Georgetown University Thanksgiving Dinner

Remarks by John J. DeGioia
Georgetown University Thanksgiving Dinner
O’Donovan Hall
November 26, 2008

Good evening, and on behalf of my wife Theresa, and our son JT—who are with us this evening—I want to welcome you to our Georgetown celebration of Thanksgiving.

One of the best parts of my job is getting to spend time with students, and tonight provides a wonderful opportunity for all of us to gather as members of an exceptional community…and as members of an extended family.

Thanksgiving has always been a day to come together and celebrate family…to express thanks for all those who are a special part of our lives. Let me assure you that I am grateful for each of you…for the unique perspectives you bring to our campus…for the contributions you make to Georgetown …and for the lives you will touch when you leave Healy Gates… For all that, I am thankful not just today, but every day.

Thanksgiving also gives us the opportunity to pause for a moment and to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives—including the remarkable privilege, the remarkable opportunity, to be part of a community like Georgetown. It’s an opportunity that—as I told you when you first joined our community—few in the world enjoy.

But with opportunity also come responsibility. And that’s why we should remember one more thing about Thanksgiving. Those who celebrated the first Thanksgiving came here not just in search of freedom—but in search of tolerance. This is the heritage of Thanksgiving. And it is up to each of us to advance that heritage by helping to foster understanding…and by helping to build bridges between cultures and communities of faith.

Of course this is something that all of us—all the members of our family at Georgetown—strive to do everyday. For that I am also grateful. But tonight, what I am most grateful for is simply being able to join with you to celebrate our blessings…this community…and Thanksgiving.

Thank you, once again, for being here—and Theresa, JT, and I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.