The English Language Center (ELC), an English language and teacher training center that has been at Georgetown for nearly 60 years, animates the University’s mission and values in many ways. Mission in Motion has reflected over the years on some of the unique values-oriented aspects of the ELC:
- “Teaching Teachers as Mission Activity: English Language Center in Service to Others”
- “English Language Center Celebrates Thanksgiving with Gravy and Some Gratitude”
- “Serving a Community in Dispersion: SCS Reflections on Sharing English Language Learning with Afghan Refugees”
- “Georgetown Muslims Enter Ramadan, ELC Students Meet with the Imam”
Most recently, the blog highlighted the ongoing collaboration between ELC and the Jesuit Refugee Service in Amman, Jordan, to provide excellent English language training programs for the refugee population. One of the through lines of the ELC is the Center’s commitment to global engagement. The world comes to the ELC and the ELC goes out to the world. This bi-directional orientation tracks with the five centuries of Jesuit history and the way that the religious order of the Jesuits has always been international in its composition and vision. The late Fr. John O’Malley, pre-eminent Jesuit historian and long-time Georgetown faculty member who passed away last year, described how novel it was for the first Jesuit companions to be from different countries, including nations at war with one another.
I was reminded of the powerful testament of this early Jesuit history during an open house this week that I hosted on behalf of Campus Ministry with students in the ELC. The inspiring global diversity of the students was evident within the first 10 minutes of introductions and I began to map the countries of origin represented in the space (Turkey, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Senegal, etc.). Students identified as Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim, and other. During the course of the presentation and conversations, students surfaced their questions and curiosities about Georgetown and how it maintains its heritage as a religious institution. Diversity was respected as was the particular needs and interests of individual students seeking deeper engagement with Georgetown and its multi-faith resources.
The discussion turned to how different religious communities, which have homes at Georgetown, can find themselves belonging to an institution with a Catholic and Jesuit identity. Students were heartened to learn of the many opportunities available across the campuses for spiritual support and religious community. I found myself growing more and more aware of the extraordinary honor of being part of a university with such a global reach. The greater understanding and care for one another across lines of difference (whether they be national, religious, etc.) that Georgetown’s mission calls us to is not an abstract exercise. It involves listening to one another for understanding and growing in openness to the perspectives of those around us.
At the open house, I witnessed firsthand the transformation that is possible when students from around the world feel free to express themselves and grow together through a Georgetown educational experience. My hope is that Georgetown community members seek out the Spirit of Georgetown as an anchoring resource for the hard work of global cooperation, dialogue, peace, and justice.