connections have far-reaching effects: an extensive body of evidence shows that belonging—feeling valued, included, and accepted—is pivotal to success in higher education, particularly for historically marginalized and first-generation students.
As part of our mission to promote student well-being and success, we seek to expand several of the College’s crucial student-centered initiatives, complemented by workshops and training for our faculty to extend support for student well-being throughout our classrooms.
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CAS FIRST FELLOWS PROGRAM
Complementing existing university resources, the College of Arts & Sciences First Fellows Program will use a cohort-based model to provide three years of comprehensive academic support and programming for first-generation students in the College, enriching their educational and career journeys starting in their sophomore year. Fellows will have access to specialized advising, workshops, faculty interactions, courses on available academic opportunities, and summer stipends.
HOYAS CONNECTED
Launched through an initial partnership with the University of Virginia, the Connection Project at Georgetown (Hoyas Connected) is adopting and advancing a proven peer-to-peer model to create connections that reduce loneliness within our student community. The project centers on a Georgetownfaculty-led course that trains student facilitators to lead small groups of 6–10 first-year students in discussions on topics such as belonging, bridging differences, and building community.
BAKER SCHOLARS PROGRAM
The Baker Scholars Program in the College was founded in 1973 with the belief that business benefits from leaders who are educated in the liberal arts and inspired with a social conscience. The program seeks exceptional sophomores in the College who have a demonstrated interest in business and a strong record of academic achievement, community service, and leadership—and supports them in pursuing a project to create social change during their junior and senior years.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY NETWORK
Modeled on the Baker Scholars Program, the SRN is a mentorship program for students in the College who are interested in pursuing service-based and social impact careers. Supported by the SRN, students explore the nonprofit sector and learn from College alumni who have found success in service-related industries, using their liberal arts education to do well by doing good.
REGENTS STEM SCHOLARS PROGRAM
A wing of the university’s broader Community Scholars Program, the Regents STEM Scholars Program supports first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students with a love of the natural and quantitative sciences. Participants join a vibrant community of students and faculty; can access funding to support their ambitions; and engage in unique coursework, research activities, and mentorship opportunities.
With your support, we will ensure that students in the College of Arts & Sciences can access formative experiences, engage with diverse cohorts of peers, and develop a strong sense of purpose and well-being.
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Learning from world-class scholars
We will invest in faculty —the foundation of teaching and discovery.
Our expert faculty, and their interactions with our students, fuel the College learning experience. Research, teaching, and mentorship are all inextricably linked through the work of these distinguished academic leaders. To compete with peer institutions for the best scholars and practitioners, we must provide the endowed positions and resources needed to build an outstanding, diverse faculty body.
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Heidi Elmendorf, Ph.D., associate professor of biology; director of the Program on Education, Inquiry, and Justice Program; and director of the Regents STEM Scholars Program
The distinctive experience of a Georgetown education can’t happen without the College’s renowned faculty. Whether they are discovering new depths within their discipline or forging interdisciplinary partnerships, our faculty engage one another and their students in critical dialogues and serve as lifelong mentors. Their research is essential not only to drive discovery for the common good but also to strengthen our students’ learning experience.
When our distinguished faculty combine deep expertise with innovative pedagogy, students see first-hand the connection between classroom learning and social impact—especially when the faculty body includes varied perspectives and backgrounds.
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Carlos Simon, associate professor in the Department of Performing Arts and an award-winning composer and musician
FACULTY EXPERTISE
MICAH SHERR, PH.D.
Micah Sherr is the Callahan Family Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science. His teaching and research focus on privacy-preserving technologies, electronic voting, wiretap systems, and network security. He teaches a class on the pressing and complex topic of Internet Censorship and Circumvention.
SHERRY LEE LINKON, PH.D.
Sherry Lee Linkon is a professor of English, writing, and American studies. Her research and teaching cover a wide range of fields, including American literature and culture, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, working-class studies, and writing studies. She also is affiliated with the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, serves on the advisory committee for Justice and Peace Studies, and was the founding President of the Working-Class Studies Association.
NAMED AND ENDOWED FACULTY POSITIONS
Recruiting and retaining talent are foundational goals. Georgetown College of Arts & Sciences competes intensely with institutions worldwide for the most promising and distinguished scholars. To succeed, we must increase the number of available endowed faculty chairs and professorships. These named, philanthropically funded positions are the most effective tool for recruiting and retaining, resourcing, and recognizing high-impact faculty at every stage of their academic careers. In addition, we must grow our bench of practitioners-in-residence, whose presence in the classroom is one vital way we bridge theory and practice, teach new skills, and drive home the lasting value of a liberal arts education.
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BUILDING A DIVERSE PIPELINE OF TALENTED YOUNG FACULTY
Through the Provost’s Distinguished Faculty Fellows Program (PDFF), we attract and support talented young faculty as they work toward tenure. This prestigious program for incoming assistant professors relieves fellows of teaching and service responsibilities in their first year, allowing them to build a robust research program that is supported by a generous startup fund. Investments in the PDFF Program will deepen Georgetown’s faculty expertise, enabling us to attract and retain professors who support the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and contribute to their academic units through scholarship, teaching, service, and mentorship.
“The PDFF is really an ideal situation for someone who’s transitioning from graduate school to being a professor in academia, to have a year off from teaching and be able to just get your feet wet, figure out the new institution, do research, and transition from dissertations to writing a book. It’s really one of those unicorn jobs, and I feel extremely fortunate to have landed it and be in the pipeline now.”
—CRYSTAL
LUO, PROVOST’S DISTINGUISHED FACULTY FELLOW AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY, COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
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FUNDING FOR RESEARCH EXCELLENCE
Research resources are also crucial in attracting and keeping talent. Donor-funded startup funds help make it possible for incoming natural scientists to set up their labs, while research bridge funds ensure that promising research can continue while scientists who have exhausted their initial grants pursue new discoveries and funding sources. Flexible support allows the College to respond quickly to faculty’s evolving needs.
With your support, we will invest in scholars at every stage of their careers, ensuring that faculty at the College of Arts & Sciences continue to elevate Georgetown through their transformative research, teaching, and mentorship.
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Learning by doing
We will mentor more students through a research experience.
It isn’t enough to just consume information: we all learn by doing. Engaging in research and creative projects allow students in the College to break from the syllabus and shape their own path, expanding knowledge and building convictions. Whether in the lab, the library, the studio, the DC community, or the field, every student should have the opportunity for a true research experience at Georgetown.
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At the College, our students learn through the act of researching and creating. This hands-on work happens with close mentorship from faculty, who themselves are deeply engaged in discovery and expression.
By connecting students with faculty scholars and providing the resources to support experiential learning, we teach students how to be makers, not just consumers, of information and knowledge.
“Georgetown students want to learn by doing, by problem-solving, inside and outside the classroom. ‘Research’ is the university’s way of teaching problemsolving. Our most productive faculty have achieved an integration of research and teaching that makes the two missions not competitive but synergistic. They can offer the student insight into the moment of discovery or the moment of creation that is the magic of original scholarship. The joy of those moments can seal into the student’s memory the key lessons of self-teaching and probing inquiry that serve their full life.”
—ROBERT GROVES, PH.D., GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY PROVOST, GERARD CAMPBELL, S.J., PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: REINA LAU (C’25)
For Reina Lau, a Davis Fellowship was the key to advancing her career plans. Majoring in economics and government with a minor in psychology, Lau had long been interested in pursuing a legal career, but the pandemic prevented her from acquiring experience through in-person internships. In Summer 2022, with the support of a Davis Fellowship, Lau secured a position in the Criminal Court Bureau at the Office of the Richmond County District Attorney—a role typically reserved for legal interns.
This allowed Lau to see firsthand the career she’d always wanted—with a surprising result. Lau discovered that her interests are broader than she had realized: “Because of the Davis Fellowship, I am not only looking to expand my academic pursuits into different fields, especially with economics and science, but also eager to pursue other experiences or internships, such as politics on the Hill or private firms.”
EXPANDING THE DAVIS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Royden B. Davis Fellowships are one integral way the College fulfills its ambition to provide all students with a structured research or experiential learning opportunity. Awarded in grants between $1,000 and $5,000 per student, the fellowships honor the legacy of Father Royden B. Davis, S.J., who served as dean of Georgetown College from 1966 to 1989. Father Davis was a champion for transformative educational experiences that encourage students to ask tough questions, discern meaning, and serve others.
To fulfill his vision, the College offers summer fellowships that support students along two distinct tracks:
• Davis Undergraduate Research Fellowships support students engaging in lab work, field work, independent inquiry, and creative expression under the guidance of a faculty mentor.
• Davis Experiential Learning Fellowships support students pursuing public service and community-based work, as well as unpaid internship experiences connected to their academic interests. Students are eager for more of these funded opportunities, and philanthropic support will position the College to offer Davis Fellowships to a greater number of students.
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Mayesha Awal (C’20), working on health education and community organizing in Botswana as part of the Davis Fellows Program
REMOVING BARRIERS TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Programs like the Davis Fellowships meaningfully shrink financial barriers, as do other donor-supported undergraduate research funds. These flexible resources create opportunities for students who otherwise could not afford to take an unpaid research position during the summer or academic year.
The College also is addressing other common hurdles that limit students’ access to crucial educational experiences. For instance, recognizing the stress created by piling additional commitments on top of a full course load, we are making creative use of existing pauses in the academic calendar. We seek to increase the number of CAS Alternative Break Opportunities (CABO courses)—spring semester courses providing six weeks of traditional in-class learning, followed by an immersive learning and travel experience during spring break and a concluding capstone project during the final weeks of the spring semester.
With your support, every student in the College will have a chance to move beyond the classroom and experience these invaluable learning activities.
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Georgetown students explore environmental justice and the Appalachian economy in Harlan, KY, through the Alternative Breaks Program.
to complex problems.
Working across disciplines is essential in the teaching and formation of our students. The world needs creative problemsolvers who can see past traditional boundaries and take on great challenges. Today, we are called to accelerate our commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching, advancing high-impact fields and creating spaces for collaboration.
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Peter P. Marra, Ph.D., professor of biology and the environment, and dean of the Earth Commons Institute, discusses bird habitats with students in Columbia.
COURTESY OF KEN ROSENBERG
At the College of Arts & Sciences, our commitment to disciplinary expertise and rigor is steadfast. At the same time, our curriculum and scholarly fields are constantly evolving to reflect the challenges of our time. Faced with sweeping, interconnected problems, we are breaking down traditional silos of the academy, combining expertise from a range of fields and creating innovative learning opportunities.
This work happens through interdisciplinary programs in areas like public policy and environmental studies, which draw on expertise across the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. It occurs in collaborative new initiatives at Georgetown, like the Humanities Center. And it happens when these joint ventures have dedicated physical spaces that support seamless student and faculty collaboration.
Georgetown’s Theater and Performance Studies Program and Black Theatre Ensemble debuted their original musical, “Making the Go-Go Band,” in November 2023.
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COURTESY OF CAITLIN LAWLOR
THE FUTURE OF HUMANITIES EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
The humanities have been the cornerstone of a Georgetown education since the founding of the university. These disciplines are central to our global mission and reputation as a values-driven institution, preparing our students to think critically, creatively, and compassionately—skills that will serve them well in any career, in their communities, and in their lives.
THE HUMANITIES INCLUDE…
Art and art history
Classics
English
Film and media studies
Foreign literatures and languages
History
Performing arts
Philosophy
Theology and religious studies
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Putting health into its broader social, cultural, and historical context
“Georgetown’s commitment to cura personalis makes it fertile terrain for medical humanities. Health practitioners cannot treat ‘the whole patient’ without recognizing and valuing their humanity in its many facets. Broadening the study of the human condition to dimensions beyond STEM subjects is long overdue.”
—Lakshmi Krishnan, M.D., Ph.D.
Krishnan holds faculty positions in both the Department of English in the College and the Department of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. A historian of medicine and a practicing physician, she researches the relationship between clinical reasoning and detective practices. She is the founding director of the Georgetown Medical Humanities Initiative, which focuses on the role that the humanities and social sciences play in clinical and public health practice.
THE GEORGETOWN HUMANITIES CENTER
Georgetown has an opportunity to lead the way in humanities education and research. Central to this vision is the Georgetown Humanities Center—a convening space and the new programmatic home for the flagship teaching, research, and public-facing work currently under the banner of the Georgetown Humanities Initiative.
Dedicated space
We seek to secure a centralized home for the humanities, starting with the renovation of performance spaces at McNeir Hall and the Davis Center. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this project will be the first step toward realizing the university’s plan to bring the humanities together at the heart of the Hilltop campus, forming a Humanities Quad around Dahlgren Chapel.
Interdisciplinary chairs and visiting fellows
A new cohort of interdisciplinary chairs in the humanities will further strengthen our faculty’s efforts to reimagine traditional fields, advance groundbreaking research, and enrich the student experience. Bolstered by the Humanities Center, these scholars, along with visiting fellows, will build on the innovative work already happening on our campuses.
Student fellowships and career support
Support for undergraduate humanities student fellowships is another critical part of this vision, as is increased collaboration with the Cawley Career Center. Through a dedicated liaison, career roundtables, and other mentorship opportunities, we will introduce students to the many professional paths that benefit from the skills fostered during a humanities education.
Public engagement and outreach
The Humanities Center also will create opportunities for scholars to engage with audiences and partners in Washington, DC, and beyond, bringing our humanities work alive. That means moving beyond traditional academic books to broadly disseminate key insights, through digital media; performances; convenings; and other cultural, academic, and community events.
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“With technology overpowering the current world and moving at a very high speed, I see the humanities being important like never before, because this field fosters a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world we inhabit. While technology and STEM help to build the future, the humanities play an important role in allowing this future to be sustainable and have a place for thinking, empathy, and an appreciation for cultural diversity.”
—KATYA SOLOVEVA (G’24), AN INTERNATIONAL DOCTORAL CANDIDATE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN
CHAMPIONING INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELDS POISED FOR GROWTH
Georgetown students and faculty alike eagerly seek opportunities to explore the potent intersections of different fields. Student demand for interdisciplinary programs routinely outpaces faculty and course capacity. Growth of our interdisciplinary fields will depend largely on the addition of more faculty, along with research funds to support their scholarship. Investments will enable us to grow strategically, support a more diverse faculty, and eliminate student caps in majors and minors where demand exceeds available space.
Departmental status also matters. Of the programs listed on the facing page, only one—Black Studies—has obtained departmental status, an important distinction that increases student engagement, opens the door for tenured faculty positions, and greatly advances our efforts to recruit top-caliber faculty.
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OUR FOCUS FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY GROWTH
Black Studies: The Department of Black Studies comprises faculty at the forefront of their fields and offers both a major and a minor.
American Studies: Having recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, this program offers an interdisciplinary major that encourages students to ask questions about power, identity, and American culture.
Education, Inquiry, and Justice: This program offers one of the College’s largest interdisciplinary minors, with a focus on addressing inequities and promoting justice in education. Courses integrate experiential learning by partnering with DC schools.
Film and Media Studies: In this program, students explore connections between media, power, and social justice by combining history, theory, and experiential learning in media creation.
Journalism: Our minor in Journalism engages students in critical inquiry about media and the journalistic process in Washington, DC, an epicenter of world events and news. At a moment when the authority of journalistic institutions has been called into question, our students need a keen eye for ethics, truthfulness, and legitimacy.
Justice and Peace Studies: One of our largest interdisciplinary majors and minors in the College, this program blends scholarly rigor with a commitment to justice and the common good, engaging students in addressing the most complex and urgent issues of our time.
Women’s and Gender Studies: Students in this program explore the intersections of gender, race, class, power, (dis)ability, and privilege in a global context and throughout numerous academic disciplines.
With your help, we will meaningfully—and physically—remove barriers among siloed departments, accelerating interdisciplinary fields by creating a vibrant intellectual hub for students and faculty in the College and across the university.
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For centuries, graduates of the College of Arts & Sciences have brought their distinctive skills to pivotal endeavors. We empower students and faculty to find their own paths—to become who they are called to be—and we can only imagine what they will achieve when they unlock the full potential of our rich liberal arts tradition.
The generosity of our alumni, parents, and friends will be essential as we continue to invest in learning and formation. Together, we will equip future generations to succeed, inspire them to serve, and prepare them to lead.
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Thank you for your support.
To learn more about these priorities, contribute to the College of Arts & Sciences, or plan for future support, please contact us at collegegiving@georgetown.edu.
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