In his classic work, City, Church, and Jesuit Urban Strategy, Rev. Thomas Lucas, S.J. describes the approach to the city taken by the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and says that:
“Ignatius’ improvisational genius cannot be appreciated if removed from its proper proscenium, the ancient tradition of the Roman Church as aedificatio aedificans et semper aedificanda, building in process and ever in need of rebuilding…Ignatius was the first founder of a major religious order in the history of the Church to locate his headquarters in Rome and the first to opt deliberately for complete insertion of a religious order’s works and residences in the center of the urban fabric.”
The key idea here is that for mission-driven institutions there is something more happening than the physical construction of buildings and spaces that house the works. In this sense, there is always some building in process for an organization discerning how best to realize its mission in new conditions, especially “in the center of the urban fabric.” And often, because the circumstances of the city’s needs change and evolve, just like the downtown of Washington, D.C., the physical buildings need to be rebuilt in order to address these new challenges. Being located in the heart of the city gives institutions like Georgetown important opportunities to be rebuilt in greater service to meeting the civic, economic, and political challenges facing D.C.
I took this lesson to heart this week as staff from the School of Continuing Studies and other units on the Capitol Campus had dedicated building tours of the new 111 Massachusetts Avenue building, which is slated to open for the Fall 2025 Semester. This rehabilitated and remodeled eight-story building will be the home to several Georgetown schools and units, including SCS, McDonough School of Business, the Earth Commons Institute, the School of Health, the School of Nursing, the Capitol Area Learning Labs (The CALL), and executive education programs. This is a pivotal moment in the ongoing build-out of the Capitol Campus and the 111 building is set to anchor this next phase of development. This was the first time that many staff were able to experience the new space and concretely imagine what work could feel like in the coming years. Eager questions and excited observations abounded during the brief tour of the floors.
The reflection by Lucas opens up important ponderings for the populations preparing to move into the 111 Massachusetts Avenue building and begin a new phase of the University’s life in the downtown of Washington, D.C. As I consider the mission significance of 111 Mass. Ave opening up this fall, I wonder about how we as a university community can make good on the strategic urban location of this new growing campus. The Capitol Campus is situated between monumental expressions of civic architecture in the forms of the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court and long-time residents and communities striving to flourish in the midst of so much urban change. I hope these contrasts and occasional tensions continue to inspire the mission-animated decisions of the Georgetown community on the Capitol Campus.
