Georgetown Magazine: Spring 2021

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GEORGETOWN’S PARTNERSHIP WITH DOG TAG BAKERY HELPS VETERANS PURSUE NEW PATHS FOLLOWING MILITARY SERVICE

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12 FROM BATTLEFIELD TO BAKERY TO BUSINESS

It looks like a typical eatery, but inside Dog Tag Bakery, veterans and their families prepare for a return to civilian life. Learn more about this fellowship run by Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies.

20 DIVERSE LEADERS

Frank H. McCourt Jr.’s recent investment catalyzes Georgetown’s ambition to build the nation’s most inclusive school of public policy.

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26 EQUAL SHOT

Now that COVID-19 vaccines have been developed, there are complex issues of ethics and equity to consider as they are distributed to the global population.

Georgetown’s experts weigh in.

03 CAMPUS NEWS 32 GUAA CORNER 34 ALUMNI NEWS AND PROFILES 42 LIVES WELL LIVED 44 THE LAST WORD

20 Cover photo: Phil Humnicky

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Keep up with the latest news about Georgetown’s summer and fall return-to-campus plan at g.town/covid19messages

Office of Advancement R. Bartley Moore (SFS’87) Vice President for Advancement Amy Levin Associate Vice President for Communications Erin Greene Executive Creative Director for Communications

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Jeff Donahoe, the longtime editor of Georgetown Magazine, began his retirement in December 2020. Jeff had a gift for choosing wonderful people and meaningful projects to highlight in each issue. For nearly 30 years, he helped Georgetown alumni around the globe feel more connected to their alma mater and each other.

Following his well-deserved retirement, we stepped up as a team to produce this Spring 2021 issue. Despite the ongoing challenges of our pandemic world, there’s still an abundance of inspirational Georgetown stories, from veterans becoming entrepreneurs to ethicists advocating for equitable vaccine distribution.

In the Fall 2020 issue, we dedicated a feature story to the life and work of legendary Coach John R. Thompson Jr. This March, one of his protégés, Coach Patrick Ewing (C’85, Parent’08), led the Georgetown men’s basketball team to a Big East championship for the first time since 2007. In fact, it was the first time that a Big East championship player had gone on to become a Big East championship coach. And, to add a note of serendipity, it happened on the 49th anniversary of the day John R. Thompson Jr. was hired. In remarking on the team’s impressive road to victory, Coach Ewing spoke of their sorrow and motivation since Coach Thompson’s passing, saying “We’ve been through some trials and tribulations, but everyone has done their part to get us to this point.”

It is a pleasure to share with you this issue of Georgetown Magazine, another team effort successfully pursued at a difficult time. This past year has reinforced the value of working together for a common purpose, even when that work is remote. There’s much to celebrate at Georgetown, and everywhere the world is finding glimmers of hope.

—The Georgetown Magazine editorial and creative staff

Georgetown Magazine Staff Camille Scarborough, Editorial Team Lead Elisa Morsch (G’20), Creative Director Editorial Team Heidi Atlas, Chelsea Burwell (G’16), Kate Colwell (G’20), Jeff Donahoe, Richie Mullaney (C’18), Patti North, Sara Piccini, Shelby Roller (G’19) Design Team Alina Ruppel, Shikha Savdas, Andrea Sumner, Carolyn Zimmerman (G’18) Project Manager Hilary Koss University Photographer Phil Humnicky Georgetown Magazine 2115 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20007-1253 Email: magazine@georgetown.edu Address changes: 202-687-1994 or email alumnirecords@georgetown.edu Spring 2021, Volume 52, Number 2 Georgetown Magazine (ISSN 1074-8784) Georgetown Magazine is distributed free of charge to alumni, parents, faculty, and staff. The diverse views in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or official policies of the university.

Georgetown University provides equal opportunity in employment for all persons and prohibits discrimination and harassment in all aspects of employment because of age, color, disability, family responsibilities, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, matriculation, national origin, personal appearance, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other factor prohibited by law.

Additionally, the university will use goodfaith efforts to achieve ethnic and gender diversity throughout the workforce. The university emphasizes recruitment of women, minority members, disabled individuals and veterans. Inquiries regarding Georgetown University’s nondiscrimination policy may be addressed to the Director of Affirmative Action Programs, Institutional Diversity, Equity & Affirmative Action, 37th and O Sts. NW, Suite M36, Darnall Hall, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, or call 202-687-4798. ©Georgetown University

Soyica Colbert comes full circle as the College’s interim dean Nearly 20 years ago, Soyica Colbert (C’01) was wrapping up her senior year as an English major. Nowadays, she’s carrying those undergraduate experiences into her role as the newly appointed interim dean of Georgetown College.

Despite a busier schedule, she continues to teach courses, and amid the pandemic, she says it’s not lost on her how trying it is for students and faculty.

“My life experience tells me that when you’re in a moment of crisis, your adrenaline is flowing and you’re trying to triage,” Colbert shares. “Once the crisis is over, that’s when I anticipate that there will still be a lot of community care work to attend to.”

Colbert adds that she realizes more than ever how precious class time is and places high value on time spent with students. One course she teaches focuses squarely on addressing and combating anti-Black racism, a topic that has intersected with recent national events.

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“Having that larger conversation, not just about the class subject matter, but how we go about searching for truth; I think students need to understand how the university and the work we do is different from the national discourse we’ve witnessed over the last four years.”

Beyond her academic roles, Colbert is the author of several works, including her new book, Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry, which explores the life and works of the esteemed playwright, writer, and activist. She is also collaborating on a radio play alongside an up-and-coming playwright in New York.

Even as she takes on new responsibilities and projects, Colbert says that having a daily dose of laughter, quality interactions with her husband and family, and engagement with art keep her fueled and inspired to handle what’s next. • —Chelsea Burwell (G’16)

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Innovative ‘Lawyers as Leaders’ course attracts record enrollment Last fall, the Georgetown University Law Center introduced a new course with a format far different from the typical deep dive into case law. The class, Lawyers as Leaders, featured weekly one-on-one conversations between Dean William Treanor and faculty luminaries such as Lawrence Gostin, Rosa Brooks, and Paul Butler.

Sale notes that faculty members allowed themselves to be vulnerable, which had a powerful impact for students. “Many times we as students can feel really intimidated by our professors,” says Rujuta Nandgaonkar (L’22). “It seems like their path is so linear, they only have success after success, while our paths often have felt so uncertain, even before COVID-19.

Although the Zoom format meant that enrollment wasn’t limited by classroom size, Treanor was expecting at most 120 students to sign up. Nearly triple that number ended up enrolling. “This was hands-down the biggest course in the history of the law school,” he says. “I was stunned.”

“Professor Gostin, the first lecturer, talked about how he’d grown up in poverty, and how that had shaped his unending commitment to optimism. I was able to see how he could use his knowledge and academic prowess to fight for a cause beyond himself.”

Lawyers as Leaders was spearheaded by Associate Dean Hillary Sale, a nationally recognized expert on leadership who holds a joint appointment at the McDonough School of Business. “One thing particularly special about Georgetown faculty is that they are outward-facing—they want to make a difference. And every interview really gave our students a window into the different ways one can take a legal education and use it to make the world a better place.”

As an abstract concept, leadership is far more difficult to teach than conventional law. “My inclination is to teach through stories,” says Treanor, a trained historian as well as legal scholar.

“In each class, I asked my guest about goal formation. How did you decide what you wanted to do? What were the bumps you encountered along the way and how did they shape you? And finally, what works?”

Just as Georgetown redefined legal education 30 years ago with its clinical programs, Treanor and Sale are looking ahead to position the institution as a pioneer in leadership training among the nation’s law schools. They are currently co-teaching a leadership course for Business Law Scholars, and are working to implement other programs throughout the Law Center.

“The last year has shown that there is deep trouble in our legal profession,” says student Max Lesser (L’22). “Lawyers have real responsibility that has to be carried out with fidelity to the rule of law and democratic principles.

“I think schools need to do a better job of teaching that aspect of the law, not just a de facto professional responsibility course, but making it part of the animating spirit of the law school experience. I give Dean Treanor and the law school a lot of credit for doing this course, and I hope more law schools follow suit.” • —Sara Piccini

Photo: Paul Jones

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G EORG E TOWN M AG A Z INE SPRING 2021

the pandemic. We’ve lost revenue from housing and tuition, as well as some of our auxiliary business areas. Some of that impact has been offset by the fact that we have no travel expenses, very limited event expenses, and that our entire community of faculty and staff have sacrificed in many ways, including no merit increases over the past year and a pause to retirement contributions. We’ve also had to significantly slow down our hiring processes for staff positions. Those were big, important actions.

As an alumnus, I like to think about cura personalis, care of the whole person. And cura apostolica means care for the institution.

I think this year at Georgetown we have tried to do both.

Photo: Paul Jones

Cura personalis meets cura apostolica Q&A with Geoff Chatas on caring for the whole person and the institution Geoff Chatas (C’85), Georgetown’s senior vice president and chief operations officer, provides executive leadership for the university’s primary operational functions, including budget and finance, planning and facilities management, human resources, and more.

What have been the greatest strains on the university’s finances in the past year?

The financial strains we have experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic are a result of our desire to take care of people and ensure their health and safety. By the end of the current fiscal year, we will have lost more than $75 million since the start of

What do you see looking forward?

We’re heartened to see that, so far, the demand for a Georgetown education, as measured by application numbers, looks strong at all levels. Assuming we welcome students back in the fall, and we have our undergraduate students living on campus, we’re going to be in a strong financial position. The problem is the opportunity costs of what we’ve done. The $75 million that we will have lost because of this crisis is the equivalent cost of a new building, or many scholarships, or lots of new hires that we may have to delay or defer. Our alumni community has overwhelmed us with their care and generosity throughout this crisis, and my optimism about the future is in many ways attributable to their extraordinary commitment to Georgetown.

Continued support, particularly in the form of support of our university-wide financial aid fund and our pandemic response and resilience fund, will enable us to build our reserves and emerge from the pandemic stronger.

What have you learned through the experiences of the past year?

Something we probably all knew, but maybe we took for granted, is how much we learn from each other in a community like this. I always remind myself that the average undergrad spends 12–15 hours a week or so in class; that means the rest of their week is out doing other things and having other experiences around our campus and city. And it’s become incredibly poignant to me—both as an alumnus and as an administrator— the profound value of living in a community together.

I hope that we all learn that a time of crisis can bring out the best in people. We have seen a lot of people rise to the occasion and bring ideas and new ways of doing things that we would have never thought to pursue before the crisis. And I think that’s been really heartwarming. • —Kate Colwell (G’20)

You can help ensure that Georgetown can fulfill its mission during this challenging time. To make a contribution to the COVID-19 Response and Resilience Fund, visit g.town/covid19resilience.

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Fatima Dyfan (C’21) (third from left) performs in an ensemble work of theater, dance, and spoken word, co-directed by Maya Roth and Mar Cox (C’17), as part of the 2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the Kennedy Center.

Virtual writer’s group fosters community during quarantine Six young writers from Georgetown and Howard University have formed a community in quarantine using virtual tools. The 2020–2021 cohort of Playwrights’ Arena are tandem-writing plays with their counterparts in weekly digital writing rooms, sending each other support and ideas via group.me messaging threads, and meeting monthly on Zoom with a dramaturg.

Dyfan says that the cohort has been able to talk openly about complicated subjects with care, not competition, like a family.

“I’ve been reflecting on what the future looks like, in terms of diversity and how people engage in institutions and spaces. This cohort shapes how I think institutions should be structuring the development of writers.”

“Creative writing is difficult to affirm,” says Georgetown writer Fatima Dyfan (C’21), whose autobiographical coming-of-age story Sunbath centers on different understandings of Black womanhood. “It’s nice to be in an official room, and to know that you have someone in it with you.”

Georgetown’s Theater & Performance Studies program uniquely embraces interdisciplinary perspectives. For example, Dallimore, a student of international politics and theology, believes that feeding her creative mind will help her become a more empathetic foreign service officer one day.

Rather than writing plays about the experience of quarantine, Jocelyn Clarke, Arena Stage’s dramaturg and program facilitator, has challenged students to follow their personal interests and interrogate every artistic choice. It takes processing time to gain clarity on major historical events, he tells them.

“I’m very willing to challenge assumptions in an imaginative way,” Dallimore says. “It helps me understand narratives around global events and how we discuss and brand them.”

“Being around creative people is super motivating and inspiring for me in my daily life beyond playwriting,” says Georgetown writer Rose Dallimore (SFS’22), whose play revolves around the parasocial relationship between an isolated protagonist and a recently deceased pop star. “I’ve always wanted to nurture my creative self.”

While Playwrights’ Arena has hosted cohorts since 2013, this inaugural student cohort grows from partnerships among Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, Georgetown University, and Howard University. This year’s program, which is made possible through the philanthropy of Andrew Ammerman (SFS’72), aims to nurture diverse playwrights and includes three participants from Georgetown and three from Howard.

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Maya Roth, artistic director of the Davis Performing Arts Center at Georgetown, selected Dyfan, Dallimore, and Timothy Sutton (C’20) for their “deep, organic, surprising, and distinct” writing. The partnership designed the writer’s group to reimagine professional apprenticeship and re-seed the field.

“We need new social and artistic models,” says Roth. “Crossfertilization puts creative energy into the world. True writers find community; these writers are manifesting being there for each other as people. That’s a major success perhaps heightened by the pandemic.” • —Kate Colwell (G’20)

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Researchers find benefits to food assistance amidst crisis When the spread of COVID-19 prompted school closures across the country, Georgetown’s Child Development & Social Policy Lab was uniquely positioned to gather data on the changing needs of food-insecure families. Professors Rebecca Ryan and Anna Johnson found that school closures had immediate and prolonged effects on the food security and mental health of children and parents.

Prior to the pandemic, the lab had been evaluating the effect of the Power Packs Project food assistance program on the wellbeing of families in lower-income areas of rural Pennsylvania.

This program, which is funded largely by private donations, sends low-income students home on Thursdays with packs full of fresh ingredients and recipes for families to consume over the weekend. When stay-at-home orders came into effect, the numerous school systems partnering with Power Packs were forced to halt or modify their food distribution plans because many of their volunteers were elderly or at-risk.

“The pandemic presented to us a unique, natural experiment to see if this program could help in a crisis,” Ryan says. The data revealed that, among families with continued access to Power Packs food, there was a bigger spike in food insecurity at the outset of school closures, followed by a pronounced decline in food insecurity over time. Families who did not have continued access to the packs had a smaller spike when schools first closed, but their sense of food insecurity, including worry about running out of food and skipping meals, did not abate.

This research confirmed that Power Packs is reaching the most vulnerable families, alleviating their anxiety about food, and reducing the incidence of undereating and meal skipping.

Families in the first group were more likely to rely on free and reduced lunch programs for their kids during the week, in

addition to weekend Power Packs. “When you take that away, it’s a real shock to the family system,” Ryan says. “A lot of parents lost the ability to work. And those who were dependent on hourly wages were immediately hard-hit by the pandemic.”

The team gathered data via text message surveys asking participants to rate their daily levels of food intake, worry about running out of food, sadness, stress, irritability, and depression. As parents with continued program access began to strategize how to feed their families, their worry and depression decreased, but their daily irritation continued; by contrast, child sadness and worry remained elevated throughout the spring. Ryan believes that having a social worker for kids and parents to talk to could provide much-needed social and emotional support.

Food insecurity is deeply connected to negative outcomes for children and parents, Ryan explains. It can lead to behavior problems, lower cognitive scores, anxiety, depression, and poor health.

Improving support systems for food-insecure families is a social justice issue. “Food insecurity is far more prevalent among underresourced racial and ethnic minority communities,” she says.

Ultimately, food security also relates to educational access.

Georgetown’s Child Development & Social Policy Lab conducts research to inform programs and policies that help children reach their full potential. “I think our lab’s mission really reflects cura personalis,” Ryan says. “We’re interested in finding ways to level the playing field, so that kids growing up in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and families have the same opportunities to attend a school like Georgetown as kids who are more advantaged.” • —Kate Colwell (G’20)

Photos: Power Pack Project, 2018

Volunteers from The Power Packs Project assemble packs for low-income students. These packs contain shelf-stable foods, along with fresh vegetables, meat, dairy, and starches. They also include recipes that can be replicated with affordable ingredients from local grocery stores.

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Rhodes Scholar for Pakistan advocates for inclusivity and layered policy-making perspectives Khansa Maria (SFS’21), an international politics major at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q ), recently won a Rhodes Scholarship to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. She has led research and advocacy projects to expand opportunities for people with disabilities, and plans to work in disability policy.

But it’s been a little disorienting. It’s easy to get lost in these Zoom presentations, especially when you don’t know what’s happening on the shared screen. You need to keep track of the raised hand and the chatbox with your screen reader, and at the same time, you have to listen to the instructor and the environment around you.

As a person who is blind, what has been your experience with remote learning?

In terms of the pandemic, I think we’ve adapted really well. Everyone’s been concerned about making sure that the accommodations transition nicely from an in-person environment to a virtual environment. For instance, in my economics class, the professors make sure that I have accessible graphs and tactile images.

Why did you choose Georgetown for your undergraduate degree?

The Georgetown-Qatar community is structured to be like a very small community. I get to build my own network, but I also get to learn from everyone around me. And more than anything, I think Georgetown is very generous with financial aid. That was a huge attraction as well.

What are you most looking forward to at Oxford?

I’m excited to interact with my peers in the Rhodes Scholarship program because they’re from different parts of the world and they’ve already made contributions in their communities. I look forward to engaging with this very specific program because I want to go into disability-related policy.

After Oxford, you plan to do policy work in your home country of Pakistan. What issues energize you the most?

My two main areas of interest are inclusive employment and inclusive education, which I feel go hand-in-hand. For the kind of jobs that exist in today’s market, it really matters what skills you have, where you’ve studied, what you’ve learned, and what you make of what you’ve learned. I think one of the biggest reasons why a lot of the blind community is unemployed is that people don’t have the right background, be it vocational training or mainstream education. Whatever it is that they want, I don’t think they have equal access to it. And even if they do have access, it’s in segregated spaces, with very specific things that they’re supposed to learn and very specific fields that they’re supposed to enter, for example teaching at a blind school. I’d like to change that.

Khansa Maria has earned honors during her time at GU-Q. She and her project partner won a research grant for “Humanizing Resources: Analyzing Employment Opportunities for the Disabled in Qatar,” and she and her teammate dominated the nation’s debate circuit for two years in a row.

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You’ve said you are interested in how cross-sectional identities interact and affect international relations. What identities have shaped your perspectives?

Your different identities teach you different things. For instance, I am a woman, and I am also a person from South Asia, who is brown. I’m also a Muslim, and I also have a disability. I think all that shapes my perspective on discrimination, activism, and empowerment. I’m able to see the world through the multiple layers of my experience. • —Kate Colwell (G’20)

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Plan for new schools underscores health focus at Georgetown The School of Nursing and School of Health, planned for July 2022, will build on the foundation of the current School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS), which has continued a tradition of nursing education that started at Georgetown in 1903, while broadening to other health disciplines built over the past two decades since NHS was established.

This organizational direction complements recent initiatives in the health sciences at Georgetown, including a partnership renewal with MedStar Health, the launch of an interdisciplinary Health Justice Alliance, and a university-wide Global Health Initiative.

“Our commitment to health—to improving the human condition—is integral to our mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution,” says Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia.

“We take this next step as we confront our nation’s worst health crisis in a century—a powerful reminder of the challenges we face and the urgency of envisioning new responses to health education, healthcare delivery, health disparities and health equity, and healthcare policy at the local, national, and global level.”

In 2019, the university began a Health and Health Sciences Strategy Initiative at Georgetown. The plan for the two schools emerged from this continuing work.

“Our health and health care challenges here at home and around the world have been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Dr. Edward Healton, the medical center’s executive vice president of health sciences. “Sustainable solutions will not come from any one discipline or any one approach, but from a meaningful, collaborative, and interdisciplinary effort. And as history has demonstrated time and again, the academic setting, especially like ours at Georgetown, provides the ideal incubator where meaningful ideas emerge and change occurs.”

social—has been more apparent,” says Carole Roan Gresenz, interim dean of the School of Nursing & Health Studies. “At this important and dynamic time in health and health care, Georgetown is ready to leverage a new structure to best advance our education, research, and service missions during a time of great need and great change.”

“There has been no time in history when the importance of health to every sector of our lives—economic, political, cultural,

We welcome your questions and feedback on this exciting plan.

Please contact us at nhscommunications@georgetown.edu. •

Photo: Paul Jones

Milestones in Health Sciences at Georgetown School of Dentistry (closed in 1990)

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School of Medicine

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School of Nursing

Center for Clinical Bioethics (now named for Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino)

Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center

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Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Institute of Ethics

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O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law

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School of Nursing & Health Studies

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Dr. Ranit Mishori (center), medical director at the COVID-19 high-capacity vaccination site at D.C.’s Entertainment and Sports Arena, observes as Leon Padillia, nurse for MedStar Georgetown Student Health Center, instructs a medical student on how to prepare a dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

An empathetic and strategic COVID-19 response Q&A with Dr. Ranit Mishori (M’02, Parent’22) on the myriad ways in which the Georgetown Public Health Operations Unit serves as a hub for coordinating pandemic resources Dr. Mishori is a professor of family medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine and the chief public health officer for Georgetown University.

What is the Georgetown Public Health Operations Unit?

It’s like a small health department that we created in two weeks at the beginning of August 2020. We refined all of our protocols and processes during the fall semester in preparation for bringing more people in for the spring. I run the unit with my co-director, Mark Barbieri, the emergency response manager at Georgetown. Michala Koch is my deputy, and she helps operationalize all of our protocols. Christopher Connell is a supervisory Care Navigator for our Care Navigators. Our epidemiologist is John Kraemer, who’s on faculty at Georgetown. Natalie Michalak lends administrative support.

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How does your unit function on a day-to-day basis?

We work very closely with Mark Fournier, who has taken on the immense role of coordinating all of the testing operations for the university. People who work or live on campus have to get tested twice a week; those who work less frequently need to get tested once a week. If somebody on Main, Law, or Medical campus tests positive or attests to symptoms via the mobile app, we launch our Care Navigators to investigate each case, and initiate isolation or quarantine protocols to comply with D.C. Department of Health public health guidelines. We turn to the Facilities team for help putting people in isolation at the hotel, getting food and other wraparound services to people in isolation and quarantine, and coordinating cleanup and disinfection of entire facilities, offices, or labs when someone who has been there tests positive.

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“Care Navigators ask students questions like, ‘Do you need mental health support?’

‘Do you need academic support?’ ‘Can we connect you to Student Health?’ We have protocols, but we also work with each student individually.”

How do you work with the D.C. Department of Health?

We work closely with the D.C. Department of Health on a number of issues, including our overall protocols (testing, quarantine, isolation, sports). We collaborate on outbreak investigations and contact tracing when members of our community test positive for COVID-19.

We have also been working closely with them on vaccine distribution in some of the District’s hardest-hit communities, where university staff and students helped administer more than 1,500 vaccines to D.C. residents.

What long-term implications of the pandemic do you think will persist after the current health crisis passes?

I think the impact of the pandemic is profound in terms of people’s mental health, and that’s not going to go away so quickly, even when the pandemic becomes more of a daily nuisance, as opposed to a global crisis. I think it’s going to take time to remember how to connect with people in person. People have been basically keeping to themselves for more than a year now. How do you resume friendships and your communication skills? A lot of people have lost family members and friends.

There’s a lot of grief that is percolating, but it’s going to come to the surface. It’s changed our lives in profound ways.

You are also a Georgetown parent; how does that affect your work?

Having a child who is a Georgetown student has helped me understand the difficulties and the challenges that students are facing, particularly as far as remote learning. It takes a toll on socialization and mental health—not only on the students, but also on the faculty.

I’m grateful that I have this glimpse of the student experience through my daughter. I think it adds to my ability to empathize with students when they’re complaining, or when they’re desperate, or when they have certain issues with how we run things.

I like to sometimes check things with her first, like, “What do you think? Would this be a good thing? Is this a good message for people of your age?” There’s nothing like having a middleaged woman try to create messaging for people in their 20s. It’s been nice to check in with a member of that generation from time to time. •

Holistic support on the Hilltop Between 20 and 40 Care Navigators work around the clock to provide students with logistical and emotional support. Their duties include: contact tracing; helping positive cases move to isolation; helping exposed cases move to quarantine; helping students obtain food, laundry, and COVID-19 tests as well as access to health care, mental health, and academic resources.

“Through phone, text, and email, Care Navigators answer questions and provide 24/7 support through this stressful time,” says Dr. Ranit Mishori, Georgetown’s chief public health officer. “It’s not easy for anyone to be in their room for 10 days.”

To support the well-being of the entire community, Georgetown now offers free mental health resources in the form of two online programs: Hoya Well for students, and Mindset through One Medical for employees.

“People are worried and overwhelmed, so we made sure there would be a virtual tool that’s completely anonymous, completely accessible, and would allow our community—student or staff or faculty—to get help through this crisis,” says Geoff Chatas, Georgetown’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. (See page 5 for a Q&A with Chatas.)

—Kate Colwell (G’20)

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Inside Dog Tag Bakery you’ll find more than just sweets there’s also a safe space and support for veterans and their families as they transition to civilian life

By Chelsea Burwell (G’16) • Design and illustrations by Alina Ruppel • Photos by Phil Humnicky

If you were to stroll along the C&O Canal Towpath and turn onto Grace Street, a quiet and unassuming corner of the Georgetown community, you might be greeted by the tantalizing aromas of a local bakery. Inside a simple white brick facade is an inviting atmosphere, decorated in red and blue, and a business with a meaningful purpose: to support those who have devoted their lives to protecting millions at home and afar.

Beloved for its decadent pastries and enthusiastic dedication to veterans and their families, Dog Tag Bakery is more than just a typical eatery. Thanks to a partnership with Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies, it’s also a launchpad, giving former military personnel and their loved ones new skills and credentials as they readjust to civilian life.

Over the course of its seven years in operation, the bakery has welcomed thousands of customers—including some prominent names, like former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris. But when the coronavirus pandemic swept into the nation’s capital last March, with the first local reported case striking squarely in the Georgetown neighborhood, Dog Tag Bakery, like many local and national businesses, was forced to quickly pivot. More than a year later, the quaint neighborhood eatery presses forward to “bake a difference” for its loyal customers and the veteran community.

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FINDING THEIR PURPOSE AGAIN “To those who have given so much to our country, helping them transition and facilitate a different way of thinking about entering into the business world has been truly inspirational.”

In the years before arriving at Georgetown University as an adjunct professor of Catholic Studies, Father Rick Curry, S.J., faced his share of adversity. Born without his right forearm, the Philadelphia-bred Jesuit priest understood the impact of living with a disability, but did not let it alter his life’s path. In fact, his disposition and personal story molded him into a champion for the disabled community in his early days of priesthood.

“It wasn’t always easy,” Curry shared in a magazine interview with Saint Joseph’s University in 2009. “But this disability is a gift from God.” Though he was a scholar in the areas of English and theater for much of his educational career, the impact of the Vietnam War moved Curry to fuse his pedagogical expertise with advocacy work.

In 1977, he founded the National Theater Workshop of the Handicapped. This repertory

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and theater school, located in New York City and Belfast, Maine, offered training and space for literary and visual performers with disabilities and ultimately served as the predecessor for Curry’s next project, the Wounded Warriors Writing Workshop program, following the Sept.

11 attacks. Amid increasing popularity, the program relocated to Washington, D.C., opening opportunities for disabled veteran communities from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Disabled veterans “are trying to reclaim the use of their body in a new state,” Curry shared in an interview with the United Service Organizations.

“We help them do that in a totally accessible environment.” Curry, who had interacted with the veteran community over the course of three decades, understood that the rehabilitation process for wounded veterans is deeper than just the individual and physical—it’s also about finding their purpose again.

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To those who knew him well, it came as no surprise when the Georgetown-based Jesuit priest joined forces with Connie Milstein, a Washington, D.C., philanthropist, businesswoman, and fellow breadmaking aficionado, to launch a new endeavor: Dog Tag Bakery.

INTEGRATIVE LEARNING, WITHOUT COSTS Opening its doors in 2014, Dog Tag Bakery combined a standard eatery experience with an educational and training atmosphere for veterans and their families, thanks to a unique partnership with Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS). Beyond its operation as a bakery, Dog Tag Inc., the eatery’s parent company, works with SCS to offer a five-month fellowship focused on business and entrepreneurship.

During their time in the program, fellows are taken through rotations alongside bakery staff members to learn the ins and outs of running a business, while also assisting with front and back-of-house operation.

“Along with the fundamental coursework, they’re really experiencing hands-on learning,” says Claire Witko, Dog Tag Bakery’s Director of Programs. “From understanding financing, reading profit and loss statements, fundraising, marketing communications…and then of course, being in the bakery and understanding the product development and customer service side of the business, which is very important in any kind of business, too. Ours just happens to taste good,” she adds.

Comprising five interconnected elements, the Dog Tag Fellowship embraces a cura personalis approach to integrative learning, including foundational coursework in business and enterprising, learning labs with field experts, skill building, and wellness programming. Upon completion of the program, graduates earn a certificate of business administration from the university and receive valuable access to the Georgetown University and Dog Tag Inc. network.

Photo: Hollywood on the Potomac

Father Curry chose to open the bakery with an alternative to a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony. The bread-breaking event fit perfectly with the community aspect of the business.

Father Curry, author of The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, believed that baking could be a form of meditation.

“The program is so multi-layered and incredible,” says Julia Murillo, senior director of custom programs at SCS. “Many of [the fellows] are or were in a military branch or have family members in the service. To those who have given so much to our country, helping them transition and facilitate a different way of thinking about entering into the business world has been truly inspirational.”

To promote accessibility and offer extensive outreach to all veterans and their families, the fellowship comes at no out-of-pocket cost to participants—an effort supported by ongoing donations and a critical benefit for a community that often depends heavily on federal aid, such as GI Bill funds.

“Because this is specifically a certificate and not a degree program, our fellows wouldn’t be able to access the full benefits of the GI Bill for this opportunity,” explains Witko. “So, we’ve been very intentional about ensuring that the barriers to entry are as limited as possible.”

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The fellowship features six courses through SCS, which has the largest student population of veterans among Georgetown’s schools. One important aspect of the program, Murillo says, is the relatability between the fellows and professors.

“We have wonderful faculty members that have supported the students’ learning for many years now,” says Murillo, citing several professors including Sharon Welsh and Shye Gilad, both of whom have taught in the fellowship since its launch. “They are truly connected and focused on supporting the continual learning of our fellows, because many of them are or were in a military branch or have family members connected to a branch of service.”

Since the inception of the fellowship in 2014, more than 135 fellows through ten cohorts have graduated from the program, with many launching their own businesses in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Witko adds that 12% of fellowship alumni also go on to continue their education.

Designated as a Military Friendly School, Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS) has 524 enrolled “military-affiliated” students as of 2020. Beyond its offering of a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts for veterans to start or complete their undergraduate education, SCS also carries a range of graduate degree programs for military-affiliated and veteran students that tie directly with the expertise they gained while in service. The most popular programs among military-affiliated students are: APPLIED INTELLIGENCE

EMERGENCY AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

CYBERSECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT

In addition, in promoting financially accessible education options for veterans, SCS provides tuition and fee benefits to eligible military students through the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Curry died in 2015, just months before the first cohort of fellows graduated, but his vision for helping veterans continues to reverberate in the bakery’s mission. “In Father Rick Curry, S.J., I found a kindred spirit,” Milstein, now co-chair of Dog Tag Inc’s Board of Directors, wrote in a tribute post about her late co-founder. “We shared a passion for service and empowering others to build meaningful and purposeful lives…you can see Father Curry’s impact in the success of Dog Tag’s alumni. It’s inspiring to watch so many of these incredible individuals go on to find purpose as entrepreneurs, nonprofit founders, and community leaders.”

A NEW POST-MILITARY MISSION As veterans transition into civilian life and away from more consistent regimens and protocols, many are left to rethink what’s ahead on their personal and professional paths. For Dog Tag Fellowship alumni Sharod Wade and Scott Domingue, participating in the Dog Tag Bakery fellowship shaped that transition in important ways.

“Going through the fellowship was a very therapeutic process for me,” says Wade. “It allowed me to find my traction as a civilian fresh out of the military.” Wade, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, recalls the difficulty of trying to cope with the mental strain of what he endured in the line of duty. As he sought to rediscover his passion alongside other former service members, he says he found a community whose perspectives nearly mirrored his own.

“It gave me that reassurance that I’m not alone, and in this program, we will have a safe space to explore our interest and self-sufficiency in entrepreneurship.”

Wade said he entered the fellowship program “with little training but an enterprising mind.” When it came time to create a presentable business plan for his capstone project, the Washington, D.C., native channeled inspiration from his grandfather who started and ran his own cleaning service. What manifested was Semper Sanitize LLC, Wade’s commercial and residential janitorial and cleaning company.

“I’ve always known how to do the work, thanks to watching my grandparents,” Wade recalls. “But I wondered how to turn this idea into reality.” Wade who still lives near his stomping grounds east of the Anacostia River, which is a historically underserved area of Washington, D.C. He says he is proud to carry the knowledge he gained in the military and the Dog Tag Fellowship program to educate and connect with people who live in his community.

“I’m deeply rooted in Ward 7. Through the good and the bad, this is home,” says Wade. “I think the experience I gained having access and creating networks with Georgetown and its professors was critical in bringing those lessons back home to the people I interact with and see every day.”

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“I think if you ask any veteran, we’re all still transitioning. No matter how long you’ve been out, it’s a process...”

The depth and reach of Georgetown’s network is as an aviation ordnanceman. Enlisting right out something Domingue, a Navy veteran and 2020 of high school and after eight years of service, graduate of the program, can attest to. After Domingue says the military has been the only completing his fellowship this past November, career he’s experienced, and the shift to civilian he landed an apprenticeship at a local brewery life continues to be an ongoing process. in Arlington thanks to a connection he made with “I think if you ask any veteran, we’re all still tranone of the owners, who is also a Dog Tag Inc. sitioning,” he says. “No matter how long you’ve board member. been out, it’s a process, because you go from Through the apprenticeship, “I became more having a checklist for everything and not having involved in not only learning about the brewing to think too deeply about deviated plans to sudprocess, but also about the business side of denly entering a space where your perspective what it takes to open a brewery—something is vastly different from the majority of the world.”

I’ve long wanted to do,” says Domingue. He Underlining the trauma that many service memadds that one of the greatest takeaways has bers carry when exiting the military, Domingue been “bridging the gap between the theoretical says, “We get exposed to a lot of things that we and practical side of business, and developing otherwise would never see and some things we a plan at the end of the program that I can wish we hadn’t seen, but the appreciation and present to either a financial group or bank.” perspective gained is something we can apply to Domingue’s journey leading up to his time as a our civilian lives.”

Dog Tag Fellow consisted of an eight-year stint

Crafted from nearly 3,500 individual dog tags, the chandelier on display at the bakery is a moving tribute to fallen servicemen and women.

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PIVOTING DURING THE PANDEMIC

“Typically we feature and sell products from veteran-owned businesses [such as Veteran Roasters Coffee] but this is the first time we’ve been able to support and collaborate with a Dog Tag alumni-owned business [Semper Sanitize].”

“There was a lot of isolation, so even if it wasn’t all business-related, we tried to connect on As confirmed cases of the coronavirus steadily Zoom for weekly game nights just so we could climbed in D.C and across the country, businesscheck in and see one another,” Clerget says. es of all sizes were pushed to scale back, shut Unfortunately, during the pandemic, two people down, and swap normal layouts and procedures from the team contracted the virus, but Clerget for plexiglass partitions and prominent signage says they’ve thankfully made a full recovery. encouraging customers to practice social distancing. Dog Tag Bakery was no exception, having to reduce hours of operation and remove the majority of their seating options. With citywide public health mandates in place indefinitely, the restaurant’s team had to operate under tremendous uncertainty.

“We were applying for any kind of aid and doing whatever possible to ensure we could continue to pay our employees,” says Rebecca Clerget, director of operations at the bakery. “When the mayor shut down indoor dining, we converted to curbside pickup. When the decision was made for only essential workers to be in the city, we did our best to gauge our employees’ comfort levels.”

Wade’s cleaning business also suffered a financial hit during the pandemic, as he worked to balance life at home as a husband and father while managing Semper Sanitize and keeping operations afloat.

“My wife and I have experienced a seismic shift since lockdown,” says Wade, whose spouse is also a military veteran of the Air Force. “Between having to change homeschooling plans for our children and bouncing back after losing revenue, it’s been a challenge.” Nonetheless, Wade says he saw a prime opportunity to meet the needs of clients and expand his business offerings to include disinfecting and sanitizing services. One of Semper Sanitize’s first outreaches during the pandemic was Dog Tag Bakery; Wade and his company have since helped the eatery maintain cleaning, disinfection, and sanitation standards.

From coordinating the schedules of the bakery’s more than 20 employees to accommodate capacity limits to rebuilding revenue streams in the wake of interruptions to the business, “Typically, we feature and sell products from bakery management and staff have continuously veteran-owned businesses inside the bakery, but adapted—all while working to ensure that the this is the first time we’ve been able to support team stays connected as much as possible. and collaborate with a Dog Tag alumni-owned business, so that’s really exciting,” Clerget says.

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Domingue, who moved to the D.C. metro area with his wife just one month into the pandemic, participated in the fellowship in a full virtual environment and says experiencing the lockdown through the lens of a businessperson has led him to weigh the risks and rewards of starting his own business.

“My goal has always been to start small and grow, so in some ways, I’ve had the luxury to think through that approach more meticulously” during the pandemic, Domingue says. “I am taking this moment to at least learn from those who have been forced to pivot, make changes, and really scale down their businesses so they can keep their doors open and look out for their employees.”

One year into the pandemic, Clerget says she’s appreciative of how skillfully the bakery staff and team have been in rolling with the unexpected punches.

“The thoughtfulness, support, and intentionality they give one another in checking in and making sure everyone is safe—while on or off the clock—has been really touching; I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

THE SUPPORT OF A COMMUNITY Despite operational cutbacks due to the pandemic, Dog Tag Bakery is still a fixture in its Georgetown neighborhood. Morning bakers continue to come in before the doors open to prep the eatery’s notable pastry items, and in lieu of dine-in service, the bakery has begun offering takeout, contactless delivery, and gift package online ordering.

Clerget credits the familiar faces that pop by the bakery for keeping the business and morale of the team boosted during these tough times.

“They’re all very supportive of the small businesses in the area,” she says. “We have a group of cyclists who stop here after their bike rides. Before the pandemic hit, many times they would meet our fellows when they were in the classroom adjacent to the cafe.”

While the biking group doesn’t get a chance to enjoy a fresh brew inside the bakery these days, Clerget says they still drop in to competitively rack up reward points to support the bakery and its mission. “When they first heard we closed they went online to make a charitable donation. Their support means the world to us.”

As the dust settles from the pandemic and the public adjusts to the new normal set in place, Witko says she believes that keeping the fellowship alumni community and bakery staff connected is just as crucial as ensuring the success of the bakery in the short and long term.

“Even during this rough year, we’ve been thinking about ways in which we can support them and each other, not only in the craziness that has been 2020 and 2021, but beyond that as well… because our core is community in all aspects of who we are and what we do.” •

Honey Thyme Biscuit Recipe INGREDIENTS (YIELD: 6 BISCUITS) • • • • • • • •

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup whole wheat flour 1/8 cup sugar 1 tbsp and ½ tsp baking powder 1 ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp thyme 2 ½ cups heavy cream honey

DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix both flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and thyme into a large bowl. Use a whisk to mix it all together.

3. Add the cream to the same large bowl. Mix until just combined.

4. Pour dough out onto a floured surface and roll out till 9" x 6."

5. Cut into six 3" x 3" biscuits.

6. Place onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

7. Brush the tops with heavy cream and bake for 24 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through.

8. When cooled, brush with honey and enjoy.

9. Any scraps from when you cut the biscuit dough can be baked into biscuit squiggles!

TM

Reprinted with permission of Dog Tag Bakery

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Diverse leaders to strengthen our nation’s civic architecture

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A $100M investment from alumnus and entrepreneur Frank H. McCourt Jr. advances the McCourt School’s aspiration to be the world’s most inclusive public policy school.

BY HEIDI ATLAS WITH KATE COLWELL (G’20) AND CAMILLE SCARBOROUGH

A

s the world reckons with a once-ina-century pandemic, longstanding racial inequities, and increasing political incivility, the need for rigorously trained policy makers and public servants representing the full diversity of our communities has never been clearer.

Uniquely positioned to lead that work, Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy has received a $100 million investment from alumnus and civic entrepreneur Frank H. McCourt Jr. (C’75) to drive change that strengthens our civic architecture.

With a transformative $50 million for financial aid and scholarships, the investment will increase access for students seeking a policy education.

The commitment is an important step toward removing barriers for tomorrow’s policy makers and public servants—and catalyzes Georgetown’s ambition to build the nation’s most inclusive school of public policy. The additional $50 million will ensure the school can continue making critical foundational investments in faculty and research.

‘An extraordinary vision’ This investment doubles down on the commitment Frank McCourt and Georgetown made in 2013 to establish the school—with an initial $100 million gift from McCourt—and to build a powerful force for advancing the common good

Photo: McCourt

through teaching, research, and service. That vision was grounded in a belief that tomorrow’s leaders must draw on diverse experiences and perspectives in order to achieve transformational impact.

“With this support, we will be able to come that much closer to realizing our aspiration—that there will be no barrier for pursuing public service,” says Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia. “Frank has articulated an extraordinary vision for this work, deepening our commitment to ethical, inclusive, and impactful public policy for the common good.”

McCourt notes that Georgetown’s focus on inclusion and equity aligns with the goals of Unfinished, a new enterprise he founded in 2020 dedicated to strengthening civic life in the digital age.

“Society is facing bigger challenges than ever before, making it essential that the people tasked with solving these challenges are not only well trained, but also represent the backgrounds and experiences of our full society,” says McCourt. “Too often, the people most impacted by problems like economic inequality or extractive technology aren’t at the policy-making table.

With this funding, the McCourt School can open its doors more widely and build a pipeline of future public policy leaders that reflects the true diversity of our communities. Our ambition is to one day eliminate all financial barriers to a McCourt education.”

students, 2019 VISIT magazine.georgetown.edu 21

“This has been the greatest moment in the history of our work in public policy, and now we’re going to be able to take it that much further.” —JOHN J. DEGIOIA Strengthening the pipeline of diverse talent The McCourt School seeks to reduce the student loan debt that too often precludes public service.

By directing $50 million of his investment to financial aid and scholarships for McCourt School students, Frank McCourt is making a critical down payment on the effort to reduce the financial barriers to a policy education.

“Our dream and our goal for the McCourt School is that every student will be able to graduate and enter public service careers without the burden of loans,” McCourt says.

“A school of public policy is a collection of people who believe that the critical problems we face can only be solved through working together,” says McCourt School Dean Maria Cancian, adding that tomorrow’s leaders must recognize our interdependence so they can work across differences to solve intractable problems.

And they must come from a wide array of backgrounds and perspectives, to ensure diversity of thought and experience, emphasizes Cancian.

“It’s absolutely critical for the McCourt School to have people from urban and rural environments, to have people who are conservative and progressive, to have people who come from a variety of lived experience, to have people who are from underrepresented racial and ethnic communities.

“Having greater financial aid will both allow us to attract a broader set of students, and also allow us to graduate students with the ability to go out and work for the common good,” Cancian adds.

2019 Photos

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Most immediately, Frank McCourt’s investment in the McCourt School will enable participants in the National Urban Fellows (NUF) program to attend tuition-free in the 2021–22 academic year. In 2018, the McCourt School was selected as the sole academic home of the 50-year-old NUF graduate program dedicated to developing mid-career professionals, especially people of color, to be leaders and change agents in the

G EORG E TOWN M AG A Z INE SPRING 2021

public and nonprofit sectors. In August 2020, the NUF-McCourt School partnership graduated its first cohort of Master of Policy Management students—overwhelmingly first-generation college graduates.

Given what the McCourt School is striving to accomplish when it comes to accessibility and service to others, the NUF program is a natural partner to drive that mission forward, says Lisa Rawlings, the program’s president and CEO. “This partnership has been wonderful in that we’re both aligned philosophically with a strong commitment to social justice; we both have strong beliefs in inclusion.”

With the new investment, the McCourt School looks forward to deepening its collaboration with NUF and other organizations that share Georgetown’s dedication to building a pipeline of changemakers across the many dimensions of diversity.

Since its founding, the school has forged a number of partnerships with institutions such as Howard University, Lead for America, COLFUTURO, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all of which strengthen McCourt classrooms with a diversity of perspective and lived experience.

“All these people, who come with different sets of experiences and contribute in different ways, have amazing interactions both inside the classroom and outside the classroom that really enrich everything that we do,” Cancian says, adding that the school looks forward to identifying additional collaborators.

Elevating expertise and impact Students at the McCourt School unlock their diverse talents and prepare for critical problem-solving roles with the mentorship and expertise of the McCourt School’s vibrant community of policy scholars and practitioners.

Since 2013, the McCourt School has expanded its faculty by 35%, bringing on first-rate teachers, cutting-edge researchers, and leading voices on critical topics such as economics, public management, environmental justice, racial justice, housing security, and environmental economics.

With Frank McCourt’s investment—which includes $50 million to support faculty expertise and research—the McCourt School will maintain this growth trajectory across the next decade, ultimately doubling its faculty.

“The greatest gift we offer our students is time with our faculty,” says DeGioia. “Frank’s new investment strengthens the context for our faculty to pursue their work: to study and shape policy at every level.”

“Our goal for the McCourt School is that every student will be able to graduate and enter public service careers without the burden of loans.”

—FRANK MCCOURT

research focuses on improving health and education outcomes in developing countries. “We would like to get as many perspectives as possible as the school engages even more deeply with complex, global public policy challenges,” he says.

An ambitious agenda for the future “This has been the greatest moment in the history of our work in public policy, and now we’re going to be able to take it that much further,” says DeGioia.

At this critical juncture, at the center of the policy world, at the center of U.S. democracy, the new investment sets the McCourt School on a path to realize its ambition.

The investment will enable the McCourt School to build more bridges from research to practice, from evidence to action, from the “I’m hugely optimistic about the McCourt School and Georgeuniversity’s work to the communities it serves, from individual effort town’s role in the world,” McCourt says. “I’m very excited about to collective action, and from great challenges to lasting solutions. the commitment to inclusion. I’m very excited about the commitWelcoming additional voices is paramount to the McCourt School’s ment to being a school known for its impact. Watching the McCourt School’s evolution has been a source of great joy to me.” next chapter, says Associate Professor James Habyarimana, whose

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McCourt School Dean Maria Cancian on the challenges and opportunities of this moment

2019 Photo

PRIOR TO JOINING GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY IN

February 2019 as dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy, Maria Cancian advised local, state, and federal agencies on policy initiatives designed to improve outcomes, especially for low-income and otherwise vulnerable families.

She held leadership roles in the Obama administration, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was a longtime faculty member.

These days, Cancian is focused on building the world’s most inclusive school of public policy—and developing future generations of rigorously trained, ethically grounded leaders. She spoke with Georgetown Magazine about her experience and vision for this work.

2019 Photo

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You are an economist by training, and your research focuses on the intersection of public policy and family well-being. What motivated you to study this area of social policy?

Families and public institutions shape the opportunities available to each of us to develop, to address our own needs, and to contribute to the community. We sometimes think of government as the “public” sphere and the family as “private,” but they are fundamentally interdependent. Our expectations about what constitutes a family, and how families should function, shape our policies—obviously in the case of, for example, child support or child welfare policy, but also in the case of policies such as taxation, education, and income support.

I have always been interested in how public policies shape the context in which families function and how the opportunities and incentives to marry, to have children, and to work, vary over time and for different groups of people.

What drew you to the McCourt School and Georgetown?

Having just come out of a role in the federal government, I understood how critical civil servants are to the quality of life for all of us. The role of McCourt dean offers me the opportunity to build a school that trains the leaders of tomorrow—it’s both an incredible privilege and an incredible challenge.

I believe the McCourt School—given its resources, location, and the stature and mission of Georgetown University—can have a great impact on the capacity for effective, evidence-based, collective action for the common good. And now the investment from Frank H. McCourt Jr. is an enormous step forward. It challenges us to not be limited by where we are right now, but to really think about where we need to go and how we are going to get there.

What have you learned from the challenges of 2020?

This past year made it crystal clear how critical it is for us to be able to work together, whether that’s working together within government, across governments, or between government and civil society, the private sector, and other institutions.

We are at a moment where the faint-hearted could feel discouraged. The combination of the pandemic, of our growing awareness of racial inequality, of the economic challenges that have accompanied COVID-19, of the global climate challenge—it can all feel overwhelming. But there’s also a call to action. This is an opportunity for us to step forward and understand the challenges that we face, and that working together for the common good, we really can change. The McCourt School is designed to train the people who can lead the organizations, the movements, and the efforts that will make that possible.

Why is inclusivity so crucial to this ambition?

Our aspiration to be the most inclusive top public policy school in the world is fundamental to what we are trying to accomplish here. We want to attract students with diverse perspectives and lived experiences, but united by their commitment to the common good. We want to enroll them without regard to their ability to pay—and to enable our graduates to pursue their passions without having to prioritize jobs where they can earn enough to pay off their student loans.

Our institutions need to draw from a diverse pool of talent, and those leaders need to represent the people who are being served.

The most effective and equitable policy solutions come when you have people with a wide variety of ideas around the table, and when all those people feel like they’re in an environment where they can fully engage. So here at the McCourt School, we’re very focused on bringing together a broad set of individuals, a broad set of ideas, and creating an environment where people can work across their differences to advance new solutions.

What else is ahead for the McCourt School?

I’m excited about the faculty that we’ve built and our plans to move downtown as part of Georgetown’s Capitol Campus. The Capitol Campus will physically unite the school’s research and teaching arms and provides a dynamic front door to Georgetown for the policy community.

We are excited to be next door to the Law Center, near so many key government institutions, and down the street from Howard University, an institution we are increasingly collaborating with.

We’re also excited to be in the center of Washington, D.C., because we have a real commitment to our local community.

We are positioned to make an enormous impact at a time when the world needs the rigorously trained, ethically grounded, and impatient changemakers of the McCourt School. •

“Working together for the common good, we really can change.”

—MARIA CANCIAN

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Images: Smallpox brochure, National Library of Medicine; First typhoid innoculation, National Library of Medicine, iStock

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VACCINES SAVE MILLIONS OF LIVES EACH YEAR. But they can only be truly effective if every individual has both the opportunity and the willingness to be vaccinated.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis—and in anticipation of future pandemics—Georgetown experts are engaged in an urgent conversation on how to deliver vaccines equitably around the globe. At the same time, the university is focused on a key barrier to vaccination within the United States: vaccine hesitancy stemming from historical racial inequities in the nation’s health care system.

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different from drug manufacturing, which is a chemical process.

Vaccines are a biological process. The last thing you want is to have people who’ve never done this get in the vaccine business.”

It sounds counterintuitive—putting a disease-causing substance into your body to actually prevent disease. For centuries, humans used this technique against smallpox by scratching matter from one person’s active sore into another person’s skin. In 1777, George Washington ordered the inoculation of the entire Continental Army against the smallpox virus. Approximately 40,000 soldiers were treated by the end of the year. The infection rate fell from 17% to 1%.

Gellin, currently president of global immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, gained an insider’s perspective as head of the National Vaccine Program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the H1N1 influenza pandemic. “When I was at HHS, I used to say this twice a week—there’s a vaccine world and a vaccination world. They’re totally different orbits.”

Early inoculation methods led to the development of vaccines against a host of deadly diseases, from tetanus to whooping cough.

Vaccine pioneers like Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, and Jonas Salk continue to be celebrated.

Even with the extraordinary scientific advances of the last century, vaccines typically require years to develop and test. The mumps vaccine took the shortest amount of time—just four years. A vaccine for AIDS still remains elusive.

Given past history, the introduction of effective COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year—including those employing messenger RNA, an entirely new technology—is nothing short of miraculous. “We’re in this remarkable situation where there’s been a global and U.S. effort to produce a vaccine for a new disease in an unprecedented amount of time,” says Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., MPH, director of Georgetown’s Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship (COMPASS) and former chief scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

But victory in the laboratory is only half the battle. In the case of a global pandemic like COVID-19, vaccines must be produced and distributed rapidly to keep ahead of the disease.

“This is not like turning all the ovens in the world into a bakery,” said Bruce Gellin, M.D., MPH, an affiliate of Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security, speaking to a class of students at the School of Foreign Service in February 2021. “It’s very

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Those working in the vaccination world face complex issues of equity and ethics. What is the responsibility of wealthy nations to supply vaccines to poorer countries? In cases of limited supply, who should get the first doses—those with the highest mortality rates, the greatest exposure, or some other measure?

For experts in global health, equitable distribution of vaccines is a moral as well as a public health imperative. “We should be doing this for our values and who we are as people,” said Mark Dybul, M.D. (C’85, M’92, H’08), co-director of Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Practice and Impact and former head of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

“And as we know clearly from the South African variant, unless we have the world vaccinated, we are not safe because these variants will constantly be coming. It’s important for solidarity, for humanitarianism, but it’s also absolutely important for our own protection and health here in the United States.”

COVID-19 hit the world during a time of growing nationalist and protectionist sentiment among nations from Great Britain to India to the United States, exacerbating the issue of “vaccine nationalism”—where countries prioritize their own vaccination needs. Many wealthier countries have entered into bilateral agreements and preordered vast quantities of vaccines, monopolizing vaccine supply.

Photos: iStock, Shutterstock

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“The U.S. has a vested interest in equitable vaccine distribution for economic and national security reasons as well as for public health,” says Matthew Kavanagh, Ph.D., a political scientist and assistant professor in Georgetown’s Department of International Health at the School of Nursing & Health Studies. “The global economy is still in a freefall, because the world is shut down. That doesn’t end if you get 70 or 80% of the U.S. vaccinated, but nobody else,” says Kavanagh, who is also director of the Global Health Policy & Politics Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. There’s a study out from the International Chamber of Commerce estimating $9 trillion in negative impact of neglecting low- and middle-income countries.”

Other countries have stepped into the gap, notably China and Russia, whose vaccine safety and efficacy track records lack transparency. “We’re watching China and Russia use vaccines for diplomacy, including helping countries stand up production of their vaccines,” says Kavanagh. “Meanwhile, the U.S. has just not done so.”

SARAH STEWART (M’49) LEADING THE WAY TO A NOVEL VACCINE In the 1990s, scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center—led by Richard Schlegel, M.D., Ph.D., currently the Oscar B. Hunter Chair of Pathology— gained renown for their seminal contributions to the development of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The technology they co-invented, for which

In the past several decades, the global health community has taken important steps to increase vaccine distribution to lower-income countries. In 2020, a coalition including the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations created COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX. Its goal is to distribute 2 billion doses of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine to the most vulnerable by the end of 2021.

Even with the incoming Biden administration pledging $4 billion of support, however, COVAX is severely underfunded. According to current estimates, doses of COVID-19 vaccines might not reach everyone around the world until 2024.

Kavanagh and many others have argued that the answer is not for wealthy countries merely to supply vaccines, but instead to share intellectual property and technology so that countries like Senegal, Malaysia, Vietnam, and others can produce their own vaccines. “I chair the UNAIDS Advisory Group, and I’m very conscious of just how parallel the experience of HIV and the experience of COVID-19 have been when it comes to global access,” he said. “In 1997 we saw this breakthrough of effective HIV treatment and it took a decade before it got to most people who needed it in the global south. Millions of folks died needlessly.

“What we’ve learned in that process is that the reality of politics and economics means you need multiple producers of these lifesaving goods,” he said. “Right now at the World Trade Organization, India, and South Africa have proposed a simple solution to patent barriers— that during the pandemic, in which we have a declared public health emergency of international concern, we waive patent restrictions on everything related to COVID-19. That’s how we scaled up AIDS drugs,” he added.

Georgetown received a number of international patents, has helped to prevent cervical cancer in millions of women.

This breakthrough would not have been possible without the pioneering work of another Georgetown pathologist, Sarah Stewart (M’49). The first woman to graduate from Georgetown Medical School, Stewart was a model of persistence. Initially unable to enroll because of her gender, despite holding a Ph.D. in microbiology and working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), she took a job as a Georgetown instructor in order to be eligible to attend medical school classes. She enrolled full-time once the school began admitting women in 1947.

Defying the opinion of the scientific establishment, Stewart believed that viruses could cause cancer.

After receiving her M.D., she carried on with her research at the NIH. She and colleague Bernice Eddy identified a virus now called the Stewart-Eddy Polyomavirus, and in 1958, they demonstrated that the virus could cause tumors in animals—definitively proving the virus-cancer link.

Stewart went on to serve as medical director of the National Cancer Institute. In 1971, she returned to Georgetown as a professor of pathology. Sadly, she herself died from cancer in 1976. The Sarah Stewart Student Lecture Series at the medical school is named in her honor, showcasing the continuing innovative research conducted by Georgetown scientists.

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The new technology used in the manufacture of vaccines by Moderna and other companies further complicates expanding production, requiring that companies transfer technology. “It’s a long-term structural problem. You can’t just overnight build an mRNA vaccine facility in country X, Y, Z and expect it to work,” says Jesse Goodman. “But ultimately some of these technologies do offer the promise of being done on a more modular basis without complex facilities.”

The best long-term solution, in Goodman’s view, is to be proactive. “We need a global insurance system so that when outbreaks happen or emergencies of scale require a rapid response with large infusions of resources, the system is in place ahead of time—so that when we have the vaccines we have the ability to buy them, produce them, and distribute them. It is not going to be okay if the rest of the world waits until 2024 for vaccines. I’m hopeful that won’t happen. But it’s still too much of a gap and that’s not acceptable.”

Until the vaccine supply can be significantly ramped up, the world is faced with the reality of determining who will get vaccinated. The World Health Organization has devised a “fair allocation mechanism” in which all countries would receive vaccine supplies proportional to their population until 20% of people are covered.

“The WHO is made up of a constituency of nations, so there’s a reflex egalitarianism among them that leads them towards this equal proportions per capita standard,” says philosophy professor Henry Richardson, J.D., MPP, Ph.D., a senior scholar at Georgetown’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics. But, as Richardson explains, this model fails to take into account the varying impact of COVID-19 among countries.

“Think about distributing money. Money is something that everybody wants more of, and you can distribute any amount to anybody. In this case, what matters to people now is just getting fully vaccinated once. That refocuses the question away from how much people get to the question of when people get it,” explains Richardson.

“When we were working on the issue, we realized that the switch from ‘how much’ to ‘when’ reframes the distributive justice problem.

It made us think about how urgent it is that someone get vaccinated, leading us to focus on avoiding death as the first priority.”

Richardson was part of a team of ethicists, philosophers, and health care professionals convened last year by Ezekiel Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania who served on President Biden’s transition COVID-19 advisory board. Together they developed a vaccine distribution model meeting ethical standards.

In a September 2020 article titled “An Ethical Framework for Global Vaccine Allocation” published in Science, the team introduced the Fair Priority Model to COVAX, vaccine producers, and national governments. The team has since published two more papers addressed to COVAX. Its model focuses on reducing premature death, using Standard Expected Years of Life Lost (SEYLL) as a metric.

Priority is given to countries that would reduce more SEYLL per dose of vaccine.

“This matters because there are other countries where people dying from COVID-19 are much younger,” says Richardson, noting that studies from India indicate the greatest number of deaths occurred among individuals aged 50 to 64. “That was really a big part of what we were trying to address—taking into account the international disparities in life expectancy at birth.

Images: iStock

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Images: iStock

“There are definitely signs that WHO and COVAX are paying attention to that view, and deliberating about whether they can take the differential need of countries into account, which I think they certainly should,” says Richardson.

she views many of the program’s strategies as effective in tackling vaccine hesitancy as well. “It was important to address the facts, acknowledge the history, identify influencers or trusted sources— all of those things absolutely translate,” Wesley says.

The United States has faced its own vaccine distribution issues, both because of limited supply and because it lacks an infrastructure for mass vaccination in adults. Despite the rocky start, the U.S. is now on track with sufficient vaccination sites and supply for all Americans who want to be vaccinated.

The common denominator, Wesley explains, is the ongoing societal abuse and mistreatment of the Black population in America.

Research she conducted for the clinical trial study showed some participants’ hesitancy resulted from knowledge of well-known historic tragedies, such as the lack of treatment for syphilis sufferers in the Tuskegee Experiment. “But many of our younger participants hadn’t heard of Tuskegee,” Wesley says. “More than anything, for a lot of Black folks, there’s present-day reality.”

Goodman believes that the more problematic issue in the U.S. will be what is called “vaccine hesitancy”—reluctance to be vaccinated due to historical inequities in testing and ongoing biases in treatment. “It’s a huge issue not just in the U.S., but globally,” he says.

Of particular concern in the United States is vaccination for African Americans. Although some polls show growing enthusiasm among the Black population for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, the most recent statistics from the Kaiser Family Foundation indicate that half of Black adults still say they are not confident that the new vaccines have been adequately tested among African Americans. Compounding the issue has been lack of access to vaccination sites in communities of color.

“I would say we’re in a different state with the COVID-19 vaccines compared with other vaccines,” says Deliya Wesley, Ph.D., MPH, scientific director for health equity research in the Healthcare Delivery Research Network at MedStar Health Research Institute and an assistant professor at Georgetown School of Medicine.

“The data show that it’s much more complex, given all the varied sources of information, the social climate, the political climate, the historical context. It’s something that’s come to a head, in a way that’s not applicable to other vaccines.”

Wesley conducted a highly successful program to increase participation of underrepresented populations in clinical trials, and

One longer-term strategy already underway is incorporating the history of systemic racism into the medical school curriculum.

“The overhaul we’re starting to see is really huge. You don’t get to see sustainable change if we’re not teaching doctors to look at the system and how they interact with it,” Wesley says. “It begins and ends with the learners.

“The narrative is changing drastically, especially with events of the past 12 months,” she continues. “We’re at a tipping point, where the history cannot be ignored any more. There’s a real opportunity to start having that conversation.”

The world will be learning lessons from COVID-19 for decades to come. Goodman sees one possible bright spot—what he calls a “renaissance” in public understanding and appreciation of vaccines.

“For much of the world, COVID-19 has been a palpable tragedy, and medical science and public health are clearly helping us find our way through it,” he says. “I’m really hopeful that it will be a very strong reinforcement of the ability of vaccines to save lives, and how much we depend on them—we take for granted that our kids don’t get measles and polio anymore. And so for both public health generally and with vaccines specifically, rather than the finish, this can be the start of something new.” •

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GUAA CORNER

Leading in a Virtual World GUAA Executive Director Julia Farr (C’88, Parent’19, ’21, ’24) talks with the new GUAA President On July 1, 2020, Frank Ciatto (B’88, L’94, Parent’21) stepped into the role of president of the Georgetown University Alumni Association.

Since that day, he has led the association and its Board of Governors from his home in Bethesda, Maryland. Leadership weekends, retreats, award ceremonies, and all those meetings and campus events that the president typically attends have been conducted through Zoom.

Frank is my ’88 classmate, a fellow Board of Governors member for almost 20 years, and a great friend. We even have daughters in the Georgetown Class of 2021 who are housemates!

I recently sat down with him—virtually, of course— to ask him about what brought him to this moment as the leader of the association and what he envisions for our future.

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Why did you choose Georgetown?

I went to a Jesuit high school, St. Peter’s Prep, where it seemed only Jesuit colleges existed in the mind of my college counselor— and he believed Georgetown was the very best.

What was your experience like at the business school?

I really loved it. I was an accounting major and took several classes by the same professor, Alan Mayer-Sommer. I’ve stayed close to the business school because I have so many alumni friends. I think it’s great how Dean Paul Almeida is bringing in alumni to team-teach with McDonough School of Business faculty.

Your wife is a Hoya—did you meet on the Hilltop?

I met Deanne Collins Ciatto (C’89) one morning at a bike rack at Darnell Hall. We struck up a conversation about Bruce Springsteen and she invited me to see her record collection sometime. Our first date was October 19, 1985.

And you’ll be adding another alumna to the family?

My daughter, Sophia Ciatto (C’21), will graduate this spring with a B.S. in art history. It’s been wonderful having a child love Georgetown as much as I do and to see it through her eyes.

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What are your top three favorite moments at Georgetown?

First I’d say The Roam to the Dome to see Charles Smith’s lastsecond scoop shot to beat the Orangemen in 1988.

Next probably the Halloween Pub Party senior year. My thengirlfriend and now wife Deanne and I went as Hot Lips and Frank Burns from the 1970s TV show M*A*S*H. Third, I loved seeing my buddy, Vinny Cannamela (B’88, Parent ’22, ’24), hitting a half-court shot at USAir Arena and winning two plane tickets to anywhere in the United States.

After graduation, you spent three years with a public accounting firm and then returned to Georgetown for law school. What was it like to experience Georgetown on the other side of the city?

It was not the same experience as the Hilltop, but I had eight really good friends and we shared a bunker mentality in law school.

My most memorable classroom experiences involved Professor Chuck Abernathy’s flair for the Socratic method in both Con Law II and Civil Rights. As a practicing attorney within walking distance to the Law Center, I swell with pride being an alumnus of one of the best law schools in the country.

When did you first start serving your alma mater?

I started doing phonathons during law school. After our 10-year reunion, I stepped out of fundraising and helped with communications and events, a role that’s more in line with my personality.

I’ve always been a connector.

Why have you stayed engaged with Georgetown all these years?

I’m from Jersey City, New Jersey, and was the first person in my family to go to college. Had I not first gone to St. Peter’s Prep, which provided the path to Georgetown, I believe my life story would have been very different.

My volunteer work has provided me with a deeper connection to a place I love, a place that has given me more than I could ever give back.

Since being a part of the Association’s Board of Governors, I’ve become closer to folks from my class as well as the younger and older ones. We are all very different, bringing different backgrounds to bear, but we are all alike in our lifelong connection to Georgetown. It’s been easy to stay involved because I’ve always cared so much about it.

You’ve been on the Board of Governors for almost 20 years—what has your experience been like?

Working on the board has been a collaborative effort through the years; it’s always evolving and always improving. We are all deeply devoted to making the alumni experience better with affinity groups (like GEMA, GEA) as well as special events (like the Black Alumni Summit and the Wall Street Alliance Dinner).

I see us as more diverse, more closely coordinated with the university, and leveraging technology to a greater capacity so that our mission is known to all alumni. We are serving as an incubator of ideas for the alumni community and the university.

“My volunteer work has provided me with a deeper connection to a place I love, a place that has given me more than I could ever give back.”

What are your top priorities as president?

First we are prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are populating our ranks with more people who represent the wider swath of alums. These are not just words. We are implementing the values of DEI through the association’s work, as seen through our programming, membership, and awards processes. But we still have a lot of work to do to be the best in class in this regard.

We are also overhauling our communications—both among ourselves on the board and to our larger constituency—so that more alumni have access to our offerings through our alumni clubs, alliances, and career services programs that unify us as a community.

Our mission is to generate goodwill and support for the university and to foster a lifelong connection to Georgetown. This is key to everything that we do. It’s all about galvanizing a group of governors to serve our alumni through alumni clubs, lifelong learning, career services, alliances, class programs, and philanthropy.

Since you stepped into office in July 2020, your term has been hampered by COVID-19. Recognizing the loss of in-person meetings, celebrations, and networking, what has worked well in the virtual world?

COVID-19 has acted as an accelerant to engagement along a continuum instead of episodically two or three times each year. Where our previous gatherings could only accommodate a certain number of alumni, we now can extend the reach of our programming to an unlimited number. For example, our Alumni Service Recognition Awards Celebration usually has 200–250 attendees, but our most recent virtual awards program had 150 people attending the Facebook streaming event and 1,700 more people viewing it post-event. The Women’s Forum is usually capped at 500 attendees in person and this year it had close to 2,000 registrants.

We will go back to in-person events in the future for sure, but we will also incorporate the virtual component to be more inclusive of our wider community. •

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CHEER ON A HOYA OLYMPIAN Team USA is starting to take shape for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan (postponed from 2020). Be sure to tune in to the sailing events to cheer on Charlie Buckingham (C’11) as he competes in the One Person Dinghy discipline (Laser).

He will be building on his success in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he finished 11th overall, and the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, where he won the bronze.

His experience as a student-athlete at Georgetown prepared him for the rigors of the U.S. Sailing Team. “I was pretty relaxed in my approach to school and sailing during high school. Conversely, Georgetown challenged my abilities in the classroom and on the water considerably.

Over the four years I learned how to work hard in ways that translated into better performances. These lessons and experiences inspired me to continue challenging myself in pursuit of Olympic gold.”

Buckingham shared that his fondest memory of Georgetown was the “sense of uncertainty and adventure” he He is still close with his Georgetown coach, Michael felt as he started his first year. “I was pretty comfortable Callahan (SFS’97). “His style of coaching brought a great with my lifestyle in California and didn’t know what to sense of community to the team. Luckily technology and expect coming to a different coast, culture, and environsocial media make staying in touch really easy, regardless ment. There was a period of adjustment but I eventually of location.” • found my niche and came to love my time at Georgetown.

I miss it a lot actually!”

—Camille Scarborough Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images 34

G EORG E TOWN M AG A Z INE SPRING 2021

Virtual women’s forum brings worldwide community together, raises critical funds for Georgetown students According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between August and September 2020, nearly 1.1 million people dropped out of the labor force—and nearly 80% of them were women. A panel entitled “The Great She-cession” addressed this ongoing crisis at the 2021 Women’s Forum. Other sessions explored running for office, nurturing your entrepreneurial spirit, and fighting for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and beyond. The forum also hosted workshops ranging from the benefits of acupressure to a wine tasting highlighting women winemakers.

McCourt School Dean Maria Cancian, and a surprise guest: Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, who joined the faculty at the Georgetown Law Center in December 2020.

The 2,300 registrants came from all nine schools and over 60 countries spanning six continents. With a 300% growth over the registration numbers from the previous year, this year’s Women’s Forum demonstrated how a virtual event can unite a global community. In lieu of a registration fee, registrants could make a donation to Georgetown’s COVID-19 Response & Resilience Fund, resulting in nearly $40,000 from over 500 donors. •

Held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event took place over five days and featured 11 sessions with 36 speakers, in—Camille Scarborough cluding Ambassador Melanne Verveer (SLL’66, MS’69, Parent’94),

Madame Gandhi (C’11), Artist and Activist

Pam Lipp-Hendricks (C’92), JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Madeline Sutton (C’89), OneBrain4Health LLC

Rachel Thomas (C’93), LeanIn.org

Daina Trout (NHS’03), HealthAde Kombucha

Jordyne Blaise (C’06, L’10), bluebird bio

Maya Raghu (L’98), National Women’s Law Center

Melissa Bradley (B’89), Ureeka

Sharita Gruberg (L’12), Center for American Progress

Barbara Comstock (L’86), Former U.S. Congresswoman (VA-10)

Xochitl Torres Small (SFS’07), Former U.S. Congresswoman (NM-02)

Terri Jackson (C’89, L’92), Women’s National Basketball Players Association

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Meet the Chiefs of Staff Hoyas Ron Klain and Tina Flournoy tapped to join historic Biden-Harris administration Before they were selected to join the ranks of the current administration as chiefs of staff, Ron Klain (C’83) and Tina Flournoy (C’78, L’84) graced the walkways of Georgetown’s campus as undergraduate students and established themselves as Washington, D.C., public servants. Klain serves as President Joseph R. Biden’s chief of staff, while Flournoy serves in the same role for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Photo: Courtesy of The White House

Klain, who received his bachelor’s degree in government, has a robust background in politics and public service, serving as a senior White House aide under former presidents Bill Clinton (SFS’68, H’80) and Barack Obama, as well as an adviser for numerous presidential campaigns. He also has close ties to Biden, as he was his chief of staff during his time as vice president.

“No one bleeds Hoya blue like Ron Klain,” says Mo Elleithee, founding executive director of the Institute of Politics and Public Service at the McCourt School of Public Policy, for which Klain served as advisory board member. Crediting Klain’s close ties with the university and his dedication to teaching and advising students, Elleithee adds that Klain epitomizes Georgetown’s value of people for others in every scope of his career.

Photo: Courtesy of The White House

As a double Hoya graduate from the College’s American Studies program and Georgetown Law, Flournoy holds a wealth of experience in D.C. and federal politics. Immediately after earning her J.D., she served as a law clerk for Judge Julia Cooper Mack of the D.C. Court of Appeals, and went on to a number of positions in Democratic politics, including deputy campaign manager for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign in 1996 and a senior adviser to former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean.

Before her recent appointment as chief of staff to Vice President Harris, Flournoy acted as chief of staff to President Clinton after his presidency ended.

Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor applauded Flournoy’s appointment and her “extraordinary career of public service,” stating that “[it] embodies the Law Center’s mission of service to others.”

“No one bleeds Hoya blue like Ron Klain.”

“This has been a most challenging time, but I am looking forward to what the administration will do to move us forward as a nation,” he wrote.

Klain and Flournoy join the roster of Hoyas who have served as chiefs of staff for four out of the last five presidents. Georgetown also boasts the largest number of alumni who have served as Congressional chiefs of staff compared to any other university. • —Chelsea Burwell (G’16) with Shelby Roller (G’19)

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G EORG E TOWN M AG A Z INE SPRING 2021

Hoyas on the Hill Georgetown alumni have long been drawn to public service; 168 alone have served in the United States Congress, including such notables as William B. Bankhead, who graduated in 1895, became the Speaker of the House during the New Deal, and was the father of actress Tallulah Bankhead.

Many have attributed a call to service to the Jesuit tradition of living in service to others—instilled and embodied at Georgetown. The 117th Congress swore in 28 Hoyas, including seven senators and 21 representatives. As the longest-serving senator in the Democratic majority, Patrick Leahy (L’64, H’94) became president pro tempore in January 2021, and presides over the Senate in the absence of the vice president. Senator Leahy also chairs the Appropriations Committee and serves on the Judiciary and Agriculture committees. • —Patti North

Photo: Paul Jones

“My education at Georgetown Law prepared me for all that has followed in my career in the law and in public policy. It also deepened my passion for the majesty of the law, and for the Constitution. I could not have hoped for or received any better grounding.”

—Senator Patrick Leahy (L’64, H’94) (D-Vt.), President Pro Tempore of the Senate

Alumni in the 117th Congress represent eight of the nine schools at the university with nearly half graduating from Georgetown Law. Alumni in the new Congress include: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (C’80) - R Sen. Dan Sullivan (G’93, L’93) - R

Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer (L’66) - D Sen. Christopher Van Hollen (L’90) - D

California Rep. Michael Garcia (G’98) - R Rep. Ted Lieu (L’94) - D

Massachusetts Rep. Lori Trahan (SFS’95) - D

Florida Rep. Lois Frankel (L’73) - D Rep. Stephanie Murphy (G’04) - D Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff (SFS’09) - D Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono (L’78) - D Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin (SFS’66, L’69) - D Indiana Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (G’14) - R

Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell (SFS’75, G’98) - D Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (G’86) - R New Hampshire Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (L’84) - D New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill (L’07) - D New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (G’94) - D

Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar (SFS’78) - D Rep. August Pfluger (G’19) - R Rep. Filemon Vela (C’85) - D Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy (L’64) - D Virgin Islands Rep. Stacey Plaskett (SFS’88) - D Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal (C’86) - D Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher (G’12, ’13, ’15) - R Rep. Bryan Steil (B’03) - R Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (C’75, M’78) - R

Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline (L’86) - D

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How are underrepresented artists brought to the fore? Georgetown Magazine was honored to speak with Adrienne L. Childs (C’82) and Molly Donovan (C’88), both art historians and curators, about their longstanding commitment to studying and presenting works by people of color, women, and other artists underrepresented on museum walls.

How Black artists engage with the past If you were fortunate enough to see the special exhibition Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition at Washington, D.C.’s Phillips Collection last year, your experience would have felt both familiar and new. For instance, the first several images riffed on Edouard Manet’s iconic 1863 painting, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass).

Often the original works and the riffs were shown near each other. “This made the exhibition more powerful because works by an African American artist who had engaged with a work by Matisse could be seen in a context with the very Matisse in the room,” says Adrienne L. Childs (C’82), guest curator for Riffs and Relations—and the first African American curator in the Phillips Collection’s 100-year history.

The “relationship” theme of the exhibition explored the creative interplay between African American art and European Modernism. How did these European artists portray Black bodies? How are African American artists consciously drawing on familiar images by Europeans? “It’s looking at how Black artists engage the past,” says Childs.

Many of the artists shown are canonical figures in African American art, but most were not the usual suspects, Childs explains. “Even many historians and devotees of African American art don’t know a lot of these artists.”

This made her research even more extensive.

Childs graduated from Georgetown hoping to pursue a doctorate in art history, but her grandmother persuaded her to go to business school. Eventually, even with a young family, she realized her dream, one class at a time.

Photo: Archie Brown

Adrienne L. Childs (C’82) at the February 2020 opening of Riffs and Relations, an exhibition she curated at the Phillips Collection. She stands in front of Hale Woodruff’s Africa and the Bull, 1958, in the collection of the Studio Museum of Harlem.

Other riffs followed, all by African American artists and many showing Black figures replacing or adding to familiar subjects in works by Monet, Matisse, and Man Ray, among many other modernist European artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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She’s currently finishing a book on blackamoors—Black figures in European decorative arts—that appear in luxury objects like lamps, clocks, and small sculptures. Her scholarship focuses on what she calls “ornamental blackness,” asking what it means to have a Black slave body depicted on luxury objects when the money fueling the rise in luxury production came from slave economies.

What does America’s renewed sense of racial reckoning mean for a leading scholar of African American art?

“Artists handle social consciousness in their art,” Childs says. “Then it’s a matter of how the museum world handles that art. I think museums need to have a fidelity to their communities.”

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Molly Donovan (C’88) has been Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art since 2016.

She is a longtime proponent of greater diversity in museum collections.

“As the National Gallery, we represent all the people. I’m a public servant. I believe deeply in that.”

Photo: National Gallery of Art

Art that represents us all While she majored in English at Georgetown, Molly Donovan (C’88) minored in fine arts, taking a distribution of art history classes that aimed her toward a career in an art museum after graduation. Since 2016, she has been Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Art, the latest milestone on her curatorial path since joining the National Gallery in 1993.

Her first job out of Georgetown, an entry-level position at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, made her quickly realize she would need a graduate degree, which she went on to obtain from the renowned art history master’s program at Williams College. While there, she worked at the Williams College Museum of Art, and reveled in “an incredible amount of exposure to living artists,” fueling her desire to focus on modern and contemporary art.

Donovan’s workdays at the National Gallery involve research, writing, working with artists, and managing the long-term, complex processes involved in growing and caring for a collection and mounting exhibitions. Her many contributions to these efforts have taken her shows to locales as far afield as Rome, Frankfurt, London, and Vienna.

Long before her current role at the National Gallery, Donovan was a proponent of balancing the collection and

increasing the visibility of women artists and others who are underrepresented. “The diversity of human experience needs to be seen on museum walls,” she says.

Her desire for broad perspectives has a Georgetown seed, Donovan says—a theology class taught by Otto Hentz, S.J., where she read Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. “It made an indelible mark on many aspects of my life,” she says.

In this moment of reckoning, “we all need to become students again and I think museums have a great responsibility and role in that,” she says. She’s currently co-curating the National Gallery’s presentation of Afro-Atlantic Histories, a show of more than 130 works from 20 countries that originated at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil, in 2018.

Donovan says that museums must better understand the ways class, race, and gender determined their founding and growth. “As the National Gallery, we represent all the people in the United States. To do that accurately and appropriately, we need to look hard at what’s in our collection and what is missing, and who is and who is not represented in our programs.” • —Jeffrey Donahoe

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Photo: Courtesy of Jack Fultz

SWEATING BLUE AND GRAY: MEET THE HOYA WHO WON THE BOSTON MARATHON IN 1976 Jack Fultz (B’76) ran his first marathon in 1971 when he was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard stationed in Alexandria, Virginia. Upon completing his four years of service, he accepted a scholarship offer to run for Georgetown. Fultz set the school record for the six-mile run and was team captain when the Hoya cross-country team finished seventh at the NCAA Championships.

Approaching graduation in 1976, Fultz set his sights on competing with the U.S. Olympic Marathon team in Montreal that summer. The Boston Marathon in April was his last chance to qualify for the Olympic Trials in June.

With a temperature of 96 degrees, the 1976 Boston Marathon, still the hottest on record, became known as the “Run for the Hoses” because spectators cooled participants with garden hoses. With qualifying for the Olympic Trials in mind, Fultz was focused more on posting a fast time than beating his opponents. “Consequently, I viewed the other runners as allies rather than opponents,” explains Fultz. “I think that mindset was a significant reason for my victory because it freed me from competition anxiety.”

Near the 18th mile, he took the lead and never looked back.

The constant garden-hose showers disintegrated his bib number so the cheering spectators could only identify him by the “Georgetown” on his race singlet. He handily beat the field of 1,898 runners with a time of 2:20:19.

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His winning time qualified him for the Olympic Trials Marathon, but with just six weeks to recover from Boston, he didn’t make the Olympic Team. However, he continued to compete for decades and taught sports psychology at Tufts University for almost 30 years. “I enjoyed helping my students learn the distinction between success and victory,” adds Fultz. “I’m currently working on a memoir, emphasizing the development of a winning attitude.”

A true Hoya for others, he was part of a group that started the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge in 1990. The DFMC has raised more than $104 million for innovative research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

In 1996, Fultz was inducted into the Georgetown Athletics Hall of Fame. That year, he and the other inductees accepted an invitation to run with then-President Bill Clinton (SFS’68, H’80).

Fultz believes that he would not be where he is today without his time on the Hilltop. He credits much of his success, in running and in life, to support from his teammates, guidance from coaches Frank Rienzo and Joe Lang, and mentorship from Hoya alums and lifelong friends Garth McKay (C’71) and Eamonn O’Reilly (C’66, G’70), both stalwart runners themselves. • —Richie Mullaney (C’18) G EORG E TOWN M AG A Z INE SPRING 2021

ALUMNUS RAISES FUNDS FOR FURLOUGHED HOSPITALITY WORKERS DURING PANDEMIC Shortly after graduating from Georgetown, Joshua Davis (C’17) worked as a consultant at Deloitte by day, and as a line cook at Oyamel, a José Andrés restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C., by night. Though he stopped his night job after five tiring months, the experience sparked an interest in entrepreneurship, specifically the home delivery of restaurant-quality ingredients.

He was still making plans and building local supplier relationships when the pandemic hit, closing restaurants in D.C. and throughout the country. Millions of service industry workers lost their jobs and began struggling to get food on the table for their families.

Remembering friends he made while working in Oyamel’s kitchen, Davis raised $20,000 to donate fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms to service workers furloughed or laid off due to the pandemic. “It’s unacceptable to think that the people who dedicate their lives to making us food could be going hungry—so I decided to help them, while supporting local farmers as well,” says Davis.

He delivered the food himself, in a borrowed pickup truck, at the end of his Deloitte workday and during the weekends. “I reminded myself that these efforts meant that a person from a marginalized community could live a safer, healthier life, even for a moment,” he says.

“I saw every delivery, every smile, every ‘gracias’ as a small win in a bigger fight against the systems that have made it harder for Black and brown people in America. Each of those small wins were my fuel when I was running on fumes.”

His passion for service found a natural home at Georgetown. Originally from Dallas, Davis decided he wanted to be a Hoya after about 15 minutes visiting the Hilltop. “The emphasis on foreign service was part of what drew me to Georgetown. I played soccer competitively my entire life and the global reach of the sport made an impression on me. I decided to major in government, and learned Spanish so I could serve immigrant communities like those I played soccer with.”

By the end of 2020, the 100-hour workweeks had taken their toll, and Davis paused the food deliveries. But he’s already looking forward and planning his next steps in community service and food entrepreneurship.

“Georgetown taught me to embrace service as a lifestyle, rather than an activity. Now I approach my everyday work and life with a service mentality, considering how I can use my realm of influence to improve the lives of my neighbor, colleague, or the world.” • —Camille Scarborough

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LIVES WELL LIVED Lives Well Lived honors a few alumni who have recently passed away with short obituaries. We share with you these portraits of alumni who have made an indelible impact living day to day as people for others.

You can find a more complete In Memoriam list at alumni.georgetown.edu/in-memoriam.

Anthony Giacobbe (C’58, L’61, Parent’89) A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anthony “Tony” Giacobbe graduated from Georgetown College in 1958 and from Georgetown Law Center in 1961. He began his legal career as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army (JAG Corps). He became an assistant district attorney in Manhattan and then on Staten Island, opening his private practice during the early 1970s. After being appointed Court of Claims judge in 2000, Justice Giacobbe celebrated his 70th birthday in 2006 by being sworn in as a justice of the state Supreme Court.

His son, Anthony Jr. (C’89) recalls, “His love for Georgetown ran very deep. He was proud to serve as AAP interview chairman for the Staten Island area. He enjoyed visiting campus, especially during my four years there. We would walk around and he would point out what each building ‘used to be.’ Every judge, every lawyer, everybody who worked for the court was fond of him and his warm personality—and every one of them knew he went to Georgetown because he talked about it so much.”

Justice Giacobbe passed away in May 2020. In addition to his sons, Mark and Anthony Jr., he is survived by three grandchildren, Nicholas, Matthew, and Joseph Giacobbe, and significant other Joy Spinelli.

Richard Louis Camaur (SFS’65, G’71, L’76, Parent’90) As a kid, Richard Louis Camaur taught himself and became fluent in several languages, including Spanish, Italian, and German. So it was no surprise that he was drawn to the School of Foreign Service, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1965, followed by a master’s in Latin American affairs, with distinction, in 1971. A triple Hoya, he received his J.D. from the Law Center in 1976.

He served his country in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1965 to 1973 as a captain and was stationed in Panama from 1967 to 1969. He worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1969 to 1979, eventually serving as a State Department adviser to the U.S. Panama Canal Treaty Negotiating Team. Camaur opened his law firm in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1980, devoting substantial time to pro bono cases.

His daughter, Elisabeth Camaur Crampton (SFS’90), recalls: “My father was very proud of his Georgetown education and cherished his memories as a Hoya. He was beaming with excitement when I was accepted into the School of Foreign Service.”

Camaur passed away in November 2020. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his son Paul Camaur; his daughter-in-law Diana Camaur; his three grandchildren, David Crampton, Aleksandra Crampton, and Alexis Camaur; his former wife Nancy Camaur; and his second wife Wendy Burns Camaur.

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Amelia Parker (L’83) After stints as executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus and staff assistant for policy analysis during the Carter administration, Amelia Parker was tapped to build and direct the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The museum commemorates the spawning of a national movement after four college freshmen refused to leave an F. W. Woolworth whites-only lunch counter. Following years of fundraising, while supervising design and construction activities, Parker presided over its grand opening on February 1, 2010, the 50th anniversary of the sit-ins that inspired a wave of non-violent direct action across the country to end racially segregated accommodations at public eating facilities. It is housed in the very same Woolworth building with its preserved and restored lunch counter.

“She helped [the museum] to achieve the international status that it has today,” says one of those students, Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair Jr.).

Photo: International Civil Rights Center & Museum

“I remember a woman with tremendous energy and great passion, who also exhibited a great willingness to help, mentor, and encourage young professionals. Her energy and leadership made her a role model for many. Her willingness to help is her enduring legacy.”

—Marc Morial (L’83), CEO of the

Using artifacts, documents, and images, Parker oversaw the development of compelling storylines for visitors to the museum, creating a path for them to move seamlessly through the galleries of the permanent exhibit, “The Battlegrounds.” John Swaine, the current CEO, recalls that Parker sought to craft a larger narrative through which residents of Greensboro could take pride in their significant role in helping the country realize the progressive steps necessary for the social inclusion of all Americans. “And in her own Alpha Kappa Alpha style, she instilled the focus that distinguishes the ICRCM in its portrayal of the capacity of ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary change for the betterment of their communities,” says Swaine.

Parker also worked as director of communications for the National Urban League, and as director of the Office of Black Affairs for the Democratic National Committee.

She held a degree in philosophy and psychology from Johnson C. Smith University and received two master’s degrees from Iowa State University before entering Georgetown University Law Center. Parker passed away in January 2021.

—Patti North

National Urban League and classmate of Amelia Parker

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THE LAST WORD

Imam Hendi on

the importance of radical

compassion, respectful conversations, and self-care

In August 1999, Georgetown University became the first American university to hire a full-time Muslim chaplain. Imam Yahya Hendi works with students of all faith traditions and teaches a popular course called Interreligious Dialogue. He also offers Muslim retreats and leads Jum’ah (Friday services).

What do you enjoy most about working at Georgetown?

At Georgetown I’m able to engage with students who are the leaders of tomorrow. The university and its students care about issues that are important to me: social justice, environmental justice, health care justice.

I have a passion for compassion that I try to instill in my students. I want them to leave Georgetown with a radical compassion for all people: those who have a seat at the table and those who we want to invite in. We share this world.

What sets your Interreligious Dialogue class apart from other course offerings?

I teach this course with rabbis and priests. We model how to have respectful conversations about potentially divisive topics: medical ethics, sexuality, politics, religion.

It’s interesting to see how students tend to sit with others from their faith traditions at the start of the course. Then, as time goes by, they mix up a bit more. We encourage them to ask why people believe what they do, to look for commonalities, and appreciate differences. I think that if we want to unite within the United States and the world at large, we need more experiences like that—for both students and everyone else.

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You’ve met a lot of world leaders in your career. Do any conversations stand out?

I found it inspiring to talk with President Jimmy Carter in Atlanta. He’s a man of faith who became a voice for justice everywhere he went. Justice is a human and universal value. He believes religion is part of the solution to what ails our society, but lately religion has been politicized. President Carter and I agree that religion and faith can help us give voice to those who feel silenced. That’s the way to peace.

Given the pandemic and social unrest of the last year, have you started any new research or special endeavors?

When the pandemic started in spring 2020, I saw the fatigue and frustration on the faces of Georgetown students. The root of it was fear—fear of the unknown, fear of weakness and vulnerability. I realized that the solution was going to be self-care. I started meeting weekly with a group of undergraduate and graduate students via Zoom, entirely voluntary. We discuss ways to use this unusual time and these difficult feelings to unlock one’s potential and even maximize performance. Instead of being afraid of the unknown, I want them to start thinking outside of the box. In this uncomfortable time, you still need to experience things. It’s a perfect time to listen to that inner voice and follow your passion. Sometimes you have to push yourself. I tell them “Never work for what is possible but rather what is worthy of doing.”

—Interview by Camille Scarborough

G EORG E TOWN M AG A Z INE SPRING 2021

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