“What can I do?”
This question has become common in recent weeks as the war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine grow. Observing images of human suffering and senseless destruction on television, in newspapers, or on the web is dispiriting and potentially demotivating. One might feel like there is nothing that can be done in response to a conflict half-way around the world. And when one appreciates that the war in Ukraine is only one of nearly a dozen other armed conflicts occurring in the world at this very moment, the sense of hopelessness in the face of human suffering and unnecessary loss can only grow.
What can we, as a Georgetown University community, do in response to these events? What might we discern as action steps, individually and collectively, in response to the war in Ukraine?
The University’s mission and values offer insights about how to proceed. Georgetown students are educated “to be reflective lifelong learners, to be responsible and active participants in civic life and to live generously in service to others.” We live out these commitments through values like “People for Others,” “Faith that Does Justice,” and “Interreligious Understanding.” These principles are being animated at the University in the weeks following the beginning of the war.
Georgetown’s official University landing page details several ways for members of the community to support growing humanitarian needs arising from the war. In addition to statements and expressions of support, one finds at that site resources for supporting mental and spiritual well-being in response to these destabilizing world events. Consistent with the University’s academic mission, the page also features timely scholarship, commentary, and public convenings that shed light on the many dynamic issues that the war brings up for the global community.
This week, for instance, Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life hosted an event, “War in Ukraine: Human Agony, Global Crisis, Moral Principles.” The event, which featured speakers from around the world, including Tetiana Stawnychy, president of Caritas Ukraine, who was participating from within Ukraine where she is leading humanitarian assistance on the ground. This event was focused on practical questions, namely “what is the best way for event viewers to help?” But the discussion also pointed to the need for deeper individual reflection about the meaning of the war. One panelist offered that discerning what one is called to do in response to this war depends on first understanding the underlying issues. How did this war come to be? And what are the implications for the people of Ukraine in the short, medium, and long terms? Such reflections, which can occur in interdisciplinary curricular and co-curricular ways at Georgetown, bring up critical questions about globalization, religion and nationalism, international governance, economics, etc.
There are many international humanitarian organizations addressing the human needs arising from the war in Ukraine. The Jesuit Refugee Service has set up this page with suggestions for how to become more involved in the humanitarian response. And from April 6–9, 2022, Loyola Press, a Jesuit publishing company, will donate all of the proceeds from book sales on its site to the JRS.