- History of Georgetown University
The history of Georgetown University spans over four hundred years, and is closely tied to that of America.
Georgetown University has grown withWashington, D.C. and theUnited States , each of which date their founding to the period from 1788 to 1790. Georgetown's origins are in the establishment of theMaryland colony in the seventeenth-century. John Carroll established the school at it present location, and theSociety of Jesus oversaw the expansion of educational opportunities on campus, around the city, and abroad.Founding
The founding of Georgetown University took place on two main dates, 1634 and 1789. Until 1851, the school used 1788, the start of construction on the Old South building, as its founding date. In that year a copy-edit in the college catalogue began mis-labeling the construction as beginning in 1789. This was discovered in preparation for the centennial celebration in 1889, at which point rather than correct the annual, the date of Georgetown's "foundation" was fixed to the date
1789-01-23 . [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 7 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4]First Establishments
On
1633-11-22 Jesuit s Andrew White, John Altham Gravenor, and Thomas Gervase set sail on "The Ark" for America under the leadership and financing of theLord Baltimore ,Leonard Calvert .cite book|first=William Coleman|last=Nevils|title=Miniatures of Georgetown: Tercentennial Causeries|year=1934|publisher=Georgetown University Press|location=Washington, D.C. |url= http://worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/8224468| pages= 1-25] Their landing on1634-03-25 onSt. Clement's Island marks the birth of the Maryland colony, this anniversary now celebrated asMaryland Day . These Jesuits were joined in 1637 byThomas Copley andFerdinand Poulton , together establishing near St. Mary's City some means ofChristian education for the nativeYaocomico tribe.cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06083b.htm |title= Philip Fisher |first= Edward P. |last= Spillane |date=1909 |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher= Robert Appleton Company |accessdate= 2007-03-06] Inquiring about patronage for their school, Poulton wrote to superiors inRome , who on1640-09-15 approved the institution of a school in principle. That year they moved to a permanent building atCalverton Manor on in the Wicomico River. This early establishment was burnt in 1645 as part of theEnglish Civil War , and the remaining Jesuits were brought to trial inEngland . The newprotestant administration had their school outlawed, though it was functioning by 1648, when Thomas Copley managed to return there.Newtown Manor, also known as "Bretton's Neck", near modern-day
Leonardtown, Maryland , become available to the Jesuits in 1677. This house served as the Jesuit schoolhouse until 1704 when it's existence was alerted to British authorities. The school afterwards conducted itself periodically and in secrecy at the new Jesuit colony ofBohemia Manor . John Carroll attended this school in 1745 for one year at the age of twelve. [cite web |url= http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/case3.htm |title= The Bohemia Manor Academy |work= [http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/bicmain.htm Bicentennial Exhibit] |accessdate= 2007-03-06] Carroll left for studies in Europe, but was forced to return to Maryland in 1774, whenPope Clement XIV ordered the suppression of the Jesuit order. [cite web |url= http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/bulletin/guhistory.html |title= Georgetown: A Brief History |first= Robert Emmett |last= Curran |year= 2007 |accessdate= 2007-07-03 |work= [http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/bulletin University Bulletin] ] This put Carroll in the right place at the right time, when theAmerican Revolution pushed out the English administration, opening up new possibilities for scholastic expansion.Georgetown Heights
After returning in 1774 to live on the Rock Creek in Maryland, Carroll established Saint John the Evangelist Church, in
Silver Spring, Maryland . In 1776, his cousin, Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence invited John to join him,Samuel Chase , andBenjamin Franklin in traveling toQuebec and attempt to persuade theFrench Canadian population to join the revolution. The mission was unsuccessful, but John Carroll's association with Benjamin Franklin proved useful. In 1784, Franklin, as ambassador to France, recommended Carroll to the papalnuncio inParis as the head of the Catholic Church in American, and onJune 9 ,1784 Carroll was anointed "Superior of Missions in the United States of North America". OnNovember 6 ,1789 Carroll's authority was confirmed after being elected by the clergy as the first Bishop of Baltimore. [cite web |url= http://www.archbalt.org/our-history/ordinaries-detail.cfm?customel_datapageid_999=1343 |title= Most Rev. John Carroll |work= [http://www.archbalt.org Archdiocese of Baltimore] |year= 2004 |accessdate= 2007-09-07]In 1785, Carroll convened a meeting of area clergy, mostly ex-Jesuits in
White Marsh, Maryland , and this body resolved on onNovember 13 ,1786 , that "a school be erected for the education of youth." [cite book |title= Georgetown University in the District of Columbia, 1789-1907, Its Founders, Benefactors, Officers, Instructors and Alumni |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=DxUUAAAAIAAJ |first= James Stanislaus |last= Easby-Smith |origyear= 1907 |publisher= The Lewis publishing company |location= Original from the New York Public Library |date=October 24 ,2006 |chapterurl= http://books.google.com/books?id=DxUUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA22&sig=WorpAmcEeHm82WkyO7GUpVhtU2E |accessdate= 2007-09-07] By March 1787, they formed a fund raising committee, and Carroll solicited formal proposals for an "academy, at George-town, Patowmack-River, Maryland." In April 1788, construction on Georgetown's first building, "Old South", began, leading Carroll to write "We shall begin the building of our Academy this summer. On this Academy are built all my hopes of permanency and success of our holy religion in the United States." [cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide3.html |title= The first University building |accessdate = 2007-02-26] OnJanuary 23 ,1789 , John Carroll, Robert Molyneux and John Ashton completed the purchase for "seventy five pounds current money" of the acre and a half on which construction had already started. This land became the core of Georgetown's campus. As a result, the University celebrates this date as its founding. [cite web |url= http://www.georgetown.edu/home/about.html |title= About Georgetown |work= [http://www.georgetown.edu www.georgetown.edu] |date=2007 |accessdate= 2007-04-19] The first student,William Gaston , was admitted in 1791, and classes commenced onNovember 22 ,1791 . [cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide4.html |title= The first student |accessdate = 2007-02-26] [cite web |url= http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/case5.htm |title= William Gaston and Georgetown |work= [http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/bicmain.htm Bicentennial Exhibit] |date=2000-11-11 |accessdate= 2007-07-03]Early growth
Carroll had difficulty filling the position of president of the university, with many candidates declining the job before Robert Plunkett first took the office in 1791, though he only served 18 months. He oversaw the division of the academy into "college", "preparatory", and "elementary", with the youngest starting at age eight. Georgetown's second building, Old North, which survives to this day, began construction in 1794. At three times the size of Old South, it greatly increased the number of classrooms and sleeping space on campus. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 13-14 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4] Upon the building's completion,
George Washington visited and spoke from the porch, a position since reserved for sitting US Presidents.In its early years, Georgetown College suffered from considerable financial strain, relying on private sources of funding and the limited profits from local Jesuit-owned lands. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 12 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4] By September 1792, tuition had to be increased for the first time. In 1796,
Louis William Valentine Dubourg arrived and became president. He would later become the first bishop of theLouisiana Territory . Dubourg brought with him a collection of books from his own collection and others from St. Mary's Seminary, the BaltimoreSociety of Saint-Sulpice , and these books formed the nucleus of Georgetown's library.cite web |url= http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/libhist.htm |title= Special Collections at Georgetown: A Brief History |work= [http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll Georgetown Universities Libraries Special Collections] |date=November 11 ,2000 |accessdate= 2007-09-11] The first board of directors organized in 1797, and quickly became antagonized with Dubourg because of his preference for French faculty, and forced him to resign in December 1798. [cite web |url= http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/sulpicia.htm |title= The French Sulpicians |first= George M |last= Barringer |work= [http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll Georgetown Universities Libraries Special Collections] |date=November 11 ,2000 |accessdate= 2007-09-11]Leonard Neale and his brotherFrancis Neale oversaw the growth of the university as presidents for a combined eleven years, beginning in 1798. Leonard Neale acted in the dual capacity of president and tutor for several years and under his guidance the institution was developed from an academy into a college in 1801. Carroll applied to Rome to name Neale as his coadjutor, and Neale was appointed coadjutor in 1800. He remained as president of Georgetown until 1806 when succeeded by Robert Molyneux. In 1809, Leonard Neale's brother, Francis Neale, became president of Georgetown College. [cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10728d.htm |title= Leonard Neale |first= J. Preston W |last= McNeal |year= 1909 |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher= Robert Appleton Company |accessdate= 2007-04-26]The suppression of the Jesuits in Maryland ended in 1805. In 1806 the school commenced a
novitiate for Jesuit recruits fromRussia , which had harbored the Society during the suppression. [cite book |pages= 281 |chapterurl= http://books.google.com/books?id=61GjrFgAqC4C&pg=PA228 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=61GjrFgAqC4C |title= A History of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States |first= Thomas |last= O'Gorman |origdate= 1895 |publisher= Christian Literature Co. |location= Original from Harvard University |date=September 22 ,2006 |accessdate= 2007-09-07] John Carroll didn't seek civil recognition for Georgetown until after the suppression of the full Society ended in 1814. Instead of seeking a state charter, he went to the federal government, then in charge of the District of Columbia. Now Congressman William Gaston sponsored the legislation, and Georgetown received the first federal charter onMarch 1 ,1815 .cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide5.html |title= The Federal Charter |work= [http://guide.georgetown.edu/home/about.html About Georgetown] |accessdate= 2007-03-06] Founder John Carroll diedDecember 3 ,1815 , and in his will he left Georgetown four-hundred pounds sterling, which marked the beginning of Georgetown's endowment.The charter allowed Georgetown to grant degrees. The college's first two graduates, a pair of brothers fromNew York named Charles and George Dinnies, were awarded the degree of bachelor of arts in 1817.cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide5.html |title= The Federal Charter |work= [http://www.georgetown.edu/home/about.html About Georgetown] |accessdate= 2007-03-06] Other Jesuit school would confer degrees under Georgetown's charter for many years afterwards. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 20 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4] Graduate degrees were awarded for the first time in 1821. In 1833, theHoly See empowered Georgetown to confer degrees inphilosophy andtheology . On1844-06-10 , the school was incorporated by Congress under the name "The President and Directors of Georgetown College". Georgetown's Observatory, completed in 1844, was used in 1846 to determine the latitude and longitude of Washington, D.C., which was the first such calculation for the nation's capital. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 28 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4]Early student life
Georgetown from its beginning was not intended to be exclusively Catholic, and over its first ten years, nearly one-fifth of students were Protestant. A fifth of students were also from the
Caribbean . By 1830, Jews were attending. The first student society, the Sodality was founded in 1810 as a religious devotional group. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 25 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4] In 1830, thePhilodemic Society was founded as the schools debating society, the oldest of its kind in America and the oldest secular group at Georgetown. Other debating societies were founded in its model, or in opposition to it in later years, such as the Phileleutherian Society from 1836 to 1838, and the Philonomosian Society from 1839 to 1935. [cite web |url= http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/archives.htm |title= Georgetown Special Collections: University Archive |date=October 6 ,2004 |accessdate= 2007-09-11 |work= [http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll Georgetown Universities Libraries Special Collections] ]The Dramatic Association of Georgetown College, renamed the "Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society" after
World War I , was founded in 1852, and is itself the oldest continuous dramatic society in America.John Barrymore was a member of the group, as was the playwrightJohn Guare , and directorJack Hofsiss , who was the youngest person ever to win Broadway'sTony Award for Best Director when he received the prize for "The Elephant Man". [cite web |url= http://www.georgetown.edu/organizations/mask |title= Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society |date=2006-06-04 |accessdate= 2007-04-20 |work= [http://www14.georgetown.edu/explore/organizations/?type=37 Performing Arts] ]There were three student organized rebellions against the Georgetown administration in the
antebellum period. The most notable of these occurred in January 1850, against the administration of James A. Ryder over the school food. Students damaged the dormitories and took charge of a local hotel. [cite web |url= http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/case6.htm |title= The Academy becomes a College |date=November 11 ,2000 |accessdate= 2007-09-11 |work= [http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll Georgetown Universities Libraries Special Collections] ]The Civil War
The Civil War was an important and tragic time for the University. Beginning on
December 11 ,1859 thePhilodemic Society debated whether or not the southern states should secede. The debate lasted weeks, and after the Society affirmed secession, a brawl ensued, and debates were canceled for the rest of 1860. Fist fights on campus between northern and southern students soon became common. Beginning in 1861, many students left their studies to join the war. 925 students ultimately enlisted with theConfederate Army and 216 with theUnion Army ; between them 106 died in the war. New enrollment dropped from 313 students in 1859 to only 17 in 1861.cite web |url= http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/bulletin/guhistory.html |title=Georgetown: A Brief History |first= Robert Emmett |last= Curran |work= [http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/bulletin/index.html Undergraduate Bulletin] |date=July 7 ,2007 |accessdate= 2007-08-27] By 1862, Georgetown only had 120 total students, about ten percent of what it was just a few years earlier. [cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06458a.htm |title= Georgetown University |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |year= 1909 |publisher= Robert Appleton Company |first= E.I. |last= Devitt |accessdate= 2007-07-10] Only seven students graduated in 1869, down from over 300 a decade prior.Responding to lack of adequate hospital beds and housing for soldiers needed to protect the District, the north sequestered University buildings, and by the time of President
Abraham Lincoln 's May 1861 visit to campus, 1,400 Union Army troops were stationed in temporary quarters there. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 36 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4] 1,300 of them were from the 69th Infantry Regiment, which established itself in Maguire Hall fromMay 4 ,1841 to June when the unit was replaced by the79th New York Volunteer Infantry . The occupation ended in July when the unit left to fight in theFirst Battle of Bull Run , but the university remained home to soldiers as an infirmary for the remainder of the war.cite web |url= http://www.thehoya.com/features/012304/features2.cfm |title= Georgetown: Fighting for Survival |first= Mary |last= Goundrey |work=The Hoya |date=January 23 ,2004 |accessdate= 2007-09-06] Georgetown would later be connected to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. WhileJohn Wilkes Booth was not a student, he was active in the school's dramatic society, and familiar with many students, likeDavid Herold , who accompanied him in his escape, and Samuel Arnold, who conspired with Booth to kidnap Lincoln. Dr.Samuel Mudd , a Georgetown alumnus, set Booth's broken ankle, and Charles Lieberman, one of the founders of the medical school, treated Lincoln.The war drastically changed Georgetown, making it both more northern and more Catholic. Increasingly larger percentages of the student body came from northern cities, more populated with Catholic immigrants, while the student body had been primarily southern in before the war. This dynamic is expressed in Georgetown's official school colors. In 1876, Georgetown College Boat Club, the school's rowing team, adopted blue, color of the northern army, and gray, color of the southern army, as their colors in order to signify the peaceful unity between students from the North and those from the South. Students at
Georgetown Visitation wove the first blue and gray uniforms for the team. [cite web |url= http://www.hoyasaxa.com/sports/colors.htm |title= Georgetown Traditions: The Blue & Gray |work= [http://www.hoyasaxa.com HoyaSaxa.com] |accessdate= 2007-04-26 |date=2005-08-17 ]Expansion
After the founding of the Law Department, Healy and his successors sought to bind the professional schools into a university, and focus on
higher education . In 1870, Healy first hadGeorgetown Preparatory School raise the minimum age of enrollment from eight to twelve. This was raised again in 1894 to thirteen. In focusing on the University, Georgetown Preparatory School relocated from campus in 1919 and fully separated from the University in 1927. [cite web |url= http://contentdm.lndlibrary.org/u?/gtown,13 |title= Third Grammar Class, Second Section, on the steps of Healy Hall at Georgetown University |work= [http://www.lndlibrary.org Loyola Notre Dame Library] |accessdate= 2007-09-06]Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School has remained attached to the University campus.Medical School
In 1830, construction of an infirmary in the new Gervase Building brought the first hospital beds to Georgetown. In 1849, four Catholic doctors, frustrated with discriminatory practices at neighboring Columbia University, petitioned Georgetown President James Ryder to found a medical program. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 35 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4] A building for this purpose was purchased at 12th and F Streets, and the School of Medicine was founded in 1850, holding its first classes the following year. [cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide7.html |title= The Medical School |accessdate=2007-03-04 |work= [http://guide.georgetown.edu/home/about.html About Georgetown] ] In 1898,
Georgetown University Hospital was established on campus, and in 1930, classes moved to the main campus.Georgetown obtained the Washington Dental College in 1901 as an expansion of the School of Medicine.cite web |url= http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/bulletin/guhistory.html |title=Georgetown: A Brief History |first= Robert Emmett |last= Curran |work= [http://www12.georgetown.edu/undergrad/bulletin/index.html Undergraduate Bulletin] |publisher= Georgetown University |date=
July 7 ,2007 |accessdate= 2007-09-06] A new Medical-Dental Building on Reservoir Road was completed in 1930 to house the school, and in 1951 the School of Dentistry separated form the School of Medicine as an independent unit of Georgetown University. [cite web |url= http://alumni.georgetown.edu/default.aspx?Page=DentalHistory2 |title= Dental History Page 2 |work= [http://alumni.georgetown.edu Georgetown University Alumni Association |accessdate= 2007-09-06] ] In 1987, the University decided to close the school following the class of 1990 for financial reasons, as the number of dental students dropped nationwide. [cite book |last= O'Neill |first= Paul R. |coauthors= Paul K. Williams |title= Georgetown University |publisher = Arcadia |year= 2003 |pages= 81 |isbn= 0-7385-1509-4] Supplies and equipment from the school were sent toPontifical Xavierian University inBogotá ,Colombia . [cite web |url= http://alumni.georgetown.edu/default.aspx?Page=DentalHistory4 |title= Dental History Page 4 |work= [http://alumni.georgetown.edu Georgetown University Alumni Association |accessdate= 2007-09-06] ]Law Center
A school of law was approved in March 1870, and graduated their first students in 1872. In 1884 they moved the school to at 6th and F Streets, not far from the Medical School, and again in 1891 to 506 E Street. In 1971, following the completion of the Bernard P. McDonough Hall, the school moved to its present location at 1st and F Streets at 600 New Jersey Avenue. In 1989, the school added the Edward Bennett Williams Law Library. In 1993, the Gewirz Student Center opened, providing on-campus living for the first time. The "Campus Completion Project", finished in 2005, brought the addition of the Hotung International Building and the Sport and Fitness Center.
Nursing School
chool of Foreign Service
The School of Foreign Service (SFS) was founded in 1919 by
Edmund A. Walsh , to prepare students for leadership in foreign commerce and diplomacy. [cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide12.html |work= [http://www.georgetown.edu/home/about.html About Georgetown] |title= The School of Foreign Service |accessdate= 2007-04-26]chool of Languages and Linguistics
The School of Languages and Linguistics was organized in 1949. In 1994, it was folded into the College, and is now the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics.
chool of Business
The School of Business Administration was created out of the SFS in 1955, and in 1999 was renamed the
McDonough School of Business in honor of alumnus Robert E. McDonough. [cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide16.html |work= [http://www.georgetown.edu/home/about.html About Georgetown] |title= McDonough School of Business |accessdate= 2007-04-26]Present position
The School of Nursing has admitted female students since its founding, and most of the university was made available on a limited basis by 1952. [cite web |url= http://guide.georgetown.edu/slideshows/slides/show11_slide17.html |work= [http://www.georgetown.edu/home/about.html About Georgetown] |title= Georgetown University history: Co-Ed |accessdate= 2007-07-17] With the College of Arts and Sciences welcoming its first female students in the 1969–1970
academic year , Georgetown became fullycoeducation al. [cite news |url= http://www.thehoya.com/news/040103/news6.cfm |title= Areen Outlines Women's Role |date=April 1 ,2003 |accessdate= 2007-07-17 |work=The Hoya |first= Nick |last= Timiraos]On
October 4 ,1966 , a bill passed in Congress that recognized the school's name as "Georgetown University" for the first time.cite web |url= http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/timeline.htm |title= A Georgetown time-line |work= [http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll Georgetown University Libraries Special Collections] |date=November 11 ,2000 |accessdate= 2007-09-06] The 1844 bill still in effect had referred only to "Georgetown College", which at that point was known as the College of Arts and Sciences and was just one branch of the university.In 1970
Lauinger Library was completed bringing space for a rapidly growing library collection.The 1980s produced many changes on campus. [cite news |url= http://www.thehoya.com/news/80th/news8.htm |title= Today's Georgetown Takes Shape |date=
2000-01-21 |accessdate= 2007-07-18 |first= Ian A. |last= Palko |work=The Hoya ] The 1984 victory of Georgetown's men's basketball team helped make Georgetown University a household name. Georgetown ended its bicentennial year of 1989 by electingLeo J. O'Donovan as president. He subsequently launched the Third Century Campaign to build the school's endowment.cite news |url= http://www.thehoya.com/news/021601/news1.htm |title= DeGioia Named Next GU President |first= Tim |last= Sullivan |work=The Hoya |date=February 16 ,2001 |accessdate= 2007-07-17]In December 2003, Georgetown completed the campaign, joining only a handful of universities worldwide to raise at least nowrap|$1 billion for financial aid, academic chair endowment, and new capital projects. [cite news |url= http://www.thehoya.com/news/091203/news2.cfm |title= Capital Campaign Close to $1 Billion |first= Nick |last= Timiraos |work=
The Hoya |date=September 12 ,2003 |accessdate= 2007-04-26]John J. DeGioia , Georgetown's first non-Jesuit president, has led the school since 2001, has continued its financial modernization, and has sought to "expand opportunities for intercultural and interreligious dialogue." [cite web |url= http://president.georgetown.edu/biography.html |title= Biography |work= [http://president.georgetown.edu Office of the President] |month= February | year= 2005 |publisher= Georgetown University |accessdate= 2007-07-17]Traditions
Georgetown in fiction
Georgetown, as a major world University, has been featured in many media over the years.
* The 1973 horror film "The Exorcist" was set and filmed in Georgetown. It was based on a novel byWilliam Peter Blatty , who received an English degree from Georgetown in 1950. Blatty wrote the script in a room in Holy Trinity Church's school, a Catholic parish adjacent to Georgetown University.
* The 1985 "Brat Pack" movie "St. Elmo's Fire" revolved around a group of students who had just graduated from Georgetown. The bar that much of the film takes place in is based on The Tombs, a bar and restaurant known for its large student clientele and rowing decòr, located one block from Georgetown's front gates. The university denied the producers the rights to film on campus, so parts of the film were shot at the nearby University of Maryland.
* In theNBC television series "The West Wing", President Bartlet's daughter Zoey attended Georgetown. In the show's fourth season, an episode entitled "Commencement" was filmed on campus, with current Georgetown students used as extras.
* In the movie "National Treasure", Benjamin "Ben" Gates (played byNicolas Cage ) is said to have a degree inAmerican History from Georgetown.
* In "The Girl Next Door", one of the main character's (Matthew) goals is to get into Georgetown, although the university shown at the film's conclusion is not Georgetown.
* In "Save the Last Dance ", one of the main character (Derek) receives an acceptance letter to Georgetown University early in the movie.
* On "The Steve Harvey Show ", Romeo tells Steve about his ambitions to go to college by saying, "I don't wanna be one of those guys that just WEARS the Georgetown jacket!"
* In "Above the Rim ", the main character, Kyle-Lee, hopes to get a scholarship to play basketball at Georgetown.
* A second season sub-plotline of "The Sopranos " concerns Meadow Soprano's ambition to gain acceptance to Georgetown, and her mother Carmela's machinations on her behalf. Rumor has it that the school denied the show permission to film on campus, leading to a somewhat abrupt switch of college choice to Columbia.
* In "Election", the main character, Tracy Flick (played by Reese Witherspoon), ends up at Georgetown.
* In "24", one of the main characters, President David Palmer attended Georgetown where he played on the basketball team. Dennis Haysbert, the actor who plays David Palmer, is the uncle of Nazareth Haysbert who graduated from Georgetown's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2005.
* In "Syriana ", Prince Nasir al-Subaai says: "I studied at Oxford. I have aPh.D from Georgetown."
* "Memento" was written by a Georgetown alumnus, and the main character's nemesis, John G., is said to be named afterJohn Glavin , a professor of creative writing at Georgetown.
* In "Stargate Atlantis ", the main character, "Dr. Elizabeth Weir" taught a political science course at Georgetown before going to Atlantis.
* In "", Milo Thatch's grandfather, Thaddeus Thatch, and the eccentric millionaire, Preston B. Whitmore, are both members of the Class of 1866.
* In "Enemy of the State", Will Smith's character is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center.
* In "The Pelican Brief", several scenes are shot inside the Georgetown University Law Center and the Edward B. Williams Law Library.
* In the laterJason Bourne novels, such asThe Bourne Legacy , Jason Bourne becomes a professor at Georgetown.
* Jack Ryan, the main character of severalTom Clancy books, received his Ph.D from Georgetown.
*In "YoungIndiana Jones and the Plantation Treasure", Jones' father, a professor of Medieval history, lectures at Georgetown while Indiana explores the underground railroad in the Carolinas.ee also
*
List of Presidents of Georgetown University Notes
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