Georgetown Wall Street Alliance Event

Remarks by John J. DeGioia
Georgetown Wall Street Alliance Event
J.P. Morgan Chase Auditorium
New York City
October 15, 2008

Thank you, Bill, and thank you all for joining us this evening. It is always a pleasure to see the members of our Wall Street Alliance…And I am especially eager to engage with you, and our special guest, this evening as we wade through perhaps the most unique set of financial changes in our lifetimes.

I know you have come here tonight, however, to hear the thoughts and wisdom of our guest speaker, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Donald Kohn. I will not even attempt an analysis equal to his in expertise and insight. What I can offer you, however, is a few words about how Georgetown is navigating its way through this unique moment…and I will begin with a brief University update, as I think it’s important to establish the position of strength from which we are approaching the challenges of the day.

Ranking and Competitiveness

We do continue to remain one of the most competitive universities in the nation. In U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2009” issue, Georgetown maintained its ranking of 23rd; and the McDonough School of Business MBA program rose to 22nd place (up from 25th last year). The School of Medicine also jumped four places to 40th, and our School of Nursing & Health Studies ranked 32nd. Meanwhile, the Law Center maintained its impressive ranking of 14th nationwide, and placed 1st in clinical training, 4th in environmental law, 8th in health law, 4th in international law, 3rd in tax law, and 5th in trial advocacy.

Another reflection of Georgetown’s academic stature is the competitiveness of the admissions process. For this year’s freshman class, we received a record 18,700 undergraduate applications for 1,580 places. Offers of admission were mailed to 3,371—just 18 percent. At the Medical Center, we received 11,237 applications; offers of admission were mailed to 316, or less than 3% of those applicants. Georgetown University Law Center routinely receives more applications than any other law school in the country, and we received close to 11,000 applications for 575 seats this cycle.

Global Engagement

We also continue to strengthen our credentials as a global university—wrestling with the new dynamics of our globalized world... We are further developing our School of Foreign Service campus in the Doha, Qatar, educating 146 students from 26 countries, including El Salvador, France, Kenya, Macedonia, Russia, and India…

…Our McDonough School of Business, in partnership with Esade, one of the leading business schools in Europe, launched a new Global Executive MBA…

…We have developed a partnership with Universia, a network of universities throughout Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, linking 1,070 institutions and 10.1 million students…

…We have opened a liaison office in Shanghai, through our relationship with Fudan University…

…And also in China, we have established partnerships with the State Administration for Religious Affairs and the Central Party School…

…We will inaugurate our new Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London, which began operations just a few weeks ago, with ten law schools...

…We are working in Africa and India, to share resources and talents we sometimes take for granted, in seeking to make a contribution in addressing the scourge of HIV/AIDS, still taking nearly 6,000 lives everyday.

We have also recognized a differentiating strength—our capacity to foster interreligious understanding. From our PhD program in religious pluralism…to the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding…to the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs…to our program in the study of Jewish Civilization—which is now positioned to become a full Center…Georgetown has embraced our unique position and privilege of engaging in this very important challenge—and we take very seriously this opportunity to be a vehicle for productive dialogue.

Hilltop Update

While we are expanding and strengthening Georgetown’s global presence, we of course remain committed to enriching life on the Hilltop. This is a great source of our strength. Just in recent weeks, we have hosted some special guests, including financial luminaries Michael Bloomberg, Alan Greenspan, and T. Boone Pickens. Providing a forum for leaders to address the most pressing issues of the day, and giving our students a chance to engage with such distinguished members of society, has always been a trademark of the Georgetown experience—and this past month has certainly been no exception.
It is experiences like these that shape an education at Georgetown, and I know that all of you have fond memories of your time on campus. I want you to know that we recognize the importance of continuing the traditions and enhancing the facilities that have brought us to our place of prominence today.

Leadership and excellence of our faculty and our staff is of course a top priority. And we have some new faces on campus—and some familiar ones in new roles:

• Chet Gillis, Professor of Theology, will serve as Interim Dean of Georgetown College for the coming academic year.

• Rev. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., College Class of ’88, is our new Executive Director of Campus Ministry.

• Dr. Jeffrey Collmann recently joined the Linda and Timothy O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law as Director of the Center for Disease Prevention and Health Outcomes.

• And Dr. Michael Oren joins our faculty this fall as a Visiting Professor. He will teach courses on America in the Middle East, military history of the modern Middle East, and the history of Zionist diplomacy

In addition to cultivating the best group of faculty and administrative leaders we can, we are also undergoing the largest capital improvement effort in the University’s history with $800 million of capital infrastructure projects. Our current focus, the Mid-Campus Project, includes the McDonough School of Business ($105 million), the New Science Center ($100 million), and the Multi-Sport Facility ($32.5 million).

Construction of the new home for the McDonough School of Business continues on schedule and is targeted for completion in February, 2009, with occupancy in April, 2009.

The construction permit application for the Science Center is moving through the District of Columbia approval process, and we expect the facility to be operational in fall semester 2011.

Financial Platform

Now that I have gone through some of the latest updates regarding our competitiveness, our strengths, our engagement with the world, and the enhancement of our campus, I do want to say a few words about Georgetown’s financial footing. While much of what I have already talked about makes Georgetown the great global university it is, all of what we do depends upon a strong financial platform. This is a key priority for us, and to this end we maintain rigorous planning and budgeting, cost controls, enhanced fundraising, and a focus on strategic revenue growth. We have brought in highly experienced professionals to manage key financial areas of the University, and we continue to make solid progress in our efforts to grow financial resources.

We do have some great news…I am proud to report that earlier this month, Standard & Poor’s raised Georgetown’s credit rating from a BBB+ to an A-. All of our efforts to enhance our financial platform, our stronger balance sheet, and our solid fundraising efforts, were factors in Standard & Poor’s decision.

And as I mentioned just a few moments ago—as we undergo the largest capital improvement effort in the University’s history, fundraising is on an upward trajectory. In fiscal year 2008, we raised $147 million in new commitments—the second-best year in University history for new commitments. And we had the best year, ever, for cash raised— $109 million.

And so while this is all excellent news, we have experienced some of the impact of the changing financial conditions. Increased costs for energy, disruptions in the market in which we have placed our debt, volatility in the student loan market, higher inflation — all have demanded an exceptional diligence in how we manage our financial affairs.

We are fortunate to have Chris Augostini as Chief Financial Officer, and under his leadership, we are strengthening our financial platform by:

• Increasing revenue—including growing our endowment and looking for opportunities to expand our existing framework to generate new revenue through philanthropy and investment management.

• Enhancing our advancement efforts—including successful completion of our Capital Campaign and forging stronger relationships with alumni;

• Improving the financial performance of our Medical Center; and

• Strengthening financial management and planning efforts across the institution.

So, while we are cognizant of the uncertainty—and the seriousness—of the current financial challenges, we are also actively engaged in shoring up our resources and preparing our university for continued growth and development. I also know that this is in no small part thanks to your generosity of spirit and resources—your leadership as our esteemed alumni and friends. We truly appreciate your dedication, and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship as we continue down our path as a global university, engaging in the most important and exciting issues of our unique moment in time.

Thank you for joining us this evening… And I’ll now take a few questions…