This week I was invited to present at the second annual Staff/AAP Symposium organized by the Staff and Academic and Administrative Professionals Advisory Council. The theme of the day’s programming, which includes presentations, peer mentoring, fellowship, and breakout sessions about different topics, was “Thriving at Georgetown.” I gave a short presentation titled, Putting Mission in Motion: Ignatian Resources for Exercising Leadership Every Day. Given my recent work with SCS professional certificate programs like the Master Practitioner in Leadership and the Certificate in Strategic Thinking & Leadership, I have been thinking a lot about the most effective ways to integrate Jesuit mission and Ignatian heritage into leadership development.
In this post, I want to offer three Ignatian practices originating from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius that can be broadly translated to a large and diverse audience. My hope is to spark some deeper connection between the tradition and resources of Ignatian heritage and Jesuit mission and the inner, self-development that we are invited to as members of the Georgetown community. Ultimately, I believe that creating a bridge between Ignatian spirituality and contemporary leadership theory and application exemplifies our Spirit of Georgetown commitment to the value of “Contemplation in Action.” Growing in leadership for the tasks we are called to each day and doing so in a way that is generous and life-giving requires that we grow more and more rooted in our self-understanding and self-awareness. Generous “doing” flows from generous “being.”
The first practice is to make a daily self-inventory and awareness. The Ignatian term for this is a daily Examen of Consciousness. The Examen, described many times on this blog, is a spiritual method of growing in self-awareness by noticing, with God’s eyes, how one’s daily feelings, thoughts, and actions align with one’s True Self. Utilizing a full sensory experience, one’s Examen is a form of healthy self-inventory in which the person, in an atmosphere of trust and safety in relationship to God, notices the convergences as well as the divergences from one’s True Self. In non-religious terms, one might think of this step as an honest self-evaluation or reflective review of one’s flourishing as well as one’s faults. Authentic leaders are not afraid to regularly engage in this kind of deeper self-awareness because they recognize that sensing the needs of others, including the dynamics in a group, depend on first being aware of what is happening in themselves.
The second practice is to discern daily choices with intention. The Ignatian terms for this are Discernment of Spirits that can lead to an Election, or choice. The premise here is that making decisions that ultimately serve our ultimate purpose both as individuals and organizations requires intentional consideration of multiple kinds of data that we collect on a regular basis. In particular, an authentic leader is paying attention to the inner movements of thoughts, feelings, imaginings, etc. in order to track how different possibilities correspond to different inner movements. The discerning leader attempts to follow the sequence of these movements in a way that the direction of the potential choice is most in service of mission and the greater good. Habituating discernment in this style requires daily practice and regular support of a spiritual guide, coach, or mentor.
The third practice is to savor your “flow” experiences. The Ignatian term for this is Consolation. For Ignatius, Discernment of Spirits leads a person to notice two kinds of contrary states: Consolation and Desolation. The former is a state of feeling or thought in which our inner movement in response to human experience both brings joy and inclines us to act in ways that bring us closer to God and our deeper purpose. Consolation in this sense is more than just a positive feeling, but a movement that directs us toward loving actions. Desolation is the contrary situation in which one’s reaction to life’s events leads one to doubt or despair and can cause one to question one’s purpose or de-commit from realizing mission.
Obviously, a human life includes both kinds of experiences and Ignatius counsels us to store up our Consolations for when we will inevitably fall into periods of Desolation. The modern school of “Positive Psychology” has picked up on consolation with the term, “flow.” In this theory, one should pay attention to regular experiences of flow marked by intense concentration, effortlessness yet full engagement, and a loss of anxiety or pre-occupation. The Jesuit Nicholas Austin takes up this connection in more detail in the article, “Towards an Ignatian Spirituality of Study.”
Growing as leaders, especially in difficult times like these, requires support and I would offer up these Ignatian practices as resources for your journeys ahead.
Each year, Georgetown SCS honors outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni at the annual Tropaia Awards in Gaston Hall. This is a treasured occasion to publicly celebrate the ways that SCS community members bring the Spirit of Georgetown, the Jesuit mission and values that animate this entire learning community, to life in their study and work. The SCS Spirit of Georgetown award is selected by a committee of faculty and staff through a rigorous process of reviewing peer nominations.
This year’s winner is Zaki Mohammed, a graduating student of the Master of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Risk Management program. Mohammed has demonstrated extraordinary leadership during his time at the School of Continuing Studies that has contributed to the School’s reputation for applied innovation in the fields of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Both within the University and outside of it, Zaki has strived to advance the University’s leadership in these ever-evolving and dynamic areas of professional life and practice. I hope you will find, in his responses, connections to the University’s mission and values, particularly Georgetown’s longstanding commitment to forming lifelong learners who are generous in service with and for others.
This week’s post is an interview with Zaki Mohammed, a graduating student who realized his dream of coming to Georgetown to help grow his ethical leadership in the professional practice of cybersecurity.
Tell us a bit about your story. What led you to Georgetown SCS and where is your journey heading a few years after your graduation?
When I look back at my journey, from the vibrant, technology-driven streets of Bangalore, India, to Georgetown’s inspiring and intellectual community, I reflect on something much more than just a professional career trajectory. I see a deeply personal transformation driven by purpose, hard work, passion, and values that transcend any achievement.
Growing up in Bangalore, India’s “Silicon Valley,” technology was always a significant part of my life. The exponential advancements in technology overwhelmed me with uncertainty about my future. My mother, who always believed education and the pursuit of knowledge were the best ways to find one’s place in this world, constantly reminded me that I would be fine. Yet despite studying computer science engineering as a 16-year-old, I initially struggled to find my place in this modern world. It wasn’t until my senior year when I took a class on advanced network security that something profound sparked within me—a calling not just to understand technology but to protect people from the vulnerabilities it creates. This moment of clarity set the stage for everything that followed.
I made it my life’s goal to become a highly skilled cybersecurity professional, aiming to be an integral part of the digital revolution and to help build a trustworthy digital world that our civilization is headed towards. I started by learning cybersecurity, working on research projects in healthcare cybersecurity, publishing papers, and gaining over three years of experience in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and information assurance. I’ve designed, implemented, and validated risk management strategies for enterprises navigating today’s complex threat landscape.
In pursuit of further knowledge, I traveled across the world and came to Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies seeking expertise. However, I quickly discovered something far more valuable: a community that inspired me to lead with empathy, integrity, and purpose. My time at Georgetown profoundly shaped both who I am and who I aspire to become. Coming from humble beginnings as an international student, Georgetown welcomed me with opportunities and a community that valued not just my potential but also my story.
At Georgetown, my proudest moments went beyond technical research or career milestones. Serving as senator for the Cybersecurity & Risk Management Program and director of the Online Students and Technology Committee allowed me to advocate for my fellow students and thousands of online students, building meaningful connections. Growing up in a small town in India and coming from a humble middle-class family, I had never dreamt I would one day be among such great company and represent them. Learning from experienced industry professors and working with them on futuristic research projects are experiences I will never forget. These experiences weren’t merely extracurricular—they taught me about leadership, the power of hard work, and the profound responsibility that comes with advocacy.
Creating Georgetown’s first-ever cybersecurity student society and working as a research assistant provided deeply personal experiences that made my time here truly worthwhile. Understanding the intersection of artificial intelligence and cognitive biases wasn’t just academic; it was about creating fairness and equity, ensuring technology serves humanity ethically. This pursuit of ethical technological implementations through innovation continued into my work with Siemens, helping protect critical infrastructure.
My graduate student life at Georgetown involved working 12-hour days during the summer, managing an internship, assistantship, volunteering for GradGov and Georgetown University Cybersecurity Society, keeping up with academic rigor, and achieving professional certifications. At times, all of this seemed overwhelming, but the pursuit of knowledge, growth, and intellectual curiosity kept me going. While being deeply involved and committed to multiple responsibilities, the “why” always mattered more to me than the “how.” Throughout it all, I never lost sight of the “why.” Whether publishing research, raising $25,000 in alumni engagement as a student engagement specialist at the Office of Advancement, or advocating for funding for new cybersecurity initiatives, I was driven by the belief that technology is only as powerful as the values guiding it. My focus consistently remained on safeguarding trust and ensuring people remained at the heart of technological progress.
The most precious moment of my Georgetown experience, which I hold closest to my heart, was when my efforts to pursue academic excellence and contributions to the betterment of fellow graduate student experiences were recognized with the Exceptional Master’s Student Award by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences last spring.
Graduating from Georgetown University this year, receiving the prestigious Spirit of Georgetown Award, and being honored as the outstanding student in the Cybersecurity Risk Management Program, as well as leading 1,400 exceptional graduates as the student marshal at the convocation ceremony, were profoundly humbling milestones. These experiences were precious to me not merely due to the recognition itself, but because they affirmed that I had successfully embodied the values Georgetown cherishes. It reminded me that while professional accomplishments are important, true success lies in how deeply you touch the lives around you and how genuinely you live out your values.
Being recognized as the 2025 Spirit of Georgetown recipient, I now carry the responsibility of walking in the path of some of the greatest individuals who have carried this honor throughout the 200-year history of this prestigious university. This responsibility and the exciting expectations of my professors, who have instilled precious knowledge and wisdom in me, will guide me in my future pursuits to embody the values Georgetown proudly cherishes.
Looking forward, my vision remains rooted in the values Georgetown instilled in me. Whether working at the forefront of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, shaping ethical technology policies, or building inclusive communities, my goal is to lead thoughtfully, act responsibly, and always stay guided by the spirit of service.
Georgetown didn’t just prepare me for a career—it shaped me into someone who sees technology as a tool for meaningful and compassionate evolution. This spirit, more than any skill or achievement, is what I’ll carry forward wherever life takes me.
Hoya Saxa.
Your degree was in Cybersecurity Risk Management, and you have been involved in research about artificial intelligence, including cognitive bias. What do you think are the most significant ethical dimensions of this new technology?
My work as a research assistant to Dr. Lemieux on cognitive bias detection using advanced prompt engineering deeply reinforced my belief in the ethical responsibility we hold when developing and implementing new technologies like artificial intelligence. While our research was not specifically focused on cybersecurity, my background in Cybersecurity Risk Management constantly reminded me of how biases and misinformation can compromise trust, security, and fairness in our digital society.
Cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias and circular reasoning, significantly impact critical decision-making across areas like media, healthcare, and legal systems. Our research addressed these issues by engineering structured prompts to guide AI systems toward accurately detecting these biases in real-time. This capability is ethically significant because it promotes transparency, reduces misinformation, and ultimately leads to fairer outcomes.
In this week’s Mission in Motion, Georgetown SCS graduating student Zaki Mohammed reflects on how Georgetown has shaped him as a person and a professional.
As you reflect back on your time at SCS, what advice or inspiration would you like to share with the soon-to-be graduates?
As I reflect on my journey at Georgetown SCS and my life experiences thus far, the best advice I can share with soon-to-be graduates, especially young individuals like myself, is to anchor your lives around four key pillars: the pursuit of true independence, the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of happiness, and the pursuit of love. True independence gives you the freedom and courage to chart your path; knowledge equips you with the tools to understand and impact the world around you; happiness fuels your spirit and passion; and love connects you deeply and meaningfully with others.
My grandmother often reminded me, “Make your corner of the world beautiful, and the world will eventually be an amazing place.” This simple yet profound wisdom has guided me through my toughest moments. It taught me that creating positive change starts small, right from your immediate surroundings. If each of us commits to making our corners of the world more compassionate, inclusive, and hopeful, collectively, we will transform our communities and ultimately, the world.
Embrace these pursuits wholeheartedly, live your values, and know that your unique story and voice truly matter.
The 2025 SCS Commencement featured a stirring address by Steve Pemberton. He encouraged the Class to become Lighthouses for the world. You can watch Commencement on Facebook.
Every Commencement Week reflects something unique about the particular moment in the world in which the graduates of the School of Continuing Studies are entering. A meaningful experience of the ceremonies of Commencement, both the Tropaia Awards in Gaston Hall for outstanding students, faculty, and staff as well as the actual Commencement Exercises that take place on Healy Lawn, included periods of prolonged reflection. In each ceremony, speakers attempt to signify the deeper meaning and purpose behind these formal gatherings. The effort is to ensure that the graduation experience does not float by without serious intentionality about what it means for everyone involved.
This year, SCS was blessed to receive consoling messages that seemed to coalesce around a shared theme of light and unity in uncertain times. I was particularly struck by two images that were presented to the assembled along these lines. On Tuesday evening, Rabbi Rachel Gartner, Senior Advisor for Spiritual Care at SCS, gave the invocation prayer at Tropaia. Rabbi Rachel movingly invited all of us to come together in spite of our differences. The way through turbulence, Rabbi reflected, is by coming together as if we are all journeying in the same ship. While we cannot control the state of the waters around us, we can decide to find ways to unify in our shared purpose at Georgetown, motivated by our rich spiritual traditions and the commitments that arise from our mission and values.
At Commencement, Steve Pemberton delivered a remarkably memorable address to the graduating class. An accomplished professional with diverse leadership experience across several sectors, Mr. Pemberton’s theme centered around the image of the Lighthouse. Arising from his own early life history of surviving traumas at the hands of a foster care system that failed to care for him, Mr. Pemberton reflected on the qualities of kindness, generosity, and magnanimity needed to weather life’s storms. How you share your gifts and talents with others, especially those most in need of them, is what defines a life. Mr. Pemberton, drawing on the wisdom of St. Ignatius that we should spend our lives in generous service with and for others by illuminating the world (in fact, setting it on fire), challenged the Class of 2025 to be light for the world.
Rabbi Rachel Gartner blessed the 2025 SCS Tropaia awards by inviting the assembled to join together in a ship of togetherness to navigate turbulent waters. You can watch Tropaia here.
This year’s Commencement reveals clearly that educational institutions, especially ones like Georgetown anchored in long traditions of religious heritage and values, need moments of communal gathering to reflect and celebrate together. The motto of the University, “Unum utraque,” or “both into one,” tells us that we are always stronger together. Congratulations, Class of 2025!
As Georgetown’s Commencement nears and the spring semester ends, this week’s post ponders the wisdom of St. Ignatius about giving back what we have so generously received. Image: taken from Ignatianspirituality.com
Readers of this blog will recognize a familiar pattern: cycles in the academic calendar present opportunities to share wisdom from the Ignatian spiritual tradition intended to spur greater reflection at certain transitional moments in the year. My hope is that presenting the trusted and tested ideas of Ignatian spirituality will inspire the Georgetown community in the present moment with relevant practices that meet the times. The ending of spring semester and the beginning of commencement season lends itself particularly well to such Ignatian encouragements.
In the final movement of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola invites the retreatant to consider how to generously return back to God all of the gifts that the person has received. The retreatant spends the Spiritual Exercises to this point in prolonged reflection on the meaning of one’s life and vocation, a cycle that includes reckoning with one’s own sinfulness and ingratitude as well as how they have cooperated with God and used their gifts for good. This self-inventory can be challenging but it typically leads to transformative insights about how one can live with greater meaning and purpose in life and work.
St. Ignatius invites the retreatant to discern how they intend to put into action all they have internalized in the long, quiet periods of prayer, note-taking, and weekly conversations with a spiritual director. He makes a few key points: 1) love is shown more in deeds than in words; and 2) love consists in the mutual sharing of goods. According to Marina Berzins McCoy, what Ignatius means is that “we give what we have, not out of obligation, but out of immense love for the other.” The inspiration of this idea is crystallized in the “Suscipe” Prayer of Ignatius:
“Take lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.”
It seems to me that this message about the freely shared giving of one’s goods, from a place of mutuality, is especially appropriate for the academic milestone of graduation season. What better way to meaningfully transition in this moment of the year, for continuing students and graduating students alike, than pondering the question: How is my Georgetown education inspiring me to give back to the world?
The Spirit of Georgetown, with values like “People for Others,” “Faith that Does Justice,” and “Contemplation in Action,” all point to the social purpose of a Jesuit education. Being educated in this five-century-long tradition means living not for one’s self alone but for and with others, especially those most in need. It is important time and again to revisit this dimension of our learning activities at the University. If we do not take this time to pause and reflect on this core question, we run the risk of missing the meaning of Georgetown’s mission and what it asks of each of us.
Continuing students: I hope you can take a little quiet after finishing projects and completing final exams to take stock of your last semester. Before you prepare for summer and the courses that come next, I invite you to notice what experiences from the spring semester bring you the most joy? What has done the opposite, perhaps causing you to question or doubt your purpose and the journey you’re on? What gratitude do you feel? And what new choices, if any, are you considering to live more generously in service of others?
Graduating students: congratulations! You have achieved an incredible thing by making your Georgetown dream a reality. The long hours and personal sacrifices were worth it. And now, you have a privileged opportunity to savor your time at the university and deeply reflect on what it means for your journey ahead. You are leaving the university at a time of great challenge in the world. And your communities need your sparks of creativity and skill. Surrounded by the fanfare and celebration of commencement, I hope you can ponder the small and big ways that your Georgetown degree can help you give back.
Jesuits have made cities a primary site of missionary activity since their founding in 1540. The religious order’s relationship with the urban is not an accident but represents the founder’s vision of Finding God in All Things. St. Ignatius believed urban communities were advantageous to mission because of the concentration of people and places. Cities are not only places of great opportunity but also of great need and Ignatius located the order’s early apostolic ministries in urban sites because Jesuits could help address the concerns of the poor living there.
The urban significance of the Jesuit educational mission is perhaps most evident today in the preponderance of Jesuit schools located within city boundaries. Georgetown is no exception to this and its urban location has multiple meanings as both a local metropolitan community and a global city whose civic relevance has always been tied to the university’s public service commitment to the common good of the nation and the world. But despite these deep historical roots, I have found, both as a professional urban planner and a trained Ignatian mission integrator, that there is not enough discussion and reflection about the connections between Jesuit educational mission and the city.
When you begin to consider this relationship at a deeper level, what comes to mind as a member of the Georgetown community? What role should the city play in how Georgetown and Jesuit schools like it attempt to live out their 500-year-old tradition of education and spirituality? How does engagement with the city, its people and places, factor into your experiences at Georgetown?
As SCS prepares for the next phase of the development of the Capitol Campus this year, perhaps the most significant urban investment in Georgetown’s history, I think it would be helpful to encourage more thoughtful reflection about these questions. This motivation led me to author this article in the most recent SCS Dean’s Report, “Caring for Our Common Home: Advancing Sustainability and Faith-Based Community Development.” This piece takes a detailed view of several SCS initiatives that have engaged with the mission opportunities of contemporary urban life. Both the Master’s in Real Estate and the Master’s in Urban & Regional Planning have addressed the needs of faith-based organizations in ways that are consistent with Georgetown’s commitment to Care for Our Community Home and the integral ecological vision of Pope Francis. Beyond these academic efforts, the School’s urban sustainability vision is further realized through staff-led community service programs, which include a river clean-up with an urban non-profit.
Pope Francis has offered deep insights about the moral implications of fostering just, equitable, and sustainable cities. This feels like an opportune moment to catalyze more discussion, research, and action about engaging with the city as a matter of our mission. I hope the article in the Dean’s Report and the leading examples highlighted in it spark more reflection about the relationships between Georgetown’s Jesuit values and the challenges of our contemporary cities.
This week’s post highlights the new SCS Dean’s Report and its emphasis on the role of Jesuit mission and values in the life of the School.
An anticipated annual production, which involves a lot of careful planning and execution from a dedicated team of staff, is the release of the SCS Dean’s Report. This year’s effort, which covers 2023-2024, sheds an important light throughout the document on the central place of Georgetown’s Jesuit mission and values in how SCS engages in curriculum, partnership development, student life, and service to the world. A quick glance at this year’s article titles makes this connection to mission abundantly clear. As Dean Otter notes in her introduction to this year’s report, mission animates the entire enterprise:
“Our School is rooted in a 500-year-old tradition of Catholic and Jesuit education that compels each and everyone of us to ask tough questions of themselves and of their professions, rethink traditional solutions, and ultimately seek something greater than themselves.”
This year’s report shows how SCS students, faculty, and staff have done these things with an orientation to realizing justice and the common good.
The inspiration of Jesuit mission at SCS comes through several articles in an explicit and intentional way. In “Empowering Veterans from Service to Scholarship,” Miranda Mahmud describes how the example of St. Ignatius, himself a wounded warrior, guides the School’s efforts to meet the needs of military-connected students. We learn in this piece about how military-connected students bring many of the Spirit of Georgetown values to life, including being People for Others and helping realize a Community in Diversity. These students find Georgetown’s emphasis on life-calling, mission, and purpose in academic programs to resonate with their military experience.
Another article in the report, “Georgetown Explores Ethical Uses of Artificial Intelligence,” demonstrates how Jesuit education’s humanistic origins, including a heavy emphasis on ethical reflection, are being integrated into curricula that address the most pressing contemporary challenges presented by machine learning. Lawrence Hardy shows how SCS has embraced artificial intelligence as critical subject matter and has begun offering an array of courses and other learning experiences that challenge SCS students to grapple deeply with the moral and ethical implications of these new technologies.
In “Caring for our Common Home: Advancing Sustainability and Faith-Based Community Development,” I share a few concrete ways that SCS is helping put into practice a distinctly Ignatian urban vision modeled on the ideas of Pope Francis. Through particular efforts by the Master’s in Urban & Regional Planning and Master’s in Real Estate, as well as a volunteer program coordinated by SCS staff, the School is supporting environmentally sustainable approaches to meeting global challenges, like the affordable housing crisis. These novel efforts, which include an academic partnership with area churches to support the development of affordable housing on underutilized land as well as mapping the environmental performance of faith-based organizations’ global real estate, bring to life the value of Care for Our Common Home. SCS is innovatively engaging these pressing issues with programs that are flexibly designed to meet the world’s greatest needs.
There are many more mission-aligned accomplishments in this year’s Dean’s Report to share, but I think you should read them for yourself! I hope this annual publication helps readers better appreciate the intentional care with which the SCS community preserves and animates Georgetown’s Jesuit mission and values.
This week’s post highlights how SCS recently launched an Executive Master’s Program in Humanitarian Crisis & Emergency Management. The need for such a program is demonstrated by the recent wildfires in California. The Georgetown community is encouraged to assist Loyola Marymount University as it responds to this crisis.
The recent devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area have highlighted a tragic reality that the world will continue to face devastating weather events in the coming years. Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice has directed our community to focus its relief efforts and assistance by supporting Jesuit university colleague Loyola Marymount University during this challenging time. This is a good example of how Georgetown exists in a mutually supportive global network of Jesuit Higher Education.
The wildfires demonstrate the fragility of a warming planet and our duty to protect and preserve it. This commitment is at the core of “Care for Our Common Home,” the 10th value in The Spirit of Georgetown. Pope Francis has written passionately about the moral and spiritual crisis of environmental degradation, particularly in his landmark document Laudato Si’. The pope’s attention to this issue and the urgency of responding to the environmental crisis is shared by leaders across religious traditions.
The School of Continuing Studies has answered the call to address the crisis of ongoing environmental disasters and their impact on human populations by recently launching a new program, the Executive Master’s in Humanitarian Crisis & Emergency Management. This 12-month program, which features residencies around the world and engagement with leading national and global emergency management organizations, prepares students to address the world’s greatest challenges as a result of climate change, political forces, or economic hardship. The program’s hands-on learning approach reinforces that human solutions are needed to address human problems. A recent SCS e-story, “Emergency Managers Facing ‘Continuous Response’ to Chronic Disasters,” gives even more detail about the real-world human impact of these programs.
In announcing the program, SCS Dean Kelly Otter emphasized how Georgetown’s mission to be “People for Others” comes through in the program’s design. Professionals educated in this Executive Master’s will end up helping communities around the globe, according to Otter: “Our Students will emerge as leaders who can drive positive change in humanitarian crisis management, equipped with both practical skills and a global perspective.” Such a values-based orientation is consistent with the School’s intentional efforts to integrate Georgetown’s Jesuit values into new program design.
At a time of immense sadness and suffering over the loss of life in California, it can be difficult to locate evidence for hope. The emergence of the Executive Master’s in Humanitarian Crisis & Emergency Management, and Georgetown’s commitment to addressing the environmental and humanitarian crisis posed by climate change, is one reason for hope. Consistent with the university’s mission, academic programs like this help Georgetown realize its aspiration to educate women and men “to be reflective lifelong learners, to be responsible and active participants in civic life and to live generously in service to others.”
This year’s Teach the Speech features a 1967 interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in which he offers reflections about the challenges faced by the Civil Rights Movement.
Every year, Mission in Motion reflects on Georgetown’s selected speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and invites some considerations for how its content and themes might be incorporated into courses and other activities at SCS. The 2025 Teach the Speech selection is a 1967 interview given by Dr. King with Sander Vanocur at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. You may also view the full transcript. What is especially remarkable about this text is that the interview occurs 11 months before Dr. King’s assassination and the conversation, unlike a traditional speech, reveals subtle insights into Dr. King’s reflective assessment of the Civil Rights Movement and his own role in it as he nears his death.
This annual event of disseminating an MLK Jr. speech to the entire Georgetown community presents manifold possibilities about how to incorporate the ideas of the speech into learning activities. Such an effort reinforces the spirit of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, which invites instructors to discern how to animate the deeper meanings of knowledge areas for the sake of encouraging students to make more generous, loving, and just choices in their lives and professional careers. Regardless of the particular discipline, each field of study and practice at Georgetown can discover ways to integrate the speech in a course or other learning engagement to inspire plans of action for justice in the spirit of Dr. King. Instructors at Georgetown are encouraged to utilize this set of teaching resources to support whatever plans they develop.
As an urban planner and an educator in several different SCS programs, I think there are several ways that this speech can be meaningfully incorporated into professional studies coursework. First, the entire conversation takes place within the context of Dr. King’s own personal reflections about the effectiveness of the Civil Rights Movement. He is modeling a spirit of reflective evaluation, the final stage of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, and reinforcing the importance of continuous reflection. Whether it is a social change movement or a particular strategic planning process, reflective professionals should regularly reflect on the effectiveness of their work and its larger impact. What is missing? What barriers are impeding success? What additional data do I need to improve my practices and contributions to a larger effort? These reflection questions seem to be animating Dr. King’s perspectives in the interview.
Second, Dr. King’s speech makes an important distinction between obvious and more subtle social challenges. He describes how the manifestations of racism in obviously racist laws and forms of racialized violence are more evident to the public. But Dr. King cautions that other areas of social, political, and economic life, like the state of housing affordability, present less visible racism but nonetheless exist within structures in which race has a determining impact on life outcomes. These more subtle forms of racism, so often reproduced spatially, are more difficult to inform the public about and often less supported than more manifestly racist acts and intentions. Instructors might consider how this dynamic is playing out in one’s respective industry. Where are the manifestations of racism products of larger social, economic, and political structures that need to be addressed with more comprehensive, integrated, and systematic ways? Housing, employment, and education are all areas of life where these dynamics continue to play out in the U.S. and have an effect on all of the industries represented in SCS programs.
Third, the speech presents opportunities to challenge students to consider how major macro forces are impacting the particular subject matter of their professional industries. For instance, Dr. King describes how the Vietnam War made it more difficult to focus the public’s attention on the ongoing Civil Rights Movement. Instructors might invite their students to conduct similar analysis. What larger dynamics in the world are positively and negatively impacting the state of your professional industry? What are strategies for addressing these macro forces in ways that ultimately improve the effectiveness of your particular work in a chosen field of study?
This week’s post is a reflective Examen about 2024.
Since Mission in Motion began nearly five years ago, the blog has posted a year-end Examen that reflects on the most mission-significant occurrences of the past year. My intention, like a classic Examen practice, is to take stock of the experiences of greatest meaning in our collective life as a university and reflect on how these events have shaped us as members of the SCS community. Such a review brings up moments of both consolation and desolation, inviting each of us to reflect on how we have been transformed by our shared experiences and how we desire to journey into the year ahead. This practice is an opportunity to name gratitude for the multitude of ways that students, faculty, and staff live out Georgetown’s mission and values. A look back at 2024 can be especially helpful as SCS prepares in 2025 to move from its current location at 640 Massachusetts Avenue to its new 111 Massachusetts Avenue home on the Capitol Campus.
2024 featured some standard Mission and Ministry programming that brought together students, faculty, and staff to experience the resources of Georgetown’s Jesuit and multi-religious heritage. A newly designed oversight retreat in March 2024, “Journeying the Good life,” encouraged students to more deeply consider what daily practices help them flourish and live out their deeper purpose in life (see “SCS Retreat Invites Students into Reflection on the Meaning and Practices of the Good Life”). Staff benefited from a new workshop about managing conflict through effective dialogue skills and greater emotional awareness (see “Becoming Spiritually Grounded Strategic Thinkers and Discerning Leaders”). Some of the learning from this new staff-focused program was incorporated into the inaugural “Strategic Thinking & Leadership Academy” offered by SCS as a non-degree certificate.
This was a year in which SCS helped contribute to national events. In July, the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities (AJCU) held its tri-annual assembly on faith, justice, and reconciliation at Loyola University Chicago. SCS work on Ignatian pedagogical strategy for online course development that resonates with adult learners was featured in a national AJCU commission dedicated to Ignatian Pedagogy (see “AJCU Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation Assembly Brings Together University Colleagues at a Critical Time”). The presidential election provided another opportunity for mission resources to help the university community pause and process a mix of emotions (see “Civic Examen Helps Georgetown Community Reflect on the Emotions of Election Season”).
2024 was a momentous year for Georgetown SCS for all of these reasons and more. As we journey into the next year, I invite everyone to take some time to reflect. What are the moments that stand out the most from this year? What experiences brought you the most joy and closest to your truest self? What led to the opposite, draining you of energy and your deeper purpose? How are you being called to renewal and recommitment in the coming year?
This week’s post is about the annual Thanksgiving panel and potluck organized by the English Language Center.
The Thanksgiving holiday presents an invaluable opportunity to reflect on the diversity of the Georgetown community. The annual Thanksgiving panel hosted by the English Language Center (ELC) is one of the ways this diversity is honored and celebrated. Each year, ELC invites SCS faculty and staff as panelists to reflect for the ELC students about the meanings of the holiday. This conversation elicits laughter, cheers, and curiosity as students, most of whom are newcomers to American life and culture, learn about some differences and similarities in how Thanksgiving is observed in the United States. The panel is followed by a potluck in the atrium, with staff and faculty contributing home-cooked delicacies that give students a real-world taste of Thanksgiving customs. Embodying the themes of the panel discussion, the active hospitality of a Thanksgiving meal brings life to the authentic experience of the holiday.
Mission in Motion has written before about how Thanksgiving observance has obvious resonance with the Ignatian spiritual emphasis on gratitude, which is primarily expressed and practiced through the Examen. This daily practice invites honest and realistic awareness of one’s inner movements of emotions, feelings, thoughts, sensations, etc., both the consoling and the desolating, for the sake of discerning how one is being moved to make choices. The focus of awareness in the Examen is intentionally about small details, the kind of things that often escape our notice when we are moving too quickly through our days and weeks. Savoring the small stuff of our experience can increase the likelihood that we notice more opportunities to give thanks. The data of the day, both the big details and the smaller ones, invite us to ponder with curiosity how we are being moved to act more generously in the world. An attitude of gratitude can lead to the disposition of loving kindness.
This year’s panelists affirmed the centrality of gratitude in their experiences of the holiday by pointing to both the small details and larger significance of their observance of the holiday. I heard Thanksgiving gratitude expressed on the panel in many ways, including: much-needed rest from work and school at a busy time in the semester; the annual occasion of being with family and friends often dispersed around the country; and the longed-for opportunity to be in a safe space with trusted people who can disagree (sometimes vigorously) while maintaining the bonds of affection. Others named gratitude about the opportunity to shape the holiday in ways that reflect particular cultural identities and expressions. For example, Frances Bajet, SCS Senior Director of Communications and Events, reflected:
“It was wonderful participating in ELC’s Thanksgiving event because it was an opportunity to share a few of my Filipino family’s holiday traditions. For instance, we always have some type of pancit, i.e. a Filipino noodle dish in addition to turkey! Although Thanksgiving is known as a very American holiday, my favorite aspect is how we’re able to tailor it to our own family’s traditions and culture.”
I believe the students walked away with a clear impression that there is no single way to live out Thanksgiving and this diversity adds to the holiday’s richness as a cultural ritual. As we contemplate how we desire to enter into the upcoming holiday season, I hope this Thanksgiving helps us grow our awareness for the gifts (small and large) of our lives.
