The 52nd anniversary of Earth Day takes place on April 22 and this annual milestone is an opportunity for us at Georgetown SCS to reflect on the threats facing planet Earth and discern what actions we can take to be part of the global movement for environmental sustainability. More than a single day, however, Georgetown has made this commitment to sustaining the Earth’s natural resources a core part of living out the University’s mission. The most recently added value in the Spirit of Georgetown, Care for Our Common Home, reflects the deepening efforts at Georgetown to make environmental sustainability a core part of both academic life and university operations.
The annual celebration of Earth Day on April 22 provides a welcome opportunity to reflect on how we are called at Georgetown to live into our mission of caring for the natural environment as a core Jesuit value.
This is an exciting time to join the global movement for environmental sustainability at Georgetown. Recently, the University announced the launching of The Earth Commons, an Institute for Environment & Sustainability that accelerates action, research, and education on the most pressing environmental and sustainability challenges both locally and globally. Within these categories of education, research, and action, there are many ways to get involved in the work of The Earth Commons.
Georgetown has also expanded and relaunched its Office of Sustainability, adding key staff members to help direct the University’s ongoing work to cultivate a culture of sustainability on and off campus. The office supports the academic mission of the University, but focuses on solutions to environmental challenges that can be realized and scaled on the campuses and in the community. To follow along and participate in these Georgetown efforts, you might consider signing up for the Earth Commons newsletter and getting involved in sustainability planning at the University.
Earth Day presents an opportunity for each of us to grow in our love for the Earth. Developing this relationship of affection with the natural environment can inspire our actions to care for it and protect it. The more one loves another, the environment in this case, the more one is moved to care about it and choose actions that preserve it. One suggestion for growing in love with the Earth is through a nature walk. This previous Mission in Motion post, “Exploring Nature,” explores this spiritually significant practice and how it relates to living out Georgetown’s mission:
“Walking in nature, admiring trees, creeks, flowers, animals, etc., has helped ground my perspective in this difficult period. The awe and majesty of the environment remind me to reflect on the source of all created things (it makes more sense to me why the natural world has inspired spiritual movements of all kinds, sometimes branded as Eco-Spirituality). As I enter into these reflections, take a deep breath, and soak up the gifts of the natural environment, my horizon and vision expand beyond more narrow daily concerns.
“Pope Francis, in his teaching document Laudato Si, describes how important it is to simply gaze at the wonders of nature, just like St. Francis, patron saint of the environment and animals: ‘Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise.’ The peace of a nature walk can translate not only into greater mindfulness and attention but also a deeper love for nature and a desire to protect it against harm. In my nature walks, I am often moved from awareness to gratitude and love for the peace that I feel in the natural environment.”
I hope the occasion of Earth Day grows the seeds of contemplation about how you are called to commit to care for the environment. At Georgetown, there are many ways for us to join hands in this shared work.
This week’s Mission in Motion shines a spotlight on an ongoing partnership between the English Language Center (ELC) at SCS and Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace, and Security to deliver virtual English language tutoring, conversation practice, and professional mentoring for many Afghan refugees who either await or are in the resettlement process. Many SCS staff and faculty have signed up for this volunteer opportunity, receiving a crash course in English language teaching and then maintaining a weekly meeting with their Afghan partners. In this interview, Dr. Sherry Steeley, Associate Teaching Professor in the ELC, and Marcel Bolintiam, SCS Associate Dean of Executive and Language Education, offer their reflections on this program and how it relates to Georgetown’s mission and values.
Language Center at SCS and Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace, and Security to offer English language learning for Afghan refugees who are in the resettlement process.
1. How did this volunteer opportunity come together? What motivated this project?
Initially, Sarah Rutherford of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security approached us at the recommendation of a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Certificate alumna. The Institute is sponsoring over 500 Afghan refugees and their families through their Onward for Afghan Women initiative, and they were initially hoping to recruit TEFL alumni to serve as tutors. The majority of the women remain in refugee camps as they await transition to residence in the U.S. or Canada.
Associate Dean Marcel Bolintiam strongly supported this in light of all the expertise we have in the ELC to support such an ambitious project. After discussion with Dean Kelly Otter, who is strongly committed to putting Jesuit values into action, we decided to expand the project SCS-wide to provide a broader pool of volunteers to work with the displaced Afghans.
What motivated us and others in the community was a desire to help. And as educators, particularly at the nation’s oldest Jesuit institution, this is exactly the kind of work that we are uniquely situated to provide: a desire to serve others, a community in dispersion, and meeting individuals where they are. Drawing on the talents of SCS faculty and alumni to serve a population at a critical transition in their lives has provided a unique opportunity to engage in a cultural exchange that embodies our Jesuit values, particularly to a community literally in dispersion.
2. In what ways does the work of organizing and facilitating volunteers who serve as English conversation partners for Afghan refugees animate the mission of the English Language Center?
The mission of the English Language Center (ELC) is to promote global understanding and education through programs and services that enhance English language proficiency, language teaching, and intercultural understanding. Through applied and practical methods, the ELC promotes academic excellence in teaching and learning that is guided by a commitment to diversity and tolerance, and respect for the individual.
Within ELC, the TEFL Certificate program’s mission is to prepare professional teachers for a career in teaching English language learners in the U.S. and globally. The majority of those who enroll in the program are motivated by social justice and a desire to make a difference in the lives of individuals by empowering them with the language skills that will enable them to more fully participate in civic, economic, and social life. Teaching English language learners is a joyful and all-encompassing process, a perpetual source of learning, and a powerful ongoing connection to cultures and peoples from around the world. The opportunity to share this kind of work with a broader community of volunteers while engaging with Afghan partners whose stories have been so moving has invigorated our commitment to the central values of our work.
Insofar as leaning into our mission, ELC was able to pull on its subject-matter experts in teacher training to provide a short-term crash course in best practices for teaching, in order to prepare the new volunteers for their role. Certainly teaching and supporting Afghan refugees’ language development is at the core of this project, but we have found that the tutors themselves have also engaged in a potential life-long friendships with their language partners that continue to build intercultural and global understanding, and this is a key theme underpinning of all our programming at ELC.
3. What have you learned so far? Any insights that inform future efforts with this student population?
Volunteer participants joined this initiative at varying levels of language proficiency and teaching ability, but what we have learned is that both are eager to learn more; participants’ willingness to improve their language skills as well as tutors’ desire to engage at whatever level is needed to support the refugees’ own transformational journey.
The needs of the Afghan partners vary widely, each significant and unique. Some have only basic English skills and, as they await their onward resettlement, they are eager to develop the language they need to find their way in their future homes. Others have advanced language abilities and are focused on professional mentoring so that they can navigate the very different business culture in North America.
Tutors and Afghan partners alike have demonstrated incredible creativity and have undertaken extensive learning in order to overcome technological barriers. Tutors have demonstrated flexibility and generosity in planning and Afghan partners have evidenced incredible commitment and motivation in very challenging circumstances.
Learning has been perhaps most crucial at a deeper level, as U.S. tutors and Afghan partners have forged strong ties across cultural, linguistic, geographic, and circumstantial divides. The impact on tutors has been deeply emotional—moving, humbling, and inspiring.
A GU tutoring partner noted the Afghan partners’ positivity, their passion, their resilience. “They are just so focused on being the best versions of themselves that they can be. They don’t focus on their struggles; they focus on moving forward. They are truly inspiring. And when we click on a subject (such as practicing interviews), the sense of worth it inspires is almost unexplainable.”
Another reflected on interaction with her Afghan partner regarding events in Ukraine, and how personal they felt to her in the wake of her flight from Afghanistan.
More difficult news was shared by a GU partner who was unable to stop thinking about the fact that her Afghan partner did not know which of her children would be able to migrate with her, and whether those left behind would be able to join her later.
Embodying the resilience of many in the Afghan group was an update from another GU partner: “The Afghan couple I tutor is currently living in [the U.S.]. They are amazing and inspire me every time I talk to them. They arrived in December, and they have spent the past three months scurrying to find jobs and pushing themselves to learn English in order to adapt to life in the U.S. Every time they address me, they say, “Dear teacher,” and it melts my heart. They are so grateful to be my students and to be here in the U.S. And we are so lucky to have them: the husband was a journalist in Kabul; the wife was an artist. Eventually, they want to get their master’s degrees here, and they want to do so much: to support the families that they had to leave behind and to integrate into life in the U.S. as much as possible.”
Working with Afghan partners has inspired and renewed our passion for and commitment to education as the key to creating global dialogue, understandings, and opportunity, the core values that brought many of us to the teaching profession. What we’ve learned for ongoing expansion of this work is to prepare both sides for flexibility in working through technological and logistical challenges—scheduling across time zones, rescheduling when other life demands compel this—and to avoid becoming discouraged. Above all, bringing and holding a spirit of openness and mutual respect that lie at the heart of this work is critical. We are profoundly grateful for the opportunity to engage in this partnership and to interact with this resilient community.
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?
This week’s Mission in Motion explores what can we do as members of the Georgetown community in response to the war in Ukraine and the growing humanitarian crisis it has caused. Tetiana Stawnychy, president of Caritas Ukraine, participated from Ukraine on a virtual Georgetown panel and offered ways to support the people of Ukraine (watch the recording).
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.
One of the significant benefits of being a member of the Georgetown community is the opportunity to attend informative, entertaining, provocative, and reflective events throughout the year. Situated in Washington, D.C., leveraging the intellectual and moral resources of our global capital city, Georgetown puts together on a weekly basis an incredible menu of events that span topic areas and disciplinary perspectives. The week of March 28 is no different as the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life is hosting its first in-person convening in over two years. Taking place on March 28 at 6:00 p.m. EDT in Gaston Hall and livestreamed (RSVP here), the event is titled: “’So What Did I Miss?’ A Look Back, A Look Around, A Look Ahead After Two Years of COVID.”
Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life hosts its first in-person event in Gaston Hall in over two years. You can also livestream. The event is open to all members of the Georgetown community.
The Initiative, which has collaborated with SCS and hosted some of its programs on our campus at 640 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, building, was not quiet during the two years of global pandemic. It hosted 44 online dialogues in the last two years, attracting 154,000 viewers in the U.S. and around the world, and addressed pressing issues in faith and politics, racism, human life and dignity, and so much more (visit the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life). These events, while diverse in their content and focus, all share a common characteristic: they bring together leaders from across the world working at different levels and sectors of society. The defining aspect of each convening is applying the lens of Catholic social teaching in an inclusive and invitational way to motivate deeper reflection on current events. I personally appreciate how the Initiative complements views offered from both the bottom and the top: there are voices from the highest levels of authority and the voices of folks working on the ground to serve individuals and families in their communities.
The event on March 28 includes five accomplished writers, thinkers, and emerging leaders who will engage in a comprehensive dialogue on the myriad social, economic, faith, and cultural issues that the global pandemic has surfaced. The Initiative describes the themes of the March 28 event in this way:
“In the musical ‘Hamilton,’ Thomas Jefferson returns from France to find a different country and asks, ‘So what did I miss?’ James Madison responds: ‘Thomas, we are engaged in a battle for our nation’s very soul. Can you get us out of the mess we’re in?’ This dialogue will examine our nation’s soul after what we have been through and how to ‘get us out of the mess we’re in.’ It will use Catholic social teaching as a lens to look at COVID-19, politics, and faith over the past two years. What are the impacts of the pandemic and the lessons we should draw from them? Where are we now? What are hopes and fears for the days ahead? Pope Francis reminds us that we can’t go back to normal, so where should we go?”
With the continued pandemic transitions, ongoing war in Ukraine, persisting economic uncertainty, and other significant social stressors, this feels like an opportune moment to pause and consider where we are going from here. I hope you will check out the event and enter into the conversation about the soul of the nation.
This week’s post takes up the Christian season of Lent, which Georgetown marks with a daily devotional that you can sign up for here. Lent is a special time for the Christian community, but its meaning and practices can apply to anyone.
Christians around the world entered into the time of Lent this week, a 40-day preparation for the celebration of Easter. While the significance of this sacred time has a particular meaning for Christians, the observance of Lent also offers spiritual insights that people of all religious and humanistic traditions can integrate into their daily practices.
In his introduction to this year’s Lenten Devotional (sign up to receive the daily reflections), produced by Georgetown’s Office of Mission and Ministry, Fr. Mark Bosco, S.J., summarized the Christian story at the root of this observance:
“It is time, once again, to enter into the holy season of Lent – a time of preparation and repentance in which we ponder our own brokenness and sinfulness, and thus ponder our need to die and rise with Jesus. Christians everywhere begin the ancient spiritual practices of self-denial and fasting, prayer and reflection, and almsgiving to those in need.”
Fr. Bosco goes on to situate this year’s Lent in the larger context of our current time in history:
“As we continue to negotiate a world brought low by pandemic, as we ponder the injustices of racism, poverty, and environmental degradation, as we look at our own pettiness and wounded hearts, we pray that we might see and touch the Lord, who enters into our weaknesses and failings, who enters into the darkness of our world in order to shed His light and His merciful love.”
It is within this broader frame that we can appreciate how the Lenten journey can resonate with each of us regardless of our religious identity. At its heart, Lent is an invitation to deeper recognition of the ways that we are all in need of forgiveness, mercy, and love. We grow in this awareness through the three foundational practices of Lent: fasting, prayer and reflection, and almsgiving.
Fasting: Taking this Lenten journey seriously depends on taking stock of what in our lives is in need of healing and repair. One of the pillars of Lent, fasting, helps with this recognition. A common practice of giving something up for the 40 days of Lent often means taking a break from chocolate, social media, wine, or other pleasures that we can easily go without. We can become overly attached to anything in our lives, even the good things, when these things become an excessive focus and get in the way of our generous activity in the world. Lent helps us make more room in ourselves for generosity by acknowledging how some of our habits have become unhealthy or too much a center of our attention. Fasting can even help us grow in greater solidarity with others in the world, especially those in greatest material need, because we can inventory what we have in abundance that can be shared with others.
Prayer and Reflection: Lent invites us to create intentional plans for regular interior practices like prayer and meditation, which help us grow in greater self-awareness. Regular silent reflection actually fosters more other-centeredness because that time for self-examination leads to more recognition of how we can be of service to others. In the same way that fasting makes room in our lives by getting rid of some things holding us back from leading more authentic lives, time for silent reflection makes more room in our interior lives to focus on the things that matter to us and help us live out our deeper purpose. Next week’s SCS Student Retreat, “Going Inward, Growing Outward, Seeing Things New,” is a good example of making space in our inner lives as are our ongoing SCS Daily Digital Meditations hosted at 12 p.m. ET every weekday.
Almsgiving: Serving with and for others is a hallmark of the Spirit of Georgetown. In light of the global refugee crisis, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, there is a great need in our world for generous action. This can mean taking up acts of charity or contributing to the work of justice in our communities and in the broader world. We might ask ourselves in this season: How am I called to greater love of the people around me – my family, friends, neighbors, community members? How am I called to greater love of the people in the world suffering because of systemic injustices? Lent invites us to move beyond our own concerns to the cares and concerns of the larger world.
In whatever ways you mark this season of Lent, my hope is that this spiritually significant time can raise our individual and collective awareness about the need in our lives for healing, mercy, and justice.
I recently spoke with Jesuit-run America Magazine for a piece entitled, “Urban planning can facilitate friendship – and the Catholic Church can help.” These conversations are nourishing for me because I can speak to my passion for helping readers walk a bridge between the professional resources of the practice of urban planning and the moral and spiritual wisdom of a Catholic, Jesuit education. Georgetown’s Master of Professional Studies in Urban & Regional Planning, where I serve as a course instructor, intentionally integrates ethical reflection into its coursework and I consistently find that students desire philosophical discussions that build upon the professional skills that they are cultivating at SCS.
Photograph taken in front of the SCS building in late February 2022. The opportunity to encounter other people in the city in a spirit of friendship is the focus of this week’s post.
The article’s author, Eve Tushnet, makes the case for why civic life in the city needs social friendship and why realizing this kind of connection is difficult in the contemporary city. She presents concepts that go back to the classical philosophy of Aristotle and Cicero: “Friendship was meant to fill the public square; in a sense, friendship creates public life, as one of the primary ways people move beyond domestic concerns into the broader life of the city.” She goes on to diagnose many of the ways that contemporary cities fall short in realizing this vision, including the prioritization of making cities for autonomous individuals who do not need to encounter one another in urban spaces. She points out “anti-homeless” street designs and an emphasis on surveillance that work against social cohesion and organically formed friendships. We can also add to this list the very real threat of violence, which the ongoing situation of war in Ukraine brings into stark relief (see the statement on Ukraine by Fr. Mark Bosco, S.J., Georgetown’s Vice President for Mission and Ministry).
One major takeaway of the piece is that society makes tradeoffs in realizing certain public goods, like autonomy, control, safety, order, and comfort, but losing other goods like community and solidarity. The thread back to the Jesuits and their spirituality is the language of “encounter” used by Pope Francis. He describes a culture of encounter in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti:
“Human beings are so made that they cannot live, develop and find fulfillment except ‘in the sincere gift of self to others.’ Nor can they fully know themselves apart from an encounter with other persons: ‘I communicate effectively with myself only insofar as I communicate with others.’ No one can experience the true beauty of life without relating to others, without having real faces to love.”
With the University returning to in-person instruction and my own urban commute to the SCS campus downtown becoming more routine, I find myself engaging with the invitation to “encounter” in the city. Recent walks in the downtown neighborhood suggest that the pandemic continues to significantly influence urban life. Many storefronts remain vacant, the lunch rush of office workers is not as large as it once was, and the unhoused community continues to struggle in a city that can be unforgiving to persons experiencing homelessness. But there are signs of public life returning to some vibrancy, and with that come new opportunities for civic friendship.
One practical way to go about this culture of encounter, rooted in the University’s mission and values, is to sign up for a Hypothermia Outreach Team at Georgetown. Run by the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service, the outreach teams help prevent death from exposure and encourage unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness to seek safety in available shelters and warming stations.
A recent article, “Jesuit Education Offers Tools to Meet the Mental Health Crisis,” both illuminates the scale of the mental health challenges being experienced today by students and offers hope by suggesting resources from the Jesuit tradition of education for addressing these challenges. The article’s author, Mary-Catherine Harrison, a faculty member at Jesuit peer institution University of Detroit Mercy, diagnoses the many contributors to high levels of mental distress. These factors include entrenched inequality, climate change, normalization of gun violence, surge in hate crimes, a rise in addictions, divisive public discourse, pervasiveness of social media influence, and the COVID-19 pandemic. For Harrison, there is a temptation to present the “new gospel of ‘self care’” as the solution to this crisis. While taking care of one’s own health and wellness is clearly an important action, the error of presenting this approach as a cure-all for the pandemic of mental illness, according to Harrison, is that it presents an “individual cure for a collective disease.” So what then is the right collective response, especially in a university setting, to the mental health crisis?
SCS staff members Frances Bajet and Crystal Leung set up an activity table in the C2 atrium as part of a “Share the Love” mental health initiative at SCS. A wall of gratitude captured posted notes.
The Jesuit tradition of education has a lot to say about caring for a university community at a time like this. Harrison pulls out three particular ideas. First, classrooms that build bonds between students and teachers, between classroom learning and the lived experiences of communities beyond the four walls of the university foster deeper, more meaningful connections for students. This kind of connection creates community that “protects mental health. This is not a peripheral goal of education; it is at the very heart of what we do.” Second, Ignatian pedagogy, or the unique style of teaching and learning in the Jesuit tradition (see this Mission in Motion for more about it), integrates a whole-person approach to learning that can help students make connections between their lived experience and the content of their coursework. The effect of this approach is gifting students with a “framework for self-actualization and meaningful vocation.” Third, a Jesuit education can both prioritize the unique individual needs of students, on the one hand, and challenge social and institutional structures to change their ways, on the other. Harrison invites us to consider and push back against the various ways within universities themselves and in broader society that students might interpret their value strictly in terms of productivity and not in their “inherent value as human beings.”
This SCS initiative epitomizes an approach to caring for the community that arises out of the Jesuit tradition of education.
This week, SCS put these ideas into action with a multi-day mental health initiative framed as “Share the Love.” An activity table, placed in the C2 atrium, invited students, faculty, and staff to engage with their goodness by sharing it with others. Participants were given the opportunity to write a kindness card to cheer up a child affected by pediatric cancer and cards will be donated to the Valentine Project. Activities also included a gratitude wall to post notes about reasons for gratitude. And finally, the initiative invited individuals to share their health and wellness practices on social media so as to encourage others to follow. All of these activities point to the need in this current mental health crisis for connections and community, self care and community care.
Some of the creative kids crafted by the SCS community for the Valentine Project.
Current students who are looking to foster even more of these connections should consider signing up for the upcoming SCS student retreat taking place from March 12-13 at the Calcagnini Contemplative Center. Please sign up by March 4, 2022!
Linda LeMura, president of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., a peer Jesuit institution with whom SCS has partnered in the past, offered a challenging reflection this week about the crisis of incivility in the public square. Her article in America Magazine, “St. Ignatius has a lesson for politicians: Words and deeds (and nasty tweets) have consequences,” focuses on the prevalence of mean-spirited, truth-less attacks made by public figures on social media that are “inaccurate in its particulars and troubling in its source, an attack that serves no purpose but to heighten the incivility so sadly evident in our public discourse.” Rather than passively accepting this kind of communication in our society, LeMura offers a path forward for Jesuit-inspired education grounded in the wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
LeMura points to the guidance that Ignatius offered his fellow Jesuits in the 16th century about how to engage in true and meaningful dialogue within the context of a public setting filled with conflict and disagreement. LeMura summarizes Ignatius’ guidance in this way:
“St. Ignatius seems to have anticipated the modern era, in which the art of conversation has been replaced by the warfare of the tweet, back in 1546. In a letter to his followers attending the Council of Trent, he instructed them on the art of dialogue. He reminded them to ‘be considerate and kind’ and said that when stakes and emotions are high, they should work to be ‘free of prejudice’ and to understand ‘the meanings, learnings, and wishes of those who speak.’”
The relevance of this Ignatian wisdom for today’s toxic communications culture among public officials, according to LeMura, is the opportunity to cultivate responsible leadership not only in our students but in the faculty and staff that run our Jesuit institutions. We can all participate in this work of fostering a culture of civil communications. A critical first step in this process is a recognition that “every word and deed, be it from the lectern, podium, pulpit, or stage – or cellphone – has weight and consequence. A real leader wields powers with the gravitas it deserves, acutely mindful of the potential to do harm or great good.”
SCS marketing and communications degree programs have taken up this leadership challenge by educating students to become ethical professional communicators striving to produce content that contributes truth, accountability, and justice to public life. This is evident, for example, in the Master of Professional Studies in Journalism which, “grounded in ethics,” emphasizes the “guiding principles that are inherent to journalism excellence – including accurate and fair reporting, accountability, and sound judgment.” An important way that SCS academic programs, like Journalism, realize this commitment to ethics and the common good is through public conversations intended to spark deeper reflection and action about pressing challenges facing society.
This upcoming event during Black History Month, sponsored by SCS and the Washington Association of Black Journalists, will feature leading Black journalists discussing press coverage of the American presidency. Events like these advance Georgetown’s commitment to fostering understanding and civility in public life, which is being challenged by the spread of misinformation and mean-spiritedness.
An upcoming example of this commitment is an event hosted by SCS on February 16: “Covering the President During a Time of Great Societal Change.” A collaboration between the Washington Association of Black Journalists, the SCS Master of Professional Studies in Journalism program and the Diversity, Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion Council (DEBIC), the event features leading Black reporters who cover the White House and increase public understanding about a broad range of issues affecting the presidency and the country as a whole.
In the context of disinformation and incivility among public officials, the kind that LeMura lamented in her article, the February 16 discussion promises to offer important insights about the critical role that Black journalists play in holding public officials accountable for policies that uphold the common good of all. I hope that the discussion inspires greater awareness about how ethically grounded journalism can advance justice and the common good, helping realize the promise of an education rooted in the Jesuit tradition.
The University recently launched an exciting new campaign to shine a light on how the Spirit of Georgetown, 10 foundational values that take their inspiration from Jesuit education and spirituality, binds our diverse community together and encourages meaning, belonging, and purpose. In the last few years, in the context of the ongoing pandemic, Mission in Motion has amplified how SCS students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners live out Georgetown’s Jesuit mission and values in work and study. This larger campaign at the University is exciting because it provides a valuable opportunity to appreciate how the Spirit of Georgetown, animated in unique ways within the contexts of particular Georgetown schools and departments, is an invaluable resource for addressing the pressing challenges of our time.
The Spirit of Georgetown campaign launched with this inspiring video. You can find all of the campaign’s content at this website.
The campaign kicked off with the release of a Spirit of Georgetown video (watch here!). In two short minutes, viewers are introduced to a panorama of images, sounds, and words that inspire. Whether a long-time member of the Georgetown community or completely new to the place, one finds in the video clear indications of how the University presents its mission as a university grounded in a Catholic and Jesuit heritage. Narrated from the perspective of students walking the historic Hilltop and traversing the streets of the monumental city of Washington, D.C., the video presents religious diversity as a central pillar of Georgetown’s approach to mission.
While so much of the University’s iconography and visible presence reflect Jesuit tradition, it is also obvious to someone watching the video that Georgetown creates spaces where diversity of expression and belief find a home. I feel this most especially in the video’s concluding scenes featuring Georgetown’s team of multi-faith chaplains leading worship for their respective communities. There is unity on display in this diversity as Georgetown lives out its mission principle that “serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding.”
Perhaps surprising to some, the presence of vibrant religious chaplaincy for particular traditions fosters more, not less, interreligious dialogue and community. By directly experiencing the practices, beliefs, and imaginations of different traditions, one better appreciates their own. Doha Maaty (NHS’23) captures this well by the way she has connected the principles of her Muslim faith to Jesuit values: “While she was expecting more of a focus on medicine than Jesuit identity in the program, she was surprised by how much the Jesuit values intersected with many in her own faith.”
The first article in the Spirit of Georgetown series is about the diverse religious traditions represented at the University.
This inspiring content has put me in touch with some examples from SCS that illustrate our living out the Spirit of Georgetown. Retreats for SCS students and faculty and staff invite deeper exploration of what a shared mission means for developing our interior lives. Examples of service and justice point to the need for action in a world that desperately needs it. And an abiding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion demonstrates how the Spirit of Georgetown is indispensably important to meeting social justice challenges arising in our communities. These are just a few examples of the distinctive SCS approach to animating Georgetown’s mission and values.
Spend some time following the new Spirit of Georgetown campaign. And reflect on how you find yourself moved to explore in more depth what these principles mean for your time at Georgetown.
The annual SCS Dean’s Report is an opportunity to share a snapshot in the life of the SCS community and communicate a vision for how the School continues to animate the University’s mission and values. The recently released 2021 report, “Bringing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to Life,” testifies to the many ways that SCS – its students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community partners – has committed to the work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as a constitutive element of realizing Georgetown’s Jesuit-inspired mission 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.”
The 2021 SCS Dean’s Report spotlights the School’s DEI work and the ways that Georgetown’s mission and values inspire that work.
What especially stands out about this year’s report is the way that the values of the Spirit of Georgetown and the Jesuit principles that ground the University are explicitly and intentionally named in the School’s DEI work. A simple search of the document will reveal that the terms “Jesuit,” “spirit,” and “values” are employed more than 20 times throughout the report, used by multiple voices reflecting on different aspects of the School’s life. This incorporation of the University values is not an accident but a byproduct of a commitment by SCS leadership to infuse the organization’s management and culture with the guiding principles of a Catholic and Jesuit ethos of education.
One of the most dynamic and innovative manifestations of the integration of Jesuit values and DEI is an ongoing project led by Dr. Shenita Ray, Vice Dean for Education and Faculty Affairs. The project, “SCS Jesuit Values and Cultural Climate Framework,” seeks to update “the mechanisms (legacy networks, relationships, processes, policies, practices, and tools) that drive the School’s daily work to align with who we say we aim to be as an organization.” By explicitly bringing together indicators of the Cultural Climate Survey, like institutional diversity and culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy, with Spirit of Georgetown values, like Community in Diversity and Cura Personalis, this model’s aim is to create “sustainable systemic structures to facilitate fairness, regardless of who is in any position in the organization.” Unlike a top-down coercive approach, this project invites a change of heart and mind at the individual, group, and local level so as to achieve sustainable systemic structures that better reflect Georgetown’s values. The innovation of marrying Jesuit values and curricular strategy is not new for SCS and Dr. Ray (see this previous Mission and Motion for active examples of Jesuit pedagogy at work in SCS online and on-campus courses). This framework will continue to be refined and utilized across the School, offering important lessons for how to realize the integration of DEI principles and Jesuit values across curricular, co-curricular, and administrative processes at Georgetown and beyond.
And there are other examples of Jesuit principles serving as a resource for DEI commitments that are named in the Dean’s Report. Regan Carver of the English Language Center (ELC) reflects on how the Center has worked to advance access to English language resources while bridging cultural and geographic divides in a way that is reflective of “inclusive, Jesuit-rooted education.” An alumnus of the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies program, Chris White, talks about using his gifts and talents in service of the most vulnerable persons through the work of community development finance in Washington, D.C. And Valerie Brown, a lawyer and lobbyist turned leadership coach, discusses how the University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership (ITL) did not turn away from the racial reckoning following George Floyd’s murder but engaged it out of the University’s Jesuit values.
The commitment to DEI is firmly rooted in the University’s Jesuit mission and values and reflected in the diverse religious traditions that have a home at Georgetown. An example of the moral urgency of anti-racism work espoused by religious leaders is evident in recent statements by Pope Francis, who has compared racism to “a virus that quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting.” Pope Francis has also expressed solidarity with the movements for racial justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and others, saying: “Do you know what comes to mind now when … I think of the Good Samaritan? … The protests over George Floyd … This movement did not pass by on the other side of the road when it saw the injury to human dignity caused by an abuse of power.”
SCS Dean Kelly Otter invites us to read the report and “learn, reflect, and join the conversation” so that we can together “continue the good work of fostering a more just, inclusive community.” I hope this invitation gives life to an even deeper individual and collective effort to advance DEI at SCS in the years ahead.
